Scottish Birds 37:3 (2017)
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Contents Scottish Birds 37:3 (2017) 194 President’s Foreword J. Main PAPERS 195 Potential occurrence of the Long-tailed Skua subspecies Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens in Scotland C.J. McInerny & R.Y. McGowan 202 Amendments to The Scottish List: species and subspecies The Scottish Birds Records Committee 205 The status of the Pink-footed Goose at Cameron Reservoir, Fife from 1991/92 to 2015/16: the importance of regular monitoring A.W. Brown 216 Montagu’s Harrier breeding in Scotland - some observations on the historical records from the 1950s in Perthshire R.L. McMillan SHORT NOTES 221 Scotland’s Bean Geese and the spring 2017 migration C. Mitchell, L. Griffin, A. MacIver & B. Minshull 224 Scoters in Fife N. Elkins OBITUARIES 226 Sandy Anderson (1927–2017) A. Duncan & M. Gorman 227 Lance Leonard Joseph Vick (1938–2017) I. Andrews, J. Ballantyne & K. Bowler ARTICLES, NEWS & VIEWS 229 The conservation impacts of intensifying grouse moor management P.S. Thompson & J.D. Wilson 236 NEWS AND NOTICES 241 Memories of the three St Kilda visitors in July 1956 D.I.M. Wallace, D.G. Andrew & D. Wilson 244 Where have all the Merlins gone? A lament for the Lammermuirs A.W. Barker, I.R. Poxton & A. Heavisides 251 Gannets at St Abb’s Head and Bass Rock J. Cleaver 254 BOOK REVIEWS 256 RINGERS' ROUNDUP Iain Livingstone 261 The identification of an interesting Richard’s Pipit on Fair Isle in June 2016 I.J. Andrews 266 ‘Canada Geese’ from Canada: do we see vagrants of wild birds in Scotland? J. Steele & J. Nadin 274 Glaucous-winged Gull on Fair Isle, 2 March 2017 - first Scottish record D. Parnaby 276 Cattle Egret, Stranraer, January–March 2017 - third record for Dumfries & Galloway B.D. Henderson 279 Allen’s Gallinule, St Kilda, 26 March 2017 - first Scottish record W.T.S. Miles, J.G. Pilkington, R. Riddington & M. Collinson SIGHTINGS 284 Scottish Bird Sightings 1 April to 30 June 2017 S.L. Rivers PHOTOSPOT BC Cuckoo B. McMillan 37:3 (2017) Scottish Birds 193 President’s Foreword President’s Foreword The past few months have been busy ones for the Club. In July, the fourth successful Young Birdwatchers’ Training Course took place on the Isle of May organised by the Club in conjunction with the Isle of May Bird Observatory. As in previous years six keen youngsters stayed on the island for a week learning ringing, recording and other skills. The course was led by Stuart Rivers and Mark Oksien and assisted by Alison Creamer, with support from CEH and SNH. On the organisational front our Librarian Karen Bidgood bade farewell to the Club earlier this year to live in Cumbria with her husband Nigel. We wish Plate 154. James Main, Aberlady, Lothian, July 2016. them both well. Karen was not only an excellent © Doreen Main librarian but also was a valued member of the Waterston House team who was willing to turn her hand to anything if needed. We also welcome Susan Horne, who has volunteered in the Library for some time, and takes over as Librarian from Karen. The Club is also looking to recruit a Finance Officer to take over from Jean Torrance, who has been a mainstay of the Club for many years and who will be retiring in December. Jean has contributed hugely to the Club over the years and will be much missed. A Finance Committee has been formed under our Treasurer Andrew Thorpe to oversee the management of the Club’s finances. This covers a variety of areas as many things have an impact on cash flow. A small Strategy Group has also been formed to consider the Club’s position in the future. The remit is wide-ranging and the Group is looking at the strategy and overall governance of the Club, its structure and operations. This is to ensure that we comply with the Charity Regulator’s requirements. There are a number of projects under consideration at the moment, including a major web-site redesign and a mobile application - watch out for developments. The art exhibition at Waterston House by Lucy Newton was very successful and the current exhibition is a joint one between John Hatton and Robert Greenhalf. I should like to remind you all that the SOC Annual Conference will be held at the Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry from 20–22 October. The theme is ‘Movements and Migration’. To paraphrase the title of one of the talks ‘Why are they here and what do they do when they are not?’ seems to sum it up. There is a varied programme with many excellent speakers from Scotland, England and Holland. A detailed programme is on the website. There may be places left and, if you haven’t booked already, give Kathryn Cox at Waterston House a call. I do look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. With the migratory season coming up I hope you all have a good autumn’s birding James Main, SOC President 194 Scottish Birds 37:3 (2017) Potential occurrence of the Long-tailed Skua subspecies Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens in Scotland Potential occurrence of the Long-tailed Skua subspecies Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens in Scotland C.J. MCINERNY & R.Y. MCGOWAN Two Long-tailed Skuas Stercorarius longicaudus reported in Scotland, an adult male collected at Sule Skerry, Orkney in June 1908, and an adult observed at East Burra, Shetland over four summers during 2009–2012, showed features suggesting the east Siberian and Nearctic subspecies S. l. pallescens. If confirmed they would be the first two records of that subspecies for Scotland and the UK. At present, the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) does not accept records of the subspecies in Britain without independent confirmation of their origin, such as a ringing recovery, as ‘BBRC’s research has not established criteria by which a vagrant could be identified‘ (BBRC 2016, Stoddart 2016). This note puts these observations on record pending future developments, so that they can be considered and, if accepted, added to the Scottish and British Lists. Background Long-tailed Skua is a trans-equatorial migrant, breeding in Arctic regions during the summer, and flying to areas of the southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at other times of the year (del Hoyo et al. 1996). Two subspecies are recognised: S. l. longicaudus (hereafter longicaudus) breeding in the Western Palearctic from northern Fennoscandia to Russia, and S. l. pallescens (hereafter pallescens) breeding from eastern Siberia to Nearctic regions of Alaska, Canada and Greenland. While Siberian and western Nearctic populations of pallescens migrate through the eastern Pacific, populations of both subspecies from eastern Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia and Russia migrate through the mid-Atlantic (Cramp & Simmonds 1983, del Hoyo et al. 1996). Each year variable numbers of longicaudus are observed in Scotland both on spring and autumn migration, as they move past the country (Griffin & McInerny 2007, Forrester et al. 2007, McInerny & Griffin 2007, Wynn et al. 2014). In contrast, pallescens has not officially occurred in the UK, with the subspecies on neither the British nor Scottish Lists. The presence of pallescens on the British List has a somewhat curtailed history. It was added on the basis of a specimen collected at the Sound of Harris, Outer Hebrides by Richard Meinertzhagen on 19 August 1941, and preserved at the Natural History Museum, Tring (BMNH 1965.M.4109) (BOU 1958, 2009). However, a number of British records based on Meinertzhagen specimens were subsequently removed from the British List due to the likelihood of fraud (BOU 1993, Knox, 1993, Kehoe 2006). Following a recommendation that Long-tailed Skua should be treated as polytypic, with pallescens considered valid (Sangster et al. 2004), the status of this subspecies on the British List was reviewed: as the Sound of Harris record was the only occurrence in Britain, it was removed (BOU 2009). 37:3 (2017) Scottish Birds: 195–201 195 Potential occurrence of the Long-tailed Skua subspecies Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens in Scotland Other reports Shetland 2009–2012 An adult Long-tailed Skua summered at Easter Heog, East Burra, Shetland on four consecutive summers 2009–12. The bird was observed amongst a colony of Arctic Skuas S. parasiticus, where it set up territory, attempting to find a mate (Harrop 2010). The locations and dates were: Kettla Ness, Burra, Voe, and Easter Heog, East Burra: 22 June to 23 July 2009. Easter Heog, East Burra and elsewhere on Burra: 27 May to 17 July 2010. Easter Heog, East Burra and elsewhere on Burra: 12 May to 3 July 2011. Easter Heog, East Burra, elsewhere on Burra and Wester Quarff: 12 May to 19 July 2012. This individual had plumage features, including pale underparts with white flanks and belly, and just a grey vent, suggesting pallescens (Cramp & Simmonds 1983). Though in some published photographs the underparts looked slightly darker, direct field observations showed strikingly pale flanks and belly (C. McInerny pers. obs.). These features are in contrast to those shown by longicaudus which instead exhibits consistently darker underparts, with grey flanks, belly and vent, with just a pale small breast ‘bib’. One of the authors (C.M.) has seen many hundreds of longicaudus and pallescens in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, respectively. The East Burra individual most closely resembled those seen in the North Pacific, suggesting that it was pallescens. To explore further whether the Shetland bird might be pallescens, Long-tailed Skua specimens of both subspecies were examined at National Museums Scotland (NMS), Edinburgh. Only skins of adults (having unbarred underwings) were considered. Sub-adults were disregarded, as this age- class of both subspecies shows pale underparts and are therefore indistinguishable (Cramp & Simmonds 1983).