London Natural History Society The Society publishes ornithological and other natural history records for the area within 20 miles of St Paul’s Cathedral. As well as Ornithology, other interests in natural history are catered for through the Society's Sections which record and study the major groups of flora and fauna, and the habitats in which they are found. Meetings organised by each Section are open to all members. New members, beginners and experts alike, are welcomed. An extensive programme of talks and field meetings, to which visitors are welcome, is provided throughout the year. As well as the annual London Bird Report, the Society publishes a journal, The London Naturalist, each year and its Newsletter and Bulletin of the London Bird Club every quarter. Members have access to a large lending and reference library of natural history books and can join one or more of several reading circles which circulate many natural history journals at a fraction of the cost of subscribing direct. Yearly subscriptions range from £20 (for ordinary membership) through £16 for senior members (over 65 years and who have been in continuous membership for ten years or more) to £5 for students (under 18 years of age, or receiving full-time education). Additional family members, who enjoy all the benefits of membership except separate publications, pay only £4 each. Cheques should be made payable to the London Natural History Society and sent to the Assistant Treasurer: Robin Blades, 32 Ashfield Road, London N14 7JY. Further copies of this issue of the London Bird Report may be obtained (price £8.00 plus £1.00 postage and packing in the UK) from: Catherine Schmitt, 4 Falkland Avenue, London, N3 1QR. Back numbers of most recent issues are also available from the same address. Cheques should be made payable to the London Natural History Society. ISBN 0 901009 31 8 ISSN 0141 4348 Published by the London Natural History Society – October 2011 www.lnhs.org.uk London Natural History Society c/o The Linnean Society of London Burlington House Piccadilly London, W1J 0BF Front cover: Short-eared Owl by Les Harrison. 1 London Bird Report No.73 for the year 2008 London Natural History Society Published October 2011 2 LONDON BIRD REPORT NO. 73 FOR 2008 All intellectual property rights in the London Bird Report images are retained by the artists/photographers named in the credits. Any reproduction of the images without prior written consent will constitute an actionable infringement. The 16 colour plates (including the back cover) are after page 174. 3 London Bird Report for 2008 Contents Introduction and Acknowledgements – Pete Lambert 5 Rarities Committee and Recorders 7 Recording Arrangements 8 Map of the Area and Gazetteer of Sites 9 Review of the Year – Pete Lambert 16 Contributors to the Systematic List 22 Birds of the London Area 28 Swans to Shelduck – Jan Hewlett 29 Dabbling Ducks – John Colmans 34 Diving Ducks – Roy Beddard 40 Gamebirds – Gareth Richards 47 Divers to Shag – Ian Woodward 49 Herons – Gareth Richards 54 Raptors – Andrew Moon 57 Rails – Andrew Gardener 64 Waders – Part 1: Roy Woodward; Part 2: Tim Harris 67 Skuas to Gulls – Andrew Gardener 85 Terns – Bob Watts 92 Auks to Cuckoo – Derek Coleman 96 Owls to Woodpeckers – David Callahan 102 Larks to Waxwing – Pete Newmark 109 Wren to Thrushes – Martin Shepherd 119 Warblers – Richard Arnold 129 Crests to Treecreeper – Jonathan Lethbridge 139 Penduline Tit to Sparrows – Jan Hewlett 147 Finches: Chaffinch to Siskin – Angela Linnell 154 Finches: Linnet to Hawfinch – Mike Spicer 158 Buntings – Bob Watts 162 Appendix I & II: Escapes & Hybrids – Martin Grounds 166 Appendix III: Non-proven and Non-submitted Records 171 First and Last Dates of Regular Migrants 173 Ringing Report for 2008 – Chris Lamsdell et al 175 Breeding Bird Survey in London, 2008 – Ian Woodward 187 A long-term study of Ringed Black-headed Gulls – Alan Gibson 189 The Birds of Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve, 1994–2003 – David Rear 192 The Birds of the Horsenden Hill Area – Andrew Culshaw 195 Bird Highlights at Alexandra Park, 2008 – Andrew Gardner 209 Bird Highlights at Beddington Farm, 2008 – Kevin Guest 210 Bird Highlights at Brent Reservoir, 2008 – Ian Ellis 212 Bird Highlights at Crossness, 2008 – John Archer 215 Bird Highlights at Rainham Marshes, 2008 – Howard Vaughan 218 Bird Highlights at Regent's Park, 2008 – Tony Duckett 224 Bird Highlights at Stoke Newington Reservoirs, 2008 – Mark Pearson 226 Bird Highlights at Staines Reservoirs, 2008 – Rob Innes 228 Checklist of Birds of the London Area, and Guide for Contributors of Records 231 Breeding Criteria 240 4 LONDON BIRD REPORT NO. 73 FOR 2008 London Natural History Society Founded 1858 Honorary Vice Presidents A.J.Barrett, R.M. Burton M.A.,F.L.S., P.C. Holland, K.H. Hyatt, F.L.S, R.A. Softly. Officers for 2011 President John Edgington Vice Presidents Colin Bowlt, Ph.D., F.L.S., Jan Hewlett, Ph.D., David J. Montier, Colin W. Plant, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., Pat J. Sellar, B.Sc (Eng.), F.R.G.S., M.B.O.U., R. John Swindells, H. Michael Wilsdon, M.B.O.U. Secretary David Howdon Treasurer Michael West Assistant Treasurer Robin Blades World List Abbreviation: Lond. Bird Rep. Ó London Natural History Society, 2011 Printed by Crowes Complete Print Norwich, Norfolk INTRODUCTION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 London Bird Report for 2008 This London Bird Report has been produced by an Editorial Board, comprising: Chair of Editorial Board: PETE LAMBERT Chair of Rarities Committee: BOB WATTS Consultant: ANDREW SELF Data Manager: JOHN ARCHER Designer: MIKE TRIER Editors: Birds of the London Area: JAN HEWLETT Papers: MIKE TRIER Photographs: DOMINIC MITCHELL Remaining sections: PETE LAMBERT, DAVID CALLAHAN Production Manager: GUS WILSON Systematic List written by: Richard Arnold, Roy Beddard, David Callahan, Derek Coleman, John Colmans, Andrew Gardener, Martin Grounds, Tim Harris, Jan Hewlett, Jonathan Lethbridge, Angela Linnell, Andrew Moon, Pete Newmark, Gareth Richards, Martin Shepherd, Mike Spicer, Bob Watts, Ian Woodward, Roy Woodward. INTRODUCTION This is the second London Bird Report to be published in 2011, so we are making progress with the backlog of reports. Hopefully this will continue in 2012. By the time you read this we will be working on LBR 2009 and LBR 2010, so if you have any 2010 records that you haven’t already sent to us, please send them in as soon as you can. In this report we have made changes to the Contributors List and to the Gazetteer of Sites, both of which are explained in those sections. We have also combined the Checklist of Birds of the London Area with the Guide for Contributors of Records. Any comments you have on these changes would, as always, be welcome. We have tried in this report to give more emphasis to the commoner birds of London, particularly where their status appears to be changing. We would particularly welcome more records or observations on commoner birds. Please send any comments you have on the report to me; my contact details are below. As is our normal practice, this report of records for 2008 also lists amendments from previous years. There were rather more than usual this time, due to a couple of problems we had in producing LBR 2007. Due to pressures on space, we have included some amendments within the Systematic List but held others over to LBR 2009. Mark Pearson, our Middlesex Recorder, moved out of London in 2011 and Sean Huggins has taken over this role. Our thanks to Mark for all the work he did for us and best wishes for the future. 6 LONDON BIRD REPORT NO. 73 FOR 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On behalf of the London Natural History Society, I would like to thank the hundreds of individuals and organisations who have contributed records to this report. I would also like to thank all those who helped with the production of the report: the 19 authors of the Systematic List (listed above); Jan Wilczur (JPPW) and Roy Woodward (RKW) for their illustrations; all the photographers who kindly donated their photos; and Andrew Verrall who proof-read the text. Thanks also to all the members of the Editorial Board. I am particularly grateful to all the Recorders, who, in addition to the time- consuming tasks of inputting all the data for their area, checked the species accounts in the Systematic List and provided comments and corrections. Thanks also to Thames Water for the many courtesies extended to our members, and to the following organisations for their generous help in the exchange of records: BirdGuides British Birds Rarities Committee British Trust for Ornithology Buckinghamshire Bird Club East London Birders Forum Hertfordshire Natural History Society Kent Ornithological Society Londonbirders Yahoo group Surrey Bird Club Pete Lambert, Chair of the Editorial Board, September 2011 7 Rarities Committee and Recorders Rarities Committee Chairman Bob Watts Members: J. Archer, R. Bonser, A.V. Moon, N. Tanner and A.S.M. Self. LNHS London & Sector Bird Recorders: London Recorder Andrew Self Inner London Richard Bonser Essex Roy Woodward Herts Joan Thompson Middlesex Sean Huggins Bucks Andrew Moon Kent John Archer Surrey Nick Tanner For a list of the current Bird Recorders and their contact details, see http://www.lnhs.org.uk/ornithology1.htm under Bird recorders for the LNHS area. 8 LONDON BIRD REPORT NO. 73 FOR 2008 Recording Arrangements The area covered by this Report, conventionally known as ‘the London Area’, is the area within 20 miles of St Paul’s Cathedral. The Area covers the whole of Greater London and parts of Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. However, for continuity of recording, Watsonian vice-counties are used in this Report instead of the present administrative areas (but note that vice-counties 18 and 19, South and North Essex, are lumped together as Essex).