West Midland Bird Club K M ^ Annual Report No 52 1985
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West Midland Bird Club Km^ Annual Report No 52 1985 Sparrowhawk by R J C Blewitt West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No 52 1985 Being the Annual Bird Report of the West Midland Bird Club on the birds in the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and West Midlands. Contents 2 Officers and Committee 3 Recorder's Report 3 Birds in 1985 8 Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement 11 Secretary's Report 11 Field Meetings Secretary's Report 12 Research Committee 12 Staffordshire Branch Report 13 Ladywalk Reserve 16 North Staffordshire Moors Survey 28 1985 Bird Record Localities 31 Classified Notes 119 Ringing in 1985 126 Key to Contributors 127 Species requiring descriptions Price £2.50 2 Officers and Committee 1986 President C A Norris, Brookend House, Welland, Worcestershire Vice-President G C Lambourne, Melin Dan-y-rhiw, St. Davids, Dyfed Chairman A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warwickshire B80 7JG Deputy Chairman G M Lewis, 9a Plymouth Road, Barnt Green, Birmingham B45 8JE Secretary A I Whatley, 8 Bowstoke Road, Great Barr, Birmingham B43 5EA Treasurer K A Webb, 8 Vernon Close, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4EA Recorder and G R Harrison, "Bryher", Hatton Green, Hatton, Research Warwickshire CV35 7LA Committee Chairman Membership D S Evans, 49 Inglewood Grove, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield Secretary B74 3LN Field Meetings S H Young, 32 Carless Avenue, Harborne, Secretary Birmingham B17 9EL Permit Secretary Miss M Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Birmingham B15 3LX Ringing Secretary A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Jamworth, Staffordshire Bulletin Editor P K Dedicoat, 2 The Elms Paddock, Pattingham, Wolverhampton WV6 7DW Staffs Branch D W Emley, 127 Harpfields Road, Stoke-on-Trent Chairman Solihull Branch M Hewitt, 33 Hurdis Road, Shirley, Solihull, Chairman West Midlands Main Committee N Barlow, S C Brown, Mrs D Dunstan, T E Giles, H McGregor and R M Normand Records Committee G R Harrison (Chairman), A R Dean, D W Emley, G Evans, S K Welch and S M Whitehouse 3 Recorder's Report I must begin by apologising for the extremely late publication of this Report. When I was asked to become editor twelve years ago, I was acutely aware that the WMBC's Annual Report was very highly regarded and I felt very privileged lo be entrusted with its production. I have always tried to maintain this reputation, but in recent years I have found it increasingly difficult to achieve the standard that the WMBC deserves and which I myself would wish. One has only to look at the increase in Addenda and Corrigenda to understand what I mean. Moreover the task has grown to the point where I can no longer establish direct personal contact with birdwatchers. As a result I feel I no longer have their confidence and I know that many valuable records are being withheld for various reasons. The paucity of Warwickshire records demonstrates this only too well. I have therefore decided that it is time to stand down as Recorder. In doing so, I should like to thank the WMBC for the opportunity given to me, and all those who have helped me in so many ways. In particular, I would thank all those who have contributed records — over two-hundred of you every year. Without your co-operation there would indeed have been no reports. My thanks this year are due especially to Dave Emley, Graham Evans, Steve Welch and Steve Whitehouse for their help in compiling the Report, and to Alan Dean, Maurice Eccleshall, Roger Hancox and Brett Westwood for their illustrations. As members now know, the WMBC has decided to appoint separate recorders for each county to spread the workload and hopefully foster better relations with birdwatchers active in the field. I have every confidence that Nick Barlow as overall co-ordinator, together with Graham Evans, Steve Haynes, Bob Normand and Steve Whitehouse as recorders, will do an excellent job. But I know only too well the enormity of their task and that they will need all the support they can get. I hope that support will be forthcoming, particularly through the proper submission of records. G R Harrison Birds in 1985 Meteorologically this was a year that is best forgotten. Winter had several cold snaps, spring was cold and wet and summer never arrived. Not until the autumn was there any settled, warm weather and even this turned into a cold, stormy last two months of the year. If the weather was poor, the birds certainly made up for it, and with 222 species including four — American Wigeon, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope and Laughing Gull — that were new to the region this was perhaps the best year ever. It began quietly enough, with a Red-breasted Merganser from 1984 and a Firecrest on New Year's Day. A Peregrine on the fifth preceded an influx of cold, Siberian air which moved in from the Baltic on the sixth. With the cold air came a small movement of Bewick's Swans. A more severe cold spell, with temperatures as low as —15°C, began on the twelfth and lasted about a week. 4 This brought exceptional numbers of Wigeon from the Continent, which was experiencing some of the coldest weather this century. Also arriving with it were a Woodlark on the fourteenth, followed next day by large skeins of Pink- footed and White-fronted Geese and the region's first ever Laughing Gull. Over the next few days two Red-throated Divers, three Red-necked Grebes, Slavonian Grebe and three Red-breasted Mergansers also appeared. During mild, westerly weather in the last week of January over 20 Smew were discovered as were two Black-necked Grebes on the twenty-ninth — all doubtless refugees from the frozen Continent. January also saw a record flock of 680 Ruddy Ducks, a Mediterranean Gull on the nineteenth and a Scatter of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. The mild, dull weather persisted for the first week of February, during which time a few Whooper Swans arrived, a Black-throated Diver appeared on the third and another Mediterranean Gull was seen on the sixth. A second cold spell then began with heavy snow and biting easterly winds on the eighth and ninth. Again this forced birds to leave the Continent and further Smews and Red-breasted Mergansers, two more Red-throated Divers, two Black-throated Divers and three more Red-necked Grebes arrived. February also saw the herd of Bewick's Swans in the Avon Valley top 150 and brought four Peregrines and incredibly another Firecrest on the twenty-second, which somehow had survived the freezing weather. Mild, unsettled weather in early March produced no significant movement. However, a record flock of 110 Pintail and a Mealy Redpoll were seen on the third and a few more Iceland Gulls appeared around the eighth. From mid- month migration was inhibited firstly by a cold, northerly airstream and then by easterly winds pulled in by high pressure to the west. Undeterred, Curlew returned to their breeding territories and the now-customary large roosts again formed in the foothills of north Staffordshire. A Brent Goose was seen on the thirteenth and a Slavonian Grebe on the seventeenth. Warmer weather returned on the twenty-second, as the winds swung westerly and then southerly, bringing with them a Marsh Harrier on the twenty-fifth, the first Wheatear the next day and the first Swallow and Ring Ouzel on the thirty-first. Iceland Gulls were again in evidence on the twenty-eighth and ninth, with the latter also producing a Black-necked Grebe and the year's only report of Great Grey Shrike. The first week of April was unsettled, but nonetheless yielded the first real influx of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Yellow Wagtails and hirundines as well as two Ravens on the fifth. An anticyclone then settled in to the north- west, bringing cooler winds which again slowed down migration. On the sixteenth the high pressure moved south across the country bringing a couple of warm days, but the cold winds from the Arctic soon returned to persist until the twenty-eighth. There was a small passage of Common Scoter between the seventh and twelfth, a Peregrine appeared on the eighth. White Wagtails began to arrive from the tenth and a Black Redstart was seen on the twelfth. A Velvet Scoter on the twentieth was an unusual visitor to follow a warm spell, but a Marsh Harrier the next day was more typical. Although most summer visitors arrived more or less punctually, numbers were small. The first major movement 5 began on the twenty-seventh, when there was a noticeable passage of Dunlin, and continued with several Kittiwakes over the next three days, three Dotterel on the twenty-eighth and a Little Tern on the thirtieth. High pressure persisted to the west until May 11, pulling down cool winds and delaying summer visitors. An Osprey passed through on the second, a small movement of Arctic Terns occurred between the third and fifth, a Marsh Harrier was seen on the fourth and a Shag on the seventh. By the eleventh the anticyclone was to the north, creating unsettled conditions over the North Sea and easterly winds to drift migrants away from the Continent. On the same day a party of 28 Whimbrel and a Savi's Warbler arrived, to be followed by another Osprey on the twelfth, a passage of Black Terns between the thirteenth and seventeenth, a Bluethroat on the fourteenth and a Black Redstart the next day. Other arrivals were the first Quail on the nineteenth, a Little Egret on the twentieth and a small passage of Sanderlings on the twenty-first.