West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 63 1996 Waxwing, Rugeley, Staffs, April (Phill Ward)
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West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 63 1996 Waxwing, Rugeley, Staffs, April (Phill Ward). West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 63 1996 The Annual Report of the West Midland Bird Club on the birds in the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and the former West Midlands county. Contents 2 Officers and Committee 3 Editorial 4 Birds in 1996 12 Classified Notes 168 Short Notes 172 Ringing in 1996 178 Submission of Records 179 County Lists 186 Gazetteer 192 Key to Contributors The West Midland Bird Club is a registered charity. Registered Charity No. 213311. Printed by Healeys-Printers Ltd, Unit 10, The Sterling Complex, Farlhing Hoad, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 5AP. Price £5.00 2 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE 1997 President C A Norris Vice Presidents F C Gribble, W E Oddie Chairman *A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warks B80 7JG Deputy Chairman *G R Harrison, "Bryher", Hatton Green, Hatton, Warks CV35 7LA Secretary *H M MacGregor, 74 Ivyfield Road, Erdington, Birmingham B23 7HH Treasurer *B J Cartwright, 41 Mucklestone Wood Lane, Loggerheads, Nr Market Drayton, Shrops TF9 4ED Report Editor J J Bowley, 17 Meadow Way, Fenny Compton, Warks CV33 OWD Bulletin Editor J P South, The Croft, Lower Penkridge Road, Acton Trussell, Stafford ST17 ORJ Membership Secretary J O Reeves, 9 Hintons Coppice, Knowle, Solihull B93 9RF Permit Secretary Miss M Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Birmingham B15 3LX Ringing Secretary *A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Tamworth, Staffs B78 and Promotion, Fund 3HZ Raising and General Purposes Committee Chairman Research and *J R Winsper, 32 Links Road, Hollywood, Birmingham B14 Reserves Committee 4TP Chairman Birmingham Branch *J N Sears, 14 Ingram Street, Malmesbury, Wilts SN16 9BX Chairman Solihull Branch *G A Morley, 64 Cambridge Avenue, Solihull, B91 1QF Chairman Staffordshire Branch *F C Gribble, 22 Rickerscote Avenue, Stafford, Staffs ST17 4EZ Chairman Tamworth Branch B Stubbs, 19 Alfred Street, Tamworth, Staffs Chairman Warwickshire Recorder J J Bowley (address above) Worcestershire R E Harbird, Flat 4, Buckley Court, 16 Woodfield Road, Recorder Moseley, Birmingham B13 9UJ Staffordshire Recorder G N Jones, 4 The Poplars, Lichfield Road, Abbots Bromley, Rugeley, Staffs WS15 3AA West Midlands T C Hextell, 49 Cradley Croft, Handsworth, Birmingham Recorder B21 8HP Executive Council Mrs H F Brittain (Minuting Sec.), D Coles, Dr B Dudley, T G Smart Records Committee J J Bowley, R E Harbird, S M Haynes, T C Hextell, Mrs G N Jones, W J Low * Officers serving on the Executive Council 3 Editorial This, my fourth Annual Report, is unfortunately also my last as Editor, as increasing family commitments mean that I no longer have much spare time in the day to devote to it. I have greatly enjoyed my time in the job, despite many problems encountered along the way, although few people will appreciate the number of hours needed to produce the finished article) In my time I have tried, hopefully with some success, to modernise the report and bring it into line with other current publications, though still attempting to keep the basic style that marks it out from the rest. One constant criticism is that the lateness of the publication date in recent years means that the report has no relevance. The completion delay is indeed unfortunate (and one that is being rectified), but my reply to this is that the main importance of the modern bird report is not as a summary of rare bird sightings (a subject more than adequately covered by several national publications) but as an archive of material covering the current state of our birdlife for use by future generations. Less than thorough trawling of available data means that many useful records are lost to posterity. County bird reports are also constantly being used for reference by staff at the RSPB and BTO (a fact not always appreciated by the ordinary birdwatcher), which means that your local records of common birds are extremely valuable. During my term I have tried to extend the space given to entries for our commoner birds in the hope that it will encourage you to send in more records for these species, and this has been partially successful. Records summarising regular census work or counts over limited areas tend to be the most valuable, so please keep them coming! In conclusion, I would like to extend my thanks to the many people without whose help the report could never be completed, especially the authors of the Short Notes for their material; to Steve Haynes, John Judge, Simon Roper and Carl Baggott for help with collating the Warwickshire section; to Mike Gaydon and the staff at Healeys Printers Ltd, to my wife Dawn for help with compilation, and to the following: The cpunty recorders and their teams: Worcestershire: Richard Harbird. Staffordshire: Gilly Jones, Eric Clare, Dave Emley, Bill Low, John Martin, R Powell, Ben Reavey and Mark Sutton. West Midlands: Tim Hextell. The Artists: Phil Jones, Dave Nurney, Terry Parker, John Teasdale and Brett Westwood. The Photographers: lain Leach, Neil Stych and Phill Ward. WMBC Hotline: Eric Clare (01283-791171). J J Bowley 4 Birds in 1996 1996 will long be remembered for some of the best birdwatchirig in the Hegion In the club's history. A record total of 242 species were seen, beating the previous best of 240 in 1994, including no fewer than six firsts for the Region. These included two different Baird's Sandpipers, together with Desert Wheatear, River, Melodious and Dusky Warblers, and Pine Bunting. There were second records of Collared Pratin- cole, Laughing Gull and Dark-throated Thrush, as well as numerous lesser rarities including three White Storks, Blue-winged Teal, Stone-curlew, White-rumped Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Sabine's, Bonaparte's and Ring-billed Gulls, White-winged Black Tern, Alpine Swift, Yellow-browed Warbler and a number of Arctic Redpolls. Added to this, record-breaking invasions of Little Stint, Waxwing, Mealy Redpoll and successful breeding by Black-necked Grebes, there was no shortage of excitement during the year. Weather-wise the year was more unsettled than recently, with some periods of intense cold at both ends of the year. After a cold wet spring there were some periods of very warm weather during late summer, followed by a generally mild and often sunny autumn. The freezing conditions of late December 1995 lasted until January 3rd when a thaw began, followed by mild and unsettled weather dominated by a strong south-westerly wind. However'conditions were generally very dull and overcast, in fact the dullest January since 1909. Some good birdwatching was possible, with large influxes of wildfowl, winter thrushes and other birds making spectacular viewing. Among the former were around 120 each of White-fronted Geese and Bewick's Swans, plus large numbers of Goosander (including record counts of 190 at Belvide and 142 at Blithfield) and over 40 Smew. Amongst highlights were two Red-throated and single Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, a Slavonian Grebe, three Bitterns, a Long-tailed Duck, Bean Goose and the only two Glaucous Gulls of the year. The freeze brought in a scatter of waders, with eight Grey Plover alone on the 1st, while Ringed Plover, Knot, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff and Turnstone were all seen. The highlight of the first few days was an adult Ring-billed Gull on the frozen Fens Pools on 3rd, while the south-westerlies brought in at least 13 Little Gulls during the first two weeks, including six together at Shustoke. Passerines were also well represented, with winter thrushes and Blackcaps perhaps the most obvious as large numbers resorted to suburban gardens. Amongst the huge flocks of Fieldfares, no fewer than three wintering Ring Ouzels were discovered, but the real highlight of this period was the discovery of the Region's second (and first twitchable) Dark-throated Thrush in a Redditch suburb on 17th. This bird remained here with Redwings until well into February. Large flocks of Mealy Redpolls continued to be seen in the Region during the month, but were concentrated mainly in parts of Staffs and Worcs. With them was an Arctic Redpoll at Tittesworth during the first week, followed by four in the Wyre Forest during the second half, which proved very popular with visitors. On the 18th, following several days of calm foggy weather, the first of an unprecedented influx of Waxwings appeared, with many more arriving at the end of the month. From 21st onwards a bitterly cold east wind set in, with night temperatures down to -8°C and heavy snow falls on 26th/27th lying until the end of the month. Some large hard weather movements of Skylarks occurred during the latter period, including 1500 south over Bittell on 27th. 5 A small Influx of grebes included three Red-necked and single Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes, while two Firecrests were perhaps more surprising. The last day of the month witnessed a spectacular movement of Pink-footed Geese over Stoke-on- Trent, with at least 2470 recorded, presumably moving between the Lancashire coast and the Wash. February remained cold and unsettled, with strong easterly winds frequently at night. Snow falls occurred on 2nd and from 5th-8th, followed by a thaw on 9th. Further snow falls arrived during the period 19th-22nd, being finally cleared by rain on 23rd; and some nice mild sunny days concluded the month. Much of the month was really a continuation of January, with Waxwings, winter thrushes, redpolls, and wildfowl being prominant again. Many flocks of finches and buntings resorted to feeding stations and weedy fields during the cold weather, and it was at one of the former near Halesowen that the first new Regional bird was found on 6th.