Report on Rare Birds in Great Britain in 1978 Michael J
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Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 1978 Michael J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee his is the twenty-first report of the Rarities Committee. Details of Tcommittee membership and other matters relating to its work during the year have already been published (Brit. Birds 72:487-488). The number of submissions was again at a high level, but only seven- tenths of the record 1977 total: 665 (82%) were accepted. Largely through the efficiency of MJR's secretaryship, the committee has been able to keep abreast of the heavy flow of records, and it has been possible to defer the drastic cut in the number of species on the committee's list which seemed imminent a year or two ago. The year summary and species comments have been prepared by J. N. Dymond: a past secretary of the committee, we welcome his renewed continued... 503 504 Report on rare birds in 1978 involvement in our work. As usual, the species comments include the accepted Irish records, which are adjudicated by the Irish Records Panel and published annually in the Irish Bird Report. We are grateful for permis sion to repeat them here, and thank J. Fitzharris, the Panel's honorary secretary, for supplying details of the records. D. J. Britton has again compiled the running totals of records which appear in brackets after each species name: these and other details of the report's presentation are explained on pages 507-508. During 1978, there were reports in Britain of three species new to Britain and Ireland: Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii, Semipalmated Plover C. semipatmatus and Pallid Swift Apus pallidus. Only the first two of these have so far been formally admitted to the British and Irish list after consideration by the BOU Records Committee. As usual, the completeness and accuracy of this report has been due to the valued co-operation of the county and regional recording bodies, the bird observatories and many other people who have readily provided information or advice. M. D. England, avicultural adviser to the committee since 1971, has as usual provided information on escapes and introductions. P. R. Colston, Derek Goodwin, P. J. Hayman, A. R, Kitson, J. H. Marchant, M. A. Ogilvie, R. F. Porter, A.J. Prater, I. S. Robertson, Will Russell and D. I. M. Wallace have given their expert advice on species with which they are specially familiar, and this is gratefully acknowledged. W;e urge photographers to remember to send their rarity photographs to MJR for possible inclusion, and we thank those whose work enhances this report. All records should be sent to the honorary secretary, Michael J. Rogers, 195 Vicarage Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex TW16 7TP, preferably via the appropriate county or regional recorder (see Brit, Birds 72:446-449), with whom new systems for improved liaison with the committee are now operating. A copy of the list of species considered by the committee (67: 347-348, but note that Long-tailed Skua Stercorarius longicaudus will come off the list at the end of 1979, 72:488) can be obtained from MJR, as can copies of the 'Unusual report' form: the latter should be used, or its format followed, when submitting reports, as it makes record assessment easier. PJG Summary of the year A tailpiece to the events of 1977 was the discovery in November of three Ring-necked Ducks, followed by a further eight in December. January 1978 saw the appearance of three more Ring-necked Ducks, and, also of Nearctic origin, a Ring-billed Gull, a Surf Scoter in Co. Donegal and a Long-billed Dowitcher, while from the south came a single Serin and from the east came a Great Bustard and two Lesser WTiite-fronted Geese (these last in North umberland, moving to Galloway in February). The icing on the cake was, fittingly, from the high Arctic: an Ivory Gull in Norfolk. February saw a continuing scatter of Nearctic ducks, in the form of tfiree more Ring-necked Ducks, two Green-winged Teals and a single Blue-winged Teal, as well as a Killdeer, another Serin and a tideline White-billed Diver. Transatlantic arrivals continued to provide the highlights in March, with the eighteenth Ring-necked Duck of the winter, three more Green- Report on rare birds in 1978 505 winged Teals, another Long-billed Dowitcher and another Ring-billed Gull. Three Cranes in eastern counties, the first White Stork of the year and a very early Alpine Swift in Co. Dublin complete the picture. April started quietly, with the only American Wigeon of the first half-year, the first two of five Ring-billed Gulls during the month at the original West Glamorgan haunt of the species, a Little Bunting in Surrey and an Alpine Accentor in Dorset. Then came several White Storks and Cranes and the first of the spring herons, a Little Bittern in fact, closely followed by a Night Heron. A good variety of rarities of southerly or southeasterly origin arrived during the last ten days of April, including another Little Bittern, another Night Heron, several Purple Herons, a Black Stork, a Gull-billed Tern, a Great Spotted Cuckoo, an Alpine Swift, the second British Calandra Lark (on Fair Isle), a Red-rumped Swallow, odd Short-toed Larks, several Serins and anodier Alpine Accentor. A Greater Yellowlegs was found in Co. Cork at the end of the month. As always, May was a productive month, full of surprises, the first of which was an eastern Stonechat in Humberside. Two White-billed Divers in breeding plumage in Shetland preceded an influx of good birds farther south, which included a small scatter of herons, odd White Storks and Cranes, a Woodchat Shrike, a Great Reed Warbler, a Black-headed Bunting, a Thrush Nightingale, a few Red-footed Falcons and a Broad- billed Sandpiper. Mid-month excitement took the form of a Pallid Swift (in Kent), which awaits ratification and admission to the British and Irish list, although, no doubt, the many hundred pilgrims to Stodmarsh are well satisfied already. They had ample opportunity while there to study the consolidating breeding population of Savi's Warblers, which also showed well in many other localities in southern England. Another southern species with an even more precarious foothold in southern counties is Serin, and a dozen or so were recorded during May. The varied arrivals of mid May included two Laughing Gulls, the first of three spring Collared Pratincoles, another Broad-billed Sandpiper, three Rustic Buntings, single Whiskered and Gull-billed Terns, and, to Cornwall, perhaps the most unexpected vagrant, a Rufous Turtle Dove. The last ten days saw a flurry of activity with, from southern climes, two Bee-eaters, a Roller, three more Great Reed Warblers, a Subalpine Warbler and a Lesser Grey Shrike, while from the east or southeast came a Caspian Tern, a Thrush Nightingale, two more eastern Stonechats (in Humberside and Lincolnshire), a Pied Wheatear in Norfolk, a Saker in Shetland, a Sociable Plover in Nottinghamshire and a Terek Sandpiper in Essex. Nearctic species were represented by a Buff- breasted Sandpiper in Shetland. The scatter of overshooting southern rarities continued throughout June, with a few Purple Herons and Red-footed Falcons, four Night Herons, three Great Reed Warblers and four Alpine Swifts, and singles of the rarer Great White Egret, Black Kite and Black-winged Stilt (the last commuting twice between West Sussex and the Kent/East Sussex border). That most immaculate of wagtails, a male Black-headed, reached Cornwall. Further Rustic and Black-headed Buntings, several shrikes and pipits, a Greenish Warbler and four Scarlet Rosefinches were among passerine arrivals, and 506 Report on rare birds in 1978 representing North America were a White-throated Sparrow, a Wilson's Phalarope and a White-rumped Sandpiper. Two Cranes appeared in Orkney and stayed throughout the summer, and the north isles also pro duced another White-billed Diver. July was typically quiet, with just a sprinkling of southern rarities, including another Black-winged Stilt, and four Nearctic waders (one each of Buff-breasted, Baird's and White- rumped Sandpipers, and a dowitcher). Perhaps most noteworthy was a freshly dead Brunnich's Guillemot on the shore of eastern Scotland, exactly a year after three most fortunate observers saw a live one on the Fame Islands, Northumberland. August was a rather unremarkable month for rarities, and, for that matter, for more common migrants too. Persistent westerly weather pro duced a variety of American waders, most notable being three Spotted Sandpipers (in Scilly) and a Greater Yellowlegs (in the Hebrides). There were six WTiite-winged Black Terns (after a blank spring) and 24 or so Long-tailed Skuas. Passerines were represented by ten Aquatic Warblers, two Greenish Warblers and one or two of the regular oddments. As the westerly-dominated weather continued through September, so did the transatlantic flight of waders, but Buff-breasted Sandpipers totalled just seven in the month. The same number was reached by White-rumped Sandpipers (six of them in Ireland), and there were diree Lesser Golden Plovers, three Wilson's Phalaropes, four dowitchers (one identified as Long-billed), one Least Sandpiper, just one Lesser Yellowlegs and three more Spotted Sandpipers. Also from North America came two Laughing Gulls, a Common Nighthawk (in Orkney), a Red-eyed Vireo (on Cape Clear Island), three Blue-winged Teals and the first of the back-end Ring- necked Ducks. Seawatching produced eight Cory's Shearwaters, two Little Shearwaters, 27 Long-tailed Skuas and, between Cornwall and Scilly, a Black-browed Albatross. Shetland almost monopolised the passerine vagrants from Siberia and Europe, the exceptions being a Booted Warbler on Humberside, two Scarlet Rosefinches, two Aquatic Warblers, a handful of Tawny Pipits, a Yellow-breasted Bunting on the Isle of May and an Arctic Warbler in Caithness.