British Birds Report on Rare Birds in Great Britain in 1994
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British Birds Established 1907; incorporating 'The Zoologist', established 1843 Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 1994 Michael J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, with comments by P. M. Ellis and A. M. Stoddart As this thirty-seventh annual report of the Rarities Committee illustrates, the changing fortunes of rare birds visiting Great Britain continue to be sufficient to stimulate discussion and speculation, and sometimes, indeed, disagreement. Their appeal remains undimmed and the Report aims to meet the needs of the wide variety of interests among rarity enthusiasts. Our principal aim is straightforward: to provide as complete and accurate a record as possible year by year. This can then be used by those responsible for producing county and local bird reports, books, lists and papers, as the 'official' record of rare birds in our islands. The Rarities Committee forms part of an increasing international network of such committees and gains strength from that and from its widespread recognition as a model upon which others are based. We are conscious, of course, of the need to provide interest and entertainment: simply reading a report should be enjoyable in itself, and even ensuring that the names of those people involved in finding and identifying birds are included is something that we take seriously. Then there is what might be called the scientific aim of recording rare birds. This relies on the completeness and accuracy already mentioned and it is the integrity of the Committee and its actions, and the attitude it takes towards reaching difficult decisions, that determines the value of its ultimate product. We are aware that decisions on some reports remain to be made after long periods of consideration, but prefer to take longer and get it right than to rush into a decision that may need to be reversed (perhaps, by then, too late to correct local or national publications, or even identification papers, based in part upon wrong assumptions). Much of the value, however, depends upon analysis of the records, and we are sometimes criticised for having moved too far towards simple recording and away from useful analysis. This is a point worth making, but it must be said that the workload of the Committee, all of whose members do the job voluntarily and, supposedly, for the fun of it, is already large and there is no reason why others cannot use the published data for analytical work. Indeed, there is every reason [Brit. Birds 88: 493-558, November 1995] © British Birds Ltd 1995 493 494 Rogers et al: Rare birds in Great Britain in 1994 why they should: this is why we publish the records. We should all like to see more understanding of the changing patterns of rarities, but cannot necessarily take on the extra work ourselves. The data are there, however, presented in 37 detailed reports; and papers on the changing numbers, and geographical and temporal patterns of some Siberian vagrants (but not others), for example, are waiting to be written. The membership of the Rarities Committee is listed each month on the inside front cover of British Birds, and changes in its composition are reported from time to time. In the past year, we held an election for a new member to fill the gap created by the retirement of the longest-serving one: it is disappointing to report that only two candidates were put forward, although the calibre of both is undeniably excellent. A further nomination for membership came about during the process of the election and in fact that nominee was later co-opted to fill the vacancy created by a subsequent resignation: nevertheless, we appeal for more nominations for the Committee for next year's election. We are also considering new ways to widen the electorate, which currently comprises the county recorders and observatory wardens. Given the progress made last year in addressing the backlog of accounts of birds new to Britain & Ireland, we are pleased to report a continued level of publication of such papers in British Birds in our efforts to maintain a complete picture of the circumstances surrounding additions to the British List. Thank you to all observers involved in preparing these fascinating short papers. A few remain to be written, and observers are sometimes curiously unwilling to see their accounts in print. We urge anyone involved to supply a short text to the Managing Editor of British Birds as soon as possible. We also thank Dr David Parkin and the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee for their continued close co-operation and the addition of comments regarding the reasons behind categorisation and the possible origins of the individual birds concerned. We maintain a close and productive relationship with the BOURC and look forward to its continuation: it is perhaps worth reminding readers that the Rarities Committee deals with verification of the identification of rarities, the dates of their occurrence and the naming of observers involved, while the BOURC steps in with 'firsts' and 'category changes' to double-check the identification and to assess the most appropriate status of new species for the British List. This involves researching escape likelihood, relevant weather and other circumstances, migration patterns and timing, vagrancy patterns elsewhere, and much more besides, in the attempt to make the correct decision (rather than merely using subjective guesswork or 'wishful thinking', which sometimes surface elsewhere). There are a number of reports remaining in circulation at the time of writing. These include 30 records for 1994 and 38 from earlier years upon which a decision has not yet been reached, plus 33 for 1994 and four from earlier years received too late for inclusion in this report. We appeal to observers (and county and observatory recorders) to continue to submit reports as early as possible after each observation to spread and ease our workload and to ensure prompt attention. Our aim is to provide an efficient sendee. Also remaining under consideration are six recent claims of Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii, which seem likely to include a mixture of good, bad and indifferent, and 17 reports of Citrine Wagtails Motacilla citreola from past years; we do British Birds, vol. 88, no. 11, November 1995 495 appreciate that the delays are frustrating for those who reported the occurrences. There are also 11 claims of South Polar Skuas Stercorarius maccormicki circulating in particularly weighty files but mostly making little progress (although several are undoubtedly of individuals seen poorly, or with described characters so peculiar that they seem unlikely ever to be acceptable) and some 30 reports of Yellow- browed Warblers Phylloscopus inornatus of the race humei. The review of reports of Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni has been completed and the results are presented within this report, while the review of records of Olivaceous Warbler Hippolais pallida remains to be finalised. It should be noted that a considerable number of changes have been made to the 1958-93 totals given in the heading to each species entry as a result of in- depth research since the last Report by the Committee's Statisticians, Peter Fraser and John Ryan; where relevant, appropriate amendments have been noted in the text. Acknowledgments The work of the Rarities Committee was once again sponsored by Carl Zeiss Ltd, to whom we remain indebted and extremely grateful. It is not an inexpensive exercise and this financial support is invaluable in maintaining the uniform, objective review of rare birds in Great Britain which the BBRC provides. The Committee gratefully acknowledges special assistance with records from Dick Forsman, Peter Lansdown, Simon Harrap and Lars Svensson. The members of the Seabirds Advisory Panel (Bill Curtis, Jim Enticott, Steve Madge, Tony Marr and John Ryan) supplied valuable advice. The species comments have been written by Pete Ellis (non-passerines) and Andy Stoddart (passerines), and the running totals were compiled by Peter Fraser and John Ryan. As in other recent years, two ex-members of the Committee, Peter Lansdown and John Marchant, volunteered to assist with checking the proofs of this Report. We are indebted to Patrick Smiddy and the Irish Rare Birds Committee for their friendly help and agreement in allowing us to publish essential details of rare birds reported in Ireland. The Irish records have not been assessed by the BBRC but are wholly the responsibility of the IRBC. The long-standing agreement that they should form a part of this Report allows us to present a complete picture of the situation in the whole of Britain & Ireland. We greatly value this co operation between the IRBC and the BBRC. The BOURC has already been mentioned, but we thank that committee again for its co operation during the year. In particular, we express our warm appreciation of the work of the county recorders and bird- observatory wardens nationwide, without whose help this Report could not exist, and of course the observers who provided the records. Without their co-operation the Report could never be compiled, but at least they also have the enjoyment and excitement of finding the birds in the first place! While we envy them their luck, many submissions convey the pleasure they take in seeing good birds and remind us all that this is the core of the whole business, and that for most of us it is, after all, just our hobby. RAH Highlights The year 1994 was often exciting (see Brit, Birds 88: 457-472), but was not outstanding for major rarities, though these included: 1st Dark-throated Thrush Turdus ruficollis of the red-throated nominate race 2nd Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii (but several other earlier reports are still under consideration) 496 Rogers et al: Rare birds in Great Britain in 1994 2nd Grey-tailed Tattler Heteroscelus brevipes 3rd Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis 4th Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra 4th Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys 6th Siberian Thrush Zoothera sibirica 7th Song Sparrow Zonotrichia melodia There were all-time record numbers of Black Kites Milvus migrans (26), Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides of the races kumlieni or thayeri (11, taking the total to 31), Pechora Pipits A.