RECENT BBRC DECISIONS

This monthly listing of the most-recent decisions by the British Birds Rarities Committee is not intended to be comprehensive or in any way to replace the annual 'Report on rare birds in Great Britain'. The records list­ ed are mostly those of the rarest species, or those of special interest for other reasons. All records refer to 1997 unless stated otherwise.

ACCEPTED: Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus Buckden Gravel-pits (Cambridgeshire), 2nd May; Cley (Norfolk), 20th June. Nyctea scandiaca Drimsdale, South Uist (Outer ), 28th June. Pallid Swift Apus pallidas Mundesley (Norfolk), 28th August. Little Swift A. qffinis (), 29th May. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops superciliosus , Asta, Tingwall Valley and area (Shetland), 20th June to 3rd July. Pechora Pipit Anthus gustavi (Shetland), 26th-29th September. Citrine Wagtail Motacilki citreola Farlington Marshes (Hampshire), 6th July to 6th September 1996; Brandon Marsh (Warwickshire), 18th May. Thrush Nightingale Luscinia luscinia Hartlepool Headland (Cleveland), 18th-19fh May. Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus Locality in Leicestershire, 19th October. Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pkschanka Kilnsea, 21st-28th October; same, Spurn (Humberside), 24th-25th October. Lanceolated Warbler Locustella lanceolata Landguard, 26th September. River Warbler L. Jluviatilis Linford Gravel-pits (Buckinghamshire), 15th-16th June. Paddyfield Warbler Acrocephalus agricola Thatcham (Berkshire), 7th September. Radde's Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi Spurn, 19th October; Holkham Meals (Norfolk), 22nd October. Collared Flycatcher Ficedula albicollis Ethie Mains (Angus & Dundee), 31st May to 1st June. Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus Spurn, 23rd September. Lesser Grey Shrike L. minor Isle of May (), lst-2nd June. Rosy Starling Stumus roseus Kilnsea and Spurn, 27th-28th September. Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas , (Shetland), 16th-23rd May.

M. J. Rogers, Secretary, BBRC, 2 Churchtown Cottages, Tovxdnack, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 3AZ

120