Herefordshi e Ornithological Club A T 1978 To etl'er with Classified Notes /0 HeJ'e/ordshire alld Radnor m,'e N .8, Vo!. 3 25p JIEREFORDSHIRE ORNDHOLOGICAL CLUB No. 8 Vol. 3 OFFICERS AND COMMlTl'EE 1978 President: J. L. FOX Vice-Presidents: Dr. C. W. Walker, M.C., A. G. FYSHE, P. W. HINDE Chairman: T. R. AMMONDS Recorder: A. J. SMITH Field Secretary: P.GARDNER Hon. Secretary: Mrs. J. BROMLEY Hon. Treasurer: I. T. STONE Hon. Editor: T. R. H. OWEN, C.B.E. Committee: MIlS. F. BRADLEY I. W. PREECE DR. M. DAVlES R. D. JONES I. B. EVANS J. H. WATKINS MRS. R. FRANCIS J. J. SMITII A. MAltCltANT K. A. MASON IIEIlEFOaDSIIDlE ORNITIIOLOGICAL CLUB R.tJLa 1. NAME. The Oub shall be caned the Herefordshire Ornithological Oub. 2. OBJECI'S. The objects of the Oub shaD be <a) to further the study or birds in the field, and (b) to assist in their preservation. 3. MEMBERSHIP. The Oub shall consist of a President, a 0Wrman, a Secretary. a Field,Selmltary, a Treas~r, ... EditoJ', a Recorder, and Ten Committee Members and Ordinary Members. ne PreIideat and the O1airman to retire after serving a term of three years. The Secretaries, the Treasurer, the Recocder and the Editor shall be elected annually. The three senior of the ten Ordinary Members of the Com­ mittee shall retire annually and they. shaD not be eligible for re-election for a period of 12 months. The Officers and Ordinary Members of the Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and the Officers shaD be eligible foe re-election. Nominations for the Commit­ tee must be received in writing·by the Hon. Secretary by March 31st. 4. CONf>ITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP. Members shaD be required to support and keep the provisions of the Protection of Birds Act, 1954. Any members failing to support and keep this law shaD be required to resign. Members may not divulge to unauthorised persons <e.g. known collectors of skins fJIiJ.d/or eas) information in a manner likely to be detrimental to the objects of the Club. 5. SUBSCRIPTIONS. <a) Junior members, over 12 but under 18 years of age, SOp. OrdinAry membem, 18 years and over, £1.50. A married couple, £2. Any additional metnbers of a household SOp; Subscript­ ions are payable on January 1st or on election to memhenbip. Corporate Members: Kindred bodies. Schools, etc.: Subscription one pound and 5 pence per annum. Honorary Members: As approved by the majority present at the Annual General Meeting. (b) All subscriptions subsequent to those paid on admission, shan be due on Jan. 1st each year. Where a member has been elected on or after 1st September in any year, there wiUbe no further liability to subscribe in the year immediately following that of his or her election. Any Member whose subscription is six months in arrears shaD cease to receive the Oub's pub1k:ations and, should the subscription not be paid by December' 31st, his or her name shall be deleted from the list of Members. 6. MANAGEMENT. The Secretary shaD keep Minutes of the meetmp and prepare such literature as shall keep Members informed of the Oub's activities. 7. MEETINGS shaD be held as often as deemed desirable at the discretion of the Officers. 8. REPORT. Th~ shaD be an Editorial Committee of at least three Members i~ the Secretary, appointed at- an ordinary Committee Meeting. n.e ibaB prepare and present an Annual Report and such st:iechll reports as may be decided upon. 9. ALTERATION OF RULES. An alteratioa of the R.ules may be made only if propoeed at ono meeting, printed OIl the ..-sa for the following meetins, and passed by a two-thirds majOrity of those pr'eIllIlt. "Our Chairman. Mr. T. R. Ammonds" HEREFORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT 1978 321 The frontispiece to this report is a photograph of our· Chairman, Mr. T. R. Ammonds. Mr. Ammonds has been our chairman for 18 years. As a practical farmer he has given unsurpassed leadership in the cause of conserving our wild life. There was some hard late-winter weather in 1978, followed by .. a chilly spring, a cool but very dry summer, a fine autumn-and the year went out fiercely. Birds have a hard time of it, thanks to the destruction of 'cover', the drainage of marsh and pond and the felling of timber, backed by poisonous dressings and multiple road .. casualities. On the whole most species have stood up to it surprisingly well. The different fortunes are often hard to account for e.g. Sandmartins and Turtle Dove down, Long Tailed Tit and Woodpeckers up. Any light that members can shed on the see-saw is welcome. It is pleasing to see that many more members have sent in notes. Thanks are due to Mr. A. Marchant for having compiled a list of the contributors, printed at the end of this report. The object of notes is to keep track of the bird population rather than score marks for rarities. Even the recording of common species helps to maintain a finger on the pulse of bird status. Once again the Editor must adjure members to get in records on January 1st or as soon thereafter as possible. It is difficult to fit in notes once the compiling has begun. Our thanks are due to the Editorial Committee for their guidance -Dr. C. W. Walker, Colonel H. Morrey Salmon, Mr. F. W. Hinde and Mr. A. J. Smith. T.R.H.O. 322 HEREFORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT 1978 INDOOR MEETINGS Jan. Member's' night. Feb. Mick Wilkes and Mike Fitzgerald-Talk with Slides. March Wild Wales by W. Condry. April Films of Southern India-G. N. Smith. Sept. 'Birds of Ethiopia'-Dr. Stephanie Tyler. Oct. 'Duck migrations' by Dr. M. Smart of the Wildfowl Trust. Nov. 'Birds of Scandinavia'-Dr. John Raines. R.S.P.B. Films in the Town Hall. " Dec. Golden Plover distribution-David Powell. FIELD MEETINGS January Castleton for the Wye February Belvide Reservoir (Wolverhampton) Wapley Hill March Talybont Reservoir (Gwent) Gower (Whiteford Point) Harley Dingle April Monnington Haugh Wood (census) HEREFORDSHIRE ORNlTIIOLOGICAL REPORT 1978 323 May Common Hill, Fownhope Moccas Deer Park Rhos Goch Ridge Hill-Sollershope Malhollam Farm-Kington Dawn Chorus (Titley) Shucknall Hill for Nightingales June Blaen-y-Cwm (Grwyne FaWT Reservoir) Elan Valley July Cwm Oergym Valley, Brecon Aymestrey area August Severn Esturary September Ynys Hir by Coach Beacon Hill-Beguildy October Foy-Perrystone Court and the Wye November Painscastle (long walk) December Bryngwyn Common (long walk) 324 HEREPORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT 1978 HEREFORDSHIRE AND RADNORSHIRE NAroRE TRUST NEST BOX SCHEME This year recording took place on 35 sites with new sites established at Bebnont Abbey, HoIme Lacy and the Trust property at Court Wood, Metlins Hole and Vedw Turbary, the results are:- Total Boxes 996 Boxes Used 539 % Used 54 1978 1977 Nest Fld. Nest Pied Flycatcher . 136 674 12:1 Blue Tit . 176 1133 212 Great Tit .. 172 1058 160 Coal Tit .. 11 77 12 Marsh Tit .. 4 29 8 Redstart . 5 12 I Nuthatch . 10 51 12 Wren .. 9 41+ 3 Others .. 16 26 Successful .. 499 503 Losses in predation and desertion were not quite as bad this year~ against 52 in 1977. Cold weather again plagued the breed­ ing season. I am pleased to say that the Pied Flycatcher and Great Tit are again on the increase, but the Blue Tits fell back to 1976 level. COMMENTS PROM RETURNS Dr. Boddington reported that one nest of Coal Tits contained 40 eggs, he came to the conclusion that only one female was involved. Several of the eggs had flimsy shells and were difficult to handle. A permit was obtained to photograph the nest. One box at Mowley Wood which was occupied by Blue Tits also contained one Pied Flycatcher. The chick was ringed and eventually flew. Mr. P. Gardner has had success with Treecreepers, one box contained four eggs and the young eventually flew. He took added precautions by armour plating the box against Woodpeckers. He also states that emergency repairs were carried out by Tetrion on other boxes. c. W. SHELDRAKE. HEREFOlU>SHlRE ORNlmOLOOICAL REPORT 1978 325 BY'ION BOXES Mr. M. Baddely, of Byton,has also conducted a local nest-box scneme. There were 53 boxes and 39 were utijized, a 75% 0ccu­ pation. No special preference was shown for any spcdes of tree. Ten species of bird successfully nested and fledgelings were as follows:- Tree Sparrow 65 "Blue Tit 63 Great Tit 36 Spotted Flycatcher 10 Stockdove 8 Marsh Tit 7 Starling 7 Pied Wagtail 5 House SparrOw 5 Kestrel 2 Total 228 326 HEREFORDSHIRE ORNImOLOGICAL REPORT 1978 RINGING REPORT FOR 1978 The increase in Ringing activities anticipated in the last report has materialised. S.T. has been working in South Herefordshire and beyond on rivers and has rung 39 Dipper and 69 Grey Wagtails. CD.T.M. and CJ., besides taking on a new and promising Nest Box site, have rung 24 Heron Pulli and included 26 Pulli among 71 Canada Geese caught at Berrington. D.G.B. continues ringing at six Nest Box sites; The information from these plus that from three other sites is included in a summary of Hol~,Nesting Species below. All have been involved in ringing garden bir$, and C.D.T.M. and C.J. have caught wintering Blackcaps and Siskins in Hereford Oty. M-Male. F-Female. Pull-Nestling. Ad-Adult. V-caught and released with ring. V. V.-Ring number read in field. +-shot.