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Cover photograph: Male Stonechat Graham Riddell CORNWALL BIRD-WATCHING AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY Fifty-Ninth Annual Report 1989 St. George Printing Works Ltd., Redruth. Tel: 217033 CONTENTS Page Officers for 1990 3 Obituary — Dr C.J.F. Coombs 4 Treasurers Report 6 Chairmans Report 8 Editorial and Review of the Year 11 Contributors 18 Species List for 1989 20 Exotica 134 B.B.R.C. Decisions 135 Common Bird Census — Polzeath 136 The Cornish Chough — some observations 138 A study of Acrocephalus warblers at Marazion Marsh 1989 139 The Society's Rules 141 2 Officers 1990-91 President: Sir Alan Dalton, C.B.E., D.L. Chairman: L.A. Smith, 21 Vicarage Meadows, Fowey. Vice Chairman: N.R. Phillips, 32 Heabrook Park, Heamoor, Penzance. General Secretary: M. Lawson, Fieldfares, St Giles Drive, Wadebridge. Treasurer and Registrar: A. F. Reynolds, 33 Treworder Road, Truro Field Meetings Officer: D. L. Thomas, Mirador, Whitecross, Nr. Newquay Conservation Officer: A.R. Pay, 13 Tregellas Road, Mullion. Assistant Conservation Officer: V.A. Stratton, 2 Alexandra Road, St Ives. Public Relations Officer: Mrs. E. McKenzie, Tregarrick, St Mawgan-in-Pydar. Newsletter Editor: F. M. Couch, 29 Roman Drive, Bodmin Officer for Youth and Education: Mrs A.C. Hathway, Langurra, Meadow End, Green Lane, Crantock, Newquay Recorder and Editor "Birds in Cornwall": S. M. Christophers, 5 Newquay Rd., St. Columb Major Assistant Recorder and Editor: E.J.Cook, 7 Trewethey Way, Newquay. Joint Secretary, Recorders and Editors 'Isles of Scilly Bird Report' W.H. Wagstaff, 16 Ennor Close, Old Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly and M.J. Rogers, Bag End, Churchtown, Towednack, St. Ives Committee Members: J.A. Jane (Truro), J.E. Millett (Chacewater), D. Penwarden (Truro), G.P. Sutton (Bude,) and B.C. Wotton (Newquay) retire 1991, D.A. Conway (Bodmin) and S.C. Hutchings (Penryn) retire 1992, D. Lord (Polzeath) and Dr. J.F. Ryan (Penzance) retire 1993. 3 Obituary Dr. CHARLES JOHN FRANKLIN COOMBS. M.A., M.B., B.Ch. 1909-1989 It was with great sadness that I learned on the 14th July 1989 of the death of my old friend and neighbour and our Society's President, Dr. Franklin Coombs, but that sadness was tempered by the knowledge that his mobility and independence were maintained so completely almost to the end. Earlier, on the very day he was admitted to Treliske Hospital, he was out and about driving and only had one night in hospital. Dr. and Mrs Coombs came from Bristol to Cornwall in 1939 when Franklin entered the practice of Dr. Edwards. He had a wide country practice, a surgery in Devoran and in Perran-ar-worthal, where the Coombs' made their home for many years before moving to Greenwith Place, a home which their family of four, a son and three daughters have always loved. He retired from practice in 1973 but maintained links as a locum for five years. Franklin was educated at Clifton College and his interest in all aspects of natural history must have developed during those years, for as a schoolboy he became a member of the Bristol Ornithologists Club and remained a member throughout his life, as well as the Bristol Naturalists Society. He joined Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society soon after he arrived, as his name appears as an established member in 1942. He was elected to serve on the Committee in 1946 and thereafter for frequent terms until he became Chairman in 1965 and President in 1973. He really was a practical and working President. The Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967 had illustrated how unprepared we all were throughout the country to deal with such oil spills. Franklin became deeply involved with teams of volunteers trying to rectify some of the awful effects of both the spillage and the excessive use of detergent along the shores of the Penwith coastline. The Perran-ar-worthal telephone exchange was literally jammed with incoming calls from those wanting to help wiih collecting, transporting and attempting to clean oiled birds. Meantime his skill as an artist was being established and recognised and in 1963/4 he was invited to become one of a select number of Founder Members of The Society of Wildlife Artists. He has exhibited annually in London and galleries throughout the country and some of his work has toured the U.S.A. Then commissions started to flow and he established himself as an artist of international bird study publications. I saw many of the plates while he was working on them in his studio. Meticulous and delicate work about which he was self-effacing. He professed to enjoying and preferring canvasses at least four feet by three. Plates illustrated by him will be found in 'Birds of India' by Salim Ali, 'Birds of the Falklands', 'A Field Guide to the Birds of Saudi Arabia' and the still to be completed 'Birds of the Western Palearctic', specifically in volumes I,II and IV and in volumes VI and VII which will complete the set. The 1970's found him in spare time driving the length and breadth of England and Scotland in order to establish what impact the development of the oil extraction industry might have on sensitive coastal areas with the prospect of pipeline terminals and refineries, so in 1975 with great determination and foresight he assembled a team of specialists with the intention of studying, recording and mapping the sensitive areas of the coastline of the southwest. The full title was 'The Committee for Coastal Biological Conservation' but it soon became known as 'The Coombs Committee'. This erudite body met over a four year period in what is now known as The Plymouth Marine Laboratories, in the room of Roger Swinfen. The final 4 Report with maps was produced at R.S.P.B. headquarters at Exeter assisted by Stan Davies and is intended to give instant information to any relevant authority. Copies were circulated to Planning Departments, industrial companies on coastal sites, county trusts, etc. After many years of research he completed and had published in 1978 what has become the definitive book on corvids, entitled 'The Crows' with the sub-title 'A Study of the Corvids of Europe' and published by B.T. Batsford Ltd. In 1979 he was elected to the Council of The Royal Institution of Cornwall and served until 1984. He was a member of The British Trust for Ornithology, whose big winter meeting at Swanwick he tried never to miss; a great reunion and gathering of old friends. He was a Member of The British Ornithologists Union, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Wildfowl Trust and so many more. A Founder Member of The Cornwall Naturalists Trust later to become the Cornwall Trust for Nature Conservation, he served on the Council from its' foundation in 1962 to 1980 and was President from 1973 - 1976. However he found that increasing deafness was making official positions most difficult. He had travelled widely, often with his great friend and fellow artist, Robert Gillmor. These trips of bird discovery and study took him to Lapland, The Pyrenees, Spain, Morocco, Shetland, the Scottish Highland, Islay, Uganda, Kenya, India and Nepal and once even on a cruise to the Black Sea. This year in April he spent three weeks with an old friend in Malawi; but always he was glad to get up to his beloved North Wales where he and his wife Barbara had a cottage and had been able to indulge their love of hill walking. Barbara died in 1986. He must have missed her so much as together they had devoted their care and skills to creating and maintaining a beautiful garden at Green with. His other great love was fast cars, preferrably 'souped - up'. His TR 2 was the first in Cornwall. Long before motorways he whirled up to Aberdeen in a day, and all that with a 'clean slate'. It was nothing to drive to London to pick up skins from the Natural History Museum for his accurate, detailed bird paintings, then back to Slimbridge, maybe even via Tring and be back in surgery next morning. We are inclined to forget that he was a busy doctor with the knack of giving time to his patients. A kind and outstanding person. We shall all miss him with his knowledge and his wisdom covering the widest aspects concerning conservation both present and future. We extend our sympathy to all his family. They must feel comfort and pride in knowing that in so many ways he left his mark. Peggy Visick The Coombs Committee' Cornwall Naturalist Trust Dr. Franklin Coombs Dr. Gillian Mathews J.K. Williams Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society George Jackson Devon Naturalist Trust H.G. Hurrell Devon Birdwatching and Preservation Society Leonard Hurrell Robin Khan Roger Swinfen R.S.P.B. Stanley Davies Nature Conservancy Council P. Tinning Institute of Marine Environmental Research Dr. Gordon Heath Marine Biological Association Dr. Norman Holme Exeter University Dept. of Bio-sciences Pro. David Nicholls Countryside Commission Wendy Rees 5 INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER, 1989 1988 1989 £ £ £ INCOME Subscriptions 3,602 Annual Membership 3,680 150 Life membership 616 Tax refund on covenanted subscriptions 579 4,368 4,259 406 312 350 Rent, Walmsley Sanctuary 350 Interest 31 31 1,648 1,146 643 Charities Deposit Fund 2,114 16 Bank Deposit Account 2,338 3,291 1,491 Sale of Annual Reports — Scilly 1,209 333 — Mainland 372 129 Other Sales and income 180 1,953 1,761 9,415 9,973 Less: EXPENDITURE Annual Reports, 1988: 2,120 Mainland 2,245 1,454 Scilly 1,515 304 News Letters 370 396 Other Printing and Stationery 395 834 Postages and Telephone 695 264 Rents, Licences and Insurance 377 55 Hire of rooms for meetings 58 138 Hide and Reserve expenses