NORTHUMBRIA RINGING GROUP 50th Anniversary Report

Editors John Day & Ian Kerr Alan Hart

Northumbria Ringing Group

50th Anniversary Report

Editors: John Day & Ian Kerr

Newcastle upon Tyne 2014

Front cover photograph: Kestrel hunting at Boulmer. Paul Galloway © Northumbria Ringing Group 2014 CONTENTS

Title Author Page

Introduction John Day & Ian Kerr 7 50th anniversary celebrations Ian Kerr 8 Historical overview Mike Nattrass & Bryan Galloway 10 Group photograph Ian Fisher 13 List of members, associates and friends Mike Nattrass & Bryan Galloway 14 1963 – 2012 NRG annual ringing totals Bryan Galloway 16 1963 – 2012 NRG species ringing totals Bryan Galloway 17 1963 – 2012

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Barn Owl Keith Brooks & John Steele 24 Blackbird Steve Anderson 28 Common Sandpiper John Richardson & John Day 30 Crested Tit Steve Anderson 34 Dipper John Richardson 36 Goldcrest John Day 40 Goosander Bryan Galloway & Brian Little 42 Grey Heron Ian Kerr 46 Kestrel Ian Kerr 48 Merlin Bryan Galloway & Mike Nattrass 50 Merlin in Co. Durham Mike Nattrass 53 Pied Flycatcher Anne Middleton 58 Reed Warbler Ian Fisher 64 Robin John Day 70 Roseate Tern Tom Cadwallender 74 Sedge Warbler Alan Johnston 78 Siskin Michael Holmes 84 Sparrowhawk Bryan Galloway 86 Storm Petrel Ian Fisher 88 Swallow Richard Barnes 92 Tawny Owl Mike Carr 100 Tufted Duck Andrew Rickeard 104

Selected ringing recoveries Bryan Galloway 106 John Steele REFERENCES

List of publications and papers John Day 108 relating to the Group’s study area by NRG members, associates and friends

THANKS TO EVERYONE 119

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

A 50th anniversary is a highlight for any organisation and a just cause for celebration. That sentiment lies behind the decision to publish this short but we hope informative report about just a few of the species which have engaged the Northumbrian Ringing Group since its formation.

Much has changed over that period. Species such a Montagu’s Harrier and, to a large extent, Hen Harrier, which excited us so much in earlier days, have come and gone. Others have remained, including Merlin, the subject of our longest continuous study as well as Goosander and Tawny Owl. Passerines, such as breeding Pied Flycatcher and Swallow and migrants, including autumn thrushes and warblers, have engaged us throughout. Peregrine and Raven are two examples of species which have, thankfully, come back from the brink during the group’s lifetime to excite all who regularly come into contact with them.

New breeding species have arrived with Avocet, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Goshawk and Red Kite and who, 50 years ago, could ever have imaged that Buzzard would revive and spread to become one of our commonest raptors?

All of these species and many more have been the subject of our efforts to catch, ring and discover more about their movements and life-styles. We don’t suppose anyone could ever calculate the amount of time members have spent walking the hills and moors, checking valleys, forest, woodland, farmland and the coast, oblivious to seasons or weather conditions, in the quest for birds to ring. Or, for that matter, how many days have been devoted to working the traps and nets at Hauxley and at Constant Effort Sites, in addition to regular working party days to keep everything in good repair.

Just a few of the results of all this tremendous effort are highlighted in this publication. The species accounts are individual efforts. Although we suggested a format, as editors, we have to a large extent encouraged writers to present accounts based on their own experience and to include the odd anecdote or two. We have not tried too much to standardise the accounts in the belief that variety adds to the value of the publication - and we hope that you agree.

Ringing is a highly technical and scientific activity. However, this report in no way seeks to be a scientific or technical publication but rather a celebration of ringing in the region during the past five decades.

The group has inevitably changed over 50 years, new members being essential to any organisation. But an examination of the photograph taken outside the Manor House Hotel, Holy Island, on our 25th anniversary shows just how many present then are still very actively involved in ringing both in the region and other areas, particularly Scotland. They might be older and greyer but their enthusiasm remained undimmed.

We would like to thank everyone for their tremendous efforts; the authors of the species accounts, John Steele for his delightfully evocative drawings and everyone who provided photographs. We are also very grateful to Paul Galloway for his hard work and expertise with the layout of this publication and to the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club for their generous financial support.

John Day & Ian Kerr

Goldcrest at Whittle Wood CES Paul Galloway

7 Northumbria Ringing Group 50th Anniversary Celebrations

50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS Away from Hauxley, other old slides showed members, many of them looking incredibly youthful, in other ringing activities, some stranger than others. There was Goosander netting on various rivers, nest box work, the building The first half century of the group was celebrated in great style with a party for more than 60 members and guests of artificial nests for Merlins (failure), Long-eared Owls (successful even when age and weather left just the wire at Gosforth Civic Hall on October 6th 2013. netting base) and the planting with grass and heather of bare cliff ledges for Peregrine (very successful). There was also the lugging of incredibly heavy old wooden ladders over miles of moorland to reach Kestrels, something The get-together enabled guests to greet old friends and to catch up on family gossip and talk over ringing and I remember only too well! birding in general and tell many a tale of deeds past, not just in Northumberland but across the rest of Britain and other parts of the world. Not to mention talk about expanding waistlines, white hair, or lack of it! In less than an hour – although he’d promised 15 minutes – Bryan managed to give an illustrated history spanning the entire 50 years of the group. It was wonderful to see so many old friends, some of whom had travelled long distances. Eric Meek made the trip south from Orkney, Ian Newton arrived from Lincolnshire, Dick Temple and John Ginnever from Yorkshire, A thought-provoking presentation on the next 50 years followed from two younger members, Phil Bolam and his Alan Heavisides and Ian Poxton from Edinburgh and Chris Ward from west Cumbria. fiancé Rike Kroener. Questions they posed covered environmental losses to development, less public cash for the countryside in general and climate change and its effects on birds. Would, for example, we lose northern species Being an event for ringers, the bar did a brisk trade and then after an hour of general socialising the company including Meadow Pipit and Curlew? Would we gain new colonists such as Cetti’s Warblers with perhaps Hoopoe settled down and enjoyed a pleasant meal before the evening’s main events. become a regular target for ringers?

Brian Little Ian Newton Phil Bolam & Rike Kroener Photographs by Ian Fisher

Brian Little gave the welcoming address, even managing, to general hilarity and amazement, to keeping to his On a lighter note, Rike caused laughter while expressed her frustration during quiet spells at the nets of having to allotted slot of five minutes. Ian Newton followed, not so much in his role as chairman of the British Trust for listen to ceaseless talk of that English obsession, cricket, which, coming from Germany, she couldn’t understand. Ornithology but more as a long-standing friend, field worker and great supporter of the group. He recalled how his constant requests for data always met with an enthusiastic response and had greatly helped with publications Eric Bird thanked the group for putting on such a splendid event and then entertained, in his own inimitable such as his landmark Poyser title The Sparrowhawk. style, with jokes he claimed he’d inherited from the late Sandy Bankier. Sandy, as everyone who knew him will remember, had an absolutely inexhaustible supply of them. The comment was made by many that, being such a The main presentation was given by Bryan Galloway. The audience were soon in stitches as each old picture party animal, Sandy would have loved the evening and would have been in and out of every conversation. appeared from the early days of the group. Hair styles ranged from National Service short-back-and sides to Sixties and Seventies shoulder-length hippy. Clothing was pretty amazing too, more ex-army than Berghaus, The raffle was then drawn, appropriately for a ringing group, not from the usual standard cardboard box or bucket Regatta, Craghopper and other modern brands. And was the Austin A35 van, the early workhorse of the group, but from one of ‘Rufus’ Smith’s skilfully-crafted nest boxes. The main prize, Alan Hart’s superb painting of a cock really that small and was Eric Meek’s hair really that brilliant red? Merlin, again very appropriate, chasing a couple of Sanderling against a background of the lime kilns and castle on Holy Island, was carried off northwards by Ian Poxton. Bryan led us through the building of the first Heligoland trap and confessed that some of the timber was rather dubiously acquired from sources best left vague. Then there was Brian, short black hair in those days, one hand Finally, by almost midnight, Brian Little thanked everyone for participating in such a wonderfully memorable casually in pocket, taking the first bird from the catching box. The pictures of the ringing huts, the third donated evening. by the local opencast mining firm, followed along with slides showing the ‘green oasis’ status of Hauxley wood and allotments, surrounded by a opencast moonscape. No wonder the birds loved it. Ian Kerr

8 9 Northumbria Ringing Group Historical Overview

Coquet at Holystone in 1967, was extended and was well underway on the North Tyne by the early 1970s. It LEST WE FORGET – AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW utilised a 60-foot salmon net with a similarly sized wader net as back-up - plus half the group! - and produced some sizeable brood catches. During the early 1980s, with assistance from Glasgow University, cannon nets were used OF THE NORTHUMBRIA RINGING GROUP to catch roosting males at Hoselaw Loch and two papers on our Goosander research were subsequently published. By now, our long-running nest box studies at Tarset Burn, March Burn, Dipton, Linnels and Nunnykirk were well The roots of the Northumbria Ringing Group (NRG) reach back to the early 1950s when a youthful Brian Little established and Grey Heron pulli began to feature in our 1970s ringing totals. learned how to trap and ring birds at Monks’ House Bird Observatory on the coast near Seahouses under the watchful eye of Dr Eric Ennion. The tenth anniversary of the NRG was celebrated with a dinner party in Gosforth in autumn 1972. New group members now included Trevor Hallam, Geoff Macfarlane, Sandy Bankier, John Richards, Foster Davison, Ian In 1955 Brian and his ringing partner Alan Blackett were inspired to branch out and build a Heligoland trap Kerr, David Middleton, Colin Jewitt, Dick Temple and John Day. The arrival in 1973 of Steve Anderson, of their own at Fenwick on the mainland opposite Holy Island although they would have preferred the latter Tom Cadwallender and John Richardson gave Hauxley, their adopted home, a much-needed boost after the locality as a migration hotspot. While the trap was a relative success over the next seven years, during which time ‘hangover’ of recent opencast mining operations which brought about the demolition of our local watering hole, Brian did his National Service - and a lot of ringing - in Cyprus, it was in those days a long haul from Tyneside the Radcliffe Arms. Soon afterwards, a young Martin Davison was beginning to make his presence felt. We also at weekends, usually by push-bike! saw the domestic secondment of former stalwarts, Alan Heavisides and Ian Poxton. Ringing studies of Dipper and Common Sandpiper on the River Coquet above Alwinton were added to the growing list of group activities A ringing site nearer to home was needed. After much searching, during which the old wood at Druridge was during the 1970s as was the long-running study of Swallow in Hexhamshire. Indeed, few species escaped our considered, Brian, with recently qualified ringer Bryan Galloway, discovered in October 1962 the gem that was attention, including a pair of Golden Eagle for over 30 years from 1972. Low Hauxley. It was a day when the wood, to use their own description, was ‘carpeted’ with migrant Blackbirds. A village resident, councillor George Swinburne, was sitting in his nearby allotment. He informed them that the One of the high points of the NRG year was the popular Holy Island weekend in October (noted for westerly wood belonged to Captain Francis Widdrington of Newton-on-the-Moor who subsequently gave permission to winds!), running from 1973 for nearly 30 years, and attracting as many as 40 folk. Also on the social calendar, use it for ringing. and well-attended for many years, was the September barbecue at Hauxley (not for the faint hearted!). The first of four papers on our Merlin studies was published in 1978 and in the same year Steve Petty summarised three In those days the wood, was an island of cover. It seemed the perfect ‘home,’ literally for some, for the newly- years of studying the breeding biology of Sparrowhawks in Kielder Forest. formed NRG, previously the partnership of Little, Clissold and Galloway. They were quickly joined by Ted Robson and Peter Yeoman. Ideas gathered momentum and with support from George Swinburne the construction By now we had built a second Heligoland trap at Hauxley and George Swinburne allowed us to erect an of a Heligoland trap and a ringing hut came to fruition over the extremely cold winter of 1962-1963. George ‘accommodation’ hut on his allotment. arranged for the village hall to become temporary headquarters as materials, some acquired from a redundant trap at Monks House, were transported on the roofs of Mini and Austin A35 vans. The trap was designed with In 1980, Eric Meek was appointed RSPB Officer for Orkney where he worked until retiring in 2011. Needless to a removable section in the wall to allow tractor access to the allotments. It was completed in time for the 1963 say, he still remains very active on those lovely islands. Whilst old studies continued apace, the 1980s brought autumn migration. new projects and new faces to the group, including Geoff Linkleter, John Steele, Neil Anderson, Alan Johnston, Michael Holmes, Margaret Macfarlane, David Jardine, Ian Fisher, Alan Hart and Ian Kerton. On the raptor Eric Meek and Brian Marshall were recruited in 1964 and Geoff Bruce became our first associate member. Grant front, effort was directed at the increasing populations of both Peregrine and Goshawk and in 1983 Mike Nattrass McFarquhar joined in 1966 then Mike Nattrass in 1967. By 1968, John Ginnever, Bill Johnson and Lyal Gray began a long-term study of breeding Merlins in County Durham. had swelled the ranks. We were then a sizeable enough group to carry out a range of ringing activities throughout Northumberland. More Tawny and Barn Owl pulli were being ringed through the uptake of nest boxes over a wider area. Unexpectedly, Long-eared Owls took readily to Martin’s artificial stick nests intended for Merlins. Steve Petty’s With ‘falls’ of migrants not an uncommon event during the 1960s, there were usually plenty of birds to ring at research on the Border Forest Tawny Owls has resulted in numerous papers. Hauxley, augmented by roost catches of, most notably, Swallow, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting from nearby Chevington Burn, Bondicarr Dene and Alnmouth. Of scarcer migrants caught, the regular occurrence of Barred Sandy Bankier’s popular second home and ringing site at Threestoneburn in the north Cheviots gave our annual Warbler, Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike and Red-breasted Flycatcher was very much a feature of the 1960s and passerine totals a welcome boost. This would become in 1984 the group’s first Constant Effort Site (CES), early 1970s and a sprinkling of rarities included Subalpine, Arctic, Greenish, Bonelli’s and Paddyfield Warblers, controversial because of the use of a Heligoland trap. two Thrush Nightingales and a Two-barred Crossbill. Small numbers of waders were mist-netted on the old north field pond at Hauxley with larger numbers at Cresswell Pond and Warkworth riverside. During this period We celebrated 25 years as a ringing group with a lively event in Gosforth in autumn 1985 and a ‘manic’ weekend Captain Widdrington granted ownership of the wood to the group. on Holy Island. Steve Anderson’s three-year stint as assistant warden on Bardsey Island maintained the NRG’s link to the bird observatory network. Previously, in the early 1970s, John Ginnever, Brian Marshall, Eric Meek Away from Hauxley, raptors were always at the forefront of our monitoring work – especially Merlin, Kestrel, and Tony Taylor had spells at Fair Isle. Ian Fisher’s time at North Ronaldsay and the Calf of Man would come. Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl. Both Hen and Montagu’s Harriers were ringed by the lucky few. Peregrine did not feature until their recovery from the effects of pesticides from about 1980. Many hundreds of Black-headed Gull Our second and longest running CES site was set up at Big Waters in 1986 by Alan Johnston, Bryan Galloway and pulli were ringed at several upland lough sites. The popular ‘sport’ of Goosandering, which was pioneered on the Ian Kerr and in the same year Bryan Galloway used ringing recoveries to summarise dispersal of Sparrowhawks,

10 11 Northumbria Ringing Group 25th Anniversary

Kestrels and Merlins from Northumberland breeding sites. Northumbria Ringing Group Tape-luring of Storm Petrel on the shore at Hauxley began in 1986 and met with surprising success. Our first major seabird study, that of Roseate Tern at Coquet Island, began in 1988, and continues to this day with Tom 25th Anniversary Cadwallender visiting the island annually to ring pulli. Other activities by group members at this time included Holy Island, 11 October 1987 an impressive catch of 68 moulting Red-breasted Mergansers at Lindisfarne in the late summers of 1989 and 1990.

The 1990s brought Mike Carr, Nigel Foggo, John Rutter, Stewart Sexton, Anne Middleton, Keith Brooks, Jon Coleman and Andy Rickeard to the group. Jon and Andy’s ‘big wet birds’ project was a new departure, their study encompassing Mute Swan, Greylag and Canada Goose, assorted ducks and Coot. They have published widely on the subject. Further CES sites were run for a time at Druridge Bay Country Park, Stobswood and Corbridge. By then Ringing Adults for Survival (RAS) schemes was employed at some of the ten or so nest box studies of Pied Flycatcher, Redstart and tits.

A welcome uptake of boxes by Tree Sparrow at Big Waters from 1996, but also at Hauxley Nature Reserve, would make the pulli totals of this species a feature of many years to come. A paper in 2011 by John Day and Alan Johnston resulted from the former study.

In 1996 Brian Little was awarded the MBE for ornithological research, an honour to be followed by the much- coveted Bernard Tucker Medal in 1997.

Kittiwake ringing, well under way at Dunbar, continued into the new century with additional sites at Gateshead and Cullernose. The new century also welcomed colonising Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Osprey and Avocet and they are now a regularly feature in the annual ringing totals, as are the impressive number of Reed and Sedge Warblers being caught at East Chevington reed beds in late summer. Another welcome activity was a return to catching roosting Swallows in the autumn of 2006 at Birtley Sewage Works.

The demise of the Durham Ringing Group brought a surge of new blood to the group including Richard Barnes, Les Milton, John Strowger and Keith Bowey. Back Row: By now the new CES sites at Whittle Wood and Hauxley Reserve were well-established, to be followed by Geoff Linkleter, Bill Johnson, Steve Anderson, Martin Davison, Michael Holmes, Muriel Cadwallender, others at Birtley Sewage Works in 2008 and Lockhaugh (previously run by Steve Westerburg) in 2009. Yvonne Tom Cadwallender, Alan Johnston, Ian Kerr and Rob Jordan Townsend, Malte Iden, Tony and Chris Gibson, Tanya Fowler, Phil Bolam and Rike Kroener are more recent arrivals in a group membership that has averaged about 25 ringers over the years. The many associates and friends Middle Row - Standing left side: of the NRG are acknowledged elsewhere. Mick Marquiss, Ian Poxton, Stuart Winter , Steve Petty, David Anderson

On a sad note, it has been inevitable over a 50-year period that we would lose valued members and friends. These Middle Row - Seated: have included Geoff Macfarlane, Trevor Hallam, Foster Davison, Sandy Bankier and Peter Yeoman. Chris Redfern, Dick Temple, John Richards, Paul Watson, Duncan Huggett, Nick Rossiter, John Pattinson, Biddy Tweddle, Marjory Pyle We hope this brief account gives a flavour of the progress we have made since the formation of the group in 1963 and apologies for not mentioning everyone or every project but you are all credited later in the publication. Front Row - Seated: The Northumbria Ringing Group, surely at the top for longevity among similar groups, remains strong and will, John Richardson, Rufus Smith, Mike Nattrass, Colin Jewitt, Sandy Bankier, Brian Little, hopefully, continue so for at least another 50 years. Bryan Galloway, John Ginnever, John Dutton, John Day, Alan Heavisides

Mike Nattrass & Bryan Galloway Sitting on ground: Brian Etheridge & Ian Fisher

Photograph by Ian Fisher

12 13 Northumbria Ringing Group Members Past & Present

Northumbria Northumbria Ringing Ringing Group Group

Members Past & Present Helpers & Associates Past & Present

David Anderson Trevor Hallam (late) Mike Nattrass Rod Adams Jack Hind Ruth Walton (late) Neil Anderson John Halliwell John Pattinson Brian Armstrong Geoff Horne Chris Ward Steve Anderson Alan Hart Steve Petty Reeve Atkinson Jeff Kew Peter West (late) Sandy Bankier (late) Alan Heavisides Ian Poxton Carol Bainbridge John Lock (late) Richard Barnes Michael Holmes David Raw Ian Bainbridge Jim Martin Phil Bolam Malte Iden Chris Redfern Jo Bentley Mick Marquiss Keith Bowey David Jardine Keith Reid Eric Bird Johnny Mather Keith Brooks Colin Jewitt John Richards John Brogden (late) Lindsay McDougall Helen Brown Bill Johnson John Richardson Geoff Bruce George Miller Tom Cadwallender Alan Johnston Neil Richardson Muriel Cadwallender Bill Moon (late) Mike Carr Ian Kerr Andy Rickeard Geoff Chayter Simon Nattrass Graham Christer Ian Kerton Simon Roddis Ron Cook (late) Ian Newton Jon Coleman Frederike Kroener Ian Robson Bob Crabb David Nicol Foster Davison (late) Jane Lindsay Ted Robson Nicola Crockford Roger Norman Martin Davison Geoff Linkleter John Rutter Wendy Dickson Tom Palmer John Day Brian Little John Steele John Dutton (late) Charlie Parker Giselle Eagle Brian Marshall Stewart Sexton Dewi Edwards Margaret Pattinson Ian Fisher Geoff Macfarlane (late) John Strowger Brian Etheridge Bill Poulton Nigel Foggo Margaret Macfarlane Tony Taylor Simon Foley Marjorie Pyle Tanya Fowler Grant McFarquhar Dick Temple Roger Forster Les Rimmer Bryan Galloway Eric Meek Iwan Thomas David Galloway Nick Rossiter Tony Gibson Anne Middleton Yvonne Townsend Les Glass Les Shiel Chris Gibson David Middleton Paul Watson Samantha Goodwin Ray Smith John Ginnever Les Milton Peter Yeoman (late) Kevin Grey Biddy Tweddle Lyal Grey Peter Morris Ian Yoxall Helen Harris John Twyford

List compiled by Mike Nattrass, Bryan Galloway et al.

14 15 Northumbria Ringing Group Ringing Totals

ANNUAL RINGING TOTALS SPECIES RINGING TOTALS 1963 – 2012 1963 – 2012

Year Group Total Hauxley Total Year Group Total Hauxley Total Group Hauxley 1963 3773 575 1988 9173 3072 Species Fg Pull Total Fg Pull Total 1964 6072 2330 1989 7390 1225 Little Grebe 1 - 1 - - - Red-necked Grebe 1 - 1 1 - 1 1965 5630 2284 1990 11134 2469 Fulmar 1 - 1 1 - 1 1966 5845 3090 1991 7380 1319 Storm Petrel 123 - 123 123 - 123 1967 6245 1263 1992 7392 831 Leach's Petrel 1 - 1 - - - 1993 8799 833 1968 8000 1963 Cormorant 1 - 1 - - - 1994 10640 1029 1969 3257 1442 Bittern 2 - 2 1 - 1 1970 4087 1500 1995 7274 547 Grey Heron 2 623 625 - 7 7 1971 4519 1350 1996 5709 459 Mute Swan 60 16 76 4 - 4 1972 4268 1000 1997 5825 1014 Whooper Swan 1 - 1 - - - 1973 4512 1061 1998 5659 1102 Grey Lag Goose 27 19 46 21 19 40 Canada Goose 188 3 191 - 1 1 1974 3091 582 1999 4723 827 Barnacle Goose 1 - 1 - - - 1975 3514 746 2000 4643 1000 Ruddy Shelduck 1 - 1 - - - 1976 4308 1856 2001 5025 1554 Shelduck 1 1 2 1 1 2 2002 7684 1709 1977 4747 1614 Mandarin 4 - 4 - - - 2003 8461 1345 1978 4150 1055 Wigeon 2 - 2 - - - 2004 8825 1474 1979 4986 1379 Teal 18 3 21 2 - 2 1980 7033 1736 2005 6037 1503 Mallard 181 44 225 11 - 11 1981 6670 1618 2006 6610 1451 Shoveler 2 - 2 - - - 1982 5854 3506 2007 9471 880 Red-crested Pochard 1 - 1 - - - 1983 4650 1855 2008 8085 1348 Pochard 16 - 16 - - - 1984 6591 2260 2009 8631 1324 Tufted Duck 289 2 291 - - - Scaup 1 - 1 - - - 1985 6090 1986 2010 10473 1825 Eider 2 - 2 1 - 1 1986 5327 1197 2011 12829 1484 Goldeneye 1 - 1 - - - 1987 7744 1665 2012 12595 884 Red-breasted Merganser 68 - 68 - - - TOTAL 323,493 77,676 Goosander 177 668 845 - - - Red Kite 1 56 57 - - - Marsh Harrier - 7 7 - 7 7 Hen Harrier - 94 94 - - - Montagu's Harrier - 7 7 - - - Goshawk 1 355 356 - - - Sparrowhawk 293 1710 2003 147 - 147 Buzzard 1 44 45 1 - 1 Osprey - 12 12 - - - Golden Eagle - 6 6 - - - Kestrel 83 2330 2413 15 9 24 Merlin 17 3653 3670 3 - 3 Hobby - 2 2 - - - Peregrine 3 399 402 - - - Red-legged Partridge 1 - 1 1 - 1 Grey Partridge 15 - 15 12 - 12 Pheasant 3 - 3 1 - 1 Water Rail 29 - 29 24 - 24

16 continued over... 17 Northumbria Ringing Group Ringing Totals

Group Hauxley Group Hauxley Species Fg Pull Total Fg Pull Total Species Fg Pull Total Fg Pull Total Moorhen 66 4 70 22 - 22 Turtle Dove 2 - 2 2 - 2 Coot 341 3 344 - - - Cuckoo 14 2 16 13 - 13 Avocet - 24 24 - - - Barn Owl 54 1229 1283 - 3 3 Oystercatcher 3 52 55 2 - 2 Little Owl 8 21 29 1 3 4 Little Ringed Plover 1 12 13 1 - 1 Tawny Owl 462 5101 5563 2 1 3 Ringed Plover 51 140 191 17 6 23 Long-eared Owl 23 231 254 17 - 17 Golden Plover - 14 14 - - - Short-eared Owl 3 152 155 1 - 1 Grey Plover 3 - 3 - - - Nightjar 2 5 7 - - - Lapwing 7 1078 1085 5 34 39 Swift 754 43 797 - - - Knot 5 - 5 4 - 4 Kingfisher 36 7 43 2 - 2 Sanderling 9 - 9 9 - 9 Wryneck 17 - 17 16 - 16 Little Stint 3 - 3 3 - 3 Green Woodpecker 4 5 9 2 - 2 Pectoral Sandpiper 1 - 1 1 - 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 369 1 370 46 - 46 Curlew Sandpiper 5 - 5 4 - 4 Skylark 32 82 114 4 25 29 Dunlin 468 - 468 269 - 269 Shore Lark 3 - 3 2 - 2 Buff-breasted Sandpiper 1 - 1 1 - 1 Sand Martin 4933 - 4933 70 - 70 Ruff 40 - 40 28 - 28 Swallow 17646 8863 26509 2712 176 2888 Jack Snipe 16 - 16 11 - 11 House Martin 1403 4 1407 80 - 80 Snipe 239 8 247 154 - 154 Olive-backed Pipit 1 - 1 1 - 1 Woodcock 53 15 68 43 - 43 Tree Pipit 29 49 78 18 - 18 Bar-tailed Godwit 3 - 3 1 - 1 Meadow Pipit 1044 459 1503 625 155 780 Curlew 17 140 157 8 - 8 Red Throated Pipit 1 - 1 1 - 1 Spotted Redshank 5 - 5 3 - 3 Rock Pipit 65 17 82 54 12 66 Redshank 57 47 104 36 - 36 Water Pipit 1 - 1 1 - 1 Greenshank 4 - 4 2 - 2 Yellow Wagtail 36 10 46 19 5 24 Green Sandpiper 3 - 3 2 - 2 Grey Wagtail 145 348 493 12 - 12 Wood Sandpiper 6 - 6 - - - Pied Wagtail 323 882 1205 55 17 72 Common Sandpiper 288 180 468 25 - 25 Waxwing 35 - 35 4 - 4 Turnstone 11 - 11 10 - 10 Dipper 162 2281 2443 - - - Black-headed Gull 9 3700 3709 1 - 1 Wren 4089 52 4141 1933 11 1944 Common Gull 29 - 29 1 - 1 Dunnock 6050 239 6289 2819 22 2841 Lesser Black-backed Gull - 25 25 - - - Robin 9569 283 9852 5464 11 5475 Herring Gull 2 - 2 1 - 1 Thrush Nightingale 3 - 3 3 - 3 Greater Black-backed Gull 1 - 1 - - - Nightingale 3 - 3 3 - 3 Kittiwake 134 921 1055 1 - 1 Bluethroat 9 - 9 9 - 9 Sandwich Tern - 6 6 - - - Black Redstart 18 - 18 15 - 15 Roseate Tern 31 1343 1374 - - - Redstart 999 3199 4198 680 - 680 Common Tern - 64 64 - - - Whinchat 306 186 492 141 15 156 Arctic Tern 6 498 504 - - - Stonechat 37 4 41 32 4 36 Little Tern 2 162 164 - - - Siberian Stonechat 1 - 1 1 - 1 Black Tern 1 - 1 1 - 1 Wheatear 54 148 202 53 - 53 Puffin - 5 5 - - - Pied Wheatear 1 - 1 - - - Guillemot 6 - 6 4 - 4 Ring Ousel 52 93 145 43 - 43 Little Auk 3 - 3 1 - 1 Blackbird 21853 1225 23078 19427 125 19552 Stock Dove 17 197 214 - - - Fieldfare 444 - 444 59 - 59 Woodpigeon 231 160 391 131 121 252 Song Thrush 4022 531 4553 2813 64 2877 Collared Dove 37 19 56 8 13 21 Redwing 2735 - 2735 1499 - 1499

18 continued over... 19 Northumbria Ringing Group Ringing Totals

Group Hauxley Group Hauxley Species Fg Pull Total Fg Pull Total Species Fg Pull Total Fg Pull Total Mistle Thrush 252 102 354 98 43 141 Rook 23 20 43 - - - Grasshopper Warbler 119 - 119 68 - 68 Carrion Crow 28 216 244 3 14 17 Sedge Warbler 5657 57 5714 3983 52 4035 Raven - 70 70 - - - Paddyfield Warbler 1 - 1 1 - 1 Starling 3350 322 3672 304 6 310 Blyth's Reed Warbler 1 - 1 1 - 1 House Sparrow 1530 22 1552 394 - 394 Marsh Warbler 8 - 8 7 - 7 Tree Sparrow 1260 4653 5913 597 744 1341 Reed Warbler 898 - 898 764 - 764 Chaffinch 11196 224 11420 971 13 984 Great Reed Warbler 1 - 1 - - - Brambling 689 - 689 147 - 147 Icterine Warbler 16 - 16 15 - 15 Greenfinch 8637 78 8715 2243 23 2266 Subalpine Warbler 5 - 5 5 - 5 Goldfinch 1161 32 1193 550 10 560 Barred Warbler 48 - 48 47 - 47 Siskin 5852 8 5860 113 - 113 Lesser Whitethroat 424 - 424 303 - 303 Linnet 2365 219 2584 1789 64 1853 Whitethroat 978 82 1060 521 14 535 Twite 19 - 19 - - - Garden Warbler 976 6 982 683 - 683 Mealy Redpoll 8 - 8 3 - 3 Blackcap 3657 4 3661 2198 - 2198 Lesser Redpoll 2254 26 2280 532 5 537 Greenish Warbler 7 - 7 7 - 7 Arctic Redpoll 1 - 1 1 - 1 Arctic Warbler 2 - 2 2 - 2 Two-barred Crossbill 2 - 2 2 - 2 Pallas's Warbler 10 - 10 9 - 9 Crossbill 231 - 231 5 - 5 Yellow-browed Warbler 30 - 30 29 - 29 Common Rosefinch 7 - 7 6 - 6 Hume's Leaf Warbler 2 - 2 2 - 2 Bullfinch 1426 19 1445 82 - 82 Radde's Warbler 3 - 3 3 - 3 Snow Bunting 34 - 34 1 - 1 Dusky Warbler 2 - 2 1 - 1 Yellowhammer 1499 41 1540 185 2 187 Western Bonelli's Warbler 2 - 2 2 - 2 Ortolan Bunting 1 - 1 1 - 1 Wood Warbler 26 62 88 11 - 11 Little Bunting 2 - 2 2 - 2 Chiffchaff 3414 6 3420 1022 - 1022 Reed Bunting 3590 97 3687 2665 58 2723 Willow Warbler 11271 383 11654 3927 11 3938 Corn Bunting 17 5 22 15 2 17 Goldcrest 7498 6 7504 5554 - 5554 TOTAL 200699 122794 323493 75382 2294 77676 Firecrest 22 - 22 20 - 20 Spotted Flycatcher 327 664 991 221 4 225 The Group totals include the Hauxley totals. The Hauxley totals are made up of all birds ringed between Pied Flycatcher 2315 18272 20587 437 - 437 Alnmouth in the north and Cresswell Pond in the south. Red-breasted Flycatcher 23 - 23 23 - 23 Bearded Tit 3 - 3 3 - 3 Long-tailed Tit 2713 - 2713 610 - 610 Marsh Tit 98 88 186 3 - 3 Willow Tit 390 20 410 52 - 52 Crested Tit 1 - 1 1 - 1 Coal Tit 5079 1413 6492 464 24 488 Blue Tit 17593 26511 44104 2928 119 3047 Great Tit 8797 23784 32581 643 196 839 Nuthatch 282 346 628 1 - 1 Treecreeper 537 54 591 92 - 92 Golden Oriole 2 - 2 2 - 2 Red-backed Shrike 26 - 26 22 - 22 Great Grey Shrike 7 - 7 7 - 7 Jay 69 18 87 - - - Magpie 120 42 162 38 15 53 Jackdaw 118 199 317 7 8 15 Lunchtime at Hauxley Ringing Station Brian Little

20 21 50th Anniversary Report SPECIES ACCOUNTS

NORTHUMBRIA RINGING GROUP Juvenille male Sparrowhawk at Whittle Wood CES

Paul Galloway Northumbria Ringing Group Barn Owl Barn Owl Tyto alba

Status and history

The charismatic Barn Owl is at the north-west limit of its European range in Britain. In Northumberland, its fortunes have varied in the past, having once been a common and widespread resident but declining in the latter part of the 19th century, because of illegal persecution (Hancock 1874). This was followed by some recovery in the early 20th century (Bolam 1932) which continued through the Second World War. However from the 1960s a major decline followed, attributed largely to loss of habitat, human disturbance, severe winters and toxic chemicals (Sharrock, 1976), and affecting the whole of Britain. In Northumberland this was most apparent in the upland areas (Galloway & Meek, 1980). In Birds in Northumbria 1983 the Barn Owl was still considered as ‘well-represented’ but by 1997 had declined to ‘uncommon’.

The European Common Agricultural Policy, which resulted in set-aside schemes to reduce the ‘grain mountain,’ reduced the areas of intense farming and fortuitously improved farmland habitat for wildlife. This was replaced in the late 1990s by agri-environmental schemes designed specifically to improve farmland for birds. Following the national decline of Barn Owls, highlighted by Gibbons et al. (1993) and the improving habitat, initiatives were encouraged to provide nesting places by the provision of suitable nest boxes to compensate for the loss of trees and barns. These initiatives, combined with milder winters from the turn of the century, saw an increase in the number and range of breeding Barn Owls, with several intrepid pairs even managing to succeed at a height of 320m above sea level in the north Cheviot valleys. From a low of just 18 pairs between 1987-1991 (Day et al. 1995) numbers climbed steadily to a high of at least 105 sites in 2007. Eric Meek with adult Barn Owl near Hartburn Bryan Galloway

NRG members monitor many boxes erected by farmers, estates and private individuals, mostly on the higher This was followed by 101-105 confirmed breeding pairs reported in 2008 (BiN), including the re-colonisation ground in the west, with a few in the coastal area. Known natural sites are also checked. The largest project is of Holy Island after a gap of half a century. It then seemed possible that the Barn Owl might regain its ‘well- with the Northumberland National Park whose staff installed 60 boxes between 1999 and 2006 to compensate represented’ status. However, the recent severe winters halted and reversed these gains, with many birds dying for the loss of many nest sites in ash trees and buildings affected by conversion. The Ministry of Defence also from starvation, including about 20 reported from the Otterburn MOD Training Area, Upper Coquetdale and provided 30 boxes on the Otterburn Training Area. The Forestry Commission provided another 30 boxes in Redesdale areas. Similar winter deaths were reported from the north Cheviot valleys with 65 (of which 13 had Kielder Forest, mostly in old buildings around the edges, and in Spadeadam Forest. The NRG also installed been ringed) in 2009-2010 and 35 (5 ringed) in 2010-2011 (pers. comm. EJSteele). Confirmed breeding numbers around 20 boxes funded by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust in various locations. Starting from 2005, the in the county fell to 86 and 66 in 2009 and 2010 respectively. ringing partnership of Hanmer & Wood monitor five large study areas in east Northumberland, now covering some 125 sites with up 29 boxes being occupied. The Barn Owl is a Schedule 1 species, and is Amber listed as a species of intermediate conservation concern.

While nest boxes are very convenient, the build-up of pellets and excreta in a confined space creates a very smelly Ringing environment. Someone has to clean them out on a regular basis!

Between the founding of the NRG and 2012 a total of 54 adults and 1,229 nestlings have been ringed. The Between 1963 and 1995 a total of 28 adults and 209 pulli were ringed (an average of c.6.4 pulli per annum) earliest ringing of Barn Owls by the NRG was in the west of the county, where other raptor studies had started, although none were ringed in 1996, 1997 and 1998. However, the installation of boxes, as noted previously, and was carried out in an opportunistic way as and when nests were found. In the Kielder area the Barn Owl was allowed regular monitoring and the numbers of pulli ringed increased rapidly from 1999 to a high of 182 in 2008, relatively common, nesting in abandoned farms and buildings, even making use of cupboards! Numbers declined as shown in the following table. The effect of harsh winters is also clear with a rapid decline from 2009. During through the 1970s and 1980s, as buildings were knocked down or converted and the Kielder Reservoir dam was this period a further 16 adults were also ringed. Interestingly, small numbers of darker- plumaged T. alba guttata constructed and suitable habitat flooded. type pulli are occasionally found and ringed in the north Cheviots.

24 25 Northumbria Ringing Group Barn Owl

NRG Pulli Barn Owl totals 1999 - 2012

1999 2000 2001 202 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 8 13 4* 28 43 55 70 120 175 182 157 100 29 36

*Foot & mouth outbreak restricted access

Recoveries

Of the 1,283 adults and nestlings ringed, a total of 115 (9%) have been recovered or controlled up to 2012. Barn Owls tend not to disperse great distances from natal areas as can be seen from the following data collected since 1962. 66 individuals were recorded within 20km of their ringing site and 113 within 100km. Only two recoveries were over 100km, one of 108km from Acklington to Ecclefechan, near Lockerbie, and the other 255km from Meldon to Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

In the 1960s and 1970s, with the county’s Barn Owls at very low numbers, several recoveries were made from birds originating from Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway, suggesting an easterly colonising movement of the then reasonably buoyant western population (Bunn 1982). Recoveries in more recent years have shown some reverse movement, e.g. Rothbury to Twiglees, Dumfries and Galloway, and Wark Forest to Farlaw, Cumbria.

Analysis of the dispersal of ringed birds show a 360 degree spread but with a bias towards the east and south east. However, when individual movements were plotted on a county map it became clear that there was a north/south split in movements. Dividing Northumberland roughly along the line of the River Coquet, birds ringed north of this line showed a very strong tendency to move further north in the county and north west into the Borders Region (19 out of 22 records). Interestingly, those ringed south of the line and, in particular, in Redesdale and the Otterburn MOD Training Area, and moving more than 10km, dispersed predominantly south to south east, apparently seeking out lower ground. It seems probable that birds from upland moor edge habitats are influenced in dispersal by the prevailing adverse weather, geography and height of the adjacent hills.

Of 98 recorded deaths (i.e. not including controls), 90 (88%) were of birds under two years old, with just five records of two to five-year-olds. Only three records involved older individuals. Of recorded cause of death, 50 (49%) were considered to be starvation and bad weather and 25 (24.5%) were road casualties. Small numbers had been shot, drowned or had hit overhead wires. One ‘lucky’ bird was recorded as being found sick in Wooley Hospital, near Slaley. It’s not known if it recovered in the hands of the National Health Service!

The longevity record is of a 12-year-old bird controlled in a box near Rothbury and originally ringed as a pullus at Castle Carrock, Cumbria.

Keith Brooks & John Steele

Barn Owl nestlings Bryan Galloway

26 27 Northumbria Ringing Group Blackbird Blackbird Turdus merula

Status and history

The Blackbird was described as a common resident by Hancock (1874) and as an abundant breeding species by Bolam (1912). Galloway and Meek (1983) said that no change had taken place. Day et al. (1995) confirmed that it was still a common breeding species although BTO breeding surveys have shown a decline up to 2009 in the north east.

Since the potential of Low Hauxley Wood was realised by Brian Little and Bryan Galloway in October 1962, it has become synonymous with Blackbird migration. Spring passage can begin from mid-March, increasing into mid-April and on good days up to 200 birds can be recorded departing eastwards. In autumn, Blackbirds can arrive in very large numbers from late September through to mid-November, the peak normally being late-October. During that period many hundreds of Blackbirds and other thrushes can be seen passing overhead and moving off inland in good weather. If the weather is poor with rain or fog and a light easterly breeze, mass ‘falls’ can occur and many hundreds may be ringed (see highest totals below).

Unfortunately, the frequency and size of these ’falls’ in spring and autumn has declined in recent years. This may be due in part to a decline in populations in Scandinavia, and or a change in weather patterns with fewer easterlies in the autumn. This is shown in the table of five-year totals below. A good day in the Hauxley Ringing Station Heligoland Trap John Steele

Notable Recoveries of NRG Ringed Birds in Excess of 1000km Five-Year Totals For Hauxley

XC67477 4m, 25/11/78 Low Hauxley ; 13/07/81, Dorotea, Sweden, 1409km Year 63/67 68/72 73/77 78/82 83/87 88/92 93/97 98/02 03/07 08/12 XP31771 5m, 25 /03/84 Low Hauxley ; 20/04/85, Eksjo, Sweden, 1045km Total 2744 1825 1020 2618 2957 3340 1876 2108 1810 1290 Ave 549 365 204 524 591 668 375 422 362 323 XC67263 3m, 16/08/84 Low Hauxley ; 28 /04/85, Sala, Sweden, 1157 km Highest 1092 707 220 849 1150 1104 653 624 640 363 CT01015 4m, 02/11/02 Low Hauxley ; 16/03/03, Bonerlund, Sweden, 1011km CW18708 4m, 01/11/04 Low Hauxley ; 03/05/06, Barsele, Sweden, 1502km CL50788 3Jm, 21/10/01 Low Hauxley ; 21/06/02, Orebro, Sweden, 1048km The additional tables below show the totals of Northumbria Ringing Group recoveries and controls to Europe, and of movements of more than 1,000km. Origin Of Foreign Birds Controlled By The NRG

Recoveries Of Birds Ringed By The NRG Norway Sweden Denmark France Finland Germany Netherlands 8 5 4 0 1 3 3 Norway Sweden Denmark France Finland Germany Netherlands 38 22 15 4 4 12 4 Notable controls at Hauxley of foreign birds ringed over a 1000 km away

4139962 4m 18/03/97 Asbo, Sweden; 24/10/01, Low Hauxley, 1067km 4476612 3 14/08/01 Botorp, Sweden; 24/10/01, Low Hauxley, 1115km

Steve Anderson

28 29 Northumbria Ringing Group Common Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

Status and history

All of the ornithologists who have written about Northumberland’s birds agree on the status of the Common Sandpiper as a common passage visitor and breeding species which sometimes overwinters (Galloway & Meek 1980). Some recent records of overwintering birds, usually on the River Tweed or River Tyne, are noted for 1990-1991, 1992-1993, 1995-1996, 1998-1999 and 2001-2002 in the relevant Birds in Northumbria. Once it has arrived, Bolam (1912) stated that in the breeding season ‘it is numerous all over the Borders especially on the higher reaches of our streams.’

The Common Sandpiper is a summer visitor usually arriving in early or mid-April although occasionally, as in 2010, it has been recorded in the last week in March. It quickly occupies the shingle and gravel banks on the middle and upper reaches of rivers and streams, and sometimes the edges of lakes and reservoirs. It prefers to nest in vegetation, sometimes on sloping ground, with plant material overhanging the nest. The nest site can often be some distance from water but is usually near shingle beds or gentle sloping banks. They seem to avoid nesting in steep sided areas of their territory.

The breeding season is quite short with some birds leaving territories as early as mid-June, with fledged young moving southwards by July. Breeding territories may be as small as 200 linear metres and returning birds are often faithful to the same stretches of river. Day et al. (1995) estimated a population of between 400 and 600 pairs and stated that the county population was comparatively stable. This was also true for the United Kingdom population with an estimate of 18,300 pairs indicating that where there was suitable habitat it was not a threatened species (Wernham et al. 2002). Research in Northumberland

The NRG has concentrated researches on the upper reaches of the River Coquet and its main tributaries, particularly the Alwin. In 1986 a survey from Low Alwinton Bridge to Barrowburn Farm (9km) found 17 breeding pairs and a further ten pairs on the Alwin (4km). A similar survey in 2012 located 22 pairs up to Barrowburn Farm, with nine additional pairs beyond (6km) in addition to ten pairs on the Alwin. This would seem to confirm the stable nature of its status in the area. Indeed, regular data reported by the group shows 12 pairs in territory in 1981, ten pairs in 1982, 26 pairs in 1983, 24 pairs in 1984 and over 20 pairs in 1985.

A countywide survey, in which the NRG was involved, recorded 17 pairs in the Upper Coquet and Alwin area in 1991, although later figures for the 1990s only note two or three pairs each season, possibly due to lack of field observers. Throughout the first decade of this century however, more consistent fieldwork has resulted in reports of 13 pairs in 2003, ten pairs in 2005, 19 pairs in 2009 and 14 pairs in 2010. Ringing

Since the formation of the NRG a total of 288 full grown and 180 young Common Sandpipers have been ringed. About half these numbers were ringed in the course of general group ringing programmes and over the years included 25 adult birds on migration on the coast at Low Hauxley and Chevington. It was not until 1979 that the group members began to survey and ring the species systematically in the Upper Coquet Valley and by 1981

Common Sandpiper adult and young in Coquetdale Bryan & Paul Galloway

30 31 Northumbria Ringing Group Common Sandpiper a total of 41 adults and 24 young had been ringed. In 1982 the group started to add colour-ring combinations to both adult and young birds, although the scheme did not enable individuals to be identified in the field unless the recorded the following May in the Atlas Mountains near Taroudant, Morocco. Although the circumstances are BTO ring could be read. Adult and full grown Common Sandpipers were caught in mist nets strung across the unclear it may have died on its spring passage back to Britain. river with birds driven slowly towards the net, whilst young were caught by hand after observing where they had run to cover. Between 1982 and 1986 a total of 58 adults and 47 young were colour-ringed, primarily to see how many returned to the area in subsequent years. Major Common Sandpiper recoveries from Upper Coquetdale

Colour-ringing Recoveries Ringing site Ringing date Recovery site Recovery date Notes Alwinton Adult Algarve, 20/07/1983 2,000 km Prior to the colour-ringing programme four adults out of 13 ringed with BTO rings in 1979 were controlled on 08/05/1982 Portugal found dead, the Coquet in 1980 and 1981, suggesting fidelity to the area. The colour-ringing scheme between 1982 and colour-ringed 1986 provided more evidence of this, although the inability to identify individuals means that it is impossible to Alwinton Pullus Moatland Pits, 23/07/1984 450 km provide accurate figures, even though different coloured year rings were incorporated into the combinations. In June 1983 Reading read in field, 1983 nine adult birds returned with 1982 colour rings, and the following year, 1984, two adults from 1982 and colour-ringed one from 1983 were identified. A similar combination of returning birds in 1985 saw three from 1983 and one Alwinton Pullus Bardsey Island, 19/07/1983 350 km from1982. In 1986 two adults and one bird ringed as a pullus in 1982 returned, as well as a pullus ringed in 1983 Summer 1983 Gwynedd,North read in field, and three adults from 1985 – a total of seven returning Common Sandpipers in that year. This total was bettered Wales colour-ringed in 1987 when there were ten returning birds – two adults from 1982; 2 adults and a pullus from 1983; 3 adults from 1985 and two from 1986. The last colour-ringed record was in 1988, on the Alwin, of a bird ringed there in Alwinton Adult Fruid Res., 21/06/1989 84 km 1983. Whilst this adds up to 34 sightings (31 adults and 3 pulli) – assuming that the 1982, 1983 and 1985 adult 23/05/1986 near Moffat, killed by cat, birds which re-appeared in later years were different birds, this represents a 53% return of adults to breeding Borders colour-ringed territories. If there is duplication in the numbers each year then the percentage of returning adult birds could be Alwinton Pullus Lancaster, 18/07/1993 156km as low as 29%. This nevertheless confirms a level of area fidelity but not to the same extent as shown in a survey 18/06/1988 Lancashire controlled undertaken in the Peak District where 257 out of 306 birds ringed (84%) returned to the same or neighbouring sites (Wernham et al. 2002) In the same study only 15% of pulli returned to natal areas, and although the Coquet Bygate Farm, Pullus Ridlees Burn, 21/04/1998 3 km figures are low with three pulli returning the percentage is only 6% and if there is duplication in the sightings of Coquetdale 09/07/1989 Coquetdale controlled the 1983 bird then the percentage drops to 4%. breeding, nine years old Recoveries Alwinton Pullus Taroudant, 24/05/1991 2,811 km 02/06/1990 Morocco found dead? From the NRG’s early years there are two records for birds ringed at Chevington Burn on coastal passage in August 1970. The first was presumably a bird returning to its wintering grounds in Africa in 1970, which, after a number of breeding seasons, was finally recorded as ‘unable to fly’ in Morocco in early April 1976. The second 1970 bird was controlled in May 1974 at a nest site in Perthshire. Conclusion

Details of recoveries of Upper Coquetdale birds are tabulated below, but it is worth highlighting a number of The Common Sandpiper exercise has proved both challenging and rewarding. We now know a little more about features. The first two colour-ringed recoveries were of pulli which had been ringed on the Alwin in 1983. One the dynamics of this intriguing summer visitor and the NRG hope to continue gathering data on the species in the was recorded at Reading on its southward passage in August 1984, the other was noted on passage in July 1983 next few years. on Bardsey Island. Another colour-ringed Common Sandpiper, controlled at Lancaster in July 1993, had been ringed on the Alwin in June 1988. An example of a bird returning to the north but probably breeding outside John Richardson & John Day Northumberland is a female ringed in Upper Coquetdale in May 1986 which was found dead in June 1989 near Moffat in the Borders. Perhaps one of the most interesting records is that of a nine-year-old bird ringed at Bygate in Upper Coquetdale in July 1989 which was controlled breeding at a site near Ridlees, three kilometres away in April 1998.

In addition to the Moroccan recovery of 1976, noted above, two other long-distance recoveries exist. An adult ringed in May 1982 at Alwinton was found dead in the Algarve, Portugal, in July 1983 presumably having come to grief whilst on its autumn passage south. The other Common Sandpiper, ringed as pullus in June 1990 was

32 33 Northumbria Ringing Group Crested Tit

On the morning of 24 August there were a few birds in the wood and gardens at Low Hauxley. Towards mid-morning I was walking through ‘B’ trap and around the gardens when I came upon a small tit flock numbering about 20 birds. As I watched them flitting through the hawthorn bushes a single bird landed very briefly on a fence post. It looked very like a Crested Tit but this initial identification was almost immediately dismissed as the species is supposedly sedentary. I continued to walk along the garden path and turned down towards ‘A’ trap as some of the tit flock was still moving in front of me.

The only chance I had of catching any was in the 60 foot mist net at the mouth of the trap. When I arrived at the net there was a single bird about two thirds of the way along. As I got closer I realised that it was the same bird that had landed on the fence post earlier and that it was a Crested Tit. To say that I was excited is an understatement. Having extracted and bagged the bird I returned to the hut and promptly checked the books to make sure of the identification. Once I had calmed down I processed the bird taking the usual biometrics for a rarity, took some photographs, and released the bird in the wood.

I then went to the phone box in the village (no mobiles in those days) to discover that it was out of order. I was not duly alarmed as it was a Friday and knew that some colleagues would be arriving for the weekend fairly soon. Fortunately this was the case and a few other ringers saw the bird before the light faded and we decided not to say anything to Brian Little if he arrived later that evening. He did arrive in due course and as we were driving to Red Row for a beer or two I asked him if there were any records of Crested Tit in the county. He said no, and very few even in England, so that when I landed the bombshell he nearly crashed the car.

The following morning the bird was relocated by its call, which sounded like a trim phone ringing, and was seen well by Brian. As the news was filtered out birders arrived in small, manageable numbers so most of the local observers were able to see it. The bird was either seen or heard almost every day until the end of September. Steve Anderson

Crested Tit at Hauxley Steve Anderson Crested Tit Parus cristatus

First record for the county - 24 August and throughout September 1984

On Saturday 11 August 1984 Mike Nattrass, Martin Davison and I were returning from a three-week trip to Norway. Over a few beers we discussed which of the species we had seen in Scandinavia we would like to see at Low Hauxley. They included Bluethroat, Wryneck, Scarlet Rosefinch, Red-backed and Great Grey Shrikes, Rustic Bunting and Crane, but Crested Tit was not even mentioned as they do not migrate.

34 35 Northumbria Ringing Group Dipper Dipper Cinclus cinclus

Status and history

The Dipper is a very common resident of upland fast-flowing streams and rivers throughout Northumberland and, to a lesser extent, on the slow-moving rivers of lowland areas. Hancock (1874) described it as ‘a constant resident on lively running streams’ while Bolam (1912) stated ‘few of our burns are without it. Day et al. (1995) said those remarks remained true and gave an estimated county population of between 250 and 350 pairs.

Most remain in breeding areas throughout the winter to hold territories and to start singing and displaying by mid-January. In very harsh winter weather birds in the higher reaches of upland rivers often move downstream to areas where open water is more accessible for feeding.

In 1969, whilst hill-walking, I came across a few nests in the Cheviot Hills, typically on fast burns with waterfalls. Today I can return and Dippers are still nesting in the same places. Some older shepherds say that they nested in certain place when they were young and still do so. Two examples are birds nesting in 1969 on the side of Davidson’s Linn and on a rock outcrop on the River Coquet at Kateshaw Crag, near Shillmoor. Both sites are still used regularly.

Adult Dippers tend to be fairly sedentary once they have set up territories but a few individuals move short distances. After fledging, young are quickly evicted from the breeding site if there is a second nesting attempt. To avoid other breeding adults, who will attack them, juveniles disperse from natal areas, some moving reasonable distances, as is shown in ringing recoveries.

Ringing

Since the NRG was formed, Dippers have been ringed either in nests or after being caught in mist-nets. In 1993 we began to monitor the breeding population on the River Coquet from Low Alwinton upstream to Makendon and on its tributaries, the Alwin, Usway and Ridlees burns.

Ten nests were found in 1993, rising to 38 in 1996 and 37 nests in 1997 and 1998. Numbers then declined to between 20 and 22 by 2002 and have remained at that level. The number of regularly used sites stands at about 30 although 51 locations have been used more than once. It is thought that the high occupancy between 1996 and 1998 was due to an abundance of food in the rivers and a significant number of caddis fly larvae were noted. In 1993, 47 young were ringed from ten nests and it was decided to monitor six of the sites with colour rings on the youngsters. The sequence was a year code ring above a normal BTO metal ring on the right leg and an individual code above a site ring on the left leg. The colour sites were Shillmoor (light pink), Kateshaw Crag (yellow), Wedder Leap (orange), Rowhope Gorge (light blue), Blindburn (white) and Buckham’s Bridge (red). All birds, whether young or adult, were metal ringed on the right leg in the study area and on the left leg it they were from outside areas.

Dippers and Dipper nest in Coquetdale Bryan & Paul Galloway

36 37 Northumbria Ringing Group Dipper

In 2004, I also started to monitor Dipper boxes put up by the Environment Agency, nine on the North Tyne and Recoveries four on the River Rede We have relatively few recoveries due to the nature of their habitat on fast-flowing rivers. But we have During the mid-1990s, I walked some of the river systems north of the Coquet study area. Those were the River many sightings of colour-ringed birds throughout the study area over the years. The three most interesting Breamish from Brandon to High Bleakhope, Harthope Burn and Carey Burn, and parts of the College Burn. On the are detailed below:- Scottish side of the border, I also walked the Bowmont and Kale Water. Although I did find many Dippers on these rivers I did not see any ringed birds. In 2011 I saw a bird with a ring on the right leg on the Heatherhope Burn at One of a brood of five colour-ringed in June 1993 at Buckham’s Bridge was seen at Carlcroft Bridge, 1.5km NT797173 but cannot be certain it was a Coquet individual. downstream in September that year. There were no more sightings of this bird until February 1995 at the same spot. By May that year we knew it was a female and she had four young by 26th. She bred at the site A total of 162 full grown and 2,181 nestlings were ringed up to 2012. The total for the Coquet study area was nine for the next six years and successfully raised 43 young by 2000. There was no nest recording in 2001 due to full grown birds and 1,242 nestlings. The total includes 237 nestlings colour-ringed between 1993 and 2000. No the foot and mouth disease and she was absent in 2002. birds were ringed in 2001 due to access restrictions during the foot and mouth disease outbreak and the colour- ringing of nestlings then ceased. The second bird, from a brood of four colour-ringed at Wedder Leap footbridge in April 1993 was seen by a bird-watcher at Butteryhaugh Bridge, Kielder in September that year, a distance of 35 km across two watersheds. It was again at Kielder in March of 1994, 1995 and 1996. It was thought to be a male and was breeding under a footbridge across the Kielder Burn below Kielder Castle.

The third individual was a male, colour-ringed at Blindburn in May 1995, and found breeding under Carshope Bridge in April 1996. The pair had a clutch of five eggs by the 10th April and raised four young but failed with the second clutch of five eggs in June. This male was also observed carrying nest material at another site 0.75km downstream on the 15th April and five young were raised. This was our first proof of male bigamy although we had often suspected it as some birds could be absent from nest site for long periods.

All the recoveries below are of birds ringed as nestlings, some of which moved significantly and one that did not move far but survived a long time. Distance is measured in a direct line from ringing site.

Ringing Ringing date Recovery Recovery Distance - site site date Circumstances Hepple 13/05/1973 Hepple 04/01/1980 0 km Seven years old

Lilburn Burn 04/05/1992 East Lilburn 02/11/1992 8km Dead - cat Ridleeshope 04/05/1996 Powburn 12/06/1996 24km Dead - cat Near 24/04/1998 Scraesburgh 15/10/1998 8km Windyhaugh Hill Found dead Whittle Wood 26/04/2006 Derwent 22/10/2007 14km Reservoir Controlled Low Alwinton 05/04/2008 Bleakhope 11/04/2011 9km Controlled at nest Simonburn 02/05/2009 Font Reservoir 10/05/2011 28km Dead in a well

John Richardson

Dipper feeding young at Rowlands Gill Paul Galloway

38 39 Northumbria Ringing Group Goldcrest

Goldcrest Table 1. Evidence for southerly movement of Goldcrests (over 20km) Regulus regulus Low Hauxley Age / Recovery Recovery Distance / Ringing date Sex site date circumstances Status and history Sept. 1972 4 / F Zwolle Jan. 1973 Ring found in owl pellet Netherlands The Goldcrest is classified in Northumberland as a common passage visitor and abundant breeding resident. It Oct. 1977 2 / M Stocksfield Oct. 1977 45km Control 15 days thrives in the many coniferous areas, particularly in the west, although severe winter weather can dramatically Northumberland reduce the population in some years. Fortunately, the species has good powers of recovery and can quickly Oct. 1980 3 / F Spurn Apr. 1981 220km Control 178 days overcome these setbacks. Yorkshire Oct. 1982 3 / M Brierley Hill Nov. 1982 317km Control 30 days The Northumbria Ringing Group has ringed more than 7,504 Goldcrest since 1963. Over 73% of these birds Warwickshire (5,554) have been trapped at the ringing station at Low Hauxley during the autumn passage of birds from the Oct. 1983 3 / F Beachy Head Oct. 1983 523km Control 17 days continent. Such coastal influxes can occur on a national scale and have been well documented in BWP (1992) Sussex and Wernham et al. (2002). Oct. 1987 3 / M Gibraltar Point Oct. 1987 275km Control 1 day Lincolnshire Coastal movements Oct. 1988 3 / M Bardsey Island Nov. 1988 354km Control 19 days Gwynedd Light passage of Goldcrest is usually evident in March and April as continental birds arrive, and in August and Oct. 1988 3/F Steenwerk Nov. 1988 589km Control 9 days early September birds of local origin may also be in evidence moving down the coast. The main passage however France is from mid-September to late November when large numbers arrive from the continent. Light falls are recorded Aug. 1989 3 / F Bracknell Feb. 1991 437km Dead every year (usually in September) with larger influxes not uncommon during October. Sizeable falls occurred in Berkshire 1965 and again in 1966 when there were about 350 on 14th and 15th October, with over 200 recorded on 7th Oct. 1990 3 / M Prawle Point Nov. 1990 587km Control 12 days and 8th October 1977. An even larger number arrived on 12th October 1982 when over 1,000 Goldcrest were Devon counted. Such influxes led to 430 Goldcrest being ringed in October 1990 at Low Hauxley although more modest numbers marked most of that decade, with exceptions in 1992 and 1998. Considerable falls also took place in Oct. 1990 3 / M Kenfig Nov. 1990 446km Control 13 days 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2010 but have not always been reflected in ringing totals at Low Hauxley as manning hours Glamorganshire have steadily declined in recent years.

The continental origin of birds involved in large autumn falls is confirmed by four controls at Low Hauxley in The distribution pattern for birds ringed in spring – which may be birds of local or continental origin – is October. In 1985 a Goldcrest ringed in Poland arrived at the ringing station nine days later having covered 1,152 very different. A return to natal areas is perhaps indicated by birds ringed at Low Hauxley in March and km. Two other Goldcrests in the October fall of 1988 arrived from Russia and Finland, having been ringed 24 days April being controlled on the Isle of May (115km north west) 12 days later, and another nine days later in (2114 km) and 16 days (1466 km) respectively in their countries of origin. The fourth bird was controlled at Low 1988 arriving on Fife Ness (126km north west). A third Goldcrest ringed in Cumbria in October 1993 was Hauxley in October 1990, 26 days and 780km, after being trapped in the Telemark region of Norway. later controlled at Threestoneburn (175km north east) in April the following year.

Recoveries Some coastal spring movement may be by continental rather than local birds, and this is probably the case for at least two recorded Goldcrest. The first, ringed at Low Hauxley in March 1989 was controlled Having arrived during autumn many Goldcrest continue in a south westerly or south easterly direction. This in Lincolnshire in September of that year, the second, ringed in April 2007, was controlled in Norfolk the is clearly shown in Table 1 and includes two birds which continued across the Channel to France and the following November. Netherlands. Some of these autumn continental Goldcrest may well stay in Britain to breed although one bird ringed at Low Hauxley in October 1980 was controlled the following April in Denmark, presumably on the Conclusion return journey to its breeding grounds. The Low Hauxley controls and recoveries of Goldcrest confirm the well documented national life style The southerly movement of Goldcrest ringed at inland sites in the autumn is also evident but probably involves and movements of the species. Their powers of survival over many hundreds of kilometres, including sea birds of local rather than continental origin. This may be case for a bird ringed at Big Waters in September 1987 crossings, for such a small species is truly remarkable. To walk into the wood at Low Hauxley after an autumn which was recovered in Staffordshire, and another ringed at Threestone Burn in September 1993 which was fall of Goldcrest is one of the season’s most memorable highlights. found in Basingstoke, Hampshire. John Day

40 41 Northumbria Ringing Group Goosander

Over subsequent years a method was developed enabling us to catch and ring significant numbers of adults and Goosander juveniles using a partly submerged 30-foot wader net at the mouth of Holystone Burn as birds made their way Mergus merganser back to the main river. Following this initial success, a larger scale method was tried, using two widely spaced nets on other rivers (North and South Tyne, Rede and Wansbeck). It was perfected by 1972 and successfully used on main rivers. Backed by a large team of ringers and helpers, catches became bigger than those on the Coquet.

Between 1976 and 1978 wing tags were fitted to 90 juveniles caught on the main rivers. A more adventurous project involved catching roosting males during May at Hoselaw Loch near Kelso. With the help of a team from Glasgow University, 64 birds were cannon-netted between 1981 and 1984. Wing tags were fitted to 14 individuals caught in 1982 and during the last visit in 1984, 39 birds were marked on their breasts and wings with yellow picric acid. A radio transmitter fitted to a breeding female at Slaley in May 1984 resulted in its bill becoming entangled in the harness. The bird was rescued and released on the River Tyne at Corbridge in August and the method was not used again.

By 1989 catching activity had significantly subsided as resources were directed towards the monitoring and ringing of other species, especially raptors.

Recoveries

Recoveries were quick to begin, especially in Scotland where birds were caught or shot in game-fishing areas. By 2012, 123 (15%) had been recovered of the 845 we had ringed. Most were in Britain but 14 were seen or found abroad.

Status and history The first recovery was the second juvenile we ringed at Holystone in July 1967. It was found dead on the Solway Firth in September that year. The second was found wounded at Kelso in June 1968. It was the first The Goosander was an occasional winter visitor in the time of Hancock (1874) but Bolam (1912) reported it juvenile ringed in 1967. to be regular in winter and by 1932 he commented that a few stayed into summer. The first breeding record for England was confirmed on the River Coquet at Harbottle in 1941 and by the 1950s it was regular in summer on Of the 20 recoveries in Britain by the mid-1970s, 13 were from Scotland. This pattern continued as birds the upper reaches of the county’s main rivers. By the mid-1970s Little and Meek (1977a) estimated a county dispersed predominately northwards reaching as far as Bonar Bridge, Ross-shire. Only a few moved south, the breeding population of some 150 pairs and adult females escorting broods of juveniles had become a regular most distant being two found in Wales. A decomposed specimen found in Denbigh in August 1973 had been sight in June and July. At about this time nest boxes were provided on the upper reaches of the North Tyne and ringed as a breeding female at Falstone in July 1970. The other was found shot in Brecon in December 1978. the Rede helped to provide more secure breeding sites and by the mid-1980s some 20 females were using them. It had been ringed on the South Tyne only five months earlier. The colour tagging of the 90 juveniles between 1976 and 1978 resulted in 23 sightings. Fifteen were in Scotland as far north as Aberdeen. The furthest south Despite attracting the attention of game fishing interests, breeding numbers continued to increase and by was in the West Midlands. the1990s Day et al. (1995) estimated a population of 180 pairs. A juvenile male ringed at Bellingburn, Kielder, in July 1974 and shot in the Upper Tweed valley in February Ringing 1984 remains the oldest reported individual in the national ringing scheme.

Between 1963 and 2012 the group ringed 177 full grown birds and 668 juveniles, 57% of the overall ringing total In June 1969, a bird ringed as a juvenile at Holystone in June 1968 was found dead in a fishing net in the of 1,472 adults and juveniles reported in BTO literature. The first to be handled was an adult female lifted from a Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. All seven previous foreign recoveries involved full grown birds ringed in clutch of eggs in a hollow Alder on the Plashetts Burn, Kielder, in June 1964. The first juvenile was caught in a rabbit winter on reservoirs in southern England. burrow on the River Coquet at Holystone in June 1967. It was one of a brood which separated from a group being escorted by a female on the main river. When disturbed she led them up the Holystone Burn, a very narrow tributary.

42 43 Northumbria Ringing Group Goosander

Eight further recoveries from abroad involving birds ringed as juveniles were as follows:-

Ringing Ringing Recovered Circumstances date site July 1971 Wark September 1978 Lappi, Finland, dead in fishing net

July 1974 Redesmouth September 1976 Afjord, Norway, shot July 1974 Redesmouth September 1978 Finnmark, Norway, shot July 1974 Bardon Mill December 1976 Rogaland, Norway, male shot at fish farm June 1975 Falstone September 1976 Oulu, Finland, shot July 1978 Bardon Mill March 1982 Mayenne, France, shot July 1978 Lewisburn May 1981 Arkhangelsk, Russia, shot July 1979 Holystone December 1987 Vasternorrland, Sweden, found dead

This bias towards movement into Northern Europe suggested that a moult migration, probably involving males, was taking place. The results of the catching and subsequent recovery of full grown males at Hoselaw Loch helped confirm that suspicion. The three recoveries were:-

Ringing Ringing Recovered Circumstances date site May 1984 Hoselaw Loch July 1984 Vaasa, Finland, found dead

May 1984 Hoselaw Loch November 1984 Sjaelland, Denmark, shot May 1984 Hoselaw Loch September 1985 Ranosfjorden, Norway, shot

In addition, two colour-dyed individuals were reported among a huge flock of 30,000 moulting birds at Young Goosanders on the River Coquet Bryan Galloway Tana, Finnmark, Norway, in September 1984.

More detailed ringing and recoveries were analysed by Meek and Little (1977b) and Little and Furness (1985) reported on the long distance moult migration of Goosanders breeding in Britain.

If enthusiasm returns and resources permit there may be a case for the group to resume the ringing of juveniles on our rivers to assess any change in dispersal behaviour from the breeding areas of this heavily persecuted species.

Bryan Galloway & Brian Little

Goosander caught for ringing and marking with Eric Meek & Mike Nattrass with young Goosanders picric acid at Hoselaw Loch. Bryan Galloway on the River North Tyne. Brian Little

44 45 Northumbria Ringing Group Grey Heron Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Ringing

Between the founding of the NRG and 2012 a total of 623 nestlings and two adults were ringed, most of them in the early days of the group. Although over the years broods were ringed at numerous wide-spread localities, the prime sites included Wingates, Middleton, Slaley, Blanchland and Kirkley Hall. Numbers ringed were never large, owing to the difficulty of actually reaching nests in high trees and the time needed for such operations. Recoveries

A total of 68 recoveries have occurred of pullus ringed in Northumberland. The majority, 55 individuals, were all within 100km of the ringing sites. Causes of death varied but include shooting, birds hitting wires and becoming entangled in fences and bushes. However, most were recorded simply as ‘found dead.’ Only 12 birds travelled more than 100km. There was no particular pattern of dispersal from natal sites with recoveries for localities ranged northwards into eastern Scotland, north westwards to Ayrshire and southwards to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The furthest travelled within Britain was a nestling ringed at Angerton in May 1980 and found dead as a road casualty in Wrexham, Clwydd, in February 1986, a movement of 247km. The sole overseas recovery of a locally- ringed bird involved an individual marked in a nest at Slaley in May 1971 and found dead 515km away near Arnhem, Netherlands, in May 1986 at the age of 15.

Immigration of continental birds has already been mentioned and was proven by an individual ringed in Rogaland, Norway, in May 1983 and found dead near Falstone in January 1984, a movement of 665km.

Ian Kerr

Grey Heron near Swalwell Heronry Paul Galloway

Status and history

The Grey Heron was an important target species for the NRG in its early days when several large traditional colonies still existed in the county. In more recent decades, Herons have taken to breeding in much smaller groups or even singly, making monitoring and ringing much more time-consuming and difficult.

Wallis (1769) knew it as common. Hancock (1874) said it was less abundant than in the past but listed major heronries at Chillingham, Harbottle, Unthank and Redewater. Bolam (1912) said the Chillingham colony then consisted of between 60 and 100 pairs but blamed tree-felling for the destruction of other ancient sites. Galloway & Meek (1978) said that situation had worsened because of heavy demands for home-grown timber during the Second World War. More recently Day et al. (1995) put the county population at between 250 and 300 pairs, most found in much smaller colonies than in the past.

The autumn and winter immigration of continental birds swells the population and perhaps makes it appear more common than breeding data might suggest.

Young Herons in a Kirkley Hall nest Bryan Galloway

46 47 Northumbria Ringing Group Kestrel Kestrel Recoveries Galloway in 1986 reviewed Kestrel recoveries to that date. By then 1,618 nestlings had been ringed Falco tinnunculus and 139 (8.5%) had been recovered. Since then, up to 2012, a further 20 have been recovered. 60% had moved no more than 100km from natal areas. However, 14% moved more than 400km, including Status and history some to France, Belgium, Holland and Ireland and one remarkable individual to Morocco. Recoveries showed that Kestrels could disperse in any direction from natal areas although there was a tendency Our most plentiful falcon, the Kestrel, has been an important target species for the NRG since its inception to travel in a direction east of south. Recoveries of more than 200km within Britain again show that although during the 50-year period its range has altered with a decline in breeding in upland and forested birds can spread very widely. Recoveries south and south west from Northumberland include Essex and areas. Bolam (1912) recorded it as a common resident, Galloway & Meek (1978) agreed while Day et al. Lincolnshire (both four birds), Hampshire (three), Northamptonshire, Kent, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire (1995) gave a population of around 600 pairs with highest densities in the south east. Kerr (2001) reported a (all two), Bedfordshire, Gwent, Sussex and London (all one).The most distant recoveries north and noticeable desertion of traditional moorland crag sites due to pressure from an increased population of bigger north west involved singles to the Spey Valley, Inverness, and Lochgilphead, Argyll. raptors, notably Peregrine Falco peregrinus and Goshawk Accipiter gentilis. This pressure increased significantly in the past decade because of a huge increase in the numbers of Buzzard Buteo buteo. Significant foreign recoveries all involved birds ringed as nestlings and are listed below. Most involved young birds dispersing between 500 and 1,000km to the near continent with the exception of the single Some old crag sites were taken over by Peregrines and even small outcrops left were untenable because of recovery from North Africa, our furthest- travelled Kestrel. predation by Goshawks and Buzzards coming from woodlands to hunt open moorland. A few pairs of Kestrels in one main study locality, Otterburn MOD Training Area, switched from crags to boxes and old stick nests Ringing Ringing Recovery Recovery Distance / in shelter belts. Having said that, in 2011 a pair fledged young from a derelict building just 200m from an Site Date Site Date Circumstances active Peregrine nest. Smugglers Leap June Safi, May 2,500km Kielder 1969 Morocco 1971 found dead In forest areas, particularly Kielder, breeding numbers of Kestrels fell from around 12 pairs annually in the Stocksfield June Boulogne, September 640km 1990s to only three in 2010 and 2011. Kestrel remains were found in Goshawk nests on several occasions 1967 France 1967 killed (M.Davison, pers comm.). At one site in 1995 a ring from a young Kestrel marked only six days earlier was Sam’s Well June Manche, November 650km found in a nest. At Otterburn in 2010 a Goshawk was seen taking a recently-fledged Kestrel. Kestrels were Kielder 1970 France 1973 trapped missing from that site in 2011, indicating that perhaps the rest of the brood or adults may also have been taken. Kidland June Blois, November 895km Forest 1972 France 1972 found dead The Kestrel is officially Amber listed as a species of intermediate conservation concern indicating a population Greenhaugh July Maine-et-Loire, February 857km decrease of between 25% and 50% (Gregory et al. 2002). Kielder 1972 France 1973 found dead Burradon June Manche, December 637km Ringing 1981 France 1981 found injured Linshiels July Indre-et-Loire, November 938km Between the formation of the NRG and 2012 a total of 83 adults and 2,330 nestlings were ringed. Although Lake 1981 France 1981 found dead Kestrels are clearly more plentiful on lower ground, the majority of those ringed, particularly in the early Bardon June Haute-Vienne, October 1,006km days, tended to be from nests on moorland or in forested areas, simply because those were the habitats more Mill 1985 France 1985 found dead thoroughly and regularly covered by NRG members. Lindhope June Monster, November 560km Linn 1974 Netherlands 1974 dead after gale As mentioned earlier, many of those sites were on crags in the pre-Peregrine era or in stick nests before Kielder June Zeeland, February 586km additional pressure from Goshawks and Buzzards. However, members always took the opportunity to ring 1981 Netherlands 1982 found dead broods in lowland areas whenever the opportunity was presented. Those sites ranged from tree holes, cavities in Clintburn June Kain, March 640km haystacks, church towers and other buildings. Ringing in urban areas presented some odd situations, including Kielder 1964 Belgium 1966 shot a small boy, watching a brood being ringed at a chapel in Burradon in south east Northumberland, excitedly West June Cork, March 530km telling his friends that Kestrels were ‘birds of pray’ because they nested in churches! Woodburn 1972 Eire 1973 found dead Kirknewton August Braine le Chateau, December 689km 2005 Belgium 2005 road kill Washington June Soubise, October 997km Sewage Works 2010 France 2010 found dead

Ian Kerr

48 49 Northumbria Ringing Group Merlin Merlin History and background Historically, the Merlin has bred throughout the uplands of Northumberland although both Hancock (1874) and Falco columbarius Bolam (1932) noted that persecution by gamekeepers had resulted in a diminishing population. The situation was similar on the moors of County Durham, as indicated by Temperley (1951) and Mather (1986).

The Merlin was one of the first birds to be studied in depth by the Northumbria Ringing Group. It soon became one of our flagship species along with others such as GoosanderMergus merganser, Tawny Owl Strix aluco and Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca. We have monitored Merlins for as long as the group has existed – earlier with Brian Little’s first nest at Kielder in 1961 – making it one of the longest running raptor studies in Britain. Several papers have resulted from this work. Merlins have been ringed every year, including the foot and mouth period of 2001, when one major moorland landowner asked that it should continue with strict bio-security.

During the 1960s and 1970s nests were found on crag ledges, on top of big boulders, in shelter belts and isolated trees as well as more usually on the ground in heather. Tree- nesting in old crow nests on the edge of plantations became a regular feature in the 1980s but only a few are found today.

While Merlins are now more difficult to encounter in Coquetdale, Redesdale and on the Simonside Hills, where they were ever-present in the past, they continue to occupy traditional nesting areas in the north Cheviots, Border Forest and North Pennines. Hard-won knowledge of Merlin sites in Northumberland formed the basis for systematic monitoring of the population from 1961 until the present. The group’s first paper,Breeding ecology of the Merlin in Northumberland (Newton et al. 1978), covering the period 1961-1976, was very much a pioneering work as little had been written about the bird at that time. A second paper, Breeding season foods of Merlins in Northumbria (Newton et al. 1984) expanded on the first publication. Population Trends

With the benefit of increasing knowledge of nesting areas, intensive coverage between 1974 and 1976 produced an average population of 32 pairs, of which a mean of 24 pairs were successful in fledging at least one young. An overall downward trend until 1983, when only nine out of 27 pairs found reared young, was considered in the group’s third paper, Population and breeding of Northumbrian Merlins (Newton et al. 1986), to be part of a long-term decline in Britain, caused, to some extent, by the effects of organochlorine pesticides and habitat loss. A recovery from 1984 to the mid-1990s, when the population stood at around 40 pairs, reflected the situation over much of Britain during the period. A 71% increase in numbers in the Border Forest, where Merlins had recently switched to nesting at the plantation edges, as described in Merlins using crow nests at Kielder (Little & Davison, 1992), is particularly notable, as was the upturn in numbers on the North Pennine moors. A high point was reached in 1996 when 47 successful pairs fledged 156 young.

A fall in numbers in some areas towards and through the first decade of the new century, also noted in Durham and beyond, is not easily explained. However, competition and predation from the increasing population of larger raptors - burgeoning in the case of Common Buzzard Buteo buteo whose numbers rapidly escalated in the late 1990s - was probably a contributory factor. Certainly, a number of instances of Goshawks Accipiter gentilis taking chicks from tree nests and Peregrines Falco peregrinus killing and usurping adult birds was recorded. Over-burning of some North Pennine moors, may be impacting on the suitability for breeding of a number of traditional nesting areas.

The number of nesting areas checked annually has fallen from around 100 during the 1990s to around 60 in the past decade, due in part to a big gap in coverage of the North Pennine moors where we could be missing out on ten or more pairs. Data for 2010, when 62 nesting areas were visited, shows 17 out of 23 confirmed pairs going on to fledge 51 young.

50 51 Northumbria Ringing Group Merlin in County Durham Merlin Falco columbarius In County Durham

Introduction

Broods of Merlins have been ringed as part of a long-term study in County Durham since 1983 and this report reviews recoveries since the first nestlings were handled. A total of 1,714 young and one adult were ringed up to 2012 (see Appendix for annual totals). Only in 1985, when sites were not visited at the nest stage, and 2001 when foot and mouth disease restrictions prevented access to moorland, were no Merlins ringed. At the time of writing, 106 birds (6.2%) have been recovered dead, injured or as controls.

Direction, distance and age of recovery

Following dispersal from natal sites during July and early August, Merlins were subsequently recovered from almost all points of the compass (see Table 1). Of 104 birds of all ages recovered over ten kilometres from their Young Merlins in a Simonside nest Paul Galloway birthplace, 69 (66%) had moved south and 35 (34%) north. The former figure fits well with the national trend of southerly movement from the breeding areas (Wernham et al. 2002). Nonetheless, the number of birds recovered Ringing and Recoveries in the north during this study is significant.

The first birds, seven pulli, were ringed in 1963 and by the end of 2012 we had ringed 17 full grown individuals More than half (54%) of Merlins recovered were within 100 km of natal sites, much in line with the national and 3,653 nestlings. That total includes one full grown bird and over 1,600 pulli ringed on the Durham moors. Up finding. Of 79 young recovered during their first year (see Table 2), 36 (46%) were between fledging and the end to the end of 2012 the number recovered stood at 176 (4.8%), including 103 which had been ringed in Durham. of August, the peak for juvenile mortality. Nineteen (53%) of these juveniles were found within 100km of natal sites. At this stage, a female moving 428 km to the Dorset coast by 19th August 2002 was exceptional. Galloway (1986) summarised the dispersal of Merlins from nest sites in Northumberland. At that stage 800 had been ringed and 75 (9%) had been recovered. Analyses showed that 80% dispersed no further than 150km from Of 42 recoveries of first-winter and first-summer (September to August) birds, 18 (43%) were within 100 km. nest sites with half not moving in excess of 50km. Most Merlins in Northumberland nest at more than 250m above sea level and in winter clearly need to move to lower ground into areas of high prey densities. Thus the The rest were widely spread, including six recovered more than 400 kilometres away – four on the south coast and average movement of 122km was of little surprise. two in France. The latter were a female at Sene, Morbihan, 762 km in September 1999 and a male at Les Sable d’ Alonne, Vendee, 903 km in October 2005. Only 5% of Northumberland Merlins have ventured more than 400km, including four crossing the English Channel into France. The first French recovery involved a pullus ringed in Wark Forest in June 1976 and found Whilst recoveries of 28 older (second and subsequent year) birds ranged widely, 15 (54%) were still within 100 in Les Landes in November 1977, a movement of 1,310km. It was recorded as simply ‘taken.’ The second was km of their birthplace. The closest to home, just 2km distant (in August), was a fifth-summer male. A second- a female pullus ringed at Kielder in July 1978 and found dead on a road in Loire Atlantique in March 1979, a winter unsexed bird 464 km away on the Isle of Wight in January is the furthest recovery of a Durham bird within movement of 910km. A pullus male marked in Hexhamshire in June 1986 was shot in Gironde in October 1989, Britain. The most northerly recovery of any age, one of five in Scotland was an unsexed third-summer bird in 1,135 from the natal site. The fourth and most remarkable for longevity involved a nestling ringed at Harbottle Strathclyde, 188 km from the natal site. in July 2000 and found dead in Lot-et-Garonne in August 2013, a movement of 1,215km. At 13 it was the oldest Merlin so far recorded in the BTO ringing scheme.

In 2010 Mike Nattrass analysed the recoveries of the birds ringed in Durham since 1983 and his findings are detailed in the next account. Bryan Galloway & Mike Nattrass

52 53 Northumbria Ringing Group Merlin in County Durham

Table 1. Direction of recovery of Merlins from County Durham natal sites: 1983-2012 Controls (four under 10km excluded). Six Merlins were controlled during the study period. Of four controlled while breeding, one female was at Age NNE ENE ESE SSE SSW WSW WNW NNW a nest in Durham just 8km from where it had been ringed as an adult five years earlier. On both occasions this bird was hand-caught by being lifted off eggs or young. Three females ringed as chicks were subsequently Fledging to end August 7 3 15 4 1 0 0 2 trapped at nests in the south-east Yorkshire Dales by Peter Wright. These were 50 km, 51 km and 100 km 1st year winter 3 4 4 15 2 0 4 3 respectively from natal sites. The latter comprised two second-summer birds and a third-summer individual. A fifth control, a first-winter female, was trapped on the Suffolk coast in September. A pullus ringed at 1st year summer 0 1 2 5 1 0 0 1 Edmundbyers in June 2012 was controlled in a mist net at Icklesham, East Sussex, in November of that year, 2nd year + 2 1 6 7 4 0 1 3 a movement of 474km.

All ages 12 9 27 31 8 0 5 9 Table 3. Circumstances of recovery 1983-2012.

Reported circumstances No. recovered (% of total)

Table 2. Distance from natal site and month of recovery of Merlins ringed as nestlings Found dead: and recovered during their first year: 1983-2012. Cause unknown 37 (34.9) Hit human artefact (window, wire, fence etc.) 30 (28.3) Month (July-June) Road casualty 14 (13.2) km J A S O N D J F M A M J Trapped in building 1 (0.9) 0-10 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Shot 2 (1.8) 11-50 1 6 2 2 4 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 Drowned in water trap 2 (1.8) 51-100 2 8 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 Found alive: 100-150 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Injured 13 (12.3) 151-200 0 6 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Unharmed (in building) 1 (0.9) 200+ 0 4 1 2 6 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 Controlled: 6 (5.7) Total 6 30 6 7 11 4 3 4 2 4 1 1 Total recoveries 106

Of 73 birds of known sex, females (n=31) were, on balance, recovered further afield than males (n=42). However, differences in movement between the sexes were not particularly significant at any age. A 12-year- Circumstances of recovery old female found in February 327km from its birthplace holds the longevity record for this study followed Table 3 summarizes the circumstances in which recovered Merlins were found. While 37 of the dead birds closely by an 11-year-old September male. The latter was just 48 km from the natal location. Other long- were simply reported by finders as being dead, the cause of the demise of 49 birds was known. The deaths of lived Merlins were an eighth-winter (February) unsexed bird, an eighth-summer (April) male just 10 km known cause were all human-related, 90% through accidental collision with objects, most often a window or from its birthplace, a female of at least seven years old controlled at a nest, three six-year-old birds and two vehicle, while presumably in pursuit of prey. Of the 13 injured birds found, eight (if not all) had hit similar aged five. obstacles, seven sustaining damaged or broken wings. Two of seven taken into care were rehabilitated and released. Thankfully, few Merlins are shot these days. The controls are described in the previous section.

54 55 Northumbria Ringing Group Merlin in County Durham

Appendix Annual totals of Merlin nestlings ringed in Co. Durham, 1983-2012.

Year Male Female Unsexed Total Ringed 1983 - - 28 28 1984 - - 79 79 1985 - - 0 0 1986 - - 5 5 1987 - - 50 50 1988 - - 41 41 1989 13 13 6 32 1990 43 28 8 79 1991 49 53 2 104 1992 37 30 0 67 1993 33 31 1 65 1994 53 50 8 111 1995 41 35 10 86 1996 53 48 7 108 1997 19 23 2 44 1998 34 32 9 75 1999 22 22 3 47 2000 15 15 0 30 2001 0 0 0 0 2002 9 11 7 27 2003 24 18 12 54 2004 33 34 3 70 A brood nearing fledging in County Durham David Raw 2005 28 37 7 72 2006 25 31 23 79 Comment 2007 7 13 5 25 The Merlin is a rewarding raptor to study. With a population currently around 40 pairs, the species is stable 2008 30 34 3 67 in the Pennine dales of Durham. The many recoveries reveal much about their movements and with 50 2009 30 40 8 78 or more young ringed annually, more valuable data may be expected. We are grateful to landowners and gamekeepers of Durham upland estates for allowing us largely unrestricted access. Most of the ringing was 2010 26 19 18 63 carried out by the author, Dick Temple and David Raw, with significant contributions from Colin Jewitt, 2011 26 31 7 64 Mike Carr and Alan Hart. 2012 28 29 7 64 Mike Nattrass All years 678 677 359 1714

Note: in addition one adult female was ringed in 1993.

56 57 Northumbria Ringing Group Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher Ringing Ficedula hypoleuca Why ring Pied Flycatchers? The huge number of sites monitored indicates the attraction for many NRG members, past and present, of our oak woodlands in spring. Surely there is no other bird that epitomises spring in a northern wood better than a singing male Pied Flycatcher? Another incentive to ring flycatchers is the recovery rate - there is hardly a NRG recoveries news sheet without Pied Flycatcher controls or recoveries (usually about half a dozen). The group has ringed a total of 20,587 birds, 2,315 full grown and 18,272 pulli, up to the end of 2012. According to the national ringing figures (Robinson, 2013), the NRG totals represent a creditable 3% of birds ringed in the history of the BTO ringing scheme. As well as nest box schemes, the group has also ringed 437 passage Pied Flycatchers at Hauxley, which has been rewarding for foreign controls and recoveries.

The group has had nest box schemes in too many woods to list. Some of the current schemes, which have been extremely long-running are Dipton and March Burn, started in 1968, and Linnels in 1972. Other long- running projects include Nunnykirk, Fontburn, Wallington, Greenhaugh and Tarset in Northumberland and now, with the inclusion of Durham, woods near Edmondbyers and Barnard Castle. Such long-running data sets have great value and Nest Record Cards have been submitted to the BTO for many years, contributing to national demographic modelling. In the 1980s the data from March Burn, Dipton and Linnels also contributed to a PhD by Duncan Huggett.

The Linnels scheme has been going so long that boxes have been re-sited on trees in an area where they were removed a number of years ago when the original trees were felled. The woods have changed during the 50 years of the ringing group. It is with regret that I report that I haven’t had any singing Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix in the Linnels for the last couple of years. There have been some gains however, Rike Kroener saw her first Otter there in spring 2013, a sight unimaginable only a few years ago.

For many of us, the ‘shire’ nest boxes are what brought us into ringing when group evenings were organised to check the local woods. Of course, in those distant days I was too young to part-take in the usual pint at the Wellie or the Traveller’s Rest. I can only wonder at the NRG generation which placed boxes in such precipitous Status and history situations in those days – no health and safety fears then - and only one broken limb (David Middleton). The boxes in Linnels have now been lowered and re-sited. A ladder is not required now, obviating the need for The Pied Flycatcher has been with us for a long time with an estimated British population of over six million new trainees to learn the hard way about the consequences of following someone in a wood carrying a ladder! in our vast woodlands during the Mesolithic period (Yalden and Albarella, 2009). In modern times however, the species was not recorded as breeding in Northumberland until 1872 (Bolam, 1912) and in Durham until Of course, trapping breeding adults requires its own special ringing equipment – no simple flip nest box trap 1801 (Temperley, 1951). The Northumberland population was estimated at around 300 pairs (Day et al. 1995) for the NRG when the best minds of Parson’s Engineering could be applied to the creation of the remotely and in Durham between 100-150 pairs (Westerberg and Bowey, 2000). The species is relatively difficult to operated ‘hyper-trap’ (Geoff Linkleter). Then there is the “knicker-leg”! It is only recently that I’ve come to survey with males singing for only a short time in the spring making accurate population estimates difficult. wonder if this is a general ringing term for the cloth tube used to prevent the escape of a trapped bird from a box or whether it is a specific NRG term (if so, I blame BL). Nationally, the British population breeding in our remnant woodland is estimated at between 17,000 and 20,000 pairs (Musgrove et al. 2013). The species is Amber listed because of recent population declines (Eaton Recoveries et al. 2009). It is not surprising for such a well-studied bird where adults are frequently trapped at nest boxes that there Whilst the areas of suitable deciduous woodlands available for breeding in the two counties may have are numerous controls of breeding birds. They show that birds readily move from their natal wood and that declined in modern times, the provision of many nest boxes is known to have a positive effect on populations adults will sometimes breed in different woods in different years. There have been numerous birds controlled (Lundberg and Alatalo, 1992 : Newton 1995).The NRG with its many nest box schemes can therefore be said moving between the various nest boxes schemes in Northumberland and Durham. There have also been to be directly contributing to the conservation of this charismatic species. controls recorded between NRG woodlands and other breeding areas in Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire and, further afield, in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Gloucestershire and Staffordshire.

58 59 Northumbria Ringing Group Pied Flycatcher

A few birds have been controlled breeding in Scotland. A bird ringed as a pullus at Blenkinsopp was recording Ringing site Ringing Age Recovery Recovery Distance / breeding the following year near Jedburgh. A six-year-old breeding female at Low Carriteth had been ringed date site date Circumstances as a pullus in Dumfries and Galloway so obviously moving to Northumberland was conducive to a long life! Nunnykirk 11/06/1981 1 Marrakesh, 13/10/1984 Dead, (also Wales has provided the majority of controls away from the immediately surrounding counties. It has mostly been Morocco controlled at one-way traffic with the NRG controlling breeding birds ringed originally in natal areas of Denbigh, Flintshire, Longwitton 17 Glamorgan, Clwyd and Gwynedd. Jun 1982) Dipton 12/06/1982 1 Mirandela, 15/10/1982 Trapped, The group has also had controls of birds on passage both in this country and overseas (see Table 1). Northumberland Portugal freshly dead birds have been controlled in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. The furthest we have had Greenhaugh 18/06/1982 1 Braga, Minho, 19/09/1985 1579 km Freshly birds controlled is Algeria and several in Morocco. Hauxley Ringing Station had a notable control in May 1981 Portugal dead (Killed) of bird that had been ringed as a pullus the previous year in Sweden and was presumably on its way home. A Dipton 13/06/1983 1 Oran, 10/05/1984 Dead Hauxley-ringed spring adult male was controlled the following spring on passage in the Netherlands. Algeria Stocksfield 22/06/1984 1 Ile D’Ouessant, 27/08/1984 751 km Table 1 Selected passage Pied Flycatcher controls and recoveries Finistere, France Controlled Spurn Point 25/05/1985 5F Brinkburn 03/06/1986 Female, Ringing site Ringing Age Recovery Recovery Distance / Controlled date site date Circumstances breeding Hauxley 18/08/1966 4F Contis, Landes, 02/09/1966 Killed Spurn Point 26/05/1985 5F Nunnykirk 04/06/1989 Controlled, France breeding Hauxley 19/08/1966 4M Ile D’Ouessant, 10/09/1986 Controlled (also controlled Finistere, France breeding Dipton 26/06/1967 1 Langoiran, 13/10/1967 Dead, roadside Brinkburn 3 June Landes, France 1986) Riding Mill 14/06/1969 1 Pampihosa, 05/09/1970 Found dead Angerton 12/06/1985 1 Duinbergen, 27/04/1986 546 km Mealhada, Belgium Controlled Portugal Dipton 01/06/1986 4F Roque Del Este, 19/09/1986 Killed by Hauxley 11/05/1970 4M Hesselo, 07/05/1971 Controlled Lanzarote Eleonora’s Falcon Sjaelland, Denmark Dipton 15/06/1989 1 St Albans Head, 07/08/1989 Controlled, Dipton 29/06/1970 1 Saint Auriel, 04/09/1970 Controlled Purbeck, Dorset passage Gotte du Warden 21/06/1991 1 Bouznika, 19/04/1992 Dead Morbihan, France Morocco March Burn 16/06/1972 1 Le Troit, 18/08/1972 Found freshly Linnels 08/06/1992 1 Khenifra, 19/09/1994 2451 km nr Rouen, France dead Morocco Dead Dipton 13/06/1973 1 Friezenberg, 01/06/1977 Controlled, M Fontburn 17/06/1993 1 Pontevedra, 06/09/1993 Dead Mackelo, Reservoir Spain in water Ouerijssel, Apperley Dene 30/05/1994 1 Mirandela, 07/10/1994 1526 km Netherlands Portugal Dead March Burn 17/06/1977 1 Portland Bill 01/05/1980 Female, Linnels 19/06/1995 1 Tras Os Montes, 21/10/1995 1499 km Controlled Portugal Dead Holystone 30/06/1979 1 Isle of May 05/06/1980 Controlled

Kvismaren, 22/06/1980 1 Hauxley 16/05/1981 1,105 km Most of the birds controlled breeding have been aged up to four years old, but some older birds have also been Orebro, Controlled, 5F found including two eight-year-olds (controlled at Nunnykirk in 1995 and Linnels in 1997) and there was one Sweden notable nine-year-old female controlled at Linnels in 1998.

60 61 Northumbria Ringing Group Pied Flycatcher

As Table 1 shows causes of death vary. The strangest record involves the unlucky Dipton flycatcher killed by an Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae on the small uninhabited island of Roque Del Este, 12km north east of Lanzarote. The most regular cause of death recorded in recoveries is “killed by cat” although we humans are also responsible with birds colliding with windows or dying on roads. Sadly, a few birds have been trapped and killed for food in Europe, particularly in earlier days. Occasionally females are found dead in nest boxes early in spring. In some cases this is thought to be due to inter-specific competition for nest boxes with Great TitsParus major the likely culprits.

Although I am assured that it wasn’t intentional, flycatchers had some vicarious revenge one evening against cats. After a group visit to Dipton, Martin Davison, then a mere 17-year-old learner driver, “clipped” a cat on the road en-route to the Traveller’s Rest. “Clipped” in this context was a euphemism for “emphatically squashed dead”. No excuses however for the more experienced driver in the following car, Sandy Bankier, who entered the pub explaining how he had “clipped” the kitten that was mewing piteously by its dead mother’s side!

Conclusion

This long study of Pied Flycatchers illustrates one of the NRG’s greatest attributes – its ability to keep studies going for prolonged periods to build up significant datasets. The value of this is increasingly important as we consider how issues such as climate change and environmental degradation impact on the population of sub-Saharan migrants. It is hoped that another generation of NRG ringers will fall for this most captivating of species and continue to send ringing data and nest record cards to the BTO for many years to come. Myself? I am just hoping to get the group’s first sub-Saharan control or recovery – naturally it will be from the Linnels.

Anne Middleton

Pair of Pied Flycatchers at nest at Allenbanks John Clark

Nestbox work and typical habitat at Nunnykirk Bryan Galloway

62 63 Northumbria Ringing Group Reed Warbler Reed Warbler Table 2. Numbers of full grown Reed Warblers ringed by site. SITE Hauxley RS Hauxley NR Big Waters East Chevington Acrocephalus scirpaceus (1963-2012) (2002-2012) (1983-2012) (2004-2012) Number ringed 109 51 83 613 Status and history Hauxley The Reed Warbler was formerly a scarce passage migrant to Northumberland. Breeding first occurred at Gosforth Park in 1958 and then very slowly spread to nearby Big Waters in 1989 and then, with the All Reed Warblers caught at the ringing station are passage migrants, usually in autumn. The 109 ringed includes a creation of the reed bed in the late 1980s, to East Chevington. The first returning birds from winter small number caught in the reed ditch during Swallow and Sedge Warbler sessions at East Chevington between the quarters usually appear in late April, with the main arrival in early to mid-May. Most breeding birds 1970s-1982. Between 2002-2012, 51 were caught on the reserve, just to the south of the ringing station. As most, have departed by late August, but migrants can continue to be recorded along the coast until early if not all, of these were caught during Constant Effort Scheme ringing sessions, many may well have been from the November. The core breeding population is still at Gosforth Park with a smaller but growing population very small population of one-three pairs which breeds on the reserve. at East Chevington. The species is classified as ‘an uncommon breeder’ inBirds in Northumbria, the annual bird report for Northumberland. Scattered breeding also takes place at several other sites. East Chevington

Ringing I was keen to discover if the present reed beds were as attractive to Acrocephalus warblers as they were when the ringing stopped due to the area being open-casted for coal in 1982. I gained permission from Northumberland The Gosforth Park population is well-studied by the ringing group of the Natural History Society of Wildlife Trust and cut three rides in 2004, increasing to four the following year. Although the whole site covers Northumbria. Within the Northumbria Ringing Group they were mainly ringed as autumn passage over 100 acres, I operate at the south end of the reserve, very near the area where Swallows and Sedge Warblers migrants at Hauxley with occasional birds ringed at Big Waters. As can be seen from the tables below, were caught from the 1960s-1982. Visits vary greatly, from 16 in 2010 to only three in 2012. The weather plays an three sites account for most of the Reed Warblers ringed by the group, with East Chevington being by far important part in determining ringing visits during the course of the season. In 2012 the wet spring made trapping the most important. Between the 1970s and 1982 the group ringed at a Swallow roost at East Chevington unsafe so the first visit was not made until late July when the majority of birds ringed are from elsewhere (Tables 3 during late July/early August. Bearing in mind that the ringing area was the reed-fringed outflow ditch & 4). of the Chevington Burn and not the present reed bed, a surprising number of Reed Warblers were also caught. Amongst these were several with brood patches, raising the possibility that occasional breeding Table 3. Numbers of Reed Warblers caught at East Chevington 2004-12. occurred locally. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 TOTAL A total of 898 full grown Reed Warblers have been ringed by the group between 1963 and 2012 (see 20 26 81 44 55 71 109 182 25 613 Tables 1 & 2 below). Of these, 773 (86%) have been ringed since 2004, the year regular ringing started at East Chevington. 613 of the 773 Reed Warblers (79%) were ringed at that locality, indicating the importance of East Chevington as a post-juvenile dispersal and migration stop-over site. Breeding birds

Table 1. Numbers of Reed Warblers ringed annually by the NRG (all sites). Although up to 17 males have been heard singing around the south pool, it is considered that fewer females actually * denotes annual ringing starting at East Chevington. breed. Very few juveniles that can be said to have been born in the reed bed are trapped, and the numbers of sexed adults vary between years. Birds are sexed by the presence of either a Brood Patch (= F) or a Cloacal Protrubrance 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 (= M) and are considered to be breeding on the reserve. Generally adult birds caught after mid-late July are not 6123013101303 sexed. 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Table 4. Number of sexed adult Reed Warblers ringed by year, numbers in parentheses 11 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 0 6 6 2 are additional birds thought most likely to be this sex (May to early July). 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2 4 1 2 8 5 1 0 3 9 10 3 1 Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 TOTAL 2002 2003 2004* 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Male 4 (5) 1 (2) 4 2 3 7 (1) 9 (2) 4 (1) 0 34 (11) 11 4 27 32 91 50 64 81 135 241 52 Female 3 (1) 2 (1) 3 (1) 4 3 4 2 (2) 7 (2) 2 (1) 30 (8)

64 65 Northumbria Ringing Group Reed Warbler

Mist net ride, East Chevington Ian Fisher

Re-traps

Of the 613 Reed Warblers trapped at East Chevington, 101 (16%) have been re-trapped at the site. 68 (67%) were caught at least once during the year of ringing with 29 (28%) caught the following year, nine (9%) caught two years after ringing, four (4%) three years later, two (2%) four years later and one Typical habitat, East Chevington Ian Fisher (1%) re-trapped five years later. Only three birds (3%) have been caught in several subsequent years after ringing. Origins of the birds passing through East Chevington Big Waters One of the questions I was keen to try and answer after the first couple of years ringing was: ‘Where are the birds caught from late July-September from?’ Initially I thought the birds would be coming from Between 1983-2012, 83 Reed Warblers have been ringed at Big Waters Nature Reserve (Table 5). In the Scottish breeding population. Bruce in Forrester et al. (2007) state that there are between 40-60 only two years, 2010 and 2011, were double figures achieved. Interestingly, both were years when good breeding pairs in Scotland. Breeding first occurred on Shetland in 1973 with the main stronghold in numbers were ringed at East Chevington and at Hauxley Reserve. Most have been ringed during CES Dumfries accounting for over half of the maximum total, with small populations in Fife, Perth and Kinross sessions at the ringing group’s longest-running CES site. and Borders accounting for about ten pairs. Could the Dumfries population be the source of ‘my’ birds migrating through East Chevington? Probably not, as most Reed Warblers controlled away from East Table 5. Numbers of Reed Warblers ringed at Big Waters NR 1983-2012. Chevington appear to head in a south or west of south direction. Assuming that the Dumfries population migrate on the same heading it would appear that they are not the source of my birds. Of course, if the 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 breeding populations are not ringed, then some may pass through East Chevington. I have only had one 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 2 1 2 control of a Scottish-ringed Sedge Warbler passing through East Chevington so Scotland appears an 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 unlikely source for the birds which I catch. 2 2 0 0 1 0 5 1 0 5 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 The nearest large breeding population to East Chevington are in the Tees Marshes reed beds in Cleveland 1 4 3 2 5 1 8 12 12 9 where McAndrew & Clayton (in Joynt et al. 2008) state that just under 500 breeding pairs were recorded between 1999-2006. From some of the ringing exchanges between East Chevington and Teesside (a total of five, including a bird ringed at Billingham as a juvenile on 17th July 2006 and controlled at Of the 83 birds ringed, eight (9.6%) have been trapped away from Big Waters with seven (8%) at nearby East Chevington a month later), it is considered that most of the warblers caught from late July to early Gosforth Park with the other bird travelling to Kenfig Pool, South Wales, a month after ringing. One bird September are probably post-juvenile dispersing birds from Cleveland, rather than from further afield (i.e. ringed at Gosforth Park has been controlled at Big Waters. One bird caught at Gosforth Park (J213028) Scotland). was nine years old when it was last controlled there.

66 67 Northumbria Ringing Group Reed Warbler

Recoveries of birds ringed at NRG sites Recoveries at NRG sites of birds ringed elsewhere

J213028 3 J 07/08/93 Big Waters R763033 3 J 19/07/03 Haverton Hill, Cleveland R 05/05/02 Gosforth Park (also controlled there 1994-1998) R 04/07/08 East Chevington R159009 4 M 04/05/02 Hauxley Reserve T245674 3 28/08/04 Haverton Hill, Cleveland R 16/07/04 East Chevington, 6km 191° R 10/07/05 East Chevington, 78km 344° R395836 4 F 30/06/04 East Chevington T231354 3 15/07/06 Billingham Beck, Cleveland R 12/08/05 Laguna Nava, Spain, 1483km 189° R 16/08/06 East Chevington R395851 3 J 16/07/04 East Chevington V364156 4 M 17/06/07 Gosforth Park R 29/07/05 Treogat, Finistere, France 838km 193° R 23/06/07 East Chevington T889204 3 16/08/06 East Chevington V636166 3 13/10/07 Icklesham, Sussex R 31/05/07 Saltholme, Cleveland, 78km 164° R 24/06/08 East Chevington, 508km 343° V876383 3 02/09/08 East Chevington V902940 3J 19/08/09 Saltholme, Teesmouth R 24 & 25/09/08 Nanjizal, Cornwall, 643km 206° R 12/07/10 East Chevington, 78km 344° X338302 3 16/07/09 East Chevington X780660 3J 15/08/10 Gosforth Park R 07/08/09 Hauxley Reserve, 6km 11° R 01/07/11 Hauxley Reserve, 34km 6° X184737 3 25/07/09 Big Waters L996447 3 J 19/08/12 Gosforth Park R 29/08/09 Kenfig Pool, Glamorgan, 417km 200° R 08/09/12 Lamesley SW, Durham, 14km 176° X184781 4 31/07/09 Big Waters Ian Fisher R 29/07/12 Gosforth Park, 5km 151° T108225 4 F 16/06/10 Hauxley Reserve R 17/06/11 Wheldrake Ings, Yorkshire, 165km 166° X799268 4 17/06/10 East Chevington R 19/08/11 Titchfield Haven, Hampshire, 495km 178° R 27/05 & 05/08/12 Gosforth Park, 28km 185° X799311 4 12/07/10 East Chevington R 20/06/11 Hauxley Reserve, 6km 11° L990879 3 02/07/11 Lamesley SW, Durham R 13/05/12 Gosforth Park, 14km 356° L679466 3 14/08/11 East Chevington R 23/05/12 Hauxley Reserve, 6km 11°

Reed Warbler caught for ringing at East Chevington Ian Fisher

68 69 Northumbria Ringing Group Robin Robin Erithacus rubecula

Status and history

Over the 50-year period that the NRG has been in existence the Robin has been one of the most commonly ringed species. 9,569 full grown birds have been ringed, 5,464 (57%) of them on coastal passage at the Low Hauxley Ringing Station. These figures come as no surprise as the Robin is described in the county avifaunas as ‘a common passage and abundant breeding species.’ It is present in most habitats, the exception being heather moorland, with the resident British race E.r. melophilus rarely moving far from its breeding territory. Evidence quoted by Wernham et al. (2002) suggests that adult males stay close to their breeding territories in all but very hard winters with females and immature birds the most likely to move away, albeit often less than 20km. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to be certain of the specific race of Robins ringed in autumn and winter on the coast which then move southwards. Indeed, some ringed within a five kilometre radius of Low Hauxley in that period could be either local birds or newly-arrived greyer continental individuals of the nominate race E.r. rubecula.

Local recoveries and controls

Of local Robins ringed during the breeding season as juveniles, only nine have been recovered, six within five kilometres of their natal area. Two were from sites at Stocksfield and Stobswood, and were both found dead in the same year, some 78km and 79km respectively, having flown in a south/south easterly direction. Of the other two, one was found dead at Whalton having moved 13km north/north west from Seaton Burn, the other was controlled at West Boldon, County Durham, having flown south easterly from Milbourne in central Northumberland.

Many recoveries however are of young Robins who may have moved already from their natal areas but who die before the next breeding season. The bulk of the Robin recoveries relate to these birds with over 20 listed within five kilometres of the ringing site. Within the same close proximity to the ringing site eight birds, aged as adults, were also recorded. The majority of recoveries were of dead birds, with seven road kills, three colliding with windows, four killed by cats and one unfortunate individual killed in a mouse trap. Of the birds which were controlled as well as some of those found dead, three were two years old, one was over three years old and a retrapped Robin from Whittle Wood was nearly five years old.

As well as birds within the five kilometre radius of the ringing site a further five were recorded at distances between six and 20km away. Three of the autumn birds had moved in a southerly direction, while a bird ringed at Eshott as a juvenile had moved north east to Low Hauxley and the other moved from Low Hauxley north westward to Lesbury.

A Robin caught for ringing at Whittle Wood CES Paul Galloway

70 71 Northumbria Ringing Group Robin

Coastal passage in spring and autumn Southerly movement in Britain in excess of 70km of autumn ringed Robins

The annual influx of Robins, in both spring and autumn, is well recorded in both local and national Low Hauxley Age Recovery site Recovery Distance / ornithologies. The spring passage, usually between mid-March and mid-May, is less spectacular than the Ringing date Date Circumstances autumn movements, and includes the continental race E.r. rubecula. Small falls of about 20 birds are recorded on some days during the period at Low Hauxley, often peaking in April, as was the case in 1966, 1986, Sept. 1973 3 St. Helen Sept. 1973 75km 2000, 2005 and 2009. Four long-distant recoveries of Robins ringed at Low Hauxley from the April 1966 Auckland Dead. 15 days fall have been reported. All four were adults, with two flying south to Spain and one to northern France, all Co. Durham unfortunately being found dead. The fourth Robin, presumably returning to its continental breeding area, was Oct. 1976 3 Southampton Feb. 1977 485km controlled in southern Norway. Hampshire Dead. 100 days

Autumn passage peaks between mid-September and mid-October often with 30 or 40 birds daily and, Oct. 1976 3 Hoddeston Oct. 1976 400km exceptionally, Robins may be present in much greater numbers. Some daily counts in October 1965 exceeded Hertfordshire Control. 10 days 300 birds and were repeated in 1966. Over 400 were ringed at Low Hauxley between 11th and 13th October, Sept. 1980 3 Pudsey Oct. 1980 169km 1982, and 215 on 12th October 1988. Other sizeable counts occurred in 1990, 2004, 2007 and 2010. W. Yorkshire Dead. 16 days

The continental origin of many autumn Robins is confirmed by the control of three foreign birds at Low Oct. 1982 3 Timperley Dec. 1983 219km Hauxley. In September 1976, one ringed over 1,200km away in Finland 13 days previously was controlled, to Cheshire Dead. 419 days be followed in November 1984 by another ringed at Molen (767km) in southern Norway, five days earlier. Nov. 1984 3 Charlton-on-Otmoor Jan. 1985 388km Both had flown south westerly to Britain. The third autumn Robin of continental origin was controlled at Oxfordshire Dead. 59 days Low Hauxley in October 1987 having been ringed 563km away in Belgium. Many of these autumn passage birds continue from the north east coast in a southerly direction. So far 16 Robins ringed at Low Hauxley Oct. 1988 4 Purbeck Oct. 1988 527km between September and November have been reported. The majority were birds of the year. Five of these Dorset Control. 17 days birds travelled less than 70km, being reported from Bedlington (21 km), Whitley Bay (28), Jarrow (30), Oct. 1988 3 Sheringham Oct. 1989 318km Sunderland (38) and Wolsingham (65), but all had moved in a south or south/south west direction. The Norfolk Control. 380 days remaining 11 are listed in the accompanying table where it is worth noting that all had headed in a southerly direction with two that were possibly bound for France or Iberia reaching the south coast. Oct. 1988 3 Preston Jan. 1989 178km Lancashire Dead. 103 days In addition to autumn Robins ringed at Low Hauxley and recovered within Britain, further evidence of Oct. 1988 3 Shipston on Stour Dec, 1989 363km onward southerly passage to the continent is provided by another two birds. The first, ringed in October 1966, Warwickshire Dead. 424 days was controlled near Badajoz, central Spain, in January 1967. The other, ringed in October 1988 was found dead at Fontenay le Comte, France, in March 1989. A third Robin ringed at Low Hauxley in October 1966 Sept. 1992 3 Saltburn Apr. 1994 90km was controlled at Falsterbo, Sweden, in April 1968. It was a bird which had presumably wintered in mainland Cleveland Control. 567 days Britain or Europe in 1966 and later returned to its breeding area.

Inland ringing Conclusion

Whilst most of the Robins noted above were either ringed or controlled at or near Low Hauxley, the NRG Long distance movement by local Robins is not common. What has been recorded is thought to be largely was also involved with ringing at an upland site (300m asl) at Threestoneburn, nearly 20 miles inland. Harsh by birds on passage from Fenno-Scandinavia with the exception of those noted above from Threestone- weather conditions in late autumn and into spring would have probably induced many birds to leave the area burn. Many coastal Robins may overwinter in Britain but some obviously move on to mainland Europe. over the winter. Three Robins which were ringed between May and August all moved in a southerly or south They may or may not return to continental breeding areas via Britain in spring. The pattern of recoveries easterly direction to Morpeth (43km), Swarland (25km) and, more surprisingly, to Poole, Dorset (530km). for Robins ringed by the NRG reflects and confirms the overall national picture. A fourth-summer Robin moved north west to Coldingham (45km), while a fifth bird, ringed in March, was recovered in September the same year at Worcester, 365km southwards. John Day

72 73 Northumbria Ringing Group Roseate Tern Roseate Tern Habitat requirements In Europe the preferred nesting habitat is small rocky islands in sheltered bays and lagoons. Sand dunes Sterna dougallii and shingle spits are also used (Hagemeijer & Blair, 1997). Until relatively recently in Northumberland the Roseate Terns typically preferred overhanging or thick vegetation close to a rocky crevice or Puffin Status and history Fratercula arctica burrow for their nest sites.

One of our rarest seabirds, the Roseate Tern, has suffered dramatically changing fortunes in Britain since first Following examples from North America (where the technique was first used), and Rockabill, nest boxes are being described in 1812. Indeed, it is extinct as a breeding species from many former haunts. Uncertainty placed on Coquet Island before the birds return. As they now have been used for some years they are readily surrounds the causes, but it is generally considered to be loss of breeding habitat and high winter mortality. occupied by many adults to lay eggs or as shelter for young. Where new natural nests are found boxes are also Much work has been carried out during the breeding season as to nest site requirements, predation, productivity, placed nearby, and some level of ‘training’ of young to use the box is required. foraging techniques and exchange between colonies. Education programmes have been organised by RSPB and Birdlife in Ghana to try and reduce persecution by local fishermen and children (Everett,et al. 1987). In the early days of monitoring, nests were usually widespread across the island. In recent years, as a result of During the late 1980s an intensive monitoring programme, co-ordinated by RSPB, was instigated across all the boxes, the colony has become more concentrated and birds are using boxes sited on artificial `terraces`. of its North Atlantic breeding colonies. This use of boxes has had a significant impact on productivity. Before they were available productivity was always below one chick per pair but by 2003 this had risen to 1.18 chicks fledging per pair. Since then failure Locally, Selby (1831) reported that it visited the Farnes in `considerable numbers` although it is difficult to to fledge more than one chick per pair has occurred only in very low food years. quantify that term. By 1874 Hancock noted only a few pairs there annually. Meanwhile on Coquet Island, Adamson (1880-1881) stated the island was ‘covered in tern eggs’, including those of Roseate, but in 1912 Monitoring on Coquet Island Bolam thought that none had nested since at least the 1850s. Clearly, the early status was confusing. It was not until between the 1940s and 1960s that a more accurate picture emerged. The Farnes population then Since 1991, as part of the North Atlantic monitoring programme co-ordinated by RSPB, efforts have been fluctuated between 13 pairs in the late 1940s to a peak of 98 pairs in 1953 followed by a decline to 35 in made to find as many nests as possible and monitor progress (data is submitted to the British Trust for 1959. It peaked again in 1961 with 94 pairs. Another decline followed through the 1960s, but rallied to 79 Ornithology’s Nest Record Scheme) and to ring as many pulli as possible (see table below): pairs in 1968.

On Coquet Island the population experienced a similar roller coaster after re-colonisation. A rapid increase Pulli Roseate Terns ringed by year on Coquet Island occurred during the 1960s when in 1965 there were 80 confirmed pairs. Numbers increased to 150 in 1968 and 230 pairs in 1969 (BWP 1985). By the late 1960s Northumberland’s population was considered to be in 140 120 the order of 200 pairs (Galloway & Meek 1980) although this appeared to be an underestimate compared 100 with 299 pairs during Operation Seafarer in 1969. During the 1970s the population started a steady decline 80 with the loss of a small colony at Lindisfarne and the traditional, and historically well-populated Farnes 60 Islands. Although small numbers can frequent the islands during summer no positive breeding evidence has 40 been recorded in recent years. 20 0 On Coquet Island the same trend occurred, although from a higher starting point. From 100 pairs in 1971 20 35 28 43 35 26 5 28 31 34 56 72 83 73 103 105 93 57 121 76 104 79 only 20 pairs were recorded in 1980. During the 1980s the population remained steady with 20-25 pairs. In the 1990s, the population marginally increased to 30-35 pairs (Day et al. 1995). Subsequently, Coquet Island, 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1992 2002 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 with major declines and in some cases extinction in traditionally larger colonies, became the largest breeding colony in Britain with only 34 pairs in 2000 but rising to between 70-80 at present. Chicks can be ringed from one day old when they superficially resemble Arctic and Common tern young. Nationally, from the 19th century many traditional colonies become defunct, including the Firth of Clyde The only reliable way of identifying Roseate Tern chicks in the field or hand is by leg colour. They are the where breeding ceased by 1850 (BWP 1985). In 1962, Parslow (1967) calculated the British and Irish only tern chicks of these three species with black or dark legs. Birds are fitted with a BTO ring on the left leg populations to be about 3,500 pairs. Decline has been dramatic since then leaving Coquet Island the largest and a special metal ring on the right. The special ring is slightly larger than the BTO ring and has a four-digit British colony for some years. sequence repeated once. These special rings are designed to be readable in the field by wardens or others using telescopes. This reduces the need to capture ringed birds and increases the recovery rate. For example, During Seabird 2000 (Mitchell et al. 2004) the British and Irish population was concentrated in three large a target of 100 ring-reads is set on Coquet Island. The ring-read data from all North Atlantic colonies are co- colonies: 78% (618) on Rockabill (Co Dublin), 15% (116) on Lady’s Island Lake (Co Wexford) and 4% (35) ordinated by RSPB. In an attempt to fill the inevitable gaps of ringed birds in the population and to confirm on Coquet Island. These figures were considered to have been an increase of 44% since the 1986 census. ring numbers, an adult trapping programme was developed for 2001-2003. During that time 31 adults were However, since that time, where no nationwide survey has taken place, the Coquet Island population has ringed and a further 38 were controlled. Of these, 38 were Coquet-ringed birds but a significant proportion increased by around 150%. was of birds ringed on Rockabill. Further discussion is included in the movement section.

74 75 Northumbria Ringing Group Roseate Tern

It quickly became apparent that trapping adults was only successful during a small time window towards Recoveries the end of incubation when they returned very quickly to nests after disturbance. As soon as eggs hatch the urge to sit is reduced and the nest trap puts off adults. The trap is an upturned shopping basket with a simple The NRG ringed 31 adults and 1,343 pullus between 1963-2012. Ringing on Coquet Island commenced in remote controlled portcullis. 1989. All of the adults and young were ringed there except for six marked on Ross Links in 1967. One of the Ross birds provided the group’s first recovery when it was found dying in Lagos, Nigeria, in February 1968.

The table below details a selection of recoveries or controls of birds found in Europe and along the Atlantic coast of Africa or moving between breeding colonies.

Ring Ringing Ringing Recovery site Recovery Comment number site date date SX58058 Coquet 1993 Rockabill, Breeding Then bred Island Co Dublin, 1996 Coquet into Eire 2000s Roseate Terns with an Arctic Tern on Coquet Island Peter Fawcett SV64277 Coquet 2001 Almeria, October Found dead Island Spain 2005 Movements SV94036 Coquet 2002 Senegal, December Found dead Island West Africa 2002 Whilst it is generally recognised through ringing recoveries that the winter quarters are off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, especially Ghana (Hagemeijer & Blair 1997 and Wernham et al. 2002), there are particular SR44812 Coquet 2007 Ghana, January Reported gaps in our knowledge of the movements of this species once it has vacated breeding and winter quarters. Island West Africa 2008 ‘caught’ Locally, there appears to be an increasing habit of dispersing northwards from Coquet Island immediately SR44932 Coquet 2009 Lamor-Baden, August-Sept Ring read after fledging with small groups of juveniles being seen on local beaches at Alnmouth, Long Nanny and Island France 2011 in field Beadnell through August. XR09550 Coquet 1989 Ivory Coast, April Also seen Island Africa 1995 at Coquet 1990 Outside the breeding season, Roseate Tern is rarely seen on migration and at all seasons is one of the most and 1991 marine of the family. Most first-summer birds remain in the tropics although occasionally some will move slightly north. Some first and second summer birds do return to the nesting grounds but few breed. Most SX08100 Rockabill, 1990 Coquet Bred breed at three years of age. They usually leave their winter quarters in December (Lloyd et al. 1991) and Co Dublin, Island 1995-2002 are not recorded again until February when return migration is underway. Some concern exists about their Eire whereabouts between December and February. ST14635 Coquet 2012 Accra, Ghana, February Recorded Island Africa 2013 as ‘found’

The monitoring schemes, which first used colour rings and later the special field-readable metal rings at SR78731 Coquet 2010 Dolnoslaskie, July Ring read most European and North American colonies, have made understanding their behaviour much easier. A Island Poland 2013 in field database has been set up and is co-ordinated by RSPB and patterns of movement between colonies have been revealed. As discussed in Ratcliffe (2008), some confusion existed about the status of the various North SX67398 Coquet 1995 Beyin, Ghana, October Found in violent Atlantic colonies. Now it is generally considered that all of these colonies are one metapopulation and birds Island Africa 1995 weather will move freely between them. For example, birds ringed as chicks in one colony, such as Coquet Island, may SV64265 Coquet 2001 Liberia, February Caught and be found breeding in another such as Rockabill then returning to the natal area (pers obs). Island Africa 2002 released Conclusions Tom Cadwallender Even with the slight increase in the breeding population, the North Atlantic Roseate Tern is a sub-species still at great risk. More work is required to identify feeding and foraging areas during the breeding season, migration patterns (with the rapid miniaturisation of satellite transmitters this maybe something for the future) and a better understanding of winter quarters.

76 77 Northumbria Ringing Group Sedge Warbler Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Status and history

This small, vocal migrant was described by Bolam (1912) as a ‘common summer visitor, nesting in most suitable places,’ a status which remains unchanged. It is primarily a lowland species attracted to ponds and reed beds which are mainly in the east of the county although it can be found breeding in a variety of habitat away from water. Pairs nesting in western areas are mainly in valleys below 180m. Day et al. (1995) estimated a breeding population of between 400 and 800 pairs.

A trans-Saharan migrant which arrives from mid-April, they are easily located by their strident, chattering song. Pre-emigration concentrations occur in July. Those gatherings of up to 500 in reed beds at Chevington Burn (Galloway & Meek 1983) and, more recently, Big Waters and East Chevington, account for most of the 5,583 fully-grown birds ringed by the NRG between 1963 and 2011.

They winter south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to northern Namibia and South Africa. Wernham et al. (2002) states that ringing recoveries shows that winter quarters for British and Irish birds lie south of 17°N and west of 2°E. Most ringed in eastern Britain show a distribution in the east of that region.

Detailed analysis of BTO data has shown that much of the year-to-year variation in population is driven by changes in adult survival relating to changes in rainfall on wintering grounds (Peach et al. 1991).

Ringing and Re-traps

Between 1963 and 2012 the NRG ringed 5,714 Sedge Warblers of which only 57 were pulli. The importance of ringing to our understanding of movements is illustrated by the fact that 92% of all recoveries involved birds controlled by other ringers. To date, the oldest British-ringed Sedge Warbler was a bird found dead in Mali in 2001 aged eight years, eight months and eight days. The typical lifespan is two years.

Galloway and Meek (1983) and Kerr (2001) stated that many individuals have been re-trapped up to six years later at original ringing sites. However, that statement is not borne out either by analysis of re-traps at Big Waters from 1986 to 2012 or in the NRG database of 2,968 records between 2003 and 2012 (Table 1).

Ringed Sedge Warbler at East Chevington Paul Galloway

78 79 Northumbria Ringing Group Sedge Warbler

Table 1 Re-traps in excess of 1,110 Days (3 years) from the Ringing date Constant Effort Scheme (CES) data from Big Waters of birds trapped in standard nets produced an average annual catch of 17 adults and 15 juveniles. 1989 was the peak year for juveniles when 45 were trapped. 1990 Date Ringed Age Ringing Site Re-trap data Re-trap Site Days yielded the peak for adults with 25 individuals. Although numbers fluctuate from year to year, the trend has been downwards. This was demonstrated in 2012 when only 12 adults and a single juvenile were captured. May 2005 4 Newport, Wales June 2010 Hauxley Reserve 1884 Poor weather may have been a contributing factor although the BTO commented that CES data had shown a sustained decrease since the late 1980s. July 2005 3J Hauxley Reserve July 2009 Hauxley Reserve 1467

July 2004 4F Big Waters June 2008 Big Waters 1456 Recoveries

July 2003 4F Hauxley Reserve June 2007 Hauxley Reserve 1432 Since 1964 there have been 92 recoveries involving birds found dead or controlled. 18 involved local movements, one third between Big Waters and Gosforth Park or visa versa. The majority of the remainder May 1997 4 Big Waters July 2000 Big Waters 1169 involved birds ringed at Druridge Bay Country Park and controlled at Low Hauxley. May 1989 4M Big Waters July 1992 Big Waters 1160 Wernham et al. (2002) also commented that British and Irish birds appeared to depend for pre-migratory May 1989 4 Big Waters June 1992 Big Waters 1135 fattening in autumn on a relatively small number of wetland, particularly reed bed, localities across southern June 1991 4M Big Waters July 1994 Big Waters 1134 Britain and France. The pattern of live recoveries was therefore greatly influenced by ringers operating at those sites. This was confirmed by 85 recoveries by ringers. The most notable recovery site was Icklesham, May 2008 4 East Chevington June 2011 East Chevington 1132 Sussex, where 15 individuals ringed by the NRG have been found. Three ringed at Icklesham have been May 1988 4M Big Waters June 1991 Big Waters 1116 controlled in our region.

June 1989 4 Big Waters July 1992 Big Waters 1114 There have been 19 controls of Sedge Warblers by the NRG. The most distant was one ringed at St. Philbert de Grand Lieu, France, in September 1989 and controlled at Druridge Bay CP in May 1990. Another ringed Of these, only one third exceeded two years old. Site fidelity was shown by 51 returning to Big Waters, 45 to at Ile D’Ouessant, France, in September 1968 was controlled at Chevington Burn in July 1970. There are Hauxley Reserve and 23 to East Chevington. Interestingly, the oldest individual, just over five years, was an two controls of French-ringed birds at East Chevington in 2010 and Big Waters in 2012 where details are adult male ringed at Uskmouth, Newport, Wales, in May 2005 and controlled at Hauxley Reserve in May still awaited. There have been five controls of birds ringed in Sussex with singles from Dorset, Kent, Avon, 2007. It was re-trapped on five more occasions up to late June 2010. Suffolk, Hertfordshire, and North Yorkshire. All were caught within two years of ringing, mostly after nine to 23 months. The longest duration between ringing and control was one ringed as an adult in May 2005 at I have also looked at all hand-written cards and BTO recovery forms from 1962 to 1990 held by the NRG. In Uskmouth, Newport, Wales, and controlled 728 days later at Hauxley Reserve in May 2007. In contrast, an them the oldest is an adult ringed at Hauxley in July 1978 and re-trapped there in August 1981 just over three indication of rapid movement north was an adult ringed at Wiltstone Reservoir, Hertfordshire, in May 1999 years later. and controlled 20 days later at Big Waters. It was caught a further three times into July and was sexed as a breeding female. There have been three controls of Scottish-ringed individuals. Two involved very rapid The ringing total for the NRG between 1963 and 2012 of 5,657 fully grown birds shows the reliance on certain movements southwards. A juvenile ringed at Drum, Montrose, Tayside, on 22nd July 2006 was controlled sites. 71% were ringed at Hauxley (ringing station, reserve and East Chevington) and at least 25% at Big at East Chevington 16 days later. Another, ringed at Alemoor Reservoir, Hawick, on 3rd August 1986 was Waters. Efforts at East Chevington from 2004 to 2011 resulted in 1,447 being ringed, 26% of the group total. controlled at Big Waters just nine days later. The importance of the latter site is demonstrated by the fact that 90% of our Sedge Warbler recoveries since November 2004 were birds ringed at East Chevington. Caution must be exercised when analysing data. For example, was an adult female ringed at Alemoor Reservoir, Hawick, in June 1988 and controlled at Big Waters in July 1989, an early or failed breeder already moving At Big Waters, 1,363 were ringed from 1983 to 2012. Analysis of data since 1986 reveals that over 200 south or had she changed breeding sites? individuals were re-trapped, sometimes only a few days after ringing. Only 18% of re-traps were juveniles, indicating high mortality of young birds. This contrasts with an adult female ringed in July 2004 and caught The importance of targeting the species in July and August was shown by the fact that 89% of all recoveries again in June 2008. The typical lifespan of two years is illustrated by the fact that 92% of re-traps were within outside the region involved birds ringed during that period. All recoveries involved birds ringed as juveniles. two years. Of 18 individuals re-trapped after two years, only two were ringed as juveniles. Only two adults have been recovered outside of the NRG area, both ringed at Big Waters in the month of June. One was controlled at Icklesham and the other at Le Massereau, Loire Atlantique, France. Other than The statement by Wernham et al. (2002) that intensive studies suggested that males show a high degree of local controls, there have been 55 recoveries of Sedge Warblers ringed by the NRG. Seven were found dead, fidelity to breeding sites was confirmed at Big Waters where, from 2003 to 2012, 62% of re-traps of sexed birds the most recent was one ringed at Big Waters and found at Whitley Bay in May 1988. The other six were were male. ringed at Hauxley between 1969 and1984. One provided our most distant recovery to Las Arenas, Vizcaya, Spain, a distance of 1338 km. Also notable was one found dead at the lighthouse at Ile D’Ouessant, France, 25

80 81 Northumbria Ringing Group Sedge Warbler

Table 2 Selected Recoveries of Sedge Warblers ringed by the NRG

Ringing Age Ringing Recovery site Recovery Distance / Site Date Date Circumstances

Hauxley 3 31/07/1970 Las Arenas, 10/11/1970 Dead Vizcaya, Spain 1338km 102 Days

East 3 30/07/2010 Blaye, Gironde, 13/08/2010 Controlled Chevington France 1130km 14 Days East 3 27/07/2011 Le Massereau, 09/08/2011 Controlled Chevington Loire Atlantique, 893km 13 Days France Big Waters 3 21/08/1988 Etang de Trenvel, 11/09/1988 Controlled Finistere, France 816km 21 Days Hauxley 3 02/08/1970 Ile D'Ouessant, 27/08/1970 Dead France 800km 25 Days East 3 03/08/2009 Parc de la 18/08/2009 Controlled Chevington Courneuve, 751km 15 Days France Hauxley 3 26/07/1980 St. Ouen, 09/08/1981 Controlled Jersey 679km 379 Days East 3 24/07/2004 Herne, 20/08/2004 Controlled Chevington Belgium 628km 27 Days East 3 30/07/2010 Brabant, 14/08/2010 Controlled Chevington Belgium 618km 15 Days East 3 16/08/2006 Icklesham, 21/08/2006 Controlled Juvenile Sedge Warbler caught for ringing at Big Waters Bryan Galloway Chevington Sussex 508km 5 Days East 3 22/08/2010 Wick, 28/08/2010 Controlled days after being ringed at Hauxley. Others found dead also involved rapid movements south, from Hauxley Chevington Christchurch, 506 km 6 Days to Swindon, Wiltshire, and Great Dunmow, Essex, in 17 days and to Kirkby, Liverpool, in only nine days. Dorset The remaining 48 were controlled by ringers. Movements were predominately south and south west. Hauxley 3 05/08/1989 Tenterton, 13/08/1989 Controlled Southern England was reached rapidly with 78% controlled within 21 days. Over half travel to the south Kent 502km 8 Days coast and beyond within two weeks. One ringed at Big Waters in August 1991 completed the 485km to Icklesham in only three days. Another ringed at East Chevington in August 2006 travelled to the same Big Waters 3 11/08/1991 Poole, 19/08/1991 Controlled locality in five days. The most distant control was a juvenile ringed at East Chevington in July 2010 which Dorset 486km 8 Days was trapped at Blaye, Gironde, France, 14 days later, a movement of 1130km. Big Waters 3 11/08/1991 Icklesham, 14/08/1991 Controlled Sussex 485km 3 Days There have been nine controls to France, two to Belgium and singles to Jersey and Wales (see Table 2). East 3 04/08/2010 St. James, 09/08/2010 Controlled Seven of the French controls were almost due south to sites in the north west or western seaboard. There Chevington Suffolk 378km 5 Days is only one control to the north of our region, a juvenile ringed at East Chevington in July 2008 controlled at Seaside Dyke, Tayside, in August 2009. A breakdown of controls to English counties reveal 16 in Sussex, Big Waters 3 07/08/2003 Llangorse Lake, 15/08/2003 Controlled seven in Dorset, two in Suffolk, Kent and Hampshire and singles in South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Wales 365km 8 Days Warwickshire, Cambridgeshire and Berkshire,

Alan Johnston

82 83 Northumbria Ringing Group Siskin

Selected Siskin recoveries

Siskin Ringing Ringing Recovery Site Recovery Circumstances Carduelis spinus Site Date Date Low Hauxley September Liege, Belgium December 1970 Controlled Status and history 1970

The Siskin was not recorded as a breeding bird in Northumberland until 1942. Previously, it was regarded as a Low Hauxley October Hutton Gate, December 1988 Controlled winter visitor with few seen after April. A slow colonisation of coniferous woodland took place after 1942 and 1988 Cleveland by the 1960s breeding was first noted in the then maturing Border spruce forests. Breeding increased rapidly Hutton Gate, December Eastwood Grange, March 1990 Controlled and Day et al. (1995) estimated a population of at least 10,000 pairs Cleveland 1988 Hexham

It is likely that winter numbers are boosted by birds from Europe arriving from September to November and Sandhoe Hall, March Bellingham March 1992 Dead – hit glass leaving in spring (Day & Hodgson 2003). Winter numbers vary greatly annually and are dependent on food Hexham 1990 supply and immigration of continental birds. Fieldwork for the 2003 publication revealed that 6,724 birds were recorded during the survey period but there was speculation that up to 50,000 birds could be present in years Golspie, April 1990 Eastwood Grange, January 1991 Controlled of mass immigration. Highland Hexham

Prospect Hill, July 1991 Windlesham, March 1992 Controlled At about the time that the NRG was formed the first instance of Siskin being attracted to peanut net feeders Corbridge Surrey was recorded in southern England. This practice soon became widespread and was first noted locally in March 1972 with singles were seen on feeders at Hexham and Stamfordham. Wernham et al. (2002) noted that in Glencaple, February Threestoneburn May 1992 Controlled winter 1997-1998 Siskins were recorded in almost 40% of gardens in the Garden Bird Watch scheme run by Dumfries & 1991 the British Trust for Ornithology. Galloway Ringing Hutton Gate, February Fell Cottages, April 1992 Controlled Cleveland 1992 Slaley

The ease with which Siskins can be attracted to garden feeders, especially in adverse weather when natural Eastwood Grange, March Logie Hill, April 1992 Controlled food is not available, has greatly increased the number caught for ringing. Some are ringed at coastal sites on Hexham 1992 Highland migration but the majority are caught in gardens. Threestoneburn May 1992 Golspie, July 1992 Controlled Up to the end of 2012, the NRG had ringed 5,852 full grown and eight pulli Siskins. Of this total, 113 adults Highland were marked at Low Hauxley Ringing Station. The group’s IPMR database holds ringing records of 3,852 birds. Fell Cottages, April 1995 Llandeilo, April 1996 Controlled. Of these, 2110 were ringed at one garden site at Slaley Hall where birds are attracted to feeders with peanuts Slaley Dyfed 364 km. and sunflower hearts. The majority are ringed between March and May and are most probably birds migrating through the area en route back to the Border Forests and the Scottish Highlands. Large numbers were also Brandon, February Fell Cottages, April 2004 Controlled. caught at a Constant Effort Site which operated at Threestoneburn House in the Cheviot Hills between 1982 Suffolk 2003 Slaley 325 km and 1997. A large proportion of these birds were juveniles from pairs breeding in nearby coniferous woodland. Between 1990 and 1993, 841 birds were ringed in a Hexham garden having been attracted to peanut feeders. Fell Cottages, April 2004 Newton of Ardtoe, April 2006 Shot. Slaley Strathclyde 317 km Recoveries Fell Cottages, May 2009 Kirkton of Tough, May 2010 Dead. Birds ringed in Northumberland can be subsequently found in any part of England, Wales or Scotland but Slaley Grampian 259 km most recoveries show a distinct north or south bias. Birds ringed in winter in southern England are likely to Chopwell February Euchar, Argyll April 2011 Controlled. be caught in spring as they return to more northerly breeding areas. Scottish breeding birds can winter in Woods 2010 & Bute 279 km Northumberland or move on to more southern areas of England. Birds ringed in Northumberland have been recovered in Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

Michael Holmes

84 85 Northumbria Ringing Group Sparrowhawk

During the next 16 years (1972-1987) the group ringed 123 full grown birds and 1,404 pulli with a peak Sparrowhawk year in 1978 of ten full grown individuals and 139 pulli. In this period the majority of nests were in conifer plantations. However, as effort into nest-finding reduced, the numbers ringed also declined and in the 23 Accipiter nisus years since 1987 we ringed 157 full grown birds and 286 pulli.

Recoveries Status and history Some 11% of the birds ringed have been recovered and from the 210 recoveries about 85% moved no Early authors recognised the Sparrowhawk as being the most common bird of prey in Northumberland further than 50km with a bias between westerly and northerly directions. and both Hancock (1874) and Bolam (1912) said it would have been even more plentiful but for game- keeping. However, a dramatic change in status took place in the mid-1950s when the disastrous effects Our first recovery was a bird found dead at Whitfield in September 1973 which had been ringed as a pullus of organochlorine pesticides in agriculture became apparent. Sparrowhawks were one of several species female in the same year in a nest 21km east on the March Burn. poisoned by eating prey which had ingested the chemicals and the British population quickly crashed. As a consequence, very few were seen in the 1960s and in most years there were no breeding records (Galloway Only 14 individuals ringed as pulli moved more than 80km. Two which travelled more than 200km were & Meek, 1978). males from Kielder nests. One ringed in July 1980 hit a window and died 236km south in Cheshire four months later and the other ringed in July 1991 was found dead 300km south east on the shore at Skegness, As an eventual ban was placed on these pesticides the population began to slowly recover. It was thought Lincolnshire, in February 1996. Most recoveries were linked with road deaths or hitting windows but a that immigration from south west Scotland, where chemicals had not been widely used, assisted the recovery female from an Alwinton nest in 1980 demolished a shop window in Lockerbie in November that year and (Newton, 1986) and by 1973 a total of 25 pairs were found breeding in a 91 sq km study area in south west survived! Northumberland. Petty (1979) summarised similar findings in a study area in the Border Forest between 1975 and 1978 and by the end of the decade there was again widespread nesting, increasingly in expanding A remarkable set of recoveries involved three females from the same nest at Kielder in 2002. Two were conifer forests. found dead six weeks later, one in Fife 119km north east, and the second in Ayr, 138km west. The third was found dead 100km west in Dumfries and Galloway three months after ringing. Atlas work in the late 1980s and early 1990s suggested that over 600 pairs, similar to the number of pairs of Kestrels, were breeding in Northumberland, almost exclusively in conifers (Day et al. 1995). Despite A multiple recovery involved a male ringed in a Kielder nest in 2007. It was caught at Mamby, North being ‘moved on’ by the ever-increasing populations of Goshawks and Buzzards, at least 16 pairs were still Yorkshire, 130km south east, in September 2007. It then moved on to Selby, Humberside, where it was present in the Border Forests in 2010. The current breeding status is classified as ‘well represented’ inBirds caught in December 2007. in Northumbria with pairs well-established in many suburban areas, exploiting the abundance of prey around garden bird feeders. We have handled two birds which were ringed as nestlings outside Northumberland. Both were from Dumfries and Galloway, the first ringed at Canonbie in July 1992 and controlled at Hauxley in September 1992 and the second from Redhill in 1995 and caught at Stobswood in December 1995.

Most recoveries of birds ringed as nestlings were reported within the first few months after fledging but a few have lived for up to eight years. The oldest was a female ringed in a nest at Hexham in 1976 and found dead at Wallington in 1986.

There are four recoveries of birds ringed as full grown which are of particular interest and three were first- year females caught at Hauxley. One ringed in August 1985 was found injured 106km west near Carlisle two months later, another ringed in November 2000 was found dead 63km north west in the Borders and the third ringed in September 2008 was found dead 273km north west in Grampian in February 2009. Sparrowhawk broods in birch tree nests in Coquetdale Bryan Galloway The fourth was an adult male ringed at Kielder in September 1986 which was found dead 159km west in Drummore, Galloway, in September 1990. Ringing Bryan Galloway Between 1963 and 2012 the group ringed 293 full grown birds and 1,710 nestlings but most of the effort into finding nests and ringing young took place between 1972 and 1987, largely encouraged by Ian Newton who requested that we should monitor breeding performance in Northumberland and provide data in preparation for his monograph The Sparrowhawk (1986). In the first nine years of the group (1963-1971) we ringed only nine full grown and 20 pulli, all nests involved were in deciduous trees.

86 87 Northumbria Ringing Group Storm Petrol Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus

Status and history

The Storm Petrel was a rare visitor to Northumberland prior to 1986. Bolam (1912, 1932) stated that it was a ‘casual and uncertain visitant’ although ‘not very rare some miles out to sea’. From 1943 to March 1986 most records were during the autumn and winter (three in August, two in September and October and seven in November). Small numbers were also seen off the Farne Islands in autumn 1952. The other five records were in March (1), April (1), June (2) and July (1). However, when tape-luring began in August 1986, it was realised that Storm Petrels were found offshore, occasionally in some numbers, during summer. Field sightings have also increased ten-fold as sea-watching became a regular activity for a few dedicated souls (combined with advances in telescope design) resulting in birds noted from mid-July to November. Storm Petrels remain rare between January and June with only two records in May (2004 and 2007) and in June, birds have been observed on only 17 occasions.

In Britain and Ireland, Storm Petrels breed in boulder screes and dry stone walls. Some use Pictish brochs in Shetland and Orkney. They also breed southwards through the western islands of Scotland, Ireland, the Calf of Man and Wales to the Isles of Scilly. The largest colonies of 10,000-plus pairs are in western Ireland. Elsewhere, Storm Petrels breed in Norway, the Faroe Islands and possibly Iceland. There is a sub-population in the Mediterranean which appears to be largely resident (Wernham et al. 2002). There has only been one Storm Petrol caught for ringing at Hauxley beach Ian Fisher indication of possible breeding in Northumberland when a bird was heard ‘purring’ in a wall on the Farne Islands in June 1999. Number of Storm Petrels trapped at Hauxley 1986-2012

Research in Northumberland 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 14 21 11 3 6 19 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Storm Petrel are readily attracted to tape recorded lures, which means there is a good chance of birds being 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 controlled elsewhere. It is thought that birds attracted to tapes away from breeding sites are wandering 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 11 27 1 1 0 0 immature individuals visiting colonies and prospecting for breeding sites. An example was a bird ringed at Hauxley in 1987 being controlled on the Treshnish Islands in 1989, 1991 and 1996 when it had reached Ringing recoveries breeding age. Of 123 Storm Petrels ringed at Hauxley, 23 (20%) have been controlled elsewhere and 19 birds ringed at On 27th July 1959, a Storm Petrel was a surprise catch in a mist net at night during wader ringing activities other sites have been caught at Hauxley. A selection of recoveries is detailed below. Of greatest interest are by Eric Ennion on the beach in the Monks House-Beadnell area. During the late 1970s an unsuccessful the multiple recaptures of the same bird. attempt was made to tape-lure Storm Petrels at Hauxley. After a visit to Bardsey Island in 1985, I was convinced that Storm Petrels could be caught at Hauxley. On 9th August 1986 a small team set out to In addition to those listed are a bird caught at Hauxley on 24th July 1988 and re-caught on the Isle of May, Bondicarr Corner lugging an extraordinary amount of gear and set up three mist nets, two on top of the dune Fife, on 12th August 1989 and again at Whitburn, Durham, on 13th July 1990. Another caught at Hauxley and one on the beach below, and switched on the tape system. After a long wait without seeing a bird, and on 19th July 1991 was trapped at Whitburn, Durham, on 1st August 1991 and again at South Ronaldsay, just about to give up, a last check with the torch revealed a small square white rump patch hanging in one Orkney, on 18th July 1992. A third ringed at Hauxley on 2nd August 1991 was re-caught at Eyemouth, of the nets – success! Spurred on by this capture another half hour produced a second bird. The following Borders, on 4th August 1991 and again at Sanda Island, Kintyre, on 24th July 1997. Multiple sightings week another ringing group led by Mark Cubitt independently had the same idea and went to Boulmer and of birds ringed elsewhere include one ringed at Tynemouth on 12th July 1991 which was then caught at caught four Storm Petrels and a Leach’s Petrel. The rest as they say is history. The Tynemouth ringers finally Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, on 14th July 1991 then again at Hauxley on 19th July 1991. Another bird settled on catching Stormies at the base of Tynemouth Pier with great success. Bamburgh ringers succeeded ringed at Flamborough Head on 19th July 1991 was then trapped at Tynemouth on 2nd August 1991, in catching them at Annstead and the Northumbria Ringing Group persevered at Hauxley. It is interesting Filey, Yorkshire, on 3rd August 1991 and lastly at Hauxley on 23rd August 1991. Finally, a bird ringed to note that the two sites with rocks behind the nets, Tynemouth and Annstead, always caught many more at Flamborough on 19th July 1991 was trapped at Hauxley on 23rd August 1991 and then in Norway at birds than at Hauxley where dunes formed the backdrop. Romsdal on 25th August 1992.

88 89 Northumbria Ringing Group Storm Petrol

Birds controlled away from Hauxley

2159887 5 23/08/86 Hauxley R 03/07/88 Yell, Shetland, 586km 3* 2353420 4 22/08/87 Hauxley R 29/06/89 Lunga Island, Treshnish Islands, Strathclyde, 330km R 23/06/91 Lunga Island, Treshnish Islands, Strathclyde, 330km R 27/06/96 Lunga Island, Treshnish Islands, Strathclyde, 330km 2353426 4 24/07/88 Hauxley R 06/08/88 North Ronaldsay, Orkney, 453km 353* 2359529 4 05/08/06 Hauxley R 19/06/10 Priest Island, Highland, 380km 321* 2359541 4 11/08/07 Hauxley 0008hrs R 11/08/07 Craig Stirling, Grampian, 193km 350* 2335hrs 2359542 4 22/07/08 Hauxley R 31/07/08 Revtangen, Norway, 573km 49* R 05/08/08 Fife Ness, Fife, 124km 329* 2359547 4 23/07/08 Hauxley R 22/08/08 Tres Ness, Sanday, Orkney, 437km 535* 2359549 4 25/07/08 Hauxley R 15/08/08 Craig Stirling, Grampian, 193km 350* Mist net on Hauxley beach Ian Fisher R 20/08/08 Craig Stirling, Grampian, 193km 350* Storm Petrels can move considerable distances in a short time. A bird trapped at 00.25 on 8th August 1992 R 03/08/09 Isle of May, Fife, 115km 328* was re-trapped at Whitburn at 02.10 the same morning, 43km in less than two hours. Note also the bird from 2359550 4 25/07/08 Hauxley Hauxley to Craig Stirling, Grampian, mentioned in the table, a movement of 193km in just 23 ½ hours. R 01/07/09 Sanda Island, Kintyre, 255km 269* 2359564 4 27/08/08 Hauxley Although most movements are within the North Sea, several birds have either come from or been re-caught R 03/07/09 Eilean an Taighe, Western Isles, 409km 315* at west coast sites. Movements include Hauxley to Copeland Island, Co. Down, Northern Ireland: Hauxley to Lunga Island, Strathclyde: Hauxley to Priest Island, Highland: Hauxley to Sanda Island, Argyll: and Hauxley to Eilean an Taighe, Western Isles. Birds from west coast localities to Hauxley involve a bird from Ballygalley Birds controlled at Hauxley Head, Co Antrim, in 18 days.

2270959 4 21/07/81 Burravoe, Yell, Shetland, It is interesting to speculate which way the birds travelled from the west coast. Presumably they move around R 08/08/87 Hauxley, 579km the north of Scotland, but there have been two records of Storm Petrels at Kielder, so the possibility exists 2637720 4 13/07/08 Craig Stirling, Grampian that they may use the Tyne Valley flyway to cross the country. R 25/07/08 Hauxley, 193km 170* Ian Fisher 2628328 4 01/08/08 Souter, Tyne & Wear R 04/08/08 Hauxley, 43km 343* 2628330 4 02/08/08 Souter, Tyne & Wear R 30/08/08 Hauxley, 43km 343* 2552309 6 12/08/08 Fair Isle, Shetland R 28/08/08 Hauxley, 469km 180* 2559174 4 12/07/09 Filey Brigg, Yorkshire R 26/07/10 Hauxley, 147km 327*

90 91 Northumbria Ringing Group Swallow

Shiremoor Metro Station to old military bunkers and pillbox with the only access being through gun slits. Swallow Though most nests are typically attached to a wall there are now many records of birds creating circular nests on top of vertical scaffold poles and on wider wooden beams. Hirundo rustica Ringing

The NRG has been responsible for many studies of Swallows resulting in 17,646 full grown and 8,863 pulli being ringed. Essentially, these studies have fallen into two categories: either pulli ringing or trapping at roosts. In recent years, access to sewage works has allowed frequent catches of hirundines and Swift Apus apus when weather conditions are suitable.

The group’s first study commenced in 1966 in the Stocksfield area and in its first year centred on ten farms. It resulted in 20 pairs being monitored with 35 adults and 122 pulli ringed. Such was the enthusiasm generated that the following year the study extended to include the Riding Mill area with 75 sites checked and 148 pairs monitored from which 156 adults and 693 pulli were ringed. In this study’s second year reward came with the control of a bird ringed as a pullus at Healey being found in Cape Town, South Africa, a few months later. Subsequently, significant numbers of Swallow were ringed in roosts at East Chevington and Gosforth Park from 1963 to the mid-1970s, at Big Waters between 1980 and 1984 and again at East Chevington in 1993 and 1994. As appears typical of Swallow, these roosts would form, be used for a few years and then be deserted for no apparent reason.

Since the mid 1990s, Ian Kerr has systematically monitored the breeding population on Holy Island which rose to a record 60 pairs in 2011 with 116 pulli ringed, including a pure white juvenile. Very late breeding was observed there in 2010 when one brood did not fledge until October 10th.

On higher ground in Coquetdale, John Richardson has studied the species while spending many hours monitoring Dippers. On this higher ground nest site availability is restricted and weather at 460m above sea level plays a major role in nesting outcome so that success varies dramatically. For example, only 29 pulli Status and history fledged in 2011 but in kinder conditions in 2012 a total of 99 fledged.

One of the Britain’s most popular birds, the Swallow has been well-studied over many years at both national In August 2006, a major roost of more than 5,000 Swallows was discovered at the Lamesley reedbeds and and local level. Its popularity with the general public, birdwatchers and ringers may stem not only from its Birtley Sewage Works on the western outskirts of Gateshead. That year only two visits could be made before beauty but from its appearance in spring signifying the approach of summer. It is believed that the town of the roost dispersed. But the potential was obvious and, weather permitting, Friday night ‘Swallowing’ has Swalwell, which lies within our recording area, derived its name from the Old English Swealwe well, meaning become a regular feature from early August to mid-September with 8,872 birds so far ringed. Although “Swallow Spring,” so it is very appropriate that the Northumbria Ringing Group has had a long association most catches have occurred on Friday evenings, occasional catches have been made on other nights in an with the species. attempt to estimate the total number of birds using the roost. This has shown a turnover of almost 100% as never more than three birds have been captured the following night in average catches of 233. This has Westerberg & Bowey (2000) estimated almost 7,200 pairs in Durham while Day et al. (1995) considered 6,000 led us to believe that upwards of 250,000 birds may use the roost annually. The percentage of juveniles pairs to be a reasonably accurate assessment for Northumberland. Nationally, the population was estimated at to adults has remained very consistent in the seven years of study to date (Table 1). The 2010 data was 860,000 by the BTO in 2000 and was regarded as relatively stable. The main pressures on the Swallow come removed as insufficient visits were made that year. Although the average catch is 233, there have been some from losses on their wintering grounds with particular correlation to rainfall levels in the Sahel affecting their notable highs and lows. For example, only three were caught on one infamous night in 2011 when the birds ability to survive passage through West Africa. Due to increasing chick mortality during hot, dry summers on relocated at the last moment compared with a high on 31st August 2012 when 627 were caught, leading to the continent the species has been given an amber conservation status in Europe. a 2am finish and with a Constant Effort Site to do from 6.30am that day. The joys of ringing!

Swallows are such an adaptable species and so tolerant of man that they can be found breeding from the lowest coastal areas to the high moorland with availability of nest sites the only apparent restricting factor. The highest breeding densities are found in lowland farmed areas. Nest sites range from farm buildings, derelict structures and under bridges to more opportunist use of upturned boats on Holy Island, the busy

92 93 Northumbria Ringing Group Swallow

Table 1. Lamesley reedbeds. Swallow numbers by age and sex Table 2. Selected details of Swallows caught at Lamesley Reedbeds and Birtley Sewage Works

Year Adult Adult Unsexed Total Juveniles Adults + % No. of Ring No. Ringing / Ringing site / Notes males females adults juveniles Juveniles visits Retrap dates Retrap site

2006 0 0 51 51 373 424 87.9 2 T360309 19.08.05 Skanebrae, Orkney Pullus 2007 138 97 3 238 1966 2204 89.2 9 13.05.07 Birtley Sewage Works 472km, 168°, 632 days 2008 20 24 0 44 480 524 91.6 5 V299265 19.08.06 Ythan Estuary, Aberdeen Juvenile 2009 32 22 4 58 419 477 87.8 3 13.05.07 Birtley Sewage Works 270km, 175°, 367 days 2010 19 23 1 43 188 231 81.4 2 T901063 18.09.05 Kirkton of Logie, Grampian Juvenile 2011 97 90 5 192 1404 1596 88.3 8 25.08.07 Lamesley Reedbeds 274km, 175°, 706days 2012 173 144 4 321 3095 3416 90.6 9 V846885 31.08.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile Total 479 400 68 947 7925 8872 89.4 38 06.08.08 St. Andrews, Fife 177km, caught at nest V875380 09.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile 06.10.07 Laguna de Padul, Granada, SPAIN 1995km, 185°, 27 days V875645 14.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile 11.10.07 Laguna de Padul, Granada, SPAIN 1995km, 185°, 27 days V875431 09.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile 24.09.07 Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire 236km, 148°, 15 days V838203 01.09.07 Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire Juvenile (moving north!) 21.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds 236km, 328°, 20 days V814730 05.09.07 Castle Stewart, Highland Juvenile 21.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds 330km, 152°, 16 days K841550 02.08.07 Ardclach, Highland Pullus 21.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds 317km, 156°, 50 days Netting roosting hirundines at Birtley Sewage Works Ian Fisher V447193 21.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile Recoveries 02.10.07 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162°, 11 days V876553 21.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile As a result of a large effort put into ringing birds in breeding areas and at roosts since the formation of the 10.05.08 House of Cockburn, Balerno, Lothian 155km, 314°, 232 days group we have accumulated a rich haul of recoveries. It was appropriate that our first Swallow to be caught in winter territory in South Africa was ringed at Hauxley, where it all began, in 1965. A further four South V561508 29.06.07 New Scone, Tayside Pullus African recoveries followed from birds ringed at the Stocksfield breeding study area, Milbourne, Hauxley 14.09.07 Lamesley Reedbeds 202km, 146°, 49 days and Big Waters between 1967 and 1981. Others have been found in Zaire, Algeria, Spain, France and X291525 15.08.08 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile Belgium as well as in other parts of the UK (see table 3). We await our first recovery from Ireland. 10.09.08 Stoke Ferry, Norfolk 293km, 152°, 26 days

Recent years have seen a surge in recoveries and controls following ringing at the Birtley and Lamesley X468262 09.09.09 Kilconquhar, Fife Juvenile roosts (see table 2). These can be broken down into two broad categories – birds we control as they arrive 11.09.09 Lamesley Reedbeds 164km, 152°, 2 days from Scotland, particularly from the east coast, and Northumberland, then birds which we ring and are L825694 08.07.11 Wick, Highland Pullus subsequently controlled further south, especially at Icklesham in Sussex which produces several records every year. 02.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds 407km, 168°, 56 days L501265 08.09.10 Gressingham, Lancashire Juvenile Table 4 lists the recaptures of birds in the Low Hauxley/Chevington roost in 1972 and 1975 that had been 24.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Adult 113km, 40°, 379 days ringed as pulli from nearby nest sites. continued over...

94 95 Northumbria Ringing Group Swallow

Table 2 continued. Selected details of Swallows caught at Lamesley Reedbeds & Birtley Sewage Works Table 3. Selected recovery details of Swallows ringed elsewhere in the county

Ring No. Ringing / Ringing site / Notes Ring No. Ringing / Ringing site / Notes Retrap dates Retrap site Retrap dates Retrap site L483101 27.08.10 Lamesley Reedbeds Adult female AS89098 02.08.65 Low Hauxley Juvenile 28.09.11 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162° 15.11.65 Orange Free State, SOUTH AFRICA Y236142 02.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile HJ82764 10.08.67 Milbourne Pullus 16.09.11 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162° 15.02.71 Magagong, Warrenton, SOUTH AFRICA Found dead Y236291 02.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile HJ83144 19.08.67 Fell House, Healey Pullus 16.09.11 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162° 15.02.68 Cape Provence, SOUTH AFRICA Controlled Y389859 24.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile HN69252 18.08.68 Milbourne Pullus 27.09.11 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162° 25.01.73 Kasongo, Maniema, ZAIRE No details, date accuracy? Y390596 24.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile HV32820 29.07.69 Riding Mill Pullus 27.09.11 Icklesham, Sussex 470km, 162° 16.05.70 Hoeke, West Flanders, BELGIUM Controlled and reringed Y389826 23.09.11 Lamesley Reedbeds Juvenile JB83610 05.09.70 Low Hauxley Juvenile 04.10.11 Valencia, SPAIN 1725km, 177°, 11 days 06.02.72 Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA Controlled at roost AP10993 23.11.09 Chisamba, ZAMBIA Juvenile A946843 14.09.80 Big Waters Roost 30.05.10 Birtley Sewage Works 8274km, 340°, 188 days 19.05.82 El Oued W. Biskra, ALGERIA 2479km, 164°, 612 days First in UK from ZAMBIA A904692 16.09.80 Big Waters Roost AP62201 11.11.10 Natal, SOUTH AFRICA Adult 17.05.82 Bir-Bou Haouch, Sedrata, ALGERIA 2222km,162°, 608 days 22.09.12 Lamesley Reedbeds 9676km, 342°, 681 days B353509 19.09.81 Big Waters Roost 04.03.82 Pietermaritzburg, Natal, SOUTH AFRICA 9885km,162°, 166 days B942652 16.09.83 Big Waters Roost 27.06.84 Venouil, Oise, FRANCE 700km, 156°, 285 days Decomposed with others! V667428 24.07.07 Dudlees, Otterburn Pullus 10.10.07 Rio Velez, Malaga, SPAIN 1995km,185°, controlled HK 26530 08.08.67 Shotton, Flintshire, Wales Juvenile 26.06.68 Stocksfield Breeding female HR92514 19.06.68 Riding Mill Pullus 09.09.68 Coventry, Warwickshire Controlled at roost HS67816 07.08.69 Low Hauxley Juvenile 01.09.69 Withington, Manchester Controlled at roost KC10177 29.08.75 Riding Mill Pullus 11.05.77 Leman Bank, North Sea Dead on oil platform KB15647 22.06.86 Kielder Pullus 08.09.86 Farlington Marshes, Hampshire 500km,168°,78 days T145966 04.06.04 Slaley Pullus 01.09.04 South Lopham, Norfolk 346km, 145°, controlled X072417 30.05.09 Shillmoor, Coquetdale Pullus

The Stocksfield Swallow team with ‘bat-fowling nets’ for catching breeding adults Brian Little 09.09.09 Icklesham, Sussex 532km, 160°, controlled

96 97 Northumbria Ringing Group Swallow

1972 saw a remarkable sequence of recaptures of pulli from the same broods in the Cresswell and Widdrington areas which were subsequently caught in the Low Hauxley/Chevington roost (Table 4).

Table 4. Local recaptures of pulli

Ring No. Ringing / Ringing site / Notes Recapture dates Recovery site JK18067 01.07.72 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus 04.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland JK18070 01.07.72 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus 02.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18071 & 73 JK18071 01.07.72 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus 02.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18070 & 73 JK18073 01.07.72 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus 02.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18070 & 71 JK18078 01.07.72 Widdrington, Northumberland Pullus 04.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland JK18080 01.07.72 Widdrington, Northumberland Pullus 28.07.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18081 & 82 04.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), As above Northumberland JK18081 01.07.72 Widdrington, Northumberland Pullus 02.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18080 & 82 JK18082 01.07.72 Widdrington, Northumberland Pullus 28.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland Same brood as JK18080 & 81 JK18084 01.07.72 Widdrington, Northumberland Pullus 04.08.72 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland JK36360 28.06.75 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus 01.08.75 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Swallow at Leaplish visitor centre, Kielder Water Paul Galloway Northumberland JK36362 28.06.75 Cresswell, Northumberland Pullus Summary 01.08.75 Low Hauxley, (Chevington), Recapture at roost Northumberland As can be seen from this short review, Swallows have been and continue to be a major species of interest of the group. In fact, for the group’s first 11 years they were never outside the top five species ringed and have been in the top five for 25 of our 50-year existence. Long may this continue.

Richard Barnes

98 99 Northumbria Ringing Group Tawny Owl Tawny Owl Ringing From its inception until the end of 2012, the group had ringed 462 adults and 5,101 pulli. Strix aluco A great deal of effort has been devoted to erecting nest boxes for Tawny Owls and monitoring their success. The longest-running surveys are based at Kielder and Slaley, in operation since 1979 and 1984 respectively.

Data from these study areas illustrated that breeding success is intrinsically linked to fluctuations in the small mammal populations, most notably that of voles Microtus sp. The greater fluctuation within the vole population at Kielder, because of its higher altitude and lack of alternative prey, results in large variations in the breeding success of owls in that area. However, variation in breeding success at Slaley is less marked because of the site’s lower altitude and consequently more stable vole population as well as a greater abundance of additional prey.

Recoveries

The group has received recovery details for 162 Tawny Owls. The vast majority, 123 (76%), involve birds found dead. Of the remaining 39 recoveries, 35 (22%) were birds trapped whilst breeding and four (2%) were birds found injured.

Regarding those found dead, roughly half, 63 (51%) had indications of the cause. Most, 55 (87%), were found dead on roads and were presumed to be the victims of collisions with vehicles. Four birds (6%) were recovered alongside railway tracks and are assumed to have been killed by trains, three (5%) were found drowned and one (2%) was killed by a raptor. The most bizarre record refers to one of the above birds found drowned in a bucket in Wallsend!

Table 1 below shows the age structure of the birds recovered dead. More than half, (57%), of birds found dead were less than one-year-old. This high first-winter mortality apparently involves young birds ousted from parental territory combined with their lack of experience. The figures suggest that birds which survive their first winter have quite low subsequent annual mortality rates. Status and history Table 1. Age structure of recovered Tawny Owls The Tawny Owl is a well-represented resident and is the commonest and most widespread owl in Northumberland (Day et al. 1995). This has been the case since at least the early 19th century as Age <1yr 1-2yr 2-5yr 5-10yr >10yr evidenced by Selby (1831), Hancock (1874) and in the 20th Century by Bolam (1912) and Galloway and Meek (1980). Number 70 14 16 15 7 Recovered Atlas work in Northumberland in the late 1980s found 304 breeding pairs and the population was estimated % Recovered 57 11 13 12 6 at between 500 and 900 pairs in 1995 by Day et al. (1995). Surveys between 2008 and 2011 in preparation for the forthcoming BTO Atlas showed evidence of breeding in approximately 300 tetrads in the county, indicative of little change in the population. However, the data suggested a wider distribution than the previous atlas with the species being located in virtually all 10 km squares in Northumberland and only absent The birds obviously have the ability to live a long time. Regarding the seven recovered dead which were from some partial squares in the Borders. over ten years old, five were 14 years or more and the oldest was 17. Three of the birds were recovered away from their natal areas. These were a bird aged ten years and three months, reared at Slaley and found at Nationally, the Tawny Owl is currently green listed regarding its conservation status. Between the early 1970s Rothbury, a bird aged 14 years 10 months reared near Healey and found in Bedale, Yorkshire, and the oldest and 1991, Gibbons et al. (1993) found evidence of a slight contraction in range despite a marked increase in bird, the 17-year-old, which fledged near Beamish, Durham, and was recovered in Wallsend (the bird in the breeding success which was thought to be linked to the declining effect of organochlorine pesticides, which bucket). was banned in the early 1960s.

100 101 Northumbria Ringing Group Tawny Owl

Table 2 shows the distances birds moved from natal areas when they were controlled or recovered. Half had moved no more than 5km while nearly a quarter (23%) moved between 11 and 20 km.

Table 2. Distance travelled by Tawny Owls from natal area

Distance 0-5km 6-10km 11-20km 21-30km 31-40km >41km

Number of birds 81 17 37 13 4 9

% 50 11 23 8 2 6

The last table (Table 3) provides details of the nine Tawny Owls which moved more than 40km. Interestingly, five of these nine, were less than one-year-old and two were older than 10 years. Despite being largely sedentary, the occasional individuals can move appreciable distances.

Table 3. Long distance Tawny Owl movement

Ringing Ringing Recovery Recovery Distance Circumstances Site Date Site Date Moved (km)

Slaley 01/05/1989 Lazonby, Cumbria 10/10/1989 48 Dead by Road

Slaley 19/05/1982 Masham, Yorkshire 08/12/1982 82 Dead Kielder 13/05/1982 Stanhope, Durham 07/11/1982 69 Dead by Road Dipton 22/05/1974 Guyzance 18/09/1974 47 Dead by Road Kielder 05/05/1988 Tranwell 04/10/1989 57 Dead by Road Adult Tawny Owl at nest box near Hartburn Paul Galloway Slaley 11/05/1983 Rothbury 13/01/1992 43 Dead Older birds have also been controlled while breeding. The group has records of at least eight individuals Healey 18/05/1988 Bedale, Yorkshire 31/03/1993 78 Dead over ten years old. Three of these were 15 when controlled at Kielder in 2005. In addition to these, Sledmere, Healey 01/05/1996 19/03/2003 131 Dead by Road another two aged 20 years and one bird aged 17 (a male paired with one of the 20-year-olds) have been Humberside controlled in the Kielder study area. Data on these birds has not yet been processed and does not form part Stonehaugh 01/05/2012 Ashington 13/09/2012 48 Dead of the statistical analysis. The 20-year-old birds represent the second and third oldest recorded Tawny Owls in Britain, surpassed only by a 21-year-old. One of them, nicknamed Boudicca, was controlled in 2008 The group’s nest box schemes have made important contributions to our current knowledge of this species. and gained media exposure because of her age. Current research at Kielder suggests that in recent years Even more discoveries are likely to be made in the near future as results are published of further work by predation of Tawny Owls by Goshawk Accipiter gentilis has dramatically increased and is likely to impact various institutions operating with the NRG at Kielder. on longevity records (M. Davison pers comm.)

Mike Carr

102 103 Northumbria Ringing Group Tufted Duck Tufted Duck Ringing BTO records show variable but generally low numbers of Tufted Duck ringed annually, ranging from only Aythya fuligula 75 birds in 2011 to 1,635 in 1982. To date, the NRG has ringed 289 full grown and two pulli Tufted Duck since 1963. The majority were ringed between 1989 and 1999 at Killingworth Lake, South Shields Marine Park, Saltwell Park, Tynemouth Boating Lake and Marden Quarry. Between 1992 and 1999, Tufted Ducks were colour-ringed as part of a project examining their fidelity to winter sites and general movement. Colour ringing showed that 48% of birds marked in one winter returning to the same location the following year and 51% of colour-ringed birds were sighted on Tyneside in the subsequent winter. (Coleman & Rickeard 2006).

Tufted Ducks are caught by hand using bread as bait to bring them close enough for capture. This technique is most effective in winter when natural food is scarce and when the numbers are more plentiful. The presence of Mute Swan Cygnus olor flocks at ringing sites may be beneficial to aiding capture as ducks are sometimes trapped between swans near the edges of ponds (pers. obs.).

Recoveries

The NRG has recorded numerous recoveries and some examples of note are listed below:-

Ringing Ringing Recovery Recovery Distance / site date site date circumstances

Fakenham, Norfolk 20/09/1993 South Shields 09/11/1997 285km, 328 days, Controlled

South Shields 31/01/2004 Lough Neagh, Tyrone, 17/11/2007 324km, 263days, NI. dead

Leazes Park, 18/12/2004 Castleshaw, 11/10/2005 156km, 190days, Newcastle Manchester dead

Tufted Duck caught for ringing at Killingworth Lake Ian Fisher South Shields 10/11/1996 Lough Sheelin, 14/11/1998 405km, 251days, Cavan, Eire dead

Status and history Leazes Park, 15/12/1996 Eckernfjorde, 15/03/2002 736km, 94days, Newcastle Germany dead This species is Britain’s commonest diving duck with an estimated 7,500 pairs present in summer (Baker et al. 2006). The population is supplemented by influxes of continental visitors in winter. The BTO classifies the Marden Quarry, 25/04/1992 South Shields 19/12/2004 Controlled species as a resident breeder and a winter and passage visitor. The British population grew significantly in the Whitley Bay 12 years old late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was thought to be linked to the colonisation at this time, initially in the London dock area, by zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha, a known element of Tufted Duck diet. In South Shields 20/12/1997 Killingworth Lake 08/10/2011 Controlled our area the species is defined as ‘a well-represented resident and passage and winter visitor’ (BiN 2010). 14 years old Geographically, north east England features numerous man-made and natural lakes and ponds. Tufted Ducks benefit from plentiful breeding habitat and winter feeding sites, the latter of which include local parks and Saltwell Park, 25/12/2004 Rogaland, 24/09/2013 608km, 3195 days, suburban recreational lakes where they opportunistically capitalise on bread and grain feeding by the public. Gateshead Norway dead The winter population is thought to be double that of those recorded in summer (Day & Hodgson 2003). Andrew Rickeard

104 105 Northumbria Ringing Group Selected Ringing Recoveries

SELECTED RECOVERIES OF OTHER SPECIES Redstart A female from Hauxley in September 1968 was in Algeria 18 days later. Pulli from Falstone (1971), Tarset (1975), Warden (1979), Kielder (1982) and Hartburn NOT APPEARING IN THE ACCOUNTS (1982) were in Spain (3), France and Portugal in September of the year of ringing. A Dipton pullus (1979) was killed in Morocco in April 1981. Mallard A male from Hauxley in 1964 was shot in Finland in August 1965 and three adult Whinchat A pullus from Bedlington in 1970 was caught by children in Algeria in April 1972. females ringed at Belsay duck trap in the 1971/1972 winters were shot in Sweden, Wheatear A pullus from Coquetdale in 1989 was found in Morocco in September 1989. Norway and Denmark in the autumn of 1973. Fieldfare A female from Stocksfield in October 1968 was shot in Norway in August 1971. Wigeon Two males from Marden Quarry in January 1992 were shot in the USSR in May 1992. Song Thrush Nine autumn birds from Hauxley have been recovered in Sweden, Portugal (3), Pochard A female from Tynemouth in November 1995 was shot in Latvia in August 1996. Spain (3), and France (2). A 1964 pullus from Killingworth was in Belgium in A male from Saltwell Park was found dead in the Ukraine in July 2003. Two females November 1968. marked with bill clips in France in 2007 and 2008 were at Big Waters in August 2008. Redwing Eight from Hauxley and the Belsay roost have been recovered in France (6), Red-breasted A male from Lindisfarne in 1989 was found dead in Finland in August 2001. Merganser Portugal and USSR. A bird from Hauxley in 1976 was shot in Portugal in 1988. The ring of a bird from Fulbeck in 1984 was found in a Tengmalm’s Owl pellet Golden Eagle A pullus from Kielder in 1991 was found poisoned in the Borders in August 2007. in Belgium in 1989. Peregrine A pullus from Wark Forest in 1991 was found dead at Thrunton in 2004 and another Lesser Whitethroat One from Hauxley in May 1981 was shot in Syria in April 1982. ringed in 1995 bred in Lothian from 2002 till 2011. A pullus from Bewick Moor in Whitethroat A pullus from Hauxley in 1966 was killed in Morocco in May 1967. A female from 2003 bred at another Lothian site from 2002 until 2011. A pullus from Redesdale in Big Waters in July 1966 was in Portugal in October 1966. An adult from Hauxley 1997 was found dead in the Canary Islands in March 1998. in May 1996 was in the Upper Volta in Africa in December 1997. Avocet A pullus from Washington WWT in 2010 was at Cley in July and at Cadiz in August. Blackcap Four autumn birds from Hauxley have been recovered in Italy (2), Spain and Lapwing A pullus from Big Waters in 1982 was shot in Spain in January 1985. Portugal. One from Beal in November 1967 was in France in July 1968. One from Purple Sandpiper A male ringed breeding in Norway in 1984 was seen at Hauxley in May 1985. Rowlands Gill in August 2007 was controlled in France in September 2007. One Ruff One from Hauxley in August 1967 was killed in Italy in March 1968. from Belgium in September 2003 was caught at Hauxley in October 2003 and one Snipe A full grown from Hauxley in August 1967 was killed in Belarus in August 1973 and from Holland in April 2006 was caught at Hauxley four days later. another ringed in September 1969 was killed by a cat in Finland in July 1971. Garden Warbler One from Hauxley in July 1973 was killed in Morocco in September 1973. Woodcock A full grown from Hauxley in December 1984 was shot in Denmark in November Chiffchaff One from Hauxley in September 1985 was found in France in March 1986. One 1986 and another ringed in October 2004 was shot in France in November 2008. from Rowlands Gill in September 2010 was controlled in Spain in October 2010. Black-headed Gull A pullus from Linnheads Lake in 1966 was found in Morocco in December 1966. Willow Warbler One from Hauxley in September 1982 was controlled in Portugal in March 1983. Lesser Black- A pullus from Whitfield in 1981 was caught in Morocco in January 1982. Another from Hauxley in July 1984 was controlled in France 16 days later. backed Gull Spotted Flycatcher One from Hauxley in late August 1966 was shot in Corfu in September 1967. Little Tern A pullus from the Long Nanny in 1994 bred annually in Germany from 1998 to 2003. Starling Five from the winters of 1964, 1965, 1967, 1973 and 1985 were found dead in Arctic Tern A pullus from the Long Nanny in 1994 was caught on a ship off Ghana in June 1995. spring in Norway (2), Finland and Denmark and in the autumn in Germany. Cuckoo A female at Hauxley in August 1971 had been ringed in France in July 1969. Chaffinch A female from Stocksfield in January 1972 was killed by a cat in Norway in July Long-eared Owl One from Hauxley in November 1970 was found dead in Sweden in May 1971. 1972. Short-eared Owl A pullus from Harbottle in 1979 was found dead in the nest of a Rough legged Brambling A male from Prestwick Carr in January 1964 was in Belgium in October 1964. Buzzard in Sweden in July 1984 and another from Threestoneburn in 1989 was Greenfinch Two from Big Waters in March 1989 were controlled in Norway later in spring. found in Germany in April 1993. Linnet Seven full grown from Hauxley, Big Waters and Gosforth in 1964 and 1967 were Swift A full grown from Big Waters in 1986 was killed in Morocco in August 1987. found later in autumn and winter in Spain (3) and France (4). A pullus from Sand Martin Four full grown birds from colonies at Prudhoe, Crawcrook and Corbridge between Crawcrook in 1967 was dead in France in December 1967. 1963 and 1966 were found in Germany, France and Belgium between 1964 and 1967. Lesser Redpoll Seven from Threestoneburn, Gosforth, Big Waters, and Hauxley in July – Meadow Pipit A pullus from Ponteland in 1970 was dead in Morocco in January 1971. A full grown September 1964 -1982 were caught later in Belgium in October – November. from Hauxley in 1982 was found in Portugal in January 1983 and another from Slaley Two others were caught in France in the spring. in 1995 was dead in Morocco in December 1996. One in a Merlin nest at Otterburn Reed Bunting A male from Hauxley in January 1966 was found dead in Norway in September in 2004 had been ringed in Belgium in March 2003. 1967. A female from Sweden in August 1988 was controlled at Hauxley in Pied Wagtail A breeding male from East Woodburn in July 1966 was dead in Morocco in November October 1988. 1966. A pullus from Hauxley in 1987 was controlled in France in February 1988. Wren A full grown at Hauxley in September 1998 had been ringed in Sweden 13 days earlier.

106 107 Northumbria Ringing Group References References

Adamson, C.M. (1880-81) Some more scraps about birds. J. Bell & Co., Newcastle Gibbons, D.W. et al. (1993) Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. and Chapman, R.A. The new atlas Baker, H. et al. (2006) Baker, H., Stroud, D.A., Aebischer, N.J., Cranswick, P.A., of breeding birds in Britain and Ireland : 1988 – 1991BTO. T. Gregory, R.D., McSorley, C.A., Noble, D.G., and Rehfisch, & A.D. Poyser, London M.M. Population estimates of birds in Great Britain and the Gregory, R.D. et al. (2002) Gregory, R.D., Noble, D.G., Campbell, H.L., and Gibbons, United Kingdom. British Birds. 99 25 - 44 D.W. The state of the UKs birds 1999. RSPB/BTO. Sandy BiN (1970-2010) Birds in Northumbria. Tyneside/Northumberland & Tyneside Hagemeijer, W.J.M. and Blair, M.J. (1997) The EBCC atlas of European breeding birds. T. & A.D. Bird Club (Annual Report) – the date in the citation refers to Poyser, London the Annual Report year covered NOT the date of publication Hancock, J. (1874) A catalogue of the birds of Northumberland and Durham. Bolam, G. (1912) The birds of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders. H. Trans. Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham Blair, Alnwick and Newcastle upon Tyne. Vol. VI Bolam, G. (1932) A catalogue of the birds of Northumberland. Trans. Natural Joynt, G. et al. (2008) Joynt, G., Parker, E.C., and Fairbrother, J.V. The breeding History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle. birds of Cleveland. Teesmouth Bird Club Vol. VIII Kerr, I. (2001) Northumbrian birds. NTBC. Newcastle upon Tyne Bunn, D.S. et al. (1982) Bunn, D.S., Warburton, A.B. and Wilson, R.D.S. The Barn Langham, N.P.E. (1971) Seasonal movements of British terns in the Atlantic Ocean. Owl. T. & A.D. Poyser, Calton Bird Study. 18. 155 - 175 BWP (1974 - 94) Cramp, S. ed. Birds of the Western Palaearctic. 9 vols. OUP Little, B. and Davison, M. (1992) Merlin Falco columbarius using Crow nests in Kielder Forest, Roseate Tern. Vol. IV. 1985 62 - 70 Northumberland. Bird Study. 39 13 - 16 Goldcrest. Vol. VI. 1992 668 - 685 Little, B. and Furness, R.W. (1985) Long-distance moult migration by British Goosanders Mergus Coleman, J. and Rickeard, A. (2006) Who gives a duck? BiN 2004. NTBC 2006 225 - 229 merganser. Ringing and Migration. 6. 77 - 82 Day, J.C and Hodgson, M.S. (2003) The atlas of wintering birds in Northumbria. Lloyd, C. et al. (1991) Lloyd, C., Tasker, H.L. and Partridge, K. The status of British Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club. Newcastle upon seabirds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A.D. Poyser, London Tyne Lundberg, A. and Alatalo, R,V. (1992) The Pied Flycatcher. T. & A.D. Poyser, London Day, J.C. et al. (1995) Day, J.C., Hodgson, M.S. and Rossiter, B.N. The atlas Mather, J.R. (1986) The birds of Yorkshire. Croom Helm, London of breeding birds in Northumbria. Northumberland and Meek, E.R. and Little, B. (1977a) The spread of the Goosander in Britain and Ireland. British Tyneside Bird Club. Newcastle upon Tyne Birds. 70. 229 - 237 Eaton, M. et al. (2009) Eaton, M.A., Brown, A.F., Noble, D.G., Musgrave, A.J., (1977b) Ringing studies of Goosanders in Northumberland. Hearn, R.D., Aebischer, J., Gibbons, D.W., Evans, A. and British Birds. 70. 273 - 283 Gregory, R.D. Mitchell, I. et al. (2004) Mitchell, I., Newton. S., Radcliffe, N., and Dunn, T. Seabird Birds of conservation concern 3. British Birds. 102 296 - 341 populations of Britain and Ireland. T. & A.D. Poyser, London Everett, M.J. et al. (1987) Everett, M.J., Hepburn, I., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., and Thomas, Musgrave, A. et al. (2013) Musgrave, A., Aebischer, N., Eaton, M. Hearn, R., Newson, G.J. Roseate Terns in Britain and West Africa. RSPB S., Noble, D., Parsons, M., Risley, K. and Stroud, D. Conservation Review No. 1. Population estimates of birds in Great Britain and the United Forrester, R.W. et al. (2007) Forrester, R.W., Andrews, I.J., McInerny, C.J., Murray, R.D., Kingdom. British Birds. 106 64 - 100 McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B., Betts, M.W., Jardine, D.C., and Nattrass, M. (2010) Review of recoveries of Merlins ringed in County Durham, Grundy, D.S. The birds of Scotland. Scottish Ornithologists’ 1983 – 2010. NRG Annual Report 2009 – 2010. NRG 2011. Club, Aberlady. 30 - 33 Galloway, B. (1986) Dispersal of small raptors from Northumberland nest sites. Newton, I. (1986) The Sparrowhawk. T. & A.D. Poyser. Calton BiN 91 - 93 Newton, I. (1984) The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting Northumberland’s birds. Trans. Natural History Society of Galloway, B. and Meek, E.R. (1978) birds : a review. Biological Conservation. 70 256 - 276 Northumbria. Pt. 1. Newton, I., et al. (1978) Newton, I., Meek, E.R., and Little, B. Breeding ecology of the (1980) Northumberland’s birds. Trans. NHS. Pt. 2 Merlin in Northumberland. British Birds. 71 376 - 398 (1983) Northumberland’s birds. Trans. NHS. Pt. 3

108 109 Northumbria Ringing Group Publications and papers

Newton, I., et al. (1984) Newton, I., Meek, E.R. and Little, B. Breeding season foods of Publications and papers Merlins Falco columbarius in Northumbria. Bird Study. 31 49 - 56 Newton, I. et al. (1986) Newton, I., Meek, E.R. and Little, B. Population and breeding of relating to the Group’s study areas Northumberland Merlins. British Birds. 79 155 - 170 Parslow, J.L.F. (1967) Changes in status among breeding birds in Britain and Ireland. by members and associates of the British Birds. 60 2 - 47 Peach, W. et al. (1991) Peach, W., Baillie, S. and Underhill, L. Survival of British Sedge Northumbria Ringing Group Warblers Acrocephalus schoenobachus in relation to West African rainfall. Ibis. 133 300-305 Petty, S.J. (1979) Breeding biology of Sparrowhawks in Kielder Forest 1975 – 1978. Many Group members have served as officers and committee members of the former Tyneside Bird Club BiN 1978. 92 - 109 (TBC), its successor, the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club (NTBC), and the Durham Bird Club. Ratcliffe, N. et al. (2008) Ratcliffe, N., Newton, S., Morrison, P., Merne, O., Cadwallender, The offices held by NRG members have included those of Chairman, County Recorder, Editor(s) of Birds in T. and Frederiksen, M. Adult survival and breeding dispersal of Northumbria as well as other administrative roles. Routine administrative reports by any of these officers e.g. Roseate Terns within the Northwestern European metapopulation. Annual county ringing report have not been included in this list. In Waterbirds 31(3). 320 - 329 Robinson, R.A. (2013) Birdfacts : profiles of birds occurring in Britain and Ireland.BTO Whilst many NRG members contributed species descriptions to the local Northumbria Breeding Atlas Research Report 407. BTO. (1995) and Wintering Atlas (2003), and the Summer Atlas of the Breeding Birds of County Durham (2000) Selby, P.J. (1831) A catalogue of the birds hitherto met with in the counties of their accounts have not been incorporated in the list, although like those members who served as Bird Club Northumberland and Durham. Trans. Natural History Society of officers have been indicated by symbols in the main body of the text. Also omitted from this list are the Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne. Vol.1 authors of the short papers that have appeared in the NRG Annual Reports (2003 - ) and the compilers of Sharrock, J.T.R. (1976) The atlas of breeding birds in Britain and Ireland. BTO the collective raptor species reports published in the Northern England Raptor Forum (2009 - ). Temperley, G.W. (1951) A history of the birds of Durham. Trans. Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne. New Series IX The presence of many short county survey reports by L.G. Macfarlane, B. N. Rossiter and T. Cadwallender Wallis, J. (1769) Natural history and antiquities of Northumberland. Vol. 1. W. & W. is the result of their hard work as successive co-ordinators of both county and BTO local surveys since the Strahan. London 1970s. Wernham, C. et al. (2002) Wernham, C., Toms, M., Marchant, J., Clark, J., Siriwardena, G. and Baillie, S. The migration atlas. BTO. T. & A.D. Poyser. London In the list of publications Westerberg, S. and Bowey, K. (2000) A summer atlas of the breeding birds of County Durham. Durham * indicates the author contributed species account(s) to the Northumbria Bird Club Breeding and / or Winter atlases, or the Durham Breeding Atlas Yalden, D.W. and Albarella, U. (2009) The history of British birds. OUP. + indicates served as an officer or committee member of the TBC / NTBC # indicates served as an officer or committee member of the Durham Bird Club (DBC) Birds in Northumbria (BiN), and Birds in Durham (BiD) – the date given is the year covered by the report NOT the year of publication (which is usually the following year)

110 111 Northumbria Ringing Group Publications and papers

Adams, R.+ Cadwallender T. and Cadwallender. M.*+ Anderson, N.* BTO/JNCC winter farmland bird survey (WFBS) 1992 – 2003. BiN 2003. Bankier, A.M. [Sandy]*+ 204 - 211 Green Sandpipers in Northumberland. BiN 1993. 100 - 102 BTO survey of breeding Skylarks 1997 and wintering Skylarks 1997/98. BiN 1998. See also Fisher, I. ; Jardine, D.C. ; Rossiter, B.N. 129 - 132 Barnes, R.* contributor of county ringing data to Birds of Durham. Durham Bird Club.. 2012 Nightjar breeding survey 1992. BiN 1992. 96 - 98 Bibby, C.J. and Nattrass, M. Nightjar survey 2004. BiN 2005. 216 - 217 Breeding status of the Merlin in Britain. British Birds 79, 1986. 170 - 185 Rooks in Northumberland 1996. BiN 1996. 120 - 126 Bone, P., Bowey, K. and Coleman, J. The Sawbill survey 1997. BiN 1997. 126 - 129 Shibdon Pond’s Mute Swans : a twelve year case study. BiD 1994. 84 - 93 Surveys 2000. BiN 2000. 147 - 148 Bowey, K.*# The Barn Owl in County Durham, a brief history and its current status. Carr, M. J. [Mike]*+ BiD 1992. 77 - 82 Breeding success of Pied Flycatchers in south west Northumberland. The distribution of oilseed rape utilisation by Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus BiN 2000. 161 - 168 schoenobaenus, in County Durham (1973 – 1997. BiD 1998. 91 - 96 ‘Eastern type’ Lesser Whitethroat. BiN 1998. 137 - 139 The Mandarin in North-East England, patterns and origins. BiD 1991. 16 - 20 Pallid Swift. An addition to the County list. BiN 2001. 184 - 186 The Red Kite Milvus milvus – a review of its status in County Durham. BiD 2006. 158 - See also Rossiter, B.N. 170 Coleman, J.* The Red Kite Milvus milvus – a review of its status in Northumberland. The Mute Swan breeding survey 1990. BiN 1990. 100 - 102 BiN 2006. 257 - 267 See also Bone, P. ; Spray, C. The Rock Pipit Anthus petrosus, in County Durham. BiD 1995 81 - 86 Coleman, J. and Rickeard, A. The Spotted Crake Porzana porzana in Co. Durham : a review of its status and Who gives a duck? BiN 2004. 225 - 229 Distribution. BiD 1996. 86 - 90 Coleman, J., Rickeard, A. and Rickeard, P. Where to watch birds in Durham. Durham Bird Club. 1992 The 2002 Mute Swan census in Northumberland. BiN 2002. 226 - 233 See also Bone, P. ; Sanderson, K. ; Westerberg, S. Coleman, J., Spray, C.J., Percival, S., Rickeard, A. and Yeoman, P. R Bowey, K. and Newsome, M. The dynamics of a flock of Mute Swans at Berwick upon Tweed with particular The birds of Durham. Durham Bird Club. 2012 reference to the effects of age, sex, social status and body condition on moult In Bowey, K., Donnison, A., and Rutherford, S. Rees, E.C., Earnst, S.L. and Coulson, J. edts. Proc. of Fourth International Swan Wintering Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, numbers on two adjacent river Symposium, 2001. Waterbirds 25. 346 - 351 systems in northeast England in relation to a reduction in the levels of sewage input. Craigs, R. and Forster, R. BiD 2002 & 2003. 132 - 140 River Warbler : an addition to the County list. BiN 1996. Bowey, K., Rutherford, S., and Westerberg, S. 131 - 132 Birds of Gateshead. Gateshead Metropolitan Borough. 1993 Davison, M.*+ Britton, D. and Day, J.C. The first breeding Ospreys in Northumberland. BiN 2009. 203 - 204 Where to watch birds in Northeast England. 1st ed. Helm. 1995 See also Holliday, S. ; Little, B. ; Petty, S.J. Where to watch birds in Northeast England. 2nd ed. Helm. 2004 Day, J.C. *+ Brooks, K.V.*+ The first fifty years : a short history of the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club. Cadwallender, T.*+ BiN 2007, 258 – 272 Birdwatching on the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. NTBC 50th Anniversary Conference. BiN 2008. 267 – 269 Northumberland County Council. [n.d.] See also Britton, D. Birdwatching sites in Northumbria. TBC. 1987 Day, J.C. and Charlton, D.B. The Otterburn Estate A review of the status of Roseate Tern in Northumberland. BiN 2000. 157 – 160 [ornithological report]. In Adjutant [Jnl. of the Army Birdwatching Society] 9. 1979. See also Ratcliffe, N. 3 – 9 Cadwallender T. and Cadwallender. M.*+ Day, J.C. and Hodgson, M.S The breeding bird survey. BiN 1996. 116 - 119 The atlas of wintering birds in Northumbria. NTBC. 2003 The breeding bird survey. Report No. 2. BiN 1999. 142 - 148 Day, J.C., Hodgson, M.S. and Rossiter, B.N. The breeding bird survey. Report No. 3. 2000 – 2002. BiN 2002. 217 - 221 The atlas of breeding birds in Northumbria. NTBC. 1995 The breeding bird survey. Report No. 4. 2003 – 2005. BiN 2005. 218 - 224 Breeding Corn Bunting survey 1999, BiN 1999. 149 - 154 Breeding Lapwing survey 1998. BiN 1998. 126 – 129 Breeding waders of wet meadows in Northumberland 2002. BiN 2002. 222 – 226 Breeding Woodcock survey 2003. BiN 2003. 203 – 204 112 113 Northumbria Ringing Group Publications and papers

Day, J.C. and Johnston, A.J. Holliday, S., McDougall, L. and McKeown, D. The Big Waters Tree Sparrow Passer domesticus colony 1996 – 2009. Cramlington warblers in 2009. BiN 2009. 209 - 213 In Northumbrian Naturalist. Trans. Natural History Society of Northumbria 71. Holmes, R.M.* See Jardine, D. C. Pt. 2. 91 - 107 Jardine, D.C. *+ 1990 – the year of the Crossbill. BiN 1990. 103 – 106 Caspian Tern at Big Waters NR – the second record for Northumberland. See also Little B. BiN 2007. 275 - 276 Jardine, D.C., Cosgrove, P., Holmes, M. and Bankier, A.M. Dickson, W.* Recoveries and controls from Siskins caught in Northumbria. BiN 1993. 95 - 100 Fisher, I.*+ Bearded Tit. A new breeding species for Northumberland. BiN 1999. Johnston, A.J. *+ Breeding survey of Little Grebes in Northumbria 1986. BiN 1986. 85 - 89 167 Birding sites VIII – Hauxley. BiN 2000. 172 - 174 See also Day, J.C. ; Steele, E.J. Black-throated Thrush in Riding Mill : the second record for Northumberland. Kerr, I.*+ Autumn influx of Pomarine Skuas. BiN 1885. 85 - 88 BiN 2006. 254 - 255 The birds of Holy Island. Privately printed. 2003 Little Auks – 2001 in perspective. BiN 2001. 176 - 177 The birds of Holy Island. 2nd ed. Privately printed. 2007 Marsh Harrier breeding in Northumberland. The first record since ca.1800. BiN The birds of Lindisfarne. TBC. 1980 2009. 205 - 206 Geoffrey Watson and his ‘sparrow dust’ marksmen of Holy Island. New species for the County – Pied-billed Grebe at Druridge Pools. BiN 1992. BiN 2006. 255 - 257 101 – 102 The incredible journeys of the Bar-tailed Godwit. BiN 2007. 281 - 283 Siberian Rubythroat at Roker – a new bird for the County. BiD 2006. 156 - 157 Letters from our ornithological past. BiN 1994. 98 - 99 See also Rossiter, B.N. Lindisfarne’s birds. 1st ed. NTBC. 1984. Fisher, I. and Bankier, A. M. Lindisfarne’s birds. 2nd ed. NTBC. 1992 The birds of Hauxley. Privately printed. 1998 The Merlin in winter in Northumberland. BiN 1988. 91 - 94 Forster, R. See Craigs, R. The 1991 Peregrine breeding survey. BiN 1991. 92 - 93 Galloway, B.*+ Northumbrian birds. NTBC, 2001 Dispersal of small raptors from Northumberland nest sites. BiN 1986. 91 - 93 The rise and rise of the Little Egret. BiN 2010. 218 - 219 Eleanora’s Falcon at Ridlees Cairn (Otterburn MOD Training Area) – a new Kerr, I. and Galloway, B. bird for Northumberland. BiN 2006. 249 - 250 Food caching by juvenile Merlin. BiN 1994. 100 - 101 The origin of an unusual number of Great Spotted Woodpeckers that occurred Kerr, I. and Sanderson, K. in coastal areas of Northumberland during the autumn of 2002. BiN 2002. North east Red Kite breeding report: Red Kites victim of harsh winter ? 237 - 240 In Northern England Raptor Forum: Annual review 2011. 86 – 87 Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler a new species for the County – 26 October 1985. Kerr, I. and Unwin, B. BiN 1986. 96 Best Birdwatching Sites North East England, Buckingham Press 2012 See also Kerr, I. Linkleter, G.*+ Galloway, B. and Meek, E.R. Little, B.*+ The effect of wind turbines on bird populations in Blyth Harbour. BiN 1995. 114 - 117 Northumberland’s birds. Pt. 1. Trans. Natural History Society of Northumbria. See also Meek, E.R. : Newton, I. ; Petty, S.J 1978 Little, B. and Davison, M. Northumberland’s birds. Pt. 2. Trans. NHS. 1980 Merlin Falco columbarius using Crow nests in Kielder Forest, Northumberland. Bird Northumberland’s birds. Pt. 3. Trans. NHS. 1983 Study 39. 1992. 13 - 16 Supplement to Northumberland’s birds. NTBC. 1986 Little, B., Davison, M. and Jardine, D.C. Hancock, M., Baines, D., Gibbons, D., Etheridge, B. and Shepherd, M. Merlins Falco columbarius in Kielder Forest: influences of habitation on breeding Status of male Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix in Britain 1995 – 96. performance. Forest Ecology and Management. 1995 79. 147 - 152 Bird Study 46. 1 - 15 Little, B. and Furness, R.W. Heavisides, A.+ British and Irish Merlin recoveries, 1911 – 1984. In BTO. Ringing and Long-distance moult migration by British Goosanders Mergus Merganser. Ringing and Migration. 8(1) June 1987. 29 - 41 Migration 6. 1985. 77 - 82 Merlin. In Wernham, C. et.al. Migration Atlas. BTO. T. & A. Poyser. 2002. 250 - 252 Holliday, S. and Davison, M. Red Squirrel, Large Pine Weevil and Natterer’s Bat in Long-eared Owl diets. BiN 2001. 172 – 176

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Little, B., Jardine, D.C. and Probert, C. Marquiss, M., Newton, I. and Radcliffe, D.A. The birds of Kielder. Forestry Commission. [1993] The decline of the Raven Corvus corax in relation to afforestation in southern Little, B. and Marchant, J.H. Scotland and northern England. J. of Applied Ecology 15. 1978. 129 - 144 Goosander. In Wernham, C. et. al. Migration Atlas. BTO. T. & A. Poyser Meek, E.R.+ 2002. 219 - 221 The birds of Prestwick Carr. TBC Annual Report 1969. 40 - 65 Macfarlane, J.M.* Ornithologists. In Lunn, A.G. A history of naturalists in North East England. The Wood Warbler in Northumbria. BiN 1985. 83 - 85 Univ. of Newcastle. Dept. of Adult Education 1983. 64 - 80 Macfarlane, J.M. and Rossiter, B.N. See also Galloway, B. ; Newton, I. Buzzard breeding survey 1983. NTBC Monthly Bulletin. Nov. 1984 Meek, E.R. and Little, B. The Mute Swan breeding survey. BiN 1984. 83 - 85 Ringing studies of Goosanders in Northumberland. British Birds 70. 1977. 273 - 283 Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover breeding survey 1984. NTBC Monthly The spread of the Goosander in Britain and Ireland. British Birds 70. 1977. 229 - 237 Bulletin. Sept. 1984 Middleton, A.* Macfarlane, L.G.*+ Middleton, F.D.* A breeding survey of Oystercatchers in Northumberland and part of Tyne and Milton, L.* Wear during 1977. BiN 1977. 102 - 115 (also appeared as TBC Occasional Nattrass, M.* Birding sites XVII – Cullercoats Bay. BiN 2011. 208 Report No. 1. 1978) Review of recoveries of Merlins ringed in County Durham, 1983 – 2010. NRG Annual Breeding survey of Stonechats in 1976. TBC. Mimeographed report. 1976 Report 2009 – 2010. NRG 2011 30 - 33 A breeding survey of Tufted Duck in Northumberland and part of Tyne and See also Bibby, C.J. Wear. TBC. Mimeographed report. 1978 Newton, I. The Sparrowhawk. T. & A.D. Poyser. 1986 Nightjar survey 1981. BiN 1981. 90 - 93 See also Marquiss, M. 1980 survey of rookeries in Northumberland. TBC. Monthly Bulletin. Newton, I., Bogan, J., Meek, E.R. and Little, B. Apr. 1981 Organochlorine compounds and shell-thinning in British Merlins Falco columbarius. Northumberland results of the BTO National Rookery Census 1975. TBC. Ibis 124. 1982. 328 - 335 Mimeographed report. 1975 Newton, I., Meek, E.R. and Little, B. Preliminary report of the breeding survey of the birds of Northumberland. Breeding ecology of the Merlin in Northumberland. British Birds 71. 1978. 376 - 398 TBC Annual Report 1967. 22 - 27 Breeding season foods of Merlins Falco columbarius in Northumbria. Bird Study 31. 1984 Ringed Plover breeding census 1973. TBC. Mimeographed report. 1973 49 - 56 Rock Pipit enquiry 1971 – 1972. TBC. Monthly Bulletin. Jan. 1973 Population and breeding of Northumbrian Merlins. British Birds 79. 1986. 155 – 170 The status of the breeding birds of Northumberland in 1967 – 1968. Petty, S.J.* Breeding biology of the Sparrowhawk in Kielder Forest 1975 – 1978. BiN 1978. 92 - 109 TBC. Mimeographed report. 1973 (also appeared as TBC Occasional Report No. 2. 1979) Survey of Black-headed Gull colonies 1973. TBC. Mimeographed report. 1973 Ecology of the Tawny Owl Strix aluco in the spruce forests of Northumberland and A survey of breeding and non-breeding Mute Swans in Northumberland and Argyll. Ph D thesis 1992. Open University. Milton Keynes part of Tyne and Wear, 1978. BiN 1978. 110 - 113 Breeding of Tawny Owls Strix aluco in relation to their food supply in an upland forest. Survey of breeding Little Grebes in 1976. TBC. Mimeographed report. 1976 In Hill, D.J. Breeding and Management in Birds of Prey Conference. Univ. of Bristol. Macfarlane, L.G. and Martin, B. 1987. 167 - 179 Site guide [to bird watching areas in Northumberland]. TBC. 1975 Goshawks – their status, requirements and management. Forestry Commission Bulletin McDougall, L.*+ 81. HMSO. 1989 Birding sites II – Arcot Pond. BiN 1997. 132 - 134 Productivity and density of Tawny Owls Strix aluco in relation to the structure of a Two unusual nests [Jackdaw and Black-headed Gull]. BiN 2002. 250 - 251 spruce forest in Britain. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 26. 1989. 227 – 233 See also Holliday, S. A study of Tawny Owls in commercial spruce forests in the uplands. Argyll Bird Report 2. McDougall, L., Holliday, S. and McKeown, D. 1985. 70 - 71 Habitat preference and population distribution of warblers in Cramlington in Petty, S.J. and Anderson, D.I.K. 2003. BiN 2003. 218 - 221 Population growth and breeding performance of Goshawks in the English/Scottish Marquiss, M. and Newton, I. Borders during 1987 – 1996. Forestry Commission Research Division. Roslin, The Goshawk in Britain. British Birds 75. 1982. 243 - 260 Midlothian. 1996

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Petty, S.J., Patterson, I.J., Anderson, D.I.K., Little, B. and Davison, M. Sexton, S. Birding sites XII – Druridge Pools. BiN 2003. 229 - 231 Numbers, breeding performance and diet of Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus and Spray, C., Coleman, B. and Coleman, J. Merlin Falco columbarius in relation to cone crops and seed-eating finches. Forest Mute Swan. In Wernham, C. et. al. Migration Atlas. BTO. T. and A.D. Poyser. Ecology and Management. 79. 1995. 133 - 146 2002. 146 - 148 Ratcliffe, N., Newton, S., Morrison P., Merne, O., Cadwallender, T., and Fredericksen, M. Spray, C., Fraser, M. and Coleman, J. Adult survival and breeding dispersal of Roseate Terns within the Northwest The Swans of Berwick – upon – Tweed. Northumbria Water. [1996] European metapopulation. Waterbirds. 31(3). 2008. 320 - 329 Steele, E.J.* Unusual nest site of the Dipper. BiN 1988. 83 Raw, D.*# Lead author for Birds of Durham. Durham Bird Club. 2012 Steele, E.J. and Johnston, A.J. Alectoris partridge in Co. Durham. BiD 1990. 74 - 75 Great Reed Warblers at Caistron and Big Waters. BiN 1990. 96 – 98. Check-list of birds of County Durham. Durham Bird Club. 1993 Strowger, J.*# The status of the Black-necked Grebe in County Durham. BiD 1984. 44 - 46 Lead author for Birds of Durham. Durham Bird Club. 2012 Redfern, C.P.F.* See also Thaxter, C.B. The Rock Pipit, Anthus petrosus, in County Durham – including the results of Redfern, C.P.F. and Davidson, I. the 1995 Rock Pipit Enquiry. BiD 1995. 81 - 85 Reed Warblers at Gosforth Park – trends and recoveries 1998 – 2002. BiN 2002. The status and breeding biology of the Dotterel Charadrius morinellus in 214 - 216 northern England during 1972 – 95. Bird Study 45. 1998. 85 – 91 Richards, A.J. Predation of snails by migrant Song Thrushes and Redwings. Bird Study 24. 1977. Thaxter, C. B., Redfern, C.P.F. and Bevan, R.M. 53 - 54 Survival rates of adult Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus at a northern and Rickeard, A. See Coleman, J. southern site in England. Ringing and Migration 23 (2). Robson, E. Thrush Nightingale in Northumberland. TBC Annual Report 1965. 25 - 26 2006. 65 – 79 Rossiter, B.N.*+ Birding sites X – South Tyne : Haltwhistle – Eals. BiN 2001. 189 - 190 West, P.*+ The colonisation of North-East England by the Common Gull. Hancock Mus., Westerberg, S. and Bowey, K. Recording News No. 17 A summer atlas of the breeding birds of County Durham. Durham Bird Club. County checklist for birds in Northumbria. NTBC. 1993 2000 Fieldfare breeding in Northumberland. BiN 1988. 88 Yeoman, P.+ See Coleman, J. Green Woodpecker survey in Northumbria 1986. BiN 1986. 97 - 101 The historical status of the Honey Buzzard in Northumberland. BiN 1997. John Day 121 - 125 Northumberland’s birds in the 18th and early 19th centuries: the contribution of John Wallis (1714 – 1793). Trans. Natural History Society of Northumbria 59. Thanks to everyone 1999. 93 - 136 A problematic gull : Yellow-legged Baltic Herring or Caspian. BiN 2000. The NRG wishes to thank the following organisations for information and other help:- 156 - 157 British Trust for Ornithology, Forestry Commission, Gateshead Council, Ladycross Return of the Honey Buzzard. BiN 2001. 169 -172 Quarry and nature reserve, Ministry of Defence (Otterburn and Spadeadam), National Seasonal variations in Common Gull numbers. BiN 1995. 124 - 127 Trust (Gibside, Wallington and Long Nanny Burn), Natural England, Natural History Seasonal variations in Great Black-backed Gull numbers. BiN 2000. 153 - 155 Society of Northumbria, Newcastle City Council, Northumberland County Council, Seasonal variations in Lesser-black Backed Gull numbers. BiN 1996. 133 - 136 Northumbrian Water, Northumberland National Park Authority, Northumberland & Seasonal variations in inland Black-headed Gull numbers. BiN 1998. 145 - 148 Tyneside Bird Club, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, RSPB (Coquet Island), Tarmac- Survey of breeding Lapwings and other waders, 1987. BiN 1987. 89 - 91 Lefarge (Broadoak Quarry), Tilhill Forestry, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (Washington) See also Day, J.C. ; Macfarlane, J.M. and Woodland Trust. Rossiter, B.N., Booth, A., Carr, M., Bankier, A.M., Fisher, I. and Votier, S. Records of a Russian-type Herring Gull from 1991 – 1993. BiN 1993 102 - 103 Many landowners have helped so thanks are due to the following estates and their Sanderson, K. and Bowey, K. tenants:- Armstrong, Barningham, Beanley, Bollihope, College Valley, Croylan, The Red Kite – back as a breeding bird in Northumberland after a century and a East Allenheads, Eggleston, Healey, Holwick, Hunstanworth, Kirkley Hall, Lilburn, half. BiN 2007. 277 - 280 Muggleswick, Northumberland, Newbiggin, Nunnykirk, Raby, Ravensworth, Ruffside, Strathmore, Stublick, Weardale and Wolsingham. Many individual farmers, too numerous to list, have also assisted and thanks are due to all of them.

Back cover photographs: Marsh Harriers - Ian Fisher. Two-barred Crossbill - Brian Little. Goshawks, Merlin, Little Owls, Ravens - Richard Barnes. Kingfisher - Bryan Galloway. Osprey - Martin Davison.

118 119 “...a 2am finish and with a Constant Effort Site to do from 6.30am that day... The joys of ringing!”

Richard Barnes, Northumbria Ringing Group