Recent reports P. F. Bonham These are largely unchecked reports, not authenticated records This covers October 1971, to which all dates refer unless otherwise stated. Despite the passage across the Atlantic of as many as nine low pressure systems during the month, it was predominantly sunny, mild and dry, highs over continental Europe deflecting the depressions north-east towards northern . October could be divided into three periods: ist-jith (fine and warm with light SE to SW winds), ioth-23rd (cooler, unsettled, rather cloudy, wet and windy, SW to NW but NE on 13th and 14th) and 24th onwards (anticyclonic, cool, E to SSW).

SHEARWATERS, AUKS AND OTHER MARINE SPECIES A total of 168 Sooty Shearwaters Puffinus griseus flew south off Cape in almost as many minutes on 3rd, and 140 went north off the Butt of Lewis (Outer Hebrides) in five hours on 5 th; 39 were noted at Cape Clear Island (Co. Cork) on 1st, 37 at () on 13 th and 109 at Cap Gris Nez in northern France on 21 st. Not unexpectedly the largest passages of Great Shearwaters P, gravis and Cory's Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea were recorded off Co. Cork—250 Cory's on 5th-6th in flocks of up to 70, and 520 Great on 15th—but a Cory's off St Ives (Cornwall) on 19th, a Great Shearwater off Hilbre (Cheshire) on 31st—the first 21st were notable records for British waters. Still more remarkable was a Cory's Shearwater picked up alive at Cannock Reservoir (Staffordshire) on 2nd and later released on the sea at Swansea: this was the first record inland in Britain and Ireland and we understand that it was of the North Atlantic race C. d. borealis (the only other Cory's subspecifically identified, in Norfolk in January 1966, was also of this form). Another unusual inland record involved an immature Puffin Fratercula arctica on a small pool in Swithland Wood (Leicestershire) on 3rd; in Norfolk about 18th a juvenile Gannet Sula bassana was seen eight miles from the coast and a Razorbill Alca tarda was found in a forest ride near Thetford. Lastly, single Little Auks Plautus alh off Seaton Sluice (Northumberland) on 16th, 17th and 31st were the forerunners of many more in November.

HERONS TO CRAKES A Spoonbill Plataha kueoroiia on the Swale (Kent) from 2nd to 14th might possibly have been associated with the records in Kent and Sussex in September (Brit, Birds, 64: 556); another was later reported at Sidlesham (Sussex). A Night Heron Nycti- corax nyctkorax occurred at Meols, (Cheshire) on 4th and an adult Purple Heron Ardea purpurea at Sewardstone (Essex) on 16th. Three Long-tailed Ducks Clangula byemalis off St Ives on 1st were early, as were Smews Mergus albellus at Ely (Cambridgeshire) on 20th, at Lydd (Kent) on 26th and at Aldhoime, Doncaster (Yorkshire) on 30th. Reports of large numbers of geese county record—and 20 Greats between the Wolf Rock and the Isles of Scilly on included 1,500 Greyleg Geese Anser anser at Loch Leven (Kinross) by 31st, 282 White-fronted Geese A. albifrons at Slimbridge (Gloucestershire) by 23rd and 1,500 Brent Geese Branta bernkla south at Minsmere (Suffolk on 26th. At Caer- laverock (Dumfriesshire) Barnacle Geese B. kmopsis numbered 1,150 by 25th Sep­ tember and increased to 3,100 by 16th October. Two Brents on the Sussex coast on 15th September, twelve White-fronts at Minsmere five days later and 28 on the Colne (Essex) on 1st October were all rather early, while a Bean Goose A.fabalis at Slimbridge from 7th and eight Brents heading south-west over Walton Heath (Surrey) on 29th were also unusual. At Loch Leven Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus steadily increased from 25 on 1st to a peak of 380 on 16th, and at Castle Caldwell (Co. Fermanagh) 423 passed through during October; 52 (12.3%) of the latter were juveniles. Minsmere had the first Bewick's Swans C. bewickii—five on 15th—and

40 Recent reports 4i the next was an immature at Hillhouses (Derbyshire) on 19th; these were followed during 2jrd-3ist by a build-up to 73 at Slimbridge and at least 80 others scattered over 13 counties. It was another poor autumn for Rough-legged Buzzards Buteo lagopus, October reports coming only from Salthouse Heath and Heacham (both Norfolk) and Walbers- wick (Suffolk). Ospreys Pandion haliaetus remained from September in Staffordshire, Essex and Kent, and Red Kites Milvus milvus were seen in Cornwall near St Buryan on 8th, at next day and in the Isles of Scilly during 22nd-24th; also in those islands a Honey Buzzard Perm's apivorus was identified on St Mary's on 14th and a Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni on St Agnes on 28th, while another report of the latter came from Porthgwarra (Cornwall) in late October (see also Brit. Birds, 64: 556). A bevy of seven Quail Coturnix coturnix was seen at Badby (Northamptonshire) on 9th, and a Crane Grus grus at Blithfield Reservoir (Staffordshire) on 1st. Reports of crakes in the Isles of Scilly involved up to four Corncrakes Crex crex during 2nd-7th and three Spotted Crakes Por^ana por^ana during 4th-i6th; Spotted Crakes were also seen on the Ouse Washes (Cambridgeshire/Norfolk) from 1st to 3rd and at three other places during 23rd-24th.

NEARTIC WADERS, GULLS AND LANDBIRDS There were no really marked influxes of American birds, though new arrivals occurred during 2nd-5th, 8th-i2th and i6th-26th. Three Lesser Golden Plovers Pluvialis dominha were seen in the Trevorian/St Just area (Cornwall)—one from 5 th to 21st and two others on 23rd-24th, one staying to 29th (though these latter were thought by some observers to be of the predominantly Asiatic form P. d. fulva). Two dowitchers 'Limnodromus sp stayed at Lady's Island Lake (Co. Wexford) from 3rd to 8th, as well as one at Clonakilty (Co. Cork) from September through into November (not mentioned in the last summary), and a Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes at Ballycotton (Co. Cork) from 4th to 8th. A Spotted Sandpiper T. macularia occurred on St Agnes on 10th and nth, and a Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii at Point of Air (Flintshire) from 22nd to 6th November. Single Buff-breasted Sand­ pipers Tryngites subruficollis on St Agnes on 3rd and near St Just on 5th had probably arrived in September {Brit. Birds, 64: 557). A late Wilson's Phalarope Phalaropus tricolor appeared at Lydd (Kent) on 12th. Pectoral Sandpipers C. melanotos were reported on St Agnes from 2nd to 5th (adult) and on 10th (immature), at Eye Brook Reservoir (Leicestershire/Rutland) on 2nd, at Farlington (Hampshire) from 2nd to 10th, at Reservoir (Cornwall) from 4th to 17th, at Freckleton (Lancashire) on 10th, at Cheddar Reservoir (Somerset) from 16th to 24th and at Funton (Kent) and Dunstable sewage farm (Bedfordshire) on 17th. Thus there were at least 40 Pectoral Sandpipers in autumn 1971, compared with nearly 70 in 1970, and the other American waders taken together were also scarcer (35 in autumn 1971, 70 in 1970). The most marked drop, however, was in the number of Sabine's Gulls Icarus sabini, the seven reported in October—on St Agnes on 4th, in the Alt estuary (Lancashire) on 9th, at Gibralter Point (Lincolnshire) on 10th (adult) and 25th (immature), at Cley on 14th and at St Ives during I7th-i9th (two birds)—bringing the year's total so far to 18 compared with 45 in 1970. By far the rarest gull reported was a Kumlien's Gull L. glaucoides kumlieni (the race of the Iceland Gull which breeds on Baffin Island in arctic Canada) at Ballycotton on 8th. There were five American landbirds in October but, strangely, only one was a passerine. The first was a Nighthawk Chordeiles minor on St Agnes during 12th-i 3th; only three had previously been recorded in Britain (none in Ireland), all in Scilly, the first on Tresco on 17th September 1927 and the other two together on St Agnes during 28th September-4th October 1955, but less than a week after this fourth British record another Nighthawk was seer, well inland in the English Midlands at Bulcote (Nottinghamshire) on 18th and 21st. Also on 18th a Yellow-billed 42 Recent reports Cuckoo Coccy^us amerhanus was picked up at Reydon (Suffolk), dying next day, and on 20th a Grey-cheeked Thiush Catharus minimus was found freshly dead on Bardsey (Caernarvonshire), the eighth British record. Lastly, a second Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen on Castle Hill, (Cornwall) from 26th until 7th November. All these arrival dates except the last were compatible with rapid down-wind drift across the Atlantic in the circulations of depressions; the second of the cuckoos, however, probably came in on or shortly before 23rd.

PALEARCTIC WADERS TO TERNS It continued to be a very poor autumn for Palearctic waders. Little Stints Calidris minuta and Curlew Sandpipers C. fenuginea hardly reached double figures and late passage of Wood Sandpipers Tringa glareola was virtually nil. Single Dotterel Eudromias morinellus were seen in Pembrokeshire and Dorset and there were up to four in the Trevorian area from 21st, however, and Jack Snipe Lymnoeryptes minimus exceeded ten at Cannock Reservoir (17 on 17th) and Leighton Moss (Lancashire) (15 on 28th). We heard of 17 Grey Phalaropes Pbalaropus julicarius, all coastal and mainly in the south-west and north-east, and one Red-necked Phalarope P. lobatus, at Leigh (Lancashire) from 6th to 8th. Stone Curlews Biirhitws oedicnemus at Ftodsham (Cheshire) on 3rd and at Beddington (Surrey) on 16th were well away from their breeding areas. Two Pratincoles Glareola pratincola were reported at Portland (Dorset) on 9th. Movements of skuas included 36 Arctic Skuas Stercorarius parasiticus and 52 Great Skuas S. skua at Donna Nook (Lincolnshire) on 1 3 th, and 31 Arctic, 50 Great and eight Pomarine Skuas S.pomarinus at St Ives on 19th. A Long-tailed Skua S. longicaudus was seen between and Scilly on 5 th and an Arctic appeared inland on the Ouse Washes on 15 th. Inland reports of gulls seen mainly on the coast included an adult Glaucous Gull Larus byperboreus in Windsor Great Park (Berkshire/ Surrey) on 17th and 29th, an adult Mediterranean Gull L. melanocephalus at Stithians Reservoir on 10th, and several Little Gulls jL. minutus and Kittiwakes RJssa tridactyla. On the coast 90 or more Little Gulls were counted on a number of dates at Sheringham (Norfolk) and Spurn, as well as at Cap Gris Nez. A White-winged Black Tern Chlidonias leucopterus was reported at Pennington marshes (Hamp­ shire) in mid-October, and also rather late were at least 20 Black Terns C. niger in 14 localities, a Little Tern Sterna albifrons at Radley gravel pits (Berkshire) on 27th and two Roseate Terns S. dougallii at Whitley Bay (Northumberland) on ;oth.

RARE AND SCARCE LANDBIRDS There were some unusual records of Continental passerines normally thought of as sedentary or nearly so: these included a Short-toed Treecreeper Certhia bracby- dactyla at Hengistbury Head (Hampshire) from 18th September to at least the end of November, and a Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti trapped at Thatcham (Berkshire) on 31st October; Dartford Warblers Sylvia tmdata on Skomer (Pembrokeshire) on 14th September, at Hengistbury Head on 3rd October and at Dungeness (Kent) on 30th-31st might also have come from the Continent. (The Short-toed Treecreeper has not yet been admitted to the British and Irish list, but there have been other reports of this species back to 1969, and possibly as long ago as 1957. and lt is hoped to publish a full statement in due course.) Southern or south-eastern species included a Bee-eatet Merops apiaster at Kenil- worth (Warwickshire) on 2nd; Hoopoes Upupa epops at Sherboume (also Warwick­ shire) on 4th and in the Alt estuary on 9th; three 'eastern' Short-toed Larks Calandrella cinerea on Fair Isle (Shetland) on 3rd-4th; one or two Black-eared Wheatears Oenanthe bispanica at Porthgwarra (Cornwall) during 2nd-5th and another on the Calf of Man from 7th to 11 th; a Desert Wheatear O, deserti at Rinsey Head (Cornwall) on 25th; Aquatic Warblers Acrocephalus paludicola at Hayling Island (Hampshire) on 3rd and on Tresco on 13th; six Melodious Warblers Htppolais Retreat reports 43 polyglotta in the Isles of Sciily during 2nd-6th; a Bonelli's Warbler Phylloscopm bonelli on St Agnes from 4th to 24th (trapped on 8th); and a Serin Setinus serinus on St Agnes from 23rd to 27th. Six more Tawny Pipits Antbuscampestrisvtttt reported: four in Cottvwall/Scilly up to 10th, one on the Calf of Man on 6th and one at Benacre Ness (Suffolk) on 28th. On 22nd a Scops OwlOtusscops was identified near Ashford (Kent) and a Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor in Epping Forest (Essex). Migrants probably from Fenno-Scandia or Asia included three rather late Wrynecks Jynx torqtulh (on 1st, 3rd and 24th), 13 Barred Warblers Sylvia nisoria (Wales and south-west , the Wash area, Yorkshire, Orkney and Shetland, six during 3rd-8th, five during I2th-i6th and two 23rd-26th), and about a dozen Yellow-btowed Warblers Phylkseopus inornatus (similarly distributed in place but not in time, all but two being found during 13th-! 7th). Eleven Red-breasted Flycatchers Ficedulapart/a were confined to the south coast counties and the Channel Islands, except for one trapped at Meols on 3rd, the first Cheshire record; nine occurred during ist-gth and the other two on 29th or 30th. About 35 Richard's Pipits An/bus novaeseelandiae made a poor total compared with 1967-70: reports came from Pembrokeshire, south-west England, Fair Isle and a broad band extending from Spurn and north Norfolk to Bardsey; 22 occurred during ist-6th, but the dates of the rest were well scattered. There were six Bluethroats Luscinia svecica at various localities in Sussex, Somerset, Cheshire and Orkney during 2nd-6th, but the weather during that period and the coincidence of dates with those of the Melodious Warblers in Scilly indicates that these Bluethroats were probably of the more southern White-spotted form L. s. cyanecula, and similarly two Ortolan Buntings Emberi^a hortuhna, in Yorkshire on 2nd and Scilly on 3rd, might also have come from the south-east. Rarities from the east or north-east reached a peak during the week 24th-3oth. Single Nutcrackers "Nucifraga caryocatactes were reported at Lowestoft (Suffolk) and at four places in Norfolk during 27th-29th. A Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus was identified on St Agnes on 15 th and 16th, and a Siberian Lesser White- throat Sylvia curruca Myth was present at Spurn from 28th to 30th. Arctic Warblers Pbylloscopus borealis appeared at Meols on 3rd—the same date as the Red-breasted Flycatcher and another first county record—and on St Agnes on 8th-9th and 30th, and a Radde's Warbler P. schwar^i on that island on 24th-25th; Pallas's Warblers P. proregulus occurred in the Banquette Valley, Sark, on 25 th (if accepted, the first Channel Islands record), at Spurn on 26th, Portland on 28th and Norwich (Norfolk) on 30th. A Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa latirostris was reported on Copeland (Co. Down) on 26th; this species is not currently on the British and Irish list, following the rejection of the 1909 record in Kent with the Hastings Rarities and the discarding of those seen in Northumberland in 1956 and Co. Wexford in 1957 because the descriptions did not rule out two extremely similar Asiatic species, but the one on Copeland was trapped and examined in the hand. A Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus was seen on St Agnes from 26th to 28th. A Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola appeared on Fair Isle on 6th (and was found dead on 16th) and a Scarlet Rosefineh Carpodacus erytbrinus was present there from 2nd to 6th; another Scarlet Rosefinch was trapped on North Ronaldsay (Orkney) on 5 th. On Fair Isle, too, there was a Little Bunting Embcr^a p'tsitla on 31st and earlier one had been seen on St Agnes on 15 th and 16th. Lastly, a Redpoll showing the characters of the Greenland race Acanthis flammea rostra ta was identified on St Agnes on 25 th.

WINTER VISITORS AND MISCELLANEOUS SPECIES The largest flock of Shore Larks Eremophila alpestris appears to have been 153 counted on the south side of Teesmouth (Yorkshire) on 25 th, and the next largest 45 between Cley and Salthouse on 31st, but these were exceptional and elsewhere parties of up to 15 were seen at 20 or more localities as far south as Kent from 4th onwards, most arriving during i6th-25th. Inland reports came from Derbyshire 44 Recent reports (three together), Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire (singles). There were large arrivals of Fieldfares Turdus pilaris and Redwings T. iliacus during I3th-i6th and 23rd- 26th. More than 55 Great Grey Shrikes Latiius excubitor were reported; two Waxwings Bombycilla garrulus at Weybourne (Norfolk) on 25 th preceded a large arrival in November. A count of 206 Twites Aeanthis flavirostris at Minsmere on 20th seems largely to have involved a transient flock, since no more than 50 were recorded there on any other dates and this species was rather scarce on the east coast in October, especially during the first half of the month. Only about 40 Lapland Buntings Calcarius lapponicus were reported, and Snow Buntings Plectro- phenax nivalis were thin on the ground with a maximum in England of 60 at Cley and Salthouse on 31st; inland two appeared at Wingates (Northumberland) on 23rd and one at Hoveringham (Nottinghamshire) on 31st. Lastly, migrant Long-eared Owls Asio otus were seen at South Gare (Yorkshire) on 26th and at Hartlepool (Co. Durham) on 27th. Counts of 50 Ring Ouzels Turdus torquatus on St Agnes and 20 on Hampstead Heath (Middlesex) on 14th were outstanding; two weeks later 14 Black Redstarts Phomicurus ochruros were present on St Agnes and on the following day 25 Firecrests Regulus ignicapillus were estimated at Dungeness (there was also a very large influx of Goldcrests R. regulus then, at least in East Anglia and the south-east). Sixteen Water Pipits Anthus s. spinoletta at Beddington from 24th was another high total. Finally, autumn 1971 saw a very large eruption of Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus, probably the largest since 1965. At Minsmere 714 were ringed during the year and movements were noted throughout October, though there were no major ones after 24th. After the first report of a migrant at Chew Valley Lake (Somerset) on 12th September, we heard of one at Reculver (Kent) on 1st October and five there on 3rd, one at Stanford Reservoir on 8th, a flock of 30 at Easington (Yorkshire) on 9th and three at Donna Nook on nth. Then, between 16th and 31st, small groups were seen in about 20 counties north-west as far as Flintshire and Lancashire, nearly 200 birds being reported altogether (though, since many of these were coasting, some duplication was possible).