Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society
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CORNWALL BIRD WATCHING & PRESERVATION SOCIETY TWENTY - FIRST ANNUAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preamble ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 The Society's Coming of Age. B. H. Ryves ... ... 3 The Weather of 1951. B. H. Ryves ... ... ... 5 The Macmillan Library ... ... ... ... 6 List of Contributors ... ... ... ... ... 7 General Bird Notes for 1951 ... ... ... ... 9 The Walmsley Sanctuary, Tregorden and the Camel Estuary. T. J. Willcocks ... ... ... ... ... 29 Arrival and Departure of Cornish Breeding Migrants ... 30 The Cornish Seas ... ... ... ... ... 34 The Isles of Scilly ... ... ... ... ... 35 Arrival and Departure of Migrants, Isles of Scilly, 1951 ... 43 Recording the Manx Shearwater ... ... ... 44 Balance Sheet ... ... ... ... 47 The Society's Rules ... ... ... ... ... 48 List of Members for 1951 ... ... ... ... 49 The Committee for 1951 ... ... ... ... 59 The illustration of the Ballad to Dr. Ludwig Koch. TWENTY-FIRST REPORT OF The Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society 1951. Edited by B. H. RYVES, A. G. PARSONS and H. M. QUICK (kindly assisted by Dr. R. H. BLAIR). The Society, which started its life twenty-one years ago with one hundred members, now has 467, 54 new members having joined during 1951. At the Annual Meeting, held in the Museum, Truro, on April 7th, an alteration was made to the Rules, whereby the age limit of 14 has been fixed for entrance into the Society; and Junior Members between 14—18 years of age can be admitted for the subscription of 2/6. The revised Rules are incorporated in this Report. Ten Junior Members have already joined. After the business, Mr. George Edwards showed magnificent colour films of 11 Birds of an Eastern County," which included the first records made of breeding Avocets. The Autumn General Meeting was held on Nov. 10th in the Museum, about 80 people being present. Mr. H. G. Hurrell showed some most interesting films of his own taking of Birds of Prey. Two Executive Committee Meetings were held during the year. Through the kindness of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, a very satisfactory arrangement has been made, whereby the Society will always be able to hold its Meetings in the Museum Library. Our thanks are due to Mr. F. Palmer for kindly auditing the accounts. Field Days were held at Hayle for those who could foregather at Hayle Estuary. These outings were very much appreciated, about 30 Members and friends coming on each occasion regardless of weather. In order to ensure its effectiveness as a sanctuary, the Society has appointed a Watcher at Tamar Lake. He reports that no shooting has taken place since he became Warden. A good number and variety of Waders and Duck may be seen there, and Members have noticed the difference in their behaviour since the Lake has been protected: they are much less shy, consequently observation is much easier. Mr. C. J. Stevens, 2, Gordon Terrace, Lamb Park, Par, has kindly agreed to act as Librarian for the MacMillan Library, and will send out books to any Member applying to him. Postage must be paid both ways by the borrower. The list of books is again printed in this Report, and we have to thank Mr. and Mrs. Thomson for the addition to it of Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald's " A Book of British Waders." Since this is the 21st Annual Report the Editors have indulged in some extravagancies, which will not necessarily be repeated, such as the inclusion of photographs and drawings. A map is issued with the Report showing in pictorial form the bird distribution within the County. There is no attempt at accuracy either of mileage or relative size; only some indication that at given places, at the right time, certain birds may be seen. The index to the last five Reports (1946-50) is enclosed with this Report. A further activity in celebration of the Society's Coming of Age is the production of a Check-list of Cornish Birds. This will not be ready for some time, but when it is completed it will be issued to Members applying for it, at cost price, by the Secretaries: Non- Members will be asked to pay a little more for it. Great efforts are made by the Editors to get the Report pub lished early each year, before the breeding season starts. Members are therefore requested to send in their records before January 15th to Mr. Parsons, instead of to Miss Quick. After that date the material is sent to the typist as soon as possible, and records may come too late for inclusion. It is suggested that observers who habitually send in full reports might be willing to do so in early December before the rush of Christmas, sending on a supplement if anything of further interest is seen before the end of the year. A number of interesting visitors have been seen during the year. Dr. Blair had the remarkable experience of seeing a Great White Heron for the second time. There were also recorded two Richard's Pipits, a Red-backed Shrike, Waxwing, Aquatic Warbler, Osprey, Bewick's Swans, a Bean Goose, American Pectoral Sandpiper, Kent ish Plover, Sooty Tern, Sabine's Gull, Iceland Gull and two Spotted Crakes, one dead and one alive. The presence of a Reed-Warbler in Cornwall, and of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in West Cornwall, are out of the ordinary. There was a large number of Blue-headed Wag tails in the spring and of Ruffs in the autumn (during the foggy weather in September). No less than seven apparently different Rough-legged Buzzards were recorded, and there was an unusual number and variety of Ducks on the Loe in January. Field Meetings will be held, regardless of weather, as follows: — April 26th. Meeting on Hayle Causeway, by the Bus Stop for St. Erth, at 2 p.m. Walk around St, Erth for Song-birds, Mr, Parsons, 3 May 24th. Meeting at Old Quay House, Lelant, 2 p.m. Walk around Hayle Estuary for Waders, Gulls and Terns. Mr. Parsons. August 30th. Meeting at Old Quay House, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., to see Song-birds, Waders, Gulls and Terns, in the same areas on return migration. Miss Quick. All members and their friends will be very welcome. Mr. John Ash, of the I.C.I Game Research Station, Fording- bridge, Hants, would be glad to hear from any Member willing to assist him by watching for Migrants at the Lizard for a period at the end of September and early October. Observers are to be stationed on prominent headlands along the South Coast of England to observe the Departure of Birds from our shores. In order to find out whether Redpolls do visit Cornwall, Mr. Parsons would be very glad to hear of the exact location of groups of Birch trees. Mr. Parsons will be pleased to advise any Member who is thinking of buying Field Glasses or a Telescope for Bird-watching if such help is required. * * * * * THE SOCIETY'S COMING OF AGE by B. H. Ryves. Surely indeed we can, in full justice and pride, celebrate our Society's Coming of Age on the 17th January of this New Year of 1952. It was on the 17th January, 1931, that we were founded, at Truro, by a small band of Cornish Bird-lovers. At the close of our first year of infant life, our Membership list stood at the figure of 102 and included the names of five " foreigners." Though twenty-one long years have passed since then and taken their inevitable toll, it is a matter of delight to record that 38 mem bers of that first and earliest list are not only alive to-day, but are also on our latest list. Surely this happy fact bears ample testimony to the magnetic hold that the Society has exerted throughout its growth from infancy to full adolescence. Financially the Society has never looked back, and to-day may truthfully be described as " comfortably off." The Annual Subscrip tion on inauguration was fixed at Five Shillings and has remained at that figure ever since—surely an achievement that speaks for itself, especially in these most difficult times. This most happy state of affairs is due in large measure to the handsome legacy of £1,000 bequeathed by the late Dr. R. G. Walmsley in 1939, which resulted in our acquiring the Walmsley Sanctuary from which we derive, without in any way affecting the welfare of the birds, a steady annual income, 4 Further, in 1947 the late Miss Trusted, who became a member at the Society's birth, left us the useful sum of £200. And it is relevant to remember with gratitude the generous gift, in 1933, by the proprietors of the " Western Morning News," of the green-topped rock known as Trethias Island, situated in Treyarnon Bay. The island is a favoured haunt and resting place of various Waders, and was in danger of being lost to the birds by being bridged with the mainland and built upon. Our Annual Reports provide not only a complete history of all our activities in varying fields, but also a very comprehensive record of the occurrences, distribution and habits of Cornish birds. Our first twenty Reports have filled 1,300 pages and add valuable knowl edge to Ornithology. A high standard of field work on birds was established at the very outset and has been scrupulously maintained. So much for the Ornithological side of the Society's activities. Now let us turn to another very important function of the Society's aims, namely, the preservation of our Cornish birds. We have worked as hard towards the bettering of the lives of birds as we have towards a fuller understanding of the ways of birds.