The Birds of Herefordshire 2010

Herefordshire Ornithological Club Annual Report Herefordshire Ornithological Club Founded 1950 Registered Charity No.1068608

Committee March 2010 - March 2011 President I B Evans Vice President K A Mason Chairman N A Smith Vice Chairman Vacant Secretary T M Weale Treasurer M J Wilkinson Recorder S P Coney Annual Report Editor Ms H Jones HOC News Editor P Gardner Meetings Secretary G R Parker Conservation Liaison Officer P J Brown Education Officer B C Willder Strategy Officer Vacant Publicity Officer Ms M MacGregor Cover picture: Other Committee Members: Wryneck, seen at Moreton-on- Ms S Grunsell; A J F Buttriss; G M Lugg in Davis; G A H Wells September Dave Bennett

2 Wryneck, drawn by Gerald Parker

elcome to the 2010 edition of the The Birds of Herefordshire, our 60th annual report – and my fourth aWs editor. This year’s report has been something of a headache for our contributors, and particularly for Tony Eveleigh and John Pullen who coordinate the Sys - tematic List of sightings. In its wisdom, the British Ornithological Union has made several major changes to the list – for instance, you may be sur - prised to note that the Long-Tailed Tit is no longer a tit. It’s officially in with the warblers. The list has always changed a bit over the years, as ornithologists and sci - entists have found different relationships between the species - but then they discovered DNA. The discovery has affected everything from paternity suits to crime de - tection; now it is altering the taxonomy of birds. The effect has been quite drastic and the list will probably change more frequently in the future. Most birdwatchers are not scientists and may find the whole issue con - fusing – possibly even unnecessary; to this end Gerald Wells, who is a sci - entist, has written an article explaining it. This appears on Page 18. Meanwhile, to make life easier for those of you who study the list and may be confused on not being able to find your favourite bird in its usual place, we have also included an alphabetical index to the Systematic List, which you will find on Page 98. My heartfelt thanks (and commiserations!) go to John and Tony and to all the contributors, as well as to Steve Coney who collates the sighting throughout the year. And lastly I must thank those members whose efforts with their cameras have, as usual, produced such stunning illustrations, not forgetting Gerald Parker whose drawings give a lift to the whole edition. Hilary Jones

3 Contents

Chairman’s Report & Bird Atlas Report ...... Page 5 HOC Accounts ...... Page 8 HOC Field Meetings ...... Page 10 Weather Reports ...... Page 11 County Bird List 2010 ...... Page 13 Herefordshire County Rarities ...... Page 15 Accepted Rarities 2010 ...... Page 16 The Systematic List, Taxonomy & Change ...... Page 18 Systematic List of Sightings ...... Pages 22-46 & 55-68 Exotica & Escapes ...... Page 69 List of Contributors ...... Page 70 Migrant Dates ...... Page 72 Bird Ringing Reports ...... Page 74 Nestbox Recording Scheme ...... Page 87 Obituaries ...... Page 96 Alphabetical Index to Revised Systematic List ...... Page 98 Birdwatching Sites ...... Page 99 Sites Map ...... Back Cover

ISBN 978-0-9554157-6-0 Vol 6 Number 10 Edited by Hilary Jones; published 2013 Price £5 (UK post free)

4 Chairman’s Report for 2010

S your chairman, I find that every year brings fresh challenges for HOC in the way we have to deal with topics and finding the resources from a small club like ours. It often falls back oAnto the shoulders of a few volunteers within the club who are able to help, thus making our club become a more strategic player in this county environment. I will highlight just a few of the main themes this year which, as your chairman, I believe are important, as we end this 60th year. Over the decades the club has made great strides in its own development, and I would like to start with the main item, which has been: The Herefordshire breeding/ winter Bird Atlas e are now into the third year of this important project, which is a joint venture with BTO, as part of the national atlas. Our own sWpecial County Atlas is a project in which we endeavour to have the county’s area of some 545 x 2km tetrads covered over 5 years for both the breeding and winter seasons! This is no easy task and looking at the early results we have over 201 observers and some

A rare visitor to Herefordshire – a Glossy Ibis All drawings by Gerald Parker

5 60,000 records submitted already. The numbers of species recorded are 140 winter species and 161 breeding species. We have, so far, al - located 75% tetrads, with 310 winter tetrads and 226 breeding tetrads having been completed. But this is only part of the project. In addition to being very enjoy - able and beneficial, the fieldwork also has a very serious side after all this effort in showing the way ahead for future species manage - ment and in delivering a record of the state of the health of all species in this county. The various environmental groups and Government bodies like Nat - ural England need data to help at a county level deliver some of their policies. In Herefordshire we have only patchy species records, but having a published Atlas book will create a yardstick for the next 15 to 20 years of scientific research. This knowledge has never been fully captured before and written down in this way with data that others can usefully interpret to help with the welfare of the species in this county. To this end, I recommend that the Club throw its full resources be - hind the project and then see the longer terms benefits and uses. The committee & its sub-committees s chairman I rely heavily on the committee to help deliver and guide us with all subjects. This year is no different from others, Abut it is always pleasing to see more new faces to provide some new blood. No committee should stand still, and we will always have dif - ficult challenges ahead, while understanding that we are all volunteers giving up our own time. So it’s important to remember that we can only support projects and not try to do everything everywhere! I would like once again to give a big thank you to all those members standing again or standing down, as their efforts have been a tremen - dous help over the past year in so many ways. Meetings he year seems to have disappeared too quickly, but again we have had an excellent programme of indoor and outdoor meetings, bTringing many of us together in all sorts of weather and birding op - portunities, including the well-run and excellent weekend break away

6 Great Grey Shrike to Dorset organ - ised by Chris Bartlett and John Vickerman. I can seriously recommend these annual trips to all of you as an excellent way of meeting fellow bird - ers and all helping each other out with improving your own knowledge of birds. A special thank you goes to Chris Mason and her team of helpers who organise the indoor meetings. Working together t is important to realise that the bird club cannot do everything, but opportunities arise where we can lend our expertise to help others iIn bird conservation. The Herefordshire Woodpecker project is one such project, along with others, like trying to influence the Council’s planning/policy di - rection by having our say on behalf of birds, when helping planners decide on applications, which could affect bird habitats. Finally we had the sad news during the year of the death of Beryl Bayliss, a good friend and carer for sick and injured birds in the county. We also lost another club stalwart, Elaine Evans, who will be greatly missed. Their obituaries can be found on page 96. I feel that we have a great strength in being a friendly club, which will enjoy real opportunities ahead to make us a leading light in the county, if we can complete big tasks like the Atlas project over the next few years. So please support us in the work and challenges that lie ahead, and speak to a committee member if you have ideas or want to become involved with the club, using your knowledge and skills to make a stronger band of willing volunteers to take forward our greatest in - terest which is the awareness of the birds throughout the county. Enjoy reading this report about the species seen around the County this year and some of the notable scarce birds that we can find with a bit of dedication! Nick Smith

7 Income & Expenditure Account 2009 2010 £ £ £ INCOME £ £ £ 4,472 Subscriptions 4,589 - Annual Report Sponsorship 1,000 513 Income from Meetings 799 - Sale of Surplus Computer Equipment 470 20 Sale of Publications 97 864 Donations 310 706 Gift Aid Refund 1,003 - Grant for Recorder Project 914 - Other Income 2 543 Bank Interest (gross) 749 2,610 Members Weekend Away – Income 330 -2,610 - Members Weekend Away – Expenditure -330 - 7,118 9,933 EXPENDITURE 2,840 2007 Annual Report 912 1,284 Printing & Stationery 1,435 668 Postage & Telephone 702 72 Publicity Expenses 594 480 Meeting Expenses 673 - Purchases 14 802 Insurance 500 151 Donation & Affiliation Subscriptions 38 - Computer Equipment 1,086 (Including Recorder Project) 278 Computer Software & Website 496 6,575 6,450 543 Surplus 2009/2010 3,483 8 Year Ended 30 November 2010 2009 2010 £ £ £ £ £ 14,454 Surplus as at 1st December 2009 20,547 543 Surplus 2009/2010 3,483 Writeback of Annual Report 5,550 1,950 Provisions 2008-10 General Funds as at 30 November 20,547 25,980 2010 Less: Additional Provision for - -13,000 Breeding Bird Atlas 11,400 Add: Special Funds carried forward 11,400 Total Accumulated Funds as at 30th £31,947 £24,380 Nov 2010 Represented by:- 30,000 35,000 Standard Life Bonds 7,400 Standard Life Notice A/C 5,149 2 HSBC:- Deposit Account - 1,495 HSBC:- Current Account 2,231 38,897 42,380 Less: 4,950 Provision for Annual Reports 2008-10 3,000

2,000 Provision for Bird Atlas – 2011 1,000

- Provision for Bird Atlas – 2013 6,000

- 6,950 Provision for Bird Atlas – 2014 8,000 18,000

£31,947 £24,380

M J Wilkinson Treasurer Auditor's Certificate I have examined the above Income and Expenditure Account together with the relevant spreadsheets and vouchers, and have obtained all the information and explanations necessary. I certify that the above account presents a true and fair view of the financial position of the Herefordshire Ornithological Club as at 30th November 2010 E.C. Aplin FCA, FCMA 4 January 2011 9 HOC Field Meetings Date ...... Venue ...... Leader 23 Jan ...... Whitford Burrows ...... Gerald Parker 6 Feb ...... Somerset Levels ...... John Vickerman & Gerald Parker 24 Feb ...... Forest of Dean ...... Tony Eveleigh !4 Mar ...... Bircher Common & Croft Ambrey ...... Nick Smith 24 Mar ...... Leominster Town Walk ...... Gerald Parker 12 Apr ...... Olchen Valley ...... John Pullen 28 Apr ...... Norton Canon ...... Gerald Parker 6 May ...... Highnam Woods with Ledbury Nats ...... Nick Smith 15 May ...... Brimfield Atlas Training ...... Nick Smith 12 Jun ...... Mary Knoll & High Vinnals ...... Gerald Parker 19 Jun ...... Hereford City Dawn Chorus Walking Festival ...... John Pullen 22 Jun ...... Hergest Ridge Walking Festival ...... Phil & Chris Williams 1 Jul ...... Forest of Dean ...... Nick Smith 10 Jul ...... Coppet Hill ...... John Pullen 4 Aug ...... RSPB Dinas Reserve ...... Geoff Davis 21 Aug ...... Eaton Bishop & Clehonger ...... Geoff Davis 3 Sep ...... Bodenham Lake & Wellington GP ...... Gerald Parker 21 Sep ...... Bunch of Carrots Wye ...... Terry Foxton 9 Oct ...... Great Doward Area ...... Graham Wren 16 Oct ...... Yarkhill & Homend Park ...... Brian Wilder 9 Nov ...... Hollybush ...... John Pullen & Nick Smith 27 Nov ...... Holme Lacy Wye ...... Tony Eveleigh 11 Dec ...... Ynys Las & Ynys Hir ...... Gerald Parker Indoor Meetings Date ...... Topic ...... Speaker 11 Feb ...... The Complete Owl ...... Michael Leach 11 Mar ...... AGM & Members Evening ...... Keith Mason 9 Sep ...... Aren’t Birds Rather Nice ...... Alan Heath 11 Oct ...... 100 Years of Bird Ringing ...... Steve Dodds 11 Nov ...... Raptors of the UK ...... Ian McGuire 9 Dec ...... Yellowstone National Park ...... Phil Mugridge John Pullen 10 Weather Report 2010 January THE freezing weather from the end of 2009 continued with 18 nights of frost reaching -5C on 3, 4, 6 and 8 and -6C on 7, also there were falls of snow on 5, 10, 15 and 20. A total rainfall of 74mm was slightly more than the long term average. Wrens searched for warmth at night; 29 were noted in a nest box at Moreton Eye on 3. Many birds struggled to find food; a large mixed finch flock of 70 Brambling, 100 Linnet and 300 Chaffinch was at Norton Cannon feeding on set-aside. The juvenile Great Northern Diver remained from 2009 at Wellington GP and the Black Redstart at Hereford Cathedral. Pink-footed Geese were noted at Brockhall GP and a Bewick’s Swan at Wilton Wye. As the weather became warmer towards the end of the month Skylarks were moving back north at Gar - way and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming there on 26. February FEBRUARY was a cold month, the coldest February since 1991, with frosts on 12 nights and a snowfall of 65mm on 18. Towards the end of the month most days were wet, 62mm of rainfall was recorded – near the long term average. A Slavonian Grebe was at Welling - ton GP for two days, 19 and 20. Oystercatchers returned to three sites in the County and a Firecrest was seen briefly at Broadlands Tupsley Nature Reserve on 8. March THE first part of the month was dry with frosts on 7 nights, being -4 on 6. No recordable rain was measured until 18 giving an accumulated total of 61mm, near the long term av - erage. A long staying Great Grey Shrike was on Bircher Common and 3 Avocets were at Brockhall GP on 25. By 27 Ring Ouzels and a Wheatear were seen in the Black Moun - tains. April IT was a dry April with only 34 mm of rain, around 50% of the long term average, with frosts recorded on 3 nights 7, 16 and 20 -3C. Four Garganey were noted at Wellington GP on 23 and a Grasshopper Warbler reeled at Berrington Pool on 18. May THE first two weeks were cool and mainly dry with sunny weather being recorded on 24, 20C, and 25, 22C. A monthly rainfall total of 42mm was recorded with 29mm falling on 1; this heavy downfall resulted in hole-nesting birds being unable to easily find food and along with cold nights and wet parents meant many hatchlings perished. An unusual sighting for the County was of a Tawny Pipit at Wellington GP on 13 also 3 Dotterel on Hergest Ridge on 3. By the end of the month Nightingales had returned to the Mathon area. June THERE were only 5 wet days with 17mm recorded on 18, contributing to a total of 35mm less than 40% of long term average. The last 10 days were hot and sunny, the temperature being over 23C, reaching 26C on 21, making it the sunniest June since 1976. 11 An out-of-season record was the sighting of a Common Scoter at Wellington on 11 to 13. Turtle Doves are becoming harder to find; the only reports received were from Llan - warne and High Vinnals. July AN average long term rainfall of 50.5mm was recorded with hot days of 23+C on 8, 9, 10 and 26. The returning wader passage had started on 13 with a Whimbrel at Brockhall GP, followed by Black-tailed Godwits on 15 and Greenshanks on 18 there. August DURING the first half of the month the temperature remained higher than 20C with cooler days during the last week. Rainfall amounted to 47mm, slightly above the long term average. Most Swifts had departed although a group of 20 were seen at Adforton. The return wader passage continued; Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin were all noted at Wellington GP. September THE first few days were hot and sunny, then rain was recorded daily from 5 to 10 and 27 to 30, making a total monthly rainfall of 58mm. A Glossy Ibis was at Hereford Quarry from 27 to 30, a Great Skua at Brockhall GP on 26 to 28 and a Wryneck at Moreton on Lugg on 25 and 26. October THE month began with wet and unsettled weather and then became dry from 8 until 15; frosts were recorded on 19, 20 and 24. The total rainfall for the month was 52mm, near the long term average. The Great Grey Shrike returned to Bircher Common while a Grey Phalarope was noted at Wellington GP on 24 and a flock of Golden Plover was seen on Bradnor Hill. November THE first few days were mild with the hottest November night on record in most places on 3. Later the nights became colder, with frosts on 15, 16 and 26 to 30. Snow fell on 29 and 30 and the total monthly rainfall came to 56mm, 75% of the long term average. Waxwings arrived in the County at Bobblestock, Leominster and Ledbury. December IT was an exceptionally cold month, the coldest December since 1910, yet there was a higher than average total hours of sunshine. Most nights from 1 to 25 were frosty with very cold nights on 6, -10C, and -4C on 24, while 20mm of snow fell on 18. The tem - perature remained below zero on many days, ponds and wet meadows remained frozen causing beak probing waders such as Snipe and Woodcock to enter gardens to look for food, as in a Tupsley garden. Also present were Bewick’s Swans at Brampton Abbotts on 19 along with a ringtail Hen Harrier. A large mixed flock of 2000 finches, Brambling and Chaffinches, were at Norton Canon. An unusual occurrence was of a Great Black Backed Gull attempting to steal fish from a flock of Goosanders at Wilton Wye on 19. John Pullen 12 County Bird List 2010 THE numbers in brackets after certain species indicate the number of accepted sightings in the County and is only included if there are 20 or fewer records. Mute Swan Red-throated Diver (5) Coot Bewick’s Swan Black-throated Diver (4) Crane (5) Whooper Swan Great Northern Diver (9) Little Bustard (1) Bean Goose (4) Fulmar (1) Oystercatcher Pink-footed Goose Manx Shearwater Black-winged Stilt (1) White-fronted Goose Storm Petrel (5) Avocet (3) Greylag Goose Leach’s Petrel (9) Stone-Curlew (2) Canada Goose Gannet (14) Cream-coloured Courser (1) Barnacle Goose Cormorant Collared Pratincole (2) Brent Goose (13) Shag (6) Little Ringed Plover Egyptian Goose (5) Bittern Ringed Plover Ruddy Shelduck (2) Night Heron (3) Killdeer (1) Shelduck Cattle Egret (1) Dotterel (9) Mandarin Little Egret Golden Plover Wigeon Grey Heron Grey Plover (15) Gadwall White Stork (3) Lapwing Teal Glossy Ibis (3) Knot Green-winged Teal (1) Little Grebe Sanderling Mallard Great Crested Grebe Little Stint Pintail Red-necked Grebe (4) Temminck’s Stint (3) Garganey Slavonian Grebe (7) Pectoral Sandpiper (1) Shoveler Black-necked Grebe (15) Curlew Sandpiper (8) Red-crested Pochard (9) Honey Buzzard Dunlin Pochard Black Kite (1) Ruff Ring-necked Duck (2) Red Kite Jack Snipe Ferruginous Duck (1) White-tailed Eagle (1) Snipe Tufted Duck Marsh Harrier (5) Great Snipe (2) Scaup Hen Harrier Woodcock Eider (2) Montagu’s Harrier (3) Black-tailed Godwit Long-tailed Duck (3) Goshawk Bar-tailed Godwit (18) Common Scoter Sparrowhawk Whimbrel Velvet Scoter (2) Buzzard Curlew Goldeneye Rough-legged Buzzard (2) Common Sandpiper Smew (19) Spotted Eagle (1) Green Sandpiper Red-breasted Merganser (18) Osprey Spotted Redshank (8) Goosander Kestrel Greenshank Ruddy Duck Merlin Lesser Yellowlegs (1) Red Grouse Hobby Wood Sandpiper Black Grouse Peregrine Redshank Red-legged Partridge Water Rail Turnstone (13) Grey Partridge Spotted Crake Red-necked Phalarope (1) Quail Corncrake Grey Phalarope (20) Pheasant Moorhen Pomarine Skua (1) 13 Arctic Skua (2) Golden Oriole Ring Ouzel Great Skua (3) Red-backed Shrike Blackbird Sabine’s Gull (1) Great Grey Shrike Fieldfare Kittiwake Magpie Song Thrush Black-headed Gull Jay Redwing Little Gull (20) Nutcracker (2) Mistle Thrush Mediterranean Gull Jackdaw Spotted Flycatcher Common Gull Rook Robin Ring-billed Gull (3) Carrion Crow Nightingale Lesser Black-backed Gull Hooded Crow (19) Pied Flycatcher Herring Gull Raven Black Redstart Yellow-legged Gull Goldcrest Redstart Caspian Gull (1) Firecrest (17) Whinchat Iceland Gull (3) Blue Tit Great Black-backed Gull Great Tit Stonechat Little Tern (5) Coal Tit Wheatear Whiskered Tern (1) Willow Tit Desert Wheatear (1) Black Tern Marsh Tit Dunnock Cabot’s Tern (1) Woodlark House Sparrow Sandwich Tern (1) Skylark Tree Sparrow Common Tern Sand Martin Yellow/Blue-headed Wagtail Arctic Tern Swallow Grey Wagtail Little Auk (2) House Martin Pied/White Wagtail Puffin (2) Red-rumped Swallow (2) Tawny Pipit (1) Feral Pigeon Cetti’s Warbler (3) Tree Pipit Stock Dove Long-tailed Tit Meadow Pipit Woodpigeon Yellow-browed Warbler (1) Rock Pipit (2) Collared Dove Wood Warbler Water Pipit (11) Turtle Dove Chiffchaff Chaffinch Ring-necked Parakeet (9) Willow Warbler Brambling Cuckoo Blackcap Greenfinch Barn Owl Garden Warbler Goldfinch Little Owl Lesser Whitethroat Siskin Tawny Owl Whitethroat Linnet Long-eared Owl Dartford Warbler (2) Twite Short-eared Owl Grasshopper Warbler Lesser Redpoll Nightjar Melodious Warbler (2) Swift Sedge Warbler Mealy Redpoll (16) Alpine Swift (1) Marsh Warbler Common Crossbill Kingfisher Reed Warbler Bullfinch Bee-eater (3) Waxwing Hawfinch Roller (1) Nuthatch Snow Bunting (13) Hoopoe Treecreeper Yellowhammer Wryneck Wren Cirl Bunting Green Woodpecker Starling Reed Bunting Great Spotted Woodpecker Rose-coloured Starling (4) Corn Bunting Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dipper Ovenbird (1) 14 Herefordshire County Rarities THE following species require field-notes and supportive description before being con - sidered for inclusion in the HOC Annual Report (unless the sighting is agreed by five or more observers). All national rarities (to be forwarded to the British Birds Rarities Committee, for as - sessment); all unusual races (except White Wagtail, in the spring); all “out of season” migrants; the following rare county species: Geese (Bean, Pink-footed White Stork Nightjar and Brent) Spoonbill Alpine Swift Ruddy Shelduck Honey Buzzard Bee-eater American Wigeon Black Kite Wryneck Green-winged Teal White-tailed Eagle Golden Oriole Garganey (except All Harriers All Shrikes breeding male) Rough-legged Buzzard Chough Red-crested Pochard Golden Eagle Hooded Crow Ring-necked Duck Red-footed Falcon Firecrest Ferruginous Duck Spotted Crake Bearded Tit Scaup Corncrake Crested Tit Eider Crane Larks (except Skylark) Long-tailed Duck Waders (All except Red-rumped Swallow All Scoters Oystercatcher, Little Warblers (Cetti’s, Aquatic, Red-breasted Merganser Ringed Plover, Ringed Marsh, Icterine, Red Grouse (except on Plover, Golden Plover, Melodious, Barred, Dart - Black Mountains) Lapwing, Dunlin, Jack ford, Subalpine, Greenish, Ptarmigan Snipe, Snipe, Woodcock, Pallas’s, Yellow-browed, Black Grouse Black-tailed Godwit, Radde’s and Dusky) Capercaillie Whimbrel (if heard), Rose-coloured Starling Quail (if not heard) Curlew, Common Sand - Ring Ouzel (Not Black Golden Pheasant piper, Green Sandpiper, Mountains) Greenshank and Lady Amherst’s Pheasant Nightingale (if not heard) Redshank) Bluethroat All Divers All Skuas Red-breasted Flycatcher Grebes (all except Little Gulls (Sabine’s, and Great Crested) Black Redstart Kittiwake, Little, Fulmar Pipits (except Tree and Mediterranean, Ring- Meadow) All Shearwaters billed, Caspian, Iceland Finches (Serin, Twite, All Petrels and Glaucous) Common Redpoll, and Gannet Terns (except Black and Common Rosefinch) Shag Common) Buntings (All except Bittern All Auks Yellowhammer and Reed Night Heron Ring-necked Parakeet Bunting) Great White Egret Owls (Long-eared and Corn Bunting (Except at Purple Heron Short-eared) Bromsash) 15 Accepted Rarities 2010 Black Redstart at Hereford Cathedral on 1 Jan (Miss C La Monica) Pink-footed Goose at Brockhall GP on 2 Jan ( N C Pegler) Pink-footed Goose at R. Wye – Clifford on 10 Jan (P H Downes) Mealy Redpoll at Bircher Common on 17 Jan (P H Downes) 2 Pink-footed Goose at Wellington GP on 7Feb (N C Pegler) Firecrest at Broadlands Nature Reserve on 8 Feb (S Pullen) Slavonian Grebe at Wellington GP on 19 Feb (P & F Bradley) Hen Harrier at Trippleton on 22 Feb (W J Marler) Pink-footed Goose at Weston Farm, Bredwardine on 28 Feb (S Coney) Great Grey Shrike at Bircher Common on 1 Mar (J Hollings) Great Grey Shrike at Yatton on 6 Mar (T Freeston) Hen Harrier at Adley Moor on 7 Mar (N C Pegler / P H Downes) 3 Avocets at Brockhall GP on 25 Mar (N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Brockhall GP on 16 Apr (N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Castleton R Wye on 17 Apr (J C Davies) Garganey at Upper Lugg Meadows on 18 Apr (S Pullen) 5 Whimbrel at Wellington GP on 18 Apr (S Coney) 3 Garganey at Wellington GP on 23 Apr (G S Bilbao) Whimbrel at Brockhall GP on 23 Apr (N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Wellington GP on 24 Apr (N C Pegler) 2 Bar-tailed Godwits at Brockhall GP on 25 Apr (N C Pegler / S. Coney) At least 2 pairs of Firecrests breeding in the west of the County (P Jennings) 3 Dotterels on Hergest Ridge on 3 May (T & P Downes) Arctic Tern at Wellington GP on 6 May (P & T Downes / N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Wellington GP on 7 May (N C Pegler) Sanderling at Wellington GP on 8 May (P & T Downes) Black-necked Grebe at Wellington GP on 9 May (G S Bilbao) Sanderling at Wellington GP on 11 May (P H Downes) Tawny Pipit at Wellington GP on 13 May (N & L Pegler) 2 Sanderling seen at Wellington GP on 16 May (G S Bilbao) Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail at Brampton Abbotts on 16 May (N J Hopkinson) Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail at Wellington GP on 18 May (P H Downes) 2 Sanderling at Brockhall GP on 19 May (N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Wellington GP on 22 May (N & L Pegler) Turnstone at Wellington GP on 22 May (P & T Downes / N C Pegler / S Coney) Sanderling at Wellington GP on 23 May (N C Pegler) Sanderling at Wellington GP on 25 May (G S Bilbao) 2 Ruff at Wellington GP on 25 May (G S Bilbao) Ruff at Wellington GP on 26 May (N C Pegler) 2 Black-necked Grebe at Brockhall GP on 27 May (N C Pegler) 16 Golden Oriole at Brooms Green on 1 Jul (C Martell) Common Scoter at Wellington GP on 11 Jun (G S Bilbao) 2 Sanderling at Wellington GP on 17 Jun (N C Pegler) Whimbrel at Brockhall GP on 13 Jul (N C Pegler) Melodious Warbler at Haugh Wood on 22 Jun (G Cundale) Sanderling at Wellington GP on 1 Aug (P H Downes) Black Redstart at Bridge End Farm, Much Cowarne on 3 Aug (G A H Wells) Ruff at Brockhall GP on 5 Aug (N C Pegler) 3 Curlew Sandpiper at Wellington GP on 28 Aug (N C Pegler) Ruff at Brockhall GP on 29 Aug (N C Pegler) Ruff at Wellington GP on 1 Sep (N C Pegler) Turnstone at Wellington GP on 11 Sep (P & T Downes / S Coney) Curlew Sandpiper at Wellington GP on 15 Sep (P H Downes) Firecrest at Wapley Hill on 17 Sep (W H Gregory) Black Redstart on Cat’s Back on 18 Sep (B Embling) Little Stint at Wellington GP on 19 Sep (P & T Downes) Ruff at Wellington GP on 24 Sep (N C Pegler) 2 Curlew Sandpiper at Wellington GP on 26 Sep (T W Downes) Great Skua at Brockhall GP on 26 Sep (N C Pegler) Glossy Ibis at Hereford Quarry on 27 Sep (J R Pullen/ A H Eveleigh) Ruff at Brockhall GP on 28 Sep (J Kedward) Ruff at Wellington GP on 30 Sep (P H Downes) Garganey at Brockhall GP on 5 Oct (N C Pegler) 2 Common Scoter at Wellington GP on 10 Oct (N & L Pegler) Rose-ringed Parakeet at Garway on 15 Oct (A & A Wildey) Great Grey Shrike on Bradnor Hill on 15 Oct (I Gough) Great Grey Shrike at British Camp on 21 Oct (S M Whitehouse) Grey Phalarope at Wellington GP on 24 Oct (P H Downes / N C Pegler / S Coney) Great Grey Shrike at Croft Ambrey on 31 Oct (T Freeston) Gannet at Leominster on 2 Nov (Miss C La Monica) Great Grey Shrike at Brampton Abbotts on 10 Nov (D Brett) Great Grey Shrike at Stockingfield on 10 Nov (P & J Gardner) Great Grey Shrike at Elton on 13 Nov (R Martin) Mediterranean Gull at Wellington GP on 13 Nov (P H Downes / N C Pegler / S Coney) Little Gull at Wellington GP on 20 Nov (P & T Downes / N C Pegler / S Coney) Black Redstart at Shobdon IE on 22 Nov (T Freeston) Ring Ouzel at Bradnor Hill on 25 Nov (I Grafton) Great Grey Shrike at Totnor on 3 Dec (J Sykes) Hen Harrier at Brampton Abbotts on 18 Dec (T & P Downes) Black Redstart at Hereford Cathedral on 30 Dec (A Marchant) 17 The Systematic List, Taxonomy and Change

By Gerald Wells HANGES in the Systematic List of County birds in the Annual Report invariably evoke comment from readers and for some they are a source annoyance. One hears such remarks as: “Why do they have to keep changing the species order?”, Cor, “What was wrong with the old list; we knew where to find a species?” The purpose of this article is to remind ourselves of the background to these changes and the complexity of the processes that determine the systematic list and, hopefully, to placate those resistant to change with a renewed interest in the science of ornithology. While it is beyond the scope of a short review to explain all of the reasons for changes in the classification of individual species, it is possible to tease out the contributory fac - tors and put them into a perspective. The problems of biological classification are clearly not confined to ornithology, but apply throughout nature from viruses to mammals. Fundamental to the classification of organisms is evolution and as this is a continuous process nothing in classification can stand still. The process of classification principally involves two fields of science, tax - onomy and systematics, or phylogeny. Taxonomy is the process of classifying biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and then giving them names, whereas systematics, or phylogeny, is the science of placing and arranging each named organism into a hierarchy that takes into account species, genus, family, tribe and order reflecting their evolutionary relationship to others. A species is the most distinct unit in the spectrum of biodiversity, but the dynamics of evolution mean that at any one point in time we are attempting to classify species in all stages of their evolutionary development from emergence to extinction. We are in effect trying to capture and interpret snapshots from an epic which began as life first developed on the planet. The evolution of birds, which from man’s brief viewpoint, is a relatively slow process, is not the reason in recent years for the constant modification of the taxonomy and sys - tematics of avian species. More tangibly, the problems we see are related to the rate of scientific advances in our understanding of evolutionary relationships rather than the rate of evolutionary change. This is driven initially by changes to the scientific criteria by which we define species and then the rate at which new knowledge of these criteria becomes available. It is then a question of judgement among taxonomists as to the ac - ceptance of new research that governs how quickly changes are proposed. When, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, interest in the identification of birds was reliant on obtaining (usually shooting) specimens, species were defined entirely by their morphology, that is, size, anatomical form and plumage, all features assessed solely on visual observation. These traditional criteria are fraught with uncertainties but prevailed to a large extent until the 1990s. Foremost of those uncertainties is the issue of convergent evolution, the phenomenon of species changing to fill vacant ecological niches in widely separated geographical lo - cations. Thus some different and unrelated birds in different parts of the world have adapted the same lifestyle, diet and behaviour, resulting in close similarities in their ap - pearances – though they are continents apart and have no common ancestry. With the 18 emergence of field ornithology other criteria, including many aspects of behaviour, es - pecially breeding and vocalisation, have been used to define species. An aspect of quantitation has also been introduced giving rise to so-called numerical taxonomy, whereby comparisons are made on the basis of the number of shared charac - teristics. This has necessarily also employed statistics and depending upon the tech - niques, the potential for controversy as to the biological validity of differing outcomes of the analyses has increased. Decisions made on such criteria are subjective judgements and may lead to inconsistencies between even the most experienced taxonomists. And since different taxonomists operate in different parts of the world such inconsistencies translate into discordant classifications dependant on author. One last criticism of tradi - tional taxonomy might be that different factions have sometimes been selective in the criteria adopted for decision making. With the development of molecular biology, biochemical characteristics have increas - ingly been used in the decision making process. Most important has been the explosion on to the scene of molecular genetics, where a number of methods of examining differ - ences in DNA structure between individuals provide more objective and measurable cri - teria. In many situations, these molecular approaches have supported the outcome of more traditional methods but have increasingly, sometimes quite unexpectedly, contradicted the long accepted status quo. Importantly, these new analytical techniques have the po - tential to resolve disputes more definitively than was possible with previous criteria. Al - though these methods make a great improvement for taxonomy as a science, they are themselves evolving technologies with shortcomings of their own, not least of which is the lack of consistency in the length of the gene fragments analysed. Moreover they do not completely remove subjectivity from the taxonomic decision making. It is clearly not yet feasible to map the entire genome of every species but comparisons can be made of equivalent fragments of DNA from different species. There is an added objectivity to the scope of molecular genetics in what it brings to systematics. As individual genes have evolved (by mutation and the Darwinian process of natural selection), they can be selected for sequencing depending on whether they are slow or fast evolving, to give information that is interpretable in terms of timescale of change and therefore can contribute, not only in the segregation of species, but also in the pigeon-holing of species into the evolutionary or phylogenetic tree. The availability of DNA from many extinct forms can be an added bonus to connect living birds with their ancestral origins and museum specimens provide data for the changes in more re - cent timelines. It is with this armament that modern taxonomists have to do their best to continually review the limits of bird species and the position into which they best fit the avian phy - logenetic tree. Decisions regarding the evolutionary relationships of species – that is, where they should fit into the phylogenetic tree, are made using all available biological characteristics. In many other classes of vertebrate animals, bone structure is used as the key morphological basis in defining a status in the evolutionary timescale, but the sim - ilarities of the skeleton among birds renders this less useful for the Aves than for, say, Mammalia. Nevertheless, numerous characteristics, divided into primitive traits (those present in ancestral groups) and derived traits (those which have evolved in the group currently under study) are employed and these now necessarily include genetic data to reveal the most appropriate place of different groups and species in the phylogenetic 19 tree. It is the changes in the distribution of species among the branches of this tree that result in re-arrangement of not only individual species sequence in systematic lists, but also families, orders and genera. In biology, as in all other science, having a universal system of organisation is impor - tant. One of the major products of systematics is a formal (Linnaean) classification sys - tem, which is the foundation for comparative biology, organising the information in a form that has predictive values for use in deciding conservation priorities. Converting the branching structure of the phylogenetic tree into the classification order we require in order to build a systematic list requires the arrangement of the groups, or taxa, into a taxonomic sequence. This has to be done while preserving the hierarchy of the phylogenetic tree, and so involves first listing the Order, then the Family, then the Genus and then the Species. Within all this there is a basic principle to follow which is that, for each branching point in the phylogeny, the group with the fewer species is listed first. In the grand scheme of evolution the classification of birds has to be on the scale of a World list, but obviously, even if there were full agreement on such a classification among taxonomists (which, currently, there is not!) this is not what is required for a given country or geographical region. For Britain we need a classification that covers all the birds so far recorded in the country and, for Herefordshire, those recorded only in the County. Each such list is ex - tracted from the wider classification and then for convenience abbreviated to omit all groupings above the level of Genus – thus Order and Family are usually omitted. While this is convenient, it does mean that changes in the order of species in the County list, although necessary, may be incomprehensible without reference back to the basic re - search that underwrites the changes. Finally, a few words about the other aspect of taxonomy, that of naming birds. In bi - ology all organisms are allocated a scientific name (often referred to as the Latin name, but in fact scientific names may have either Latin or Greek roots) and a common name. Only the scientific name defines a species with complete accuracy, but in everyday parl - ance we are usually concerned more with the English name. For both forms of names there has to be some consistency and international ornithological organisations make great efforts to do this, often struggling to square historical precedent with today’s sci - entific advances. For each species the common name officially adopted is taken from the main scholarly literature source used to determine the scientific name. Additional common names are also stored and in the interests of global consistency a raft of rules are applied to avoid possible confusion of species. For example; where there is more than one species in the group a descriptive term is added (e.g. Eurasian Spoonbill rather than just Spoonbill). For those who remain unsympathetic to taxonomists there is always the option of the alphabetical list, adopted by some organisations for ease of entry of observations and “look ups” in checklists. But it is still necessary to ensure that the common name one uses for a species is cross referenced to alternatives and to the scientific name to ensure clarity about the bird species in question. In Britain it is the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) which pronounces on the cur - rent taxonomic order and sequence of all species that have occurred in Britain. Thus in the HOC 2010 Annual Report changes to the systematic list follow the order of the of - ficial BOU’s British List (www.bou.org.uk) relevant to 2010 and international English names are given where these differ from vernacular names. It cannot be promised that 20 in future there will not be more changes indeed, over time, they are almost guaranteed but an alphabetical index of common names is provided to assist readers to locate any repositioned species in the Systematic List section of our Report.

Further reading: n Maclean N, Collinson M, Newell RG: Taxonomy for birders: a beginner’s guide to DNA and species problems. British Birds (2005), 98, 512-537. n RSPB Bird Guide: Red Amber and Green explained. http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/status_explained.aspx n RSPB Birds of Conservation Concern 3. http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/BoCC_tcm9-217852.pdf n Sangster G, Collinson J M, Alan G M, Knox A G, Parkin D T and Svensson L. Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: Sixth report. Ibis (2010), 152, 180-186.

Avocets were seen at Brockhall GP Drawing: Gerald Parker

21 Systematic List 2010 Abbreviations: GP – gravel pist; IE – industrial estate; NR – nature reserve; juvs – juveniles Mute Swan Cygnus olor Common resident breeder and common winter visitor Records: 150 records from 57 sites The highest counts were: 70 at R Wye Bridge Sollers on 1 Jan: 64 at R Wye Fown - hope on 13 Jan; 90 at Hampton Bishop on 16 Jan; 39 at Castleton and Winforton Wye on 11 May; 31 at Brockhall GP on 21 May; 54 at Wellington GP on 3 Jul; 97 at Here - ford Quarry Bromyard Rd on 18 Sep; 140 at A49 Wellington on 18 Dec and 66 at R Wye Kern Bridge on 26 Dec. Breeding was confirmed at 17 sites: Berrington Hall Pool; Bodenham Lake; Castleton and Winforton R Wye; Brockhall GP; Wellington GP; Hartleton Lakes; Gamber Meadows; Clifford; R Wye Fownhope; R Wye Hereford Sewage Works; Huntington Lane Hereford; Leominster; Hentland; R Wye How Caple; Laddin Farm and R Lugg Stoke Prior. Bewick’s Swan (Tundra Swan) Cygnus columbianus Scarce winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 3 records from 2 sites One adult at R Wye Wilton on 9 Jan and 12 Jan and 1 pr and 4 juv at Brampton Ab - botts on 19 Dec. Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus Scarce winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 5 records from 1 site One adult in a field with Mute Swans at Laddin Farm Much Marcle on 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 Dec. Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus Rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 7 records from 4 sites One at Brockhall GP on 2 & 3 Jan (NC Pegler) and 1 on 23 Jan (PH & T Downes); 1 first winter at R Wye Clifford on 10 Jan (PH Downes et al); 2 at Wellington GP on 7 and 21 Feb (NC Pegler et al) and 1 at Weston Farm Bredwardine on 28 Feb (SP Coney Miss L Robinson). Greylag Goose Anser anser Rare resident introduced breeder and scarce winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 32 records from 6 sites One at Brockhall GP on 2 and 3 Jan; 1 at Wellington GP on 24 Jan; 1 at Brockhall GP on 28 Feb; 1 at Weston Farm Bredwardine on 28 Feb; 1 at Brockhall GP on 3 Mar; 7 at Bury Hill Pools on 5 Apr; 3 at Wellington GP on 9 Apr; 1 at Brockhall GP on 14 and 20 Apr; 1 at Wellington GP on 13 and 21 June; 2 at Wellington GP on 29 Jun; 2 at Wellington GP on 3 Jul; 1 at Wellington GP on 23 and 25 Jul; 4 at Wellington GP on 8 Aug; 1 at Letton Lakes on 14 Aug; 5 at Wellington GP on 15 Aug; 1 at Brockhall GP on 22 and 28 Aug; 1 pr and 3 juv at Wellington GP on 19, 24 and 29 Sep (2 of the ju - veniles wore Darvic White F6B and F6C and were ringed as pulli at Parkend Pond Forest of Dean 29 Jul 2010); 1 at Wellington GP on 3 Oct; 5 at Wellington GP on 24 Oct; 5 at Wellington GP on 7 Nov; 3 at Berrington Hall on 10 Nov; 5 at Wellington GP on 13 and 28 Nov and 3 at Wellington GP on 18 and 19 Dec. 22 Canada Goose Branta canadenis Common resident introduced breeder Records: 113 records from 33 sites Breeding was confirmed at 3 sites: 7 prs and 48 juvs at Brockhall GP; Hartleton Lakes and at Gamber Meadows. Largest counts were: 120 at R Wye – Ross on Wye on 23 Jan; 100 at Brobury on 25 Jan; 273 at Bodenham Lake on 3 Jul; 112 at Berrington Hall Pool on Aug 10; 75 fly - ing towards R Wye at Hampton Bishop on 5 Sep; 900 at Brockhall GP on 11 Sep; (Largest recorded flock in the County) 200 at R Wye Brampton Abbots on 18 Dec and 280 at Wellington GP on 30 Dec. Barnacle Goose Branta leucopis Rare resident introduced breeder and rare winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 42 records from 9 sites One at Brockhall GP on 1 and 2 Jan; 11 at Wellington GP on 3 Jan; 8 at Wellington GP on 4 Jan; 1 at Whitfield Estate on 25 Jan; 8 at Wellington GP on 7 Feb; 1 at Brockhall GP on 17 Feb; 8 at Bodenham Lake on 20 Feb; 1 at Letton Lakes on 7 Mar; 2 at Brockhall GP on 21 Mar; 1 at Tretire on 22 Mar; 2 at Brockhall GP on 9 Apr; 1 at Brockhall GP on 12 Apr; 3 at Brockhall GP on 23 Apr; 2 at Wellington GP on 13 May; 3 at Brockhall GP on 15 May; 2 at Brockhall GP on 19 and 21 May; 3 at Brockhall GP on 1 and 12 June; 4 at Bodenham Lake on 13 Jul; 1 at Brockhall GP on 1, 18 and 27 Jul; 2 at Wellington GP on 14 Aug; 1 at Wellington GP on 22 Aug; 1 at Brockhall GP on 28 Aug; 1 at R Wye Wilton on 5 Sep; 6 at Wellington GP on 11 Sep; 1 at Brockhall GP on 11 and 25 Sep; 1 at Brockhall GP on 8, 10 and 23 Oct; 1 at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Rd on 7 Nov; 1 at Brockhall GP on 7, 23 and 28 Nov; 1 at R Wye Bramp - ton Abbots on 18 Dec and 6 at Wellington GP on 19 Dec. Shelduck (Common Shelduck) Tadorna tadorna Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 20 records from 3 sites One f at Wellington GP on 13 Feb; 2 at Brockhall GP on 20 Feb; 7mm and 2ff at Wellington GP on 28 Feb; 1m at Brockhall GP on 12 Mar; 3 at Wellington GP on 25 Mar; 1m at Wellington GP on 27 Mar; 1m at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Rd on 28 Mar; 1pr at Wellington GP on 17 Apr; 1m at Wellington GP on 18 Apr; 2mm at Brock - hall GP on 21 Apr; 2 at Brockhall GP on 8 May; 2 at Wellington GP on 22 May; 6 at Letton Lakes on 14 Aug; 1f at Wellington GP on 21 Aug; 2 juvs at Wellington GP on 22 Aug and 1 at Brockhall GP on 20, 21, 23, 26 and 29 Nov. Mandarin Aix galericulata Scarce introduced breeder Records: 48 records from 35 sites Two at Brockhall GP on 6 Jan; 1m on Widemarsh Brook on 15 Jan; 1 at R Wye Wilton on 16 Jan; 1m at Castle Pool on 28 Jan; 1m and 1f at Lower Kinsham on 30 Jan; 29 at the Flann on 14 Feb; 1m on Widemarsh Brook on 26 Feb; 9 at Sellack on 17 Mar; 1 at Swan Lake on 18 Mar; 1pr at R Monnow Longtown on 19 Mar; 1f at Moccas Park on 26 Mar; 1m at Clencher`s Mill on 26 Mar; 1m at Widemarsh Brook on 26 Mar; 1pr at R Wye Backney on 28 Mar; 2 at the Doward on 7 Apr; 2mm and 2ff at R Wye Weirend on 8 Apr; 2 at Sellack on 11 Apr; 1pr at R Monnow Kentchurch on 21 Apr; 1pr at R Monnow Great Goytre on 6 May; 1m at R Monnow Alt Yr Ynys on 6 May; 23 18 mm at Rudhall Manor on 8 May; 1m at Shobdon Court Lakes on 9 May; 2prs and 1m at R Monnow Tymawr on 10 May; 1pr prospecting holes in trees at Dulas Court on 11 May; 1m at R Dore Pontrilas on 18 May; 1f and 7juvs at Clehonger on 25 May; 2ff and 10 juvs at Hentland on 7 Jun; 1f with brood at R Monnow Alt Yr Ynys on 17 Jun; 2ff and 13juvs at R Monnow/ Llancillo on 23 Jun; 1f at Hartleton Lakes on 25 Jun; 1f and 4juvs at Bridstow on 8 Jul; 1 at Symonds Yat East on 17 Jul; 1f at R Mon - now Walterstone on 23 Jul; 2 at Brockhall GP on 31 Jul; 2 at Brockhall GP on 6 Aug; 1 at Brockhall GP on 16 Aug; 1m at Castle Pool on 29 Aug; 1 at Wellington GP on 1 Oct; 1m at Hereford Quarry Bromyard Rd on 7 and 9 Oct; 1 eclipse male at Welling - ton GP on 10 and 30 Oct; 1m on ice at Bodenham Lake on 11 Dec and 2mm on ice on main lake at Wellington GP on 11 Dec. Wigeon (Eurasian Wigeon) Anas penelope Very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 62 records from 13 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Bodenham - 46 9 ------4 - Lake

Brockhall GP 70 113 20 7 - 1 - - 5 30 50 13

Hereford - 100 2 4 - - - 1 20 - 50 48 Quarry

Holmer Pool - 36 ------

Ivington ------2

Letton Lakes - 18 4 ------34 20 28

Shobdon IE ------4

Tretire - - 1 ------

Wellington 100 - 76 - - - 2 - 9 - - 50 GP R Wye 3 ------Backney R Wye Bunch ------110 of Carrots R Wye Kern ------4 Bridge R Wye Brein ------1 ton Springs

24 Gadwall Anas strepera Scarce resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 43 records from 8 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Brockhall - 2 - - 2 2 - 6 2 3 6 - GP Foxhall ------10* - - - - - Ponds Hartleton 14 2 2 - 6 2 ------Lakes Hereford - - 1 ------Quarry Sellack - 1 ------Wellington 6 12 4 6 1 - 1 2 4 - 18 8 GP R Wye Bunch of ------1 Carrots R Wye ------1 Rotherwas *Breeding recorded (one site). Teal (Eurasian Teal) Anas crecca Very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 66 records from 15 sites. Monthly maxima were:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham 4 5 ------Lake

Brockhall GP 170 20 10 7 - - 3 16 10 19 200 5

Goose Neck & - 1 ------East Sellack Hartleton 11 1 2 - - - - - 3 4 - - Lakes Hereford 200 90 6 - - - - - 50 - - 13 Quarry Holmer Pool - 46 ------

25 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Shobdon IE 50 ------180 Swan Lake - - 2 ------Titley Pool NR ------29 - - Upper Lugg 9 ------Meadows Wellington GP 30 - 1 2 - - - 18 2 - 23 4 R Wye 6 ------Backney R Wye Bunch 2 ------of Carrots Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 148 records from 47 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Backney - - 1 ------Bridge Berrington ------9 6 19 12 26 - Hall Pool Bircher - - 1 ------Common Bliss Cottage 1 - - - 2 1 3 - - - - - Hentland Bodenham - - 10 10 - - 25 - - 21 32 - Lake Brockhall GP 100 40 20 20 41 50* 33* 87 46 150 111 140 Bredenbury - - - 10 ------Brock- - - - 6 ------hampton Burghill ------11 Castleton & Winforton - 10 8 10 16 7* 34 23 - 25 20 - Wye Castle Pool ------24 Criftin Ford 2 ------Bridge Croft Ambrey - - - - 8 ------Eastnor Park - 90 104 - - 26 38 - 370 270 - - 26 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Eaton ------Bishop - - 2 - Gamber - - 4 6 5 2 1 - Meadows - 3 - - Goose Neck & East - 1 ------Sellack Hampton ------Bishop - 16 - - 5 Hartleton 50 18 29 2 38 53* 32 3 Lakes 2 53 33 38 - Hatterrall - 1 - 1 - 1 - Hill - - - - - Hentland ------21 - - Hereford - 50 10 - - - - Quarry - - - - - Ivington ------49 Letton 18 32 19 32 17 32 21 2 Lakes 9 144 42 20 27 Much Dew------3 - church - - - - - Ross-on------1 - Wye - - - - - Sellack - 4 1 1 ------Shobdon IE 80 ------St Owens - - 20 - - - - Cross - - - - - Stapleton ------Castle Court - 8 - 8 Titley Pool ------19 - - Turners - - - - 1* - - Boat - - - - - Upper Lugg - - - 6 - - - - Meadows - - 2 - Wellington 150 - - 2* - - - GP - 120 - 40 150 Weston Farm Bred- - 5 ------wardine 27 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Widemarsh Brook - - 1* ------R Wye Ballingham ------22 - - R Wye Brampton ------20 Abbotts R Wye Breinton ------50 Springs R Wye Bunch of 10 ------132 Carrots R Wye Here - ford Sewage ------23 - Works R Wye Holme Lacy 40 ------33 - - R Wye How Caple - - - 8 ------R Wye Kern Bridge - - - 10 ------R Wye Rotherwas ------42 - R Wye Victoria ------64 Bridge R Wye Wilton ------20 * Breeding recorded (six sites). Pintail (Northern Pintail) Anas acuta Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 13 records from 5 sites. Monthly maxima were:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham 1 ------Lake Brockhall GP 2 ------1 2 - Brush Wood ------1 - - Hereford ------1 1 - - Quarry Wellington 1 1 ------GP 28 Garganey Anas querquedula Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 6 records from 3 sites One at Upper Lugg Meadows on 18 Apr (S Pullen); 2mm and 1f at Wellington GP on 23 Apr (GS Bilbao et al); 3mm and 1f at Wellington GP on 24 Apr (NC Pegler et al); 4 at Wellington GP on 25 Apr (NC Pegler et al); 3 at Wellington GP on 26 Apr (NC Pe - gler) and 1 at Brockhall GP on 5 Oct (NC Pegler). Shoveler (Northern Shoveler) Anas clypeata Scarce summer visitor, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 27 records from 6 sites. Monthly maxima were:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Brockhall GP 1 - 4 2 - - - 8 2 1 - -

Hereford 1 1 ------2 - - - Quarry

Holmer Pool - 4 ------

Letton Lakes - - 2 ------

Titley Pool ------1 - NR Wellington 3 6 8 4 - 2 - 10 1 8 12 - GP

Pochard (Common Pochard) Aythya ferina Very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 36 records from 5 sites. Monthly maxima were:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Brockhall GP 1 4 2 - 1 - 1 - 3 3 4 -

Hereford - 4 ------1 - - - Quarry

Shobdon IE - - 5 ------1 2

Wellington GP 18 - - - - - 1 2 2 16 15 8

R Wye ------3 Rotherwas 29 Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula Uncommon resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage mi - grant BCC listed: Amber Records: 79 records from 27 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham - 24 12 25 - 8 20 - - - - - Lake Brobury - 2 ------Brockhall GP 16 30 20 10 30 12* 8* 8 2 13 4 12 Croft Ambrey - - - - 2 ------Dewsall ------6* Eccleswall - - 7 ------Court Hartleton Lakes - - - 1 2 ------Haygrove Farm - - 5 ------Hereford - 20 ------Quarry Holmer Pool - 20 ------15 - - - Llangua - - - 2 ------Letton Lakes - - 4 5 - 1 - - 4 - - - Monnington on 7 ------Wye Moccas Park - - 6 ------Norton Canon ------2 - - - - - Pearl lake - - 18 ------Shobdon Pipe and Lyde ------3 - 1 - - Shobdon IE 30 - 20 ------c 60 Swan Lake - - 6 ------Titley Pool NR - - - - 18 - - - - 3 - - Wellington GP 70 - 30 31 12 - 44* 1* 28 2 15 71 R Wye 8 ------Backney R Wye ------1 Bartonsham R Wye Bunch ------11 of Carrots R Wye ------1 Rotherwas R Wye Victoria ------1 Bridge * Breeding recorded (three sites). 30 Common Scoter Melanitta nigra Rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 4 records from 1 site One f at Wellington GP on 11 Jun (GS Bilbao et al); also on 12 and 13 Jun and 2 at Wellington GP on 10 Oct (NC and L Pegler et al). Goldeneye (Common Goldeneye) Bucephala clangula Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 26 records from 5 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham 4 6 4 ------Lake Brockhall GP ------2 3 1 Hereford ------2 4 - Quarry Wellington 13 - 1 ------2 GP R Wye Bunch ------13 of Carrots Smew Mergellus albellus Rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site: One f at Titley Pool on 2 Feb. Goosander (Common Merganser) Mergus merganser Uncommon resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 112 records from 48 sites. Monthly maxima were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham - 4 ------Lake Bredenbury - - - 3 ------Bredwardine - - 2 ------Brockhall GP 75 80 10 3 1 - - 12 - 12 60 35 Castleton & Winforton - 4 - 7 5 1 1 - - 3 2 - Wye Clifford - - - - - 4 ------Criftin Ford 3 ------2 Bridge Goose Neck & - 1 ------East Sellack 31 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Hampton 7 - - - 7 - - - - 16 - 2 Bishop Letton Lakes - 5 2 ------3 - R Lugg - - 2 ------Aymestrey R Lugg - - - - 1* ------Kinsham Moccas Park - - 6 ------R Monnow - - - - 1* ------Alt Yr Ynys R Monnow - - - - 1* ------Clodock R Monnow - - - 2 ------Garway R Monnow - - - 3 ------Kentchurch R Monnow - - - - 1 ------Llanrothal R Monnow - - - 3 ------Part-y-Seal Olchon Brook - - - 1f * ------Longtown Pearl Lake ------8 - Shobdon Sheepwalk ------20 - - Rushock Shobdon ------1 - - Shobdon - 4 ------Arches Shobdon - - 6 ------Court Swan Lake - - 3 ------Titley Pool ------1 10 - Upper Lugg - - - 2 ------1 Meadows Wellington GP 5 - 2 - - - - 5 - - 3 15 R Wye 10 ------35 Bartonsham 32 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec R Wye ------1 - - Ballingham - - - R Wye Bramp - 4 ------ton Abbots one - - shot R Wye Brein - 4 ------18 ton Springs R Wye - - 4 ------Bridge Sollers R Wye - 10 ------Brobury R Wye Bunch ------17 of Carrots R Wye Capler 3 ------R Wye ------21 Hereford R Wye Hereford 6 ------12 Sewage Works R Wye 6 2 ------Holme Lacy R Wye Kern - - - 5 ------1 Bridge R Wye Lower - 4 - 3 ------Lydbrook R Wye Putson ------3 - R Wye - - - - 5 ------7 Ross-on-Wye R Wye - - - 1 2 - - - 19 - 3 6 Rotherwas R Wye Victo ------16 ria Bridge R Wye 29 ------Weirend R Wye Wilton ------126 * Breeding recorded (four sites). 33 Red Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan) Lagopus lagopus Scarce resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 2 records from 1 site Two prs were recorded at Hatterrall Hill on 27 Mar and 3 birds: a pr and a male at the same location on 28 Mar. Red-legged Partridge Alectoris rufa Common introduced breeding resident Records: 28 records from 23 sites Records of 10 or more birds were: 27 at Shobdon IE on 5 Dec; 10 at Milton Cross on 2 Nov and 10 juvs at Stoke Lacy on 7 Nov. Smaller numbers, mostly 1-2 birds, were noted from 17 sites in the months Mar- June, including a pr at Sandy Cross on 13 Mar. Grey Partridge Perdix perdix Uncommon resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 8 records from 5 sites A remarkable maximum of 30 was recorded at Brampton Abbotts on 13 Nov; these were almost certainly released birds. At Bliss Cottage Hentland birds were recorded with some frequency: 4 on 10 Feb; 6 on 30 Apr; 3 on 1 May and 1 on 5 May. Other re - ports were: 1 at Priors Frome on 24 March; 2 at Sellack on 26 Apr and 1 at Broad Oak on 13 Nov. Quail (Common Quail) Coturnix coturnix Rare to scarce migrant breeder and scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 4 records from 2 sites A single bird was heard at Longworth Lane Bartestree on 19, 20 and 22 Jun and an - other at Garway Hill on 23 Aug. Pheasant (Common Pheasant) Phasianus colchicus Abundant introduced resident breeder Records: 81 records from 25 sites There is clearly very variable recording of this species with widespread reports of 1-10 birds. From several sites, records indicate occurrence through most months. Reports of relatively large numbers were confined to Wapley Hill where 150 were noted in Aug and 100 on 22 Sep. With large numbers bred in captivity for shooting, these records are unlikely to reflect the true abundance or distribution in the County. Great Northern Diver (Great Northern Loon) Gavia immer Very rare winter visitor and very rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 3 records from 1 site A juv, previously reported through much of Dec 2009, obligingly stayed to be recorded at Wellington GP on 1 Jan (PH Downes SP Coney and NC Pegler) and 3 and 4 Jan. As previously stated in the 2009 HOC Report this was the 9th County record. Gannet (Northern Gannet) Morus bassanus Storm-blown BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record of a single bird in a collapsed condition The bird was found by a roadside in Leominster (Miss C La Monica) on 2 Nov and was taken into veterinary care. This is the 14th County record. Cormorant (Great Cormorant) Phalacrocorax carbo Non-breeding common resident and very common winter visitor 34 Records: 96 records from 36 sites Records were obtained for all months but the number of records is fewer than in 2009, with the same three sites for which monthly maxima were given accounting for only 39 of the records, compared to 71 in 2009. There was also a significant reduction (more than half) in the combined number of birds recorded at these sites, with monthly maxima as follows: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham - 31 22 5 - 17 12 3 - 2 78 - Lake Brockhall GP 60 22 1 - - - - 15 45 56 2 - Wellington GP 36 - - 12 7 3 22 3 21 - 17 12 Records at other sites exceeding single figure counts were: 20 at Criftin Ford Bridge on 1 Jan; 18 at R Wye Brobury on 25 Jan; 14 at Letton Lakes on 7 Mar; 10 at Holmer on 19 Sep; 11 at Castleton and Winforton R Wye on 17 Oct; 18 at Eastnor Park on 30 Oct; 11 at Pipe and Lyde on 1 Dec and 22 at R Wye Wilton on 9 Dec. Little Egret Egretta garzetta Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 19 records from 13 sites Again, this year there are fewer records than in 2009 although records came from a similar number of sites. Most reports were of single birds. The most seen was a pr with a juv and 2 adults at Brockhall GP on 10 Jul when the pr and juv were seen to fly off to the west. Three were also recorded at Brockhall GP on 8 Oct. Records were dis - tributed throughout most months. A single bird was noted roosting in a tree near a rookery at R. Wye Hampton Park on 19 May. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Uncommon resident breeder Records: 123 records from 59 sites Records of breeding were obtained from 3 sites: 9 prs (14 nests noted) at Buckton heronry on 13 Apr; a maximum of 10 prs with 11 juvs at Eccleswall Court on 12 Apr and a maximum of 20 prs (12-15 with young in nests) at Berrington Hall Pool on 22 Apr. Excluding records from breeding sites, 77 of the remaining 117 records were of single birds. Maxima, exceeding 3, at non-breeding sites were: 8 at Wellington GP on 2 Aug; 5 at Brockhall GP on 4 Sep; 6 at Eaton Bishop on 2 Oct; 4 at Letton Lakes on 10 Oct and 6 at Grit Farm on 23 Nov; At Brockhall GP on 16 Jul an ad was seen to take and ingest a juv Tufted Duck. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Vagrant from SE Europe Records: 6 records (5 of which were almost certainly the same bird) from 2 sites A single bird was recorded at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Road, on 27 Sep (JR Pullen, AH Eveleigh et al) 28 and 30 Sep and 1 and 3 Oct. This is the 3rd County record. Probably the same bird was reported on 10 Oct flying south at Wellington GP (B Phillips). Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Uncommon resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber 35 Records: 43 records from 25 sites The number of records was reduced considerably from last year. As for 2009, the most records for a site (15) were from Brockhall GP. Breeding was recorded at 4 sites: Nor - ton Canon on 4 Jul; a pr and 2 juvs at Berrington Hall Pool in Jul; a pr and 2 juvs at Brockhall GP on 14 Aug and 4 juvs at Hereford Quarry on 18 Sep. The maximum at any one site did not exceed 6, noted at Brockhall GP on 7 Mar and at R Wye Victoria Bridge Hereford on 19 Dec. Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus Scarce resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 58 records from 9 sites Monthly maxima for the main recorded sites: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bodenham - 1 - - - - 1 - - - - - Lake Brockhall GP - 3 5 1 - 2 7* 11* 7* 10 10 - Wellington GP 10 - 9 16 12 16 3 9 18 4 12 10 Hartleton 1 1 1 - - 4 ------Lakes Hereford - - 2 2 - - 2 3* 2* - - - Quarry * includes juvs – see below Evidence of breeding was obtained from 3 sites. A maximum of 4 prs with 3 juvs was recorded at Brockhall GP on 1 Aug and then a pr with 4 juvs on 25 Aug. It was also noted at this site that a pr with 3 juvs on 27 Aug were rearing their 4th successive brood. Eight prs were present at Wellington GP on 24 Apr; a pr was brooding eggs at Hereford Quarry Bromyard Road on 18 Jul and 3 juvs were present on 15 Aug and 2 on 18 Aug. Single prs were also recorded at: Coddington on 30 Mar and at Mathon GP on 1 Apr. Slavonian Grebe (Horned Grebe) Podiceps auritus Very rare winter visitor and very rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 2 records of a single bird at 1 site An ad was noted at Wellington GP on 19 Feb (P & F Bradley et al) and 20 Feb. This is the 7th County record. Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 6 records of a total of 3 birds at 2 sites One was recorded at Wellington GP on 9 May (G S Bilbao et al) and on 11 and 12 May. This was the 13th County record. Two birds were noted at Brockhall GP on 27 May (NC Pegler, SP Coney) and on 29 and 30 May. On 29 May it was evident that they were a pr as they were displaying as if on territory. This is the 14th County record. Red Kite Milvus milvus Rare resident breeder, scarce winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber 36 Records: 77 records from 57 sites The number of records is comparable with those for 2008 and a slight increase on last year. Most reports were of single birds (63) and there was a trend toward distribution of records in the north-west of the County. The greatest number seen at a site was 4 at Chanstone Wood on 13 Apr. There were reports in all months except Nov with the greatest numbers of records in Apr (11), May (16) and Jun (12). Prs were recorded at 3 sites and evidence of breeding was obtained from two of these. At one site a pr was observed with a juv. Hen Harrier (Northern Harrier) Circus cyaneus Scarce winter visitor and scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records : 6 records from 3 sites An immature or female (ring-tail) was recorded flying south-west from Standledean Farm Trippleton on 22 Feb (W J Marler). An immature m was noted at Adleymoor on 7 Mar (NC Pegler, PH Downes et al) and 8 Mar and again (probably the same bird) on 9 Apr (M Stewart). On this last occasion it was mobbed by crows and a Kestrel. A fur - ther immature or female was noted at Brampton Abbots on 18 Dec (PH & T Downes et al) and 19 Dec. Goshawk (Northern Goshawk) Accipiter gentilis Resident and introduced uncommon breeder Records: 21 records from 17 sites Most records (14) were of single birds but 2 were noted at Howle Hill on 5 Feb, 2 at Presteigne on 4 Mar and 5 Apr and 2 at Hope Mansell on 29 Jun. A total of 4 were recorded at Wigmore Rolls on 6 Mar and 1m and 1f there on 7 Mar. The only breeding record was of a pr disturbed by forestry operations. Sparrowhawk (Eurasian Sparrowhawk) Accipiter nisus Common resident breeder Records: 106 records from 70 sites Records were almost entirely of single birds except for 7 reports of 2 birds plus breed - ing records. A pr was confirmed breeding at Stapleton (Apr-Jun) and a pr with 2 juvs was noted at Three Elms Road in Aug. Pursuit of winter thrushes in orchards was noted at Crumpton Hill on 17 Dec. Prey noted included Swift and Starling. Buzzard (Common Buzzard) Buteo buteo Abundant resident breeder Records: 216 records from 90 sites Despite the number of records, there was only one report of breeding: an ad and 1 juv at Madley Earth Station on 22 Jun. Many reports were of single birds and double fig - ure counts were: c10 at Hereford Quarry Bromyard Road on 28 Feb; a maximum of 14 at Clehonger from 1 Apr to 30 Jun; 12 at Castleton & Winforton Wye on 17 Apr; 12 at Pipe-cum-Lyde on 14 May; c24 at Moccas Park on 18 May; 17 at Presteigne on 27 May and 18 at Garnons Estate on 24 Nov. Food preferences noted included earth - worms – at Garnons Estate on 24 Nov and a Tufted Duck – at Wellington GP on 27 Dec. Individual birds were noted mobbing a Goshawk at Bishops Frome on 4 Jan and a Red Kite at the same location on 18 Apr. Osprey Pandion haliaetus Uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 6 records from 5 sites 37 Single birds were recorded at all sites: the earliest at Upper Lugg Meadows on 5 Apr and then another flying north over Lugg Meadows on 12 Apr; at Castleton & Winfor- ton Wye on 17 Apr; at Wellington GP on 22 Apr and 22 May and the latest at Brom- yard on 17 Oct. Kestrel (Common Kestrel) Falco tinnunculus Common resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 87 records from 45 sites There was only a single breeding record of a pr at Stapleton from 1 Apr to 30 Jun. A m and a f were noted at Broadlands NR on 11 Apr. Apart from 8 records of 2 birds all re- maining reports were of a single bird. Merlin Falco columbarius Rare resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 7 records from 7 sites All records were of single birds: a m at R Wye Clifford on 10 Jan; Foy on 5 Feb; a f at Little Birch on 10 Feb; a m at Credenhill on 13 Feb; a f at Buckton Bridge on 9 Mar; 1 at Pontrilas on 1 Apr and a m hunting through a flock of finches at Shobdon IE on 5 Dec. Hobby (Eurasian Hobby) Falco subbuteo Scarce migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant Records: 33 records from 19 sites The number of records is comparable to that of 2009. A pr, observed in Jul, bred in the north of the County. Other records were of single birds except for 3 and 2 at Welling- ton GP on 9 May and 16 May respectively and 2 at Turners Boat on 8 May. The earli- est record was at Bodenham Lake on 27 Apr and the latest at Clehonger on 26 Sep. Peregrine (Peregrine Falcon) Falco peregrinus Scarce resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant Records: 39 records from 28 sites Breeding was confirmed at 2 sites. Records were otherwise of single birds apart from 2 at Hatterrall Hill on 27 Mar. A juv was noted at Brockhall GP on 22 Aug and an im- mature at Down House on 28 Nov. Interestingly, 4 records were clustered in Hereford: Hereford City on 2 Mar and 2 Dec; High Town on 2 Dec and Hereford Cathedral on 18 Dec. Water Rail Rallus aquaticus Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant. Has bred Records: 11 records from 5 sites All records were of ones and 2’s. Records came from: Bodenham Lake, Gayton Lake, Hartleton Lakes, Lower House Tupsley and Wellington GP. Moorhen (Common Moorhen) Gallinula chloropus Common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 89 records from 20 sites Breeding was confirmed at 4 sites: Brockhall GP, Gamber Meadows, Hartleton Lakes and Stapleton Castle Court. Records were well down on 2009 (123 from 43 sites). Monthly maxima at major sites were: 38 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Berrington Hall ------6 3 2 1 2 - Pool Brockhall GP 6 6 10 5 5 7 3 8 9 3 - -

Coot (Common Coot) Fulica atra Common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 85 records from 11 sites Breeding was confirmed at: Berrington Hall Pool, Brockhall GP and Wellington GP. Monthly maxima at major sites were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Brockhall GP 250 59 29 20 24 110 135 210 76 130 100 120 Wellington 100 - - 8 - - - - - 150 80 70 GP The peak count at Hereford Quarry was 151 in Sep. Oystercatcher (Eurasian Oystercatcher) Haematopus ostralegus Rare breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 63 records from 5 sites The earliest returning birds were singles reported from: Brockhall GP on 20 Feb; Wellington GP on 21 Feb and Hereford Quarry on 27 Feb. In Mar birds were reported at Castleton and Kenchester. Breeding was confirmed at Brockhall GP on 8 May with 3 ads and 1 juv, on 15 May there were 5 ads and 3 juvs and on 4 Jun a pair with 2 juvs was recorded; this was a second brood. At Hereford Quarry a pair bred in May but their eggs were predated. At Wellington GP breeding was reported on 24 May. Avocet (Pied Avocet) Recurvirostra avosetta Very rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records:1 record from 1 site The 3rd County record was of 3 birds seen at Brockhall GP on 25 March (NC Pegler et al). Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius Uncommon migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant Records: 41 records from 4 sites The earliest returning bird was noted at Brockhall GP on 19 Mar, birds were recorded here regularly until 30 Jul. There were a maximum of 4 ads in Jun and breeding was confirmed in May, 3 ads and 4 juvs were seen in Jul. At Wellington GP 6 birds were seen on 27 Mar and again during Apr. 4 prs were breeding in May and on 25 May 4 prs with 4 juvs were on the new workings. On 29 Jun 8 ads and 4 juvs were recorded. The last record was a single juv on 1 Aug. Ringed Plover (Common Ringed Plover) Charadrius hiaticula Scarce winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 33 records from 2 sites The earliest record at Brockhall GP was of 3 birds on 16 May. A juv was noted on 29 39 Aug and birds remained on site until 23 Sep. At Wellington GP a single was noted on 17 Apr with 3 there on the following day. A maximum of 11 were recorded on 25 May and 9 in Aug. 2 ads and 1 juv were noted there on 19 Sep. Dotterel (Eurasian Dotterel) Charadrius morinellus Very rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site 3 birds were noted at Hergest Ridge on 3 May (T & PH Downes). Golden Plover (European Golden Plover) Pluvialis apricaria Common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 9 records from 7 sites In the first winter period there were: 11 at Milton Cross on 1 Jan; 30 at Clehonger on 4 Jan; 50 at Eltons Marsh on 5 Mar and 70 at Hergest Ridge on 10 Apr. In the second winter period there were: 22 on Bradnor Hill on 21 Oct; 80 on Hergest Ridge on 24 Oct and 36 at Allensmore Stud Farm on 15 Dec. Lapwing (Northern Lapwing) Vanellus vanellus Uncommon resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage mi - grant BCC listed: Red Records: 75 records from 31 sites The monthly maxima from major sites were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Brockhall GP 150 45 2 3 6 - - 50 - 4 80 - Letton Lakes 10 7 - 6 1 5 - - - - - 12 Wellington GP 500 65 110 4 3 - 60 42 40 - - - Other significant records were: 15 at Upper Lugg Meadows on 1 Jan; 16 at Marcle Ridge on 7 Jan; 12 at Chances Pitch on 5 Mar; 100 at Leominster By-pass on 6 Apr; 40 at Shobdon IE on 9 May; 65 at Holmer on 19 Sep; 70 at Hereford Quarry on 25 Sep; 100 at Milton Cross on 2 Nov; 90 at Lower Moccas on 7 Nov; 15 at Shirlheath on 10 Dec and 12 at Pipe and Lyde on 29 Dec. Records of 1-6 birds were received from: Almeley, Canon Pyon, Goose Neck and East Sellack, Hegdon Hill, Ledbury, Llangrove, Mordiford, Rotherwas, Sellack, Stoke Edith, Tarrington, Upper Derndale and Vowchurch. Birds were displaying at: Chances Pitch, Llangrove, Mordiford Bridge and Ross-on-Wye Bypass. Breeding was con - firmed at: Brockhall GP, Letton Lakes, Shobdon IE, Upper Derndale, Vowchurch and Wellington GP. Sanderling Calidrus alba Rare passage migrant Records: 9 records from 2 sites Sightings were: 1 on 8 May at Wellington GP (PH & T Downes et al) 19th County record and 1 on 11 May (PH Downes et al) 20th County record; 2 birds were at Brock - hall GP on 19 May (NC Pegler, PH Downes); 1 at Wellington GP on 16 May (NC Pe - gler et al) and 2 also on 16 May (GS Bilbao); also 1 on 23 May (NC Pegler et al); 1 on 25 May (GS Bilbao et al); 2 summer adults on 17 and 18 Jul (NC Pegler et al) and 1 on 1 Aug (PH Downes et al) 40 Little Stint Calidris minuta Rare passage migrant Records: 1 record from 1 site A single bird was recorded at Wellington GP on 19 Sep (PH & T Downes et al). Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea Very rare passage migrant Records: 4 records from 1 site All records came from Wellington GP. With 3 birds there on 28 Aug this was the 5th County record (N C Pegler). There was a single present on 29 Aug 6th County record (NC Pegler) and a juv on 15 Sep, the 7th County record (PH Downes). Two juvs were seen on 26 Sep, the 8th County record (TW Downes). Dunlin Calidris alpina Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 41 records from 2 sites At Brockhall GP 14 records were of ones and twos with 3 there on 21 Apr, 4 Sep and 21 Nov. The earliest record was a single at Wellington GP on 28 Feb, 7 summer adults were seen there on 20 Apr and 5 there on 25 Apr. On 15 Sep 10 returning birds were reported at Wellington GP and the last sighting was a single on 8 Oct. Ruff Philomachus pugnax Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 11 records from 2 sites A juv was recorded at Brockhall GP on 5 & 6 Aug (NC Pegler, PH Downes) an ad was seen on 29 Aug (NC Pegler, SP Coney) then another juv was present on 28 Sep (J Kenwood). At Wellington GP the records were: 2 on 25 May (GS Bilbao et al); 1 on 26 May (NC Pegler et al); 1 from 1 Sep to 3 Sep (NC Pegler, PH Downes); 1 on 24 Sep (NC Pegler) and finally 1 on 30 Sep (PH Downes). Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 10 records from 2 sites Only one record was received from Brockhall GP a single on 7 Nov. All other records were of ones and twos from Wellington GP during the two winter periods. Snipe (Common Snipe) Gallinago gallinago Common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 62 records from 18 sites Sightings were reported from throughout the county, mostly of ones and twos in the two winter periods. At Brockhall GP 13 were present on 27 Feb with 6 there on 7 Mar and 6 again in Oct. Summer sightings of ones and twos were reported from this site during Apr, Jul and Aug with 5 there on 28 Aug. Other significant records were: 5 at Ballingham on 1 Jan; 6 at Upper Lugg Meadows on 4 Jan; 9 at Gamber Meadows on 28 Jan; 82 at Letton Lakes on 7 Feb and 48 there on 7 Mar. At Wellington GP there were 6 on 1 Jan, 8 on 2 Oct, 16 on 6 Nov and 15 on 28 Nov. Woodcock (Eurasian Woodcock) Scolopax rusticola Uncommon resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 23 records from 16 sites All records are of ones and twos. There was only one record of roding at Wigmore 41 Rolls on 21 Apr. There were two records of birds in gardens during heavy snow falls: one at Sutton St. Nicholas and one at Westminster Drive Hereford. Other records came from: Bircher Common, Chase Hill, Craswell, Credenhill Park Wood, Eyton, Hamp - ton Bishop, Hatterall Hill, Kiln Ground Wood, Whitney and Mousecastle Wood. Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa Scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 15 records from 2 sites All records were of single birds except 2 at Brockhall on 27 Mar. Interestingly, some large groups were seen flying over Brockhall GP viz; 7 on 15 Jul, 7 on 17 Jul, 3 on 18 Jul and 10 on 29 Jul. There were two reports of single birds at Wellington GP, both in Apr. Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site The 18th County record was of 2 birds at Brockhall GP on 25 May (NC Pegler, SP Coney). Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus Scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 8 records from 3 sites Singles were recorded from: Brockhall GP, Castleton & Winforton R Wye and Wellington GP during Apr, May and Jul. 5 birds were recorded constantly calling at Wellington GP on 18 Apr. Curlew (Eurasian Curlew) Numenius arquata Uncommon resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage mi - grant BCC listed: Amber Records: 35 records from 16 sites Singles were recorded at Brockhall GP during Jan with 3 there in Feb and 2 in Mar. At Hereford Quarry up to 4 birds were recorded in Feb, Mar and Apr. At Letton Lakes up to 6 were seen in May and at Wellington GP 4 birds were seen in Aug and 3 in Dec. Other sightings came from locations along the River Wye and also from: Dinedor, Lyde, Stapleton Castle Court and The Pleck. There were no reports of breeding this year. The number of sightings and locations is also well down on recent years. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos Uncommon migrant breeder, very rare winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 59 records from 16 sites The earliest record received was of 1 at Brockhall GP on 5 Apr and the last record was a single also at Brockhall GP on 10 Oct. No breeding records were received for the year. At Brockhall GP numbers peaked at 13 in Apr; at Castleton and Winforton Wye twos and 3’s were recorded from Apr-Aug with 5 there in Jul. Wellington GP recorded 7 birds in Apr and fluctuating numbers throughout the summer, with a maximum of 17 on 6 Jul, in Aug there were a maximum of 9 and the last record was of 4 birds there on 11 Sep. 2’s and 3’s were reported from Hartleton Lakes and at Hereford Quarry the peak was 8 on 18 Jul. Up to 3 birds were reported from various locations along the R Wye and the R Monnow. There were no winter records. 42 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus Uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 78 records from 18 sites Monthly maxima at major sites were: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Brockhall GP 1 2 4 5 1 0 9 5 3 3 4 1 Hereford 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 9 3 0 1 1 Quarry Wellington 0 4 3 1 0 0 3 10 4 0 5 1 GP Ones and twos were recorded at: Castleton & Winforton R Wye, Criftin Ford, Upper Lugg Meadows, Gamber Meadows, Holmer, Leintwardine, Letton Lakes, Much Birch, Pembridge, Sellack, Holme Lacy R Wye and Walterstone R Monnow. Greenshank (Common Greenshank) Tringa nebularia Uncommon passage migrant Records: 27 records from 3 sites The earliest record was a single at Brockhall GP on 6 Apr and the last record was of 1 at Wellington GP on 5 Oct. There were five records at the site from Jul-Sep with a maximum of 5 in Sep. Nineteen records were received from Wellington GP between Apr and Oct and other records were of ones and twos except for 4 on 17 Aug. There were 2 short staying birds at Hereford Quarry on 14 Aug. Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 2 records from 1 site A single was at Wellington GP on 11 May (AH Eveleigh A Marchant) later on the same day 2 were present (PH Downes, NC Pegler, SP Coney) and a single was also at Wellington GP on 17 Jul (T Downes). Redshank (Common Redshank) Tringa totanus Rare breeder, uncommon winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 28 records from 2 sites There were 17 sightings at Brockhall GP of ones and twos during the period Mar-Oct with a maximum of 3 in Apr and Oct. The 11 sightings at Wellington GP were of ones and twos with 3 there in Apr. Turnstone (Ruddy Turnstone) Arenaria interpres Very rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 2 records from 1 site A single bird was at Wellington GP on 25 to 27 May, this is the 12th County record (SP Coney, PH & T Downes, NC Pegler et al) a further single bird was also at Wellington GP on 11 Sep the 13th County record (PH & T Downes, SP Coney et al). Grey Phalarope (Red Phalarope) Phalaropus fulicarius Rare passage migrant Records: 1 record from 1 site The 20th County record was of a single bird at Wellington GP on 24 Oct (SP Coney, PH Downes, NC Pegler). 43 Great Skua Stercorarius skua Storm-blown BCC listed: Amber Records: 3 records from 1 site 1 juv was seen at Brockhall GP on 26 Sep (NC Pegler et al), this was the 3 rd County record. On the same day 8 other people also saw the bird. It was seen again on 27 Sep then on 28 Sep it flew off at 14.45 hrs (NC Pegler et al). Black-headed Gull (Common Black-headed Gull) Chroicocephalus ridibundus Very common winter visitor. Has bred in colonies BCC listed: Amber Records: 107 records from 32 sites First winter period: The flocks seen were smaller than in 2009. Flocks of up to 450 were seen at Wellington GP during Feb and Mar and flocks of up to 300 at Brockhall GP during Mar and Apr. 3 prs at Kenchester Pools on 20 Mar were reported as at - tempting breeding. Records of smaller numbers were received from 7 other sites. Summer period: 130 birds and up to 120 juvs at Brockhall GP on 3 occasions in Jun and c160 juvs on 1 Jul. Small numbers were seen at 6 other sites but with no reports of breeding. Second winter period: Flocks of up to 200 were seen regularly at Brockhall GP during Sep, Oct and Nov; flocks of up to 1000 also seen regularly at Wellington GP during Nov and Dec; 100 at Hampton Bishop on 22 Oct and 200 at R Wye Bartonsham on 19 Dec. There were smaller numbers reported from 18 other sites. Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minatus Very rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site 1 winter adult was seen at Wellington GP on 20 Nov (P & T Downes, NC Pegler, S Coney). Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus Rare winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site 1 second winter adult was seen in the roost at Wellington GP on 13 Nov (PH Downes, NC Pegler, S Coney). Common Gull (Mew Gull) Larus canus Common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 26 records from 13 sites First winter period: Flocks of more than 70 birds: 97 at Gamber Meadows on 8 Mar; 70 at Wellington GP on 14 Mar and 240 at Broad Oak on 22 Mar. Summer period: Only 1 record of one bird at Wellington GP on 4 Jul. Second winter period: There was 1 flock of 70 at Garway on 24 Nov. No records ex - ceeded 15 at any of the 9 other sites where birds were recorded. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus Uncommon resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage mi - grant BCC listed: Amber Records: 224 records from 40 sites First winter period: Despite an increase in the number of records, for the third year running there was a reduction in the size of flocks: 55 at Wellington GP on 14 Mar and 30 at the same site on 20 Apr. Summer period: Flocks of between 45 and 200 were seen at Brockhall GP from May 44 to Aug; 33 and 62 at Castleton and Winforton Wye in Jul and Aug; flocks of between 80 and 250 were seen at Wellington GP from Jul to Aug; 60 were feeding on mating black garden ants at Lyde Arundel on 8 Aug and 80 at Dewsall on 31 Aug. Second winter period: Flocks of more than 35 birds were: 105 at Brockhall GP in Sep; between 400 and 1500 at Wellington GP during Sep, Oct and Nov; 35 at Broad Oak on 2 Sep and 135 at Wormelow on 22 Sep. Herring Gull (European Herring Gull) Larus argentatus Rare resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 42 records from 13 sites First winter period: 1 first summer bird with 1 second summer bird, 2 third summer birds and 1 fourth summer bird seen at Wellington GP on 14 Mar. All other records were of 1 or 2 birds of varying ages. Summer period: Most reports were of 1 or 2 birds, except 1 first summer bird with 1 second summer bird, 2 third summer birds and 1 fourth summer bird seen at Welling - ton GP on 1 Aug. Second winter period: Records received from 6 sites: Wellington GP; Hartleton Lakes; R Wye Wilton; R Wye Hereford Sewage works; Plough Lane and R Wye Bunch of Carrots. At Wellington GP the maximum number seen was 5 in Oct. Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis Rare winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 15 records from 2 sites 1 adult seen at Brockhall GP on 23 May and 25 May. All other records were at Wellington GP between 11 Sep and 14 Nov the majority of records were of single adults. The exceptions were: 1 juv on 11 Sep; 2 adults on 26 Sep; 4 adults on 23 Oct; 2 adults, 1 first winter, 1 second winter and 2 third winter on 24 Oct; 1 adult, 1 first win - ter and 1 third winter on 6 Nov and 2 adults, 1 first winter and 1 third winter on 7 Nov. Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus Scarce winter visitor and scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 5 records from 4 sites As in 2009, records were from only one site. It is good to see records from additional sites. Records were: 1 at Ledbury Cricket Ground on 17 Feb: 1 juv at Wellington GP on 16 Sep; 1 at Clehonger on 22 Sep; 1 first winter at Wellington GP on 21 Nov and 1 at R Wye Wilton on 19 Dec. Black Tern Chlidonias niger Scarce passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 5 records from 1 site All sightings were at Wellington GP: 1 on 22 May; 1 on 12 Sep; 1 on 22 Sep; 3 on 23 Sep and 1 on 24 Sep. Last year there were no records after May. Common Tern Sterna hirundo Uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 7 records from 2 sites There were fewer sightings this year than in 2009 and also the maximum seen was only 5 birds. At Wellington GP there were: 5 on 10 Jun; 1 on 26 Jun and 1 on 28 Jun. At Brockhall GP there were: 1 on 11 Jul; 1 on 14 Aug; 2 on 27 Aug and 1 on 5 Sep. 45 Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 1 record from 1 site The only sighting was 1 adult at Wellington GP on 6 May (PH & T Downes, NC Pe - gler). Feral Pigeon (Common Pigeon) Columba livia Very common resident breeder Records: 13 records from 10 sites The only large flocks seen were: 25 in High Town on 15 Jan; 80 in High Town on 5 Mar; 25 at Castle Pool on 29 Aug and 45 at Bartonsham Farm on 10 Dec. All other records were of smaller numbers and spread throughout the year. Stock Dove Columba oenas Abundant resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 116 records from 59 sites Records as in the previous year were received for each month of the year and these were mostly low numbers except for: 40 at Wellington GP on 14 Mar; 34 at Bury Hill Pools on 27 Mar; 44 at Tidnor Wood Orchard on 28 Jul; between 47 and 55 at Gamber Meadows between 5 Aug and 6 Oct; 25 at Milton Cross on 2 Nov and 25 at Brampton Abbotts on 19 Dec. There was evidence of breeding 49 from: 1 pair at Dorstone on 18 Apr and 2 juvs in a nest box at Tidnor Wood Orchard on 28 Jul. Woodpigeon (Common Wood Pigeon) Columba palumbus Abundant resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 270 records from 41 sites At the start of the year flocks of between 100 and 400 were seen at: Leach Pool on 15 Jan; Gamber Meadows between Jan and Apr; Old Gore on 27 Jan; Downton Castle Estate on 31 Jan; Wall Hills Wood on 26 Feb and St Owens Cross on 2 Mar. In Nov and Dec the largest flocks reported with numbers from 100 to 550 were from: Bircher Common, Brockhall GP, Gamber Meadows and Brampton Abbotts. There were 2 re - ports of breeding at Breinton on 1 Jun and Stapleton Castle Court between Apr and Sep. Collared Dove (Eurasian Collared Dove) Streptopelia decaocto Common resident breeder Records: 171 records from 24 sites This year saw a drop in the number of sites recorded and the largest flocks were down to 10 birds at Bobblestock on 4 Nov and at Brampton Abbotts on 19 Dec. There were a greater number of pairs recorded but only 3 reports of confirmed breeding: a pr with 2 juvs at Stockingfield in Mar and Apr and 1 pr with 1 juv at Breinton on 18 May. Turtle Dove (European Turtle Dove) Streptopelia turtur Scarce migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 6 records from 6 sites There was a small increase in the number of reports than from 2009. Records received were: 1 at Bodenham Lake on 27 Apr; 1 at Dormington on 9 May; 2 at Climbing Jack Common on 22 May; 1 at Llanwarne on 8 June; 1 at Lea Bailey Enclosure on 22 Jun and 1 at Eccleswall Court on 9 Aug. 46 Above: Avocets put in a rare appearance in the winter Nick Pegler

Left: Barnacle Geese on the ice in a frozen January Mick Colquhoun 47 An overwintering Blackcap finds a valuable meal in the snow in December William Marler

Blackbird in full song William Marler

48 Top, A Barn Owl carries its prey home William Marler Above left, a magnificent Buzzard Mick Colquhoun Above right, a Red Kite on the wing George Ewart

49 An unusual sight - a Dipper displaying to a potential mate near Leominster George Ewart 50 Waxwings arrived mob- handed at the end of November - and George Ewart and Mick Colquhoun were there to photograph them

51 Bullfinches forage among spring buds George Ewart (top) William Marler 52 A Crossbill visits Herefordshire forest land in December Mick Colquhoun

A Hobby soars overhead George Ewart

53 A Great Grey Shrike - a rare bur regular visitor to the county George Ewart

A Sparrowhawk rests after failing to catch its target in June Terry Hancock 54 Ring-necked Parakeet (Rose-ringed Parakeet) Psittacula krameri Very rare passage migrant of introduced origins Records: 1 record from 1 site A bird was seen at Garway on 15 Oct (A & A Wildey) this was the 9th County record. Cuckoo (Common Cuckoo) Cuculus canorus Uncommon migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 73 records from 49 sites The earliest report was 1 at Arkstone Common on 8 Apr and the last was at Kings Caple on 6 Jul. Despite 16 sightings of more than 1 bird there was no confirmed breeding reported. Barn Owl Tyto alba Uncommon resident breeder and uncommon winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 56 records from 45 sites It is good to be able to note that both the number of records and sites have increased this year by approximately one third on those of 2009, whilst this is still a reduction on 2008 it is a move in the right direction. Most records were of single birds, except for 2 birds at Adleymoor on 7 Mar and 5 birds on 8 Mar and breeding was recorded at Lin - ton when 1 pr with 4 juvs were seen on 6 Jun. Little Owl Athene noctua Uncommon resident breeder Records: 27 records from 17 sites The number of records and sites were both lower for the second year running. The records of 2 birds was down to 8, with 3 reports of breeding: at Wellington GP on 25 Apr and 24 Jun and Kenchester on 22 May. Tawny Owl Strix aluco Common resident breeder Records: 69 records from 40 sites The number of records and sites were back up to those of 2008 after a drop in 2009. Reports of more than 2 birds were: 3 at Pudleston on 3 Jan; 3 at Stapleton Castle Court Jan to Mar; 8 at Knill Wood Presteigne on 15 May and 3 at Bliss Cottage, Hentland on 15 Jun and 4 on 19 Jul. The only confirmation of breeding was at Much Dewchurch on 24 Jun. Swift (Common Swift) Apus apus Common migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 147 records from 56 sites Despite an increase of 50% in the number of records the number of sites was down by 20%. The earliest record was 1 at Wellington GP on 18 Apr and the latest record was 1 at River Wye Wilton on 5 Sep. The size of flocks was significantly lower than last year. Flocks of 40 or more were seen on 6 occasions: c120 at Brockhall GP on 25 Apr; 40 at Castleton and Winforton Wye on 11 May; 150 at Brockhall GP on 28 May; 40 at Clehonger in Jul; 45 in Three Elms Road on 18 Jul and 45 at Ewyas Harold on 23 Jul. Disappointingly there were no records of breeding this year. Kingfisher (Common Kingfisher) Alcedo atthis Common resident breeder and uncommon winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 56 records from 33 sites The number of records were lower for the second consecutive year. Most records were 55 of 1 or 2 birds. Higher counts were: 3 at R Arrow Kington on 11 Mar; 3 at Aymestrey on 26 May and 3 at R Monnow Longtown.on 13 Oct. Birds caught and ringed were 1 at R Monnow Longtown on 5 Aug and 1 at Llanwonog on 3 Oct. Breeding was con - firmed on the R Monnow in Aug.at 3 sites: Altyrynys; Walterstone and Longtown Wryneck (Eurasian Wryneck) Jynx torquilla Extinct breeder and rare passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 2 records from 1 site 1 seen in and around a garden at Moreton-on-Lugg on 25 and 26 Sep. Green Woodpecker (European Green Woodpecker) Picus viridis Common resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 127 records from 66 sites Breeding was confirmed at 2 sites: 1 adult with 2 juvs at Ballingham in Jul and 2 juvs at Fownhope on 15 Aug. There were reports of more than 1 bird from 23 sites. Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major Very common resident breeder Records: 210 records from 90 sites As in previous years there was good County wide coverage with records for every month. Breeding was recorded at 8 sites: Bodenham Lake, Hartleton Lakes, Gamber Meadows, Shirlheath, Much Dewchurch, Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch, Bagwyllydiart and Eyton. More than 2 birds were seen at 19 sites. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor Uncommon resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 33 records from 26 sites There was a small increase in records and sites from last year however there was only 1 confirmation of breeding in the orchard at Bodenham Lake on 13 Jun. Golden Oriole (Eurasian Golden Oriole) Oriolus oriolus Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records:1 record from 1 site A single male was seen at Laurel Farm Brooms Green, very close to the County Bound - ary on 1 Jul (C Martell). Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor Scarce winter visitor and scarce passage migrant Records: 29 records from 9 sites First winter period: 13 records of 1 bird at Bircher Common from 1 Mar – 29 Mar (J Hollings et al) and 1 at Yatton on 6 Mar (T Freeson). Second winter period: 4 records of 1 bird at Bircher Common from 25 Oct – 14 Nov (T Freeston et al) and 5 records of 1 bird at Brampton Abbotts from 10 to 14 Nov (D Brett et al) plus 6 records of 1 bird at the following locations: Bradnor Hill on 15 Oct (I Gough); British Camp on 21 Oct (SM Whitehouse); Croft Ambery on 31 Oct (T Free - ston); Stockingfield on 10 Nov (P & J Gardner); Elton on 13 Nov (R Martin) and Totnor on 3 Dec (J Sykes). Magpie (Eurasian Magpie) Pica pica Abundant resident breeder Records: 102 records from 23 sites One breeding record received from Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch on 26 Jun. 56 Largest groups were: 12 at Whitecross on 19 Jan and at Three Elms on 21 Feb. Jay (Eurasian Jay) Garrulus glandarius Common resident breeder and common winter visitor Records: 95 records from 43 sites Breeding records were: 1 juv at Brockhall GP on 9 Jun and 3 juvs at Stapleton Castle Court in Jun and Jul. Generally singles or pairs were recorded throughout the county except for 8 at Gamber Meadows in Jan and 7 at Credenhill Park Woods in Oct. Jackdaw (Western Jackdaw) Corvus monedula Abundant resident breeder and very common winter visitor Records: 236 records from 31 sites Breeding records were: 7 prs at Stapleton Castle Court in Jun and 15 prs in Jul. Records of large flocks: 60 at Castleton & Winforton Wye on 8 Feb and 9 Aug; 50 at Gamber Meadows on 8 Mar; 49 at Eastnor Park on 30 Sep and 50 at Brampton Abbotts on 9 Dec. Rook Corvus frugilegus Abundant resident breeder and very common winter visitor Records: 100 records from 39 sites No breeding records reported. Large flocks were: 150 at Bliss Cottage Hentland on 10 Feb; 240 at Brockhall GP in Aug and 100 at Brampton Abbots on 19 Dec. Carrion Crow Corvus corone Abundant resident breeder Records: 214 records from 51 sites Breeding records received: 2 juvs at Garway on 20 Mar; 9 adult and 2 juvs at Gamber Meadows on 19 May; 2 juvs at Stapleton Castle Court and 4 juvs at Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch in Apr-June. Flocks reported: 69 at Black Darren on 17 Feb; 64 at Black Darren on 12 Apr; 50 at Chanstone Wood on 13 Apr and 100 at Brampton Abbots on 19 Dec. Raven (Northern Raven) Corvus corax Common resident breeder and common winter visitor Records: 140 records from 80 sites One was seen at Stretford Bridge on 18 Apr harassing a soaring red kite. Breeding records received: 2 prs and 5 juvs at Marcle Ridge on 20 May; 1 pr and 4 juvs at Stapleton Castle Court in spring and 2 prs and 5 juvs in summer. Goldcrest Regulus regulus Abundant resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 76 records from 37 sites The only breeding record was of 1pr with a juv at Bircher Common on 6 Jun. Records were received of 1-4 birds from all across the County throughout the year. The only group was of 10 at Credenhill Park Wood in Sep. Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla Rare passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 4 records from 3 sites 57 1 at Broadlands Nature Reserve on 8 Feb (S Pullen) was the 15th County record and 1 at Wapley Hill on 17 Sep (WH Gregory) the 16th County record. 2 breeding records received for the west of county 9 Apr and 11 Apr (P Jennings, PH Downes, SP Coney) the 17th County record. Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus Abundant resident breeder Records: 271 records from 60 sites Breeding records received were: 2 prs at Gamber Meadows on 19 May; Hartleton Lake on 10 Jun; 6 prs at Stapleton Castle Court in spring; Copper Beeches Close Much Dew - church in spring and summer. Additional breeding records are shown in the Herefordshire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme Report (Page 87) Larger counts were: 25 at Bosbury on 2 Jan; 20 at Wapley Hill in Jan; 30 at Gamber Meadows on 8 Mar and 2 Sep; 21 at Garway Hill on 15 Jun, 31 on 28 Jul, 30 on 20 Sep and 35 on 12 Oct and 17 at Rotherwas on 15 Nov. Great Tit Parus major Abundant resident breeder Records: 165 records from 51 sites Breeding records: 9 adults and 6 juvs at Gamber Meadows on 19 May; 4 prs at Stapleton Castle Court in spring, 7 prs in summer and Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch spring and summer. Additional breeding records are shown in the Herefordshire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme Report (Page 87 ) Large counts were: 20 at Bosbury on 2 Jan; 24 at Garway Hill on 28 Jul and 15 at Wapley Hill on 30 Jul. Coal Tit Periparus ater Very common resident breeder and uncommon winter visitor Records: 93 from 44 sites Breeding records were received from: 1 pr at Coneygree Wood on 17 Apr; 1 adult and 1 juv at Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch on 20 Jun and breeding again later in summer; 1 pr and 3 juvs at Cagebrook Bridge in Aug and 2 adults and 2 juvs at Oak Crescent Clehonger on 5 Sep. Additional breeding records are shown in the Hereford - shire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme Report (Page 87 ) Large counts were: 30 at Wapley Hill on 1 Jan, 10 in Feb and 20 on 30 Jul; 10 at Cre - denhill Park Wood in Sep and 12 at Cagebrook Bridge on 22 Sep feeding on pine cones. Willow Tit Poecile montana Uncommon resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 14 records from 10 sites No breeding records received. Several sightings were reported from Wapley Hill with 7 on 1 Jan. Other single records of ones and twos were from: Bircher Common, Coneygree Wood, Midsummer Hill, Wigmore Rolls, The Flitts, Kinsham, Brobury Scar, Croft Castle and Sned Wood. Marsh Tit Poecile palustri s Common resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 53 records from 31 sites Breeding records received were: 1 adult and 4 juvs at Turners Boat on 17 May and 1 adult and 1 juv at Garway Hill on 28 Jul. 58 Largest counts were: 4 at Aymestrey on 20 Mar and 4 at Coneygree Wood on 17 Apr. Skylark Alauda arvensis Abundant resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records:103 records from 48 sites Only one breeding record was received: 5 prs at Bradnor Hill on 5 Jul. The largest counts were: 80 at Garway on 24 Nov; 150-250 at Brampton Abbots on 18/19 Dec and 250 at Wellington on 18 Dec. Sand Martin Riparia riparia Common migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 49 records from 30 sites The earliest sighting was of 4 at Backney Bridge on 17 Mar. The last sighting was of 1 adult and 1 juv at Harleton Lakes on 4 Sep. Breeding was reported from: R Monnow Great Goytre in Apr; at Allt Yr Ynys in Apr (deserted by end of Jul); Llangua in Apr (deserted by end of Jul); Castleton & Winforton Wye on 11 May and 11 Jul; Bartonsham Farm on 30 May and Rock Cottage Pool on 31 Jul. The largest flocks were: 80 at Wellington GP on 24 Mar; 150 at Castleton and Win - forton Wye on 11 Jun and 100 at Backney R Wye on 2 Jul. Swallow (Barn Swallow) Hirundo rustica Abundant migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 142 records from 71 sites The earliest sightings were: 1 at Wellington GP on 24 Mar; 2 at Brockhall GP on 26 Mar; 1 at Much Marcle on 27 Mar and 2 at R Wye Wilton on 28 Mar. The last sighting was at Bridge End Farm on 7 Oct. Breeding was reported from only 6 locations: 4 prs at Stockingfield on 4 Apr; Bridge End Farm on 17 Apr and 28 Jun; 2 prs at Marcle Ridge on 27 May; 1 pr at Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch in spring; 8 prs at Stapleton Castle Court in spring and summer and 1 pr and 4 juvs at Moreton Eye on 6 Aug. The largest counts were: 200 at Wilton R Wye on 5 Aug; 82 at Letton Lakes on 14 Aug and 150 at R Lugg Bodenham on 27 Sep. House Martin (Common House Martin) Delichon urbicum Very common migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 147 records from 56 sites The earliest sightings were: 6 at Berrington Hall and 5 at Wellington GP on 30 Mar. The last sighting was 1 at Shobdon on 5 Oct. Breeding records were: 1pr at Lower Jury Farm on 7 Apr; 3 prs at Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch on 22 Apr and later; 5 prs at Stockingfield in Spring; 6 prs at Stapleton Castle Court on 16 May: 5 prs at Woolhope on 17 May; 25 prs at Hartleton Lakes in Jun; 2 prs at Moor Farm Lane on 29 Jun and 11 prs at Ballingham in Jul. The largest counts were: 70 at Eastnor Castle on 10 Jul; 250 at R Wye Wilton on 5 Aug and 90 at Letton Lakes on 14 Aug. Wren (Winter Wren) Troglodytes troglodytes Abundant resident breeder Records: 150 records from 48 sites The number of records received this year was higher than those submitted last year. 59 No breeding records were received. The records received were evenly distributed throughout the County, the larger counts were: 29 roosting in a nest box at Moreton Eye on 3 Jan; 15 in Jun and July, 17 in Aug, 19 in Sep and 21 in Oct at Gamber Mead - ows and 15 on Garway Hill on 12 Oct. Starling (Common Starling) Sturnus vulgaris Very common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage mi - grant BCC listed: Red Records: 218 records from 48 sites Breeding was recorded at: Stapleton Court on 1 Apr; Hartleton Lakes on 10 Jun and Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch on 30 June. Larger counts were: 400 at Pem - bridge on 12 Feb; 600 at Wellington on 10 Oct and 400 at Harley’s Mountain. No large roosting flocks were noted this year. Dipper (White-throated Dipper) Cinclus cinclus Common resident breeder Records: 49 records from 41 sites Twice the numbers of records were received this year compared to last year. Breeding was confirmed at: Leominster, Kenchurch, R Dore Pontrilas, Walterstone, Great Goytre, Alt Yr Ynys, Monmouth Cap, Olchen Brook, Broad Oak, Cwm Mill, Canon Frome, Cagebrook Clehonger, Old Mill Farm and Longtown. There was one sighting of 3 birds at Kenwater Leominster on 24 Nov; all other sightings were of ones or twos. Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus Rare migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 4 records from 2 sites 2m were at Black Daren on 27 Mar and 16 Apr; 1m and 2f at Black Daren on 3 Oct and 1m at Bradnor Hill on 25 Nov (I Grafton). Blackbird (Common Blackbird) Turdus merula Abundant resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 308 records from 64 sites There was a large increase in the number of records received this year compared to only 191 in 2009. Breeding was noted at Hartleton Lakes, Garway, Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch, Canon Pyon and Stapleton Castle Court. Larger counts were: 40 in a garden at Little Birch on 5 Jan and 28 on Garway Hill on 28 Jul and 34 on 12 Oct. Fieldfare Turdus pilaris Very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 121 records from 67 sites Large counts for the 1st winter period were: 235 at Dewsall on 10 Nov; 350 at Maw - field Farm, Clehonger and 1000 at Crompton Hill on 19 Dec. There was 1 large flock of 400 at the Upper Lugg Meadows on 4 Jan in the 2nd winter period. Song Thrush Turdus philomelos Abundant resident breeder, common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 192 records from 83 sites Breeding was confirmed at: Stapleton Castle Court, Hartleton Lakes and Pembridge and larger numbers recorded were: 10 at Gamber Meadows on 8 Jun and 11 on Gar - way Hill on 12 Oct. 60 Redwing Turdus iliacus Very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 90 records from 59 sites Many more records were received than in 2009. The only large count for the 1st win - ter period was: 400 on the Upper Lugg Meadows on 4 Jan and large counts for the second winter period were: 157 at Garway Hill on 12 Oct; 100 at Clehonger on 13 Oct; 150 at Garway Hill on 24 Nov; several very large flocks were in orchards at Crompton Hill on 17 Dec and 200 at Brampton Abbotts on 19 Dec. Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus Very common resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 138 records from 73 sites More records from an increasing number of sites were received this year. Breeding was confirmed at Broadlands Nature Reserve on 18 Apr and larger counts were: 13 at Vowchurch on 14 Feb; 25 feeding on yew berries in Stretton Grandison churchyard on 6 Sep and 11 at Bodenham Lake on 7 Oct. Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 45 records from 30 sites The earliest record of the year was at The Batch Almeley on 9 May and the last record from Mawfield Farm on 25 Sep. Breeding was confirmed at: Harleton Lakes; Gamber Meadow; Canon Pyon; Kings Capel; Newton Coppice; Dewsall; Stapleton Castle Court; Linton Church; Mawfield Farm; Clehonger Church and Glewstone Lake. The largest count was of 9 at Hartleton Lakes in August. Robin (European Robin) Erithacus rubecula Abundant resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 194 records from53 sites More records were received than in 2009 (116). Breeding was confirmed from: Canon Pyon and Stapleton Castle Court and larger numbers were: 12 at Credenhill Park Wood in Mar; 22 at Gamber Meadows on 6 Oct and 21 at Garway Hill on 12 Oct. Nightingale (Common Nightingale) Luscinia megarhynchos Scarce migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 4 records from 2 sites Records were: 1 bird at Warner’s Farm from 7 to 15 May and 1 at Mathon set-aside on 8 May. Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros Scarce winter visitor and scarce passage migrant. Has bred BCC listed: Amber Records: 5 records from 4 sites Birds reported were from: 1m at Hereford Cathedral on 1 Jan, remaining from 2009 (P Downes, S Coney, NC Pegler): 1 at Bridge End Farm on 3 Aug (G Wells); 1 juv at Cat’s Back on 18 Sep (B.Embling); 1m at Shobdon IE on 22 Nov (T Freeston) and 1m at Hereford Cathedral on 30 Dec (A Marchant). Redstart (Common Redstart) Phoenicurus phoenicurus Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 46 records from 28 sites The earliest record was from Lower Jury Farm on 7 Apr and the last sighting from Letton Lakes on 5 Sep. Breeding was confirmed from: Bradnor Hill; Garway Hill and 61 Stoke Prior. Additional breeding records are shown in the Herefordshire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme Report (Page 87) . Larger counts were: 6 at Hatterall Hill on 17 May; 6 on Garway Hill on 17 May and 9 at Upper Blaen on 22 June. Whinchat Saxicola rubetra Scarce migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 7 records from 6 sites This is an increase from the 1 sighting of last year. The earliest record was 1 at We - ston- under-Penyard on 23 Apr and the last record 1 at Bradnor Hill on 5 July. Breed - ing was confirmed at: Bradnor Hill, 2 prs and in the Upper Olchen Valley 4 breeding prs; other sightings were: 1f at Wellington on 11 May; 1 at Hatterall Hill on 17 May and 5 at Upper Blaen on 22 Jun. Stonechat (Eurasian Stonechat) Saxicola torquatus Uncommon resident breeder, common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant Records:19 records from 9 sites Breeding was confirmed at: Bradnor Hill; Garway Hill and the Olchen Valley. All records were of 1 or 2 birds. Wheatear (Northern Wheatear) Oenanthe oenanthe Common migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 25 records from 10 sites The earliest record was of 1 at Wellington GP on 20 Mar and the latest record 2ff at Fownhope on 10 Oct. Breeding was confirmed at: the Darrens and Green Lane Farm. Most records were of 1 or 2 birds except 1 adult and 3 juvs at Wellington GP on 27 Aug. Greenland Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa Scarce passage migrant Records: 1 record from 1 site A female was seen at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Road, on 15 May. Pied Flycatcher (European Pied Flycatcher) Ficedula hypoleuca Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 6 records from 5 sites The earliest record was of 1 at Wigmore Rolls on 17 Apr and the last record was from Stapleton Castle Court on 20 Jul. Breeding was confirmed at Stapleton Castle Court. Additional breeding records are shown in the Herefordshire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme Report (Page 87) . Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus Common resident breeder and very common winter visitor Records:114 records from 46 sites Widely reported throughout the year, with breeding reported from 3 locations: Gamber Meadows, Garway and Stapleton Castle Court. Larger counts were: 21 at Letton Lakes on 5 Sep; 20 at Wyevale Wood on 15 Sep; 20 at Shirlheath on 5 Oct; 32 at Bodenham on 2 Nov; 24 at Wellington GP on 5 Nov and 21 at Hartleton Lakes during Nov. Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 13 records from 11 sites 62 The first record received was of one male at Newton Wood on 25 Apr and the last recorded birds were at Queens Wood Dinmore and Sned Wood Aymestrey on 27 Jun. Breeding was not confirmed at any locations, however with 7 at Barnett Wood Wig - more on 30 Apr and 4 singing males on 9 May breeding was possible. Chiffchaff (Common Chiffchaff) Phylloscopus collybita Very common migrant breeder, uncommon winter visitor and common passage mi - grant Records:168 records from 90 sites The first record received was one at Wellington GP on 2 Jan and the last also at Wellington GP on 29 Dec. Birds were recorded in each month of the year. The only breeding record was at Breinton on 27 May, but without doubt breeding was widespread in the County. In the spring season the first one seen was at Cagebrook Bridge on 13 Mar and five males at Bircher Common on 24 Mar was the first reasonable count. Larger counts were: 12 at Sellack on 11 Apr and 10 at Broadlands NR also on 11 Apr. Autumn season larger counts were: 32 at R Wye Wilton on 5 Aug; 20 at Gamber Meadows on 2 Sep and 50+ at Hartleton Lakes on 10 Sep (seen going to roost in larch trees late evening but on checking early the following morning no birds were present). Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus Abundant migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records:72 records from 43 sites The first record received was one seen and singing at Wellington GP on 24 Mar and the last record was one at Bircher Common on 11 Sep. The only breeding record was at Garway Hill on 15 Jun. Larger counts were: 11 at Hatterrall Hill on 12 Apr, 10 at Broadlands NR on 11 Apr, 18 at Garway Hill on 19 Apr and 12 at Wapley Hill on 24 Apr. Blackcap (Eurasian Blackcap) Sylvia atricapilla Very common migrant breeder, uncommon winter visitor and common passage mi - grant Records:190 records from 84 sites The first records were of two birds at Pipe and Lyde and Much Marcle on 2 Jan and the last record was of a male at Moreton Eye on 31 Dec. Birds were recorded in each month of the year. The only breeding record received was one pair at Stapleton Castle Court from 15 Apr until 20 May, but without doubt breeding was widespread in the County. There were two large counts both of 10 birds, one at Broadlands NR on 18 Apr and at Credenhill Park Wood during May. Garden Warbler Sylvia borin Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant Records: 49 records from 39 sites The first record received was one at Moreton Eye on 8 Apr and the last record was of a juv at Clehonger on 22 Sep. Breeding was confirmed at Clehonger Church on 17 Jul and Arkstone Court on 24 Jul. The only large count was of 5 birds at Bodenham Lake on 27 Apr. Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant 63 Records:15 records from 13 sites The first record received was of one male at Wellington GP on 24 Apr and the last record received was one at Brockhall GP on 12 Sep. Breeding was confirmed at three locations Gethenfield Farm on 21 May; Arkstone Court on 24 Jul and Honeymoor Common on 21 Aug. There was one large count of 4 birds seen at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Road on 15 Aug. Whitethroat (Common Whitethroat) Sylvia communis Very common migrant breeder and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 61 records from 41 sites The first record received was one at Broadlands NR on 11 Apr and the last record re - ceived was one at Almeley Road Hereford on 22 Sep. Breeding was confirmed at eight locations: Bridgend Farm, Woodyats Cross, Madley Earth Station, Gamber Meadows, Arkstone Court, Gethenfield Farm, Thruxton and Ruckhall. One large count was of 19 adults and 7 juvs at Gamber Meadows on 5 Aug. Grasshopper Warbler (Common Grasshopper Warbler) Locustella naevia Rare migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 5 records from 2 sites The first record received was of a bird reeling at Berrington Hall Pool on 18 Apr and a further bird was heard at Newhouse Farm Almeley on 2, 6, 7 and 8 Jun. Melodious Warbler Hippolais polyglotta Vagrant from S Europe Records:1 record from 1 site A record was received of a bird singing and attempting to hold territory at Haugh Wood from 22 Jun until 4 Jul and is the 2nd County record for this species. (G Cun - dale, Mrs K Wollen, R Hemming, P & F Bradley). Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus Common migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant Records: 23 records from 11 sites The first record received was of one at Wellington GP on 9 Apr and the last record was a juv at Gamber Meadows on 2 Sep. A very interesting record of 30 singing males was received for Wellington GP on 9 May and breeding may have taken place later in the year. Reed Warbler (Eurasian Reed Warbler) Acrocephalus scirpaceus Uncommon migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant Records: 13 records from 8 sites The first record was one at Wellington GP on 24 Apr and the last record was of one at Bircher Common on 11 Sep. Breeding was not confirmed at any locations for the year but 6 birds were seen at Wellington GP on 9 May. Waxwing (Bohemian Waxwing) Bombycilla garrulas Scarce winter visitor and scarce passage migrant Records: 83 records from 43 sites The year 2010 was the best irruptive invasion of Waxwings in Herefordshire since the record year of 2005. The first record received was of one bird at Luston on 13 Nov and the last sighting for 2010 was 4 at Ruckhall on 23 Dec. Birds were present in a garden at Pipe and Lyde from 12 Dec until 22 Dec and numbers peaked at 31. They 64 were very widely recorded throughout the County during November and December. The larger counts were: 100 at Wellington GP on 26 Nov; 70 at Buckfield Road, Leominster on 5 Dec; 65 at Ledbury Cemetery on 5 Dec; 90 at Bobblestock on 10 Dec; 130 at Leominster on 11 Dec and 70 at Focus DIY Ross-on-Wye on 14 Dec. Nuthatch (Eurasian Nuthatch) Sitta europaea Common resident breeder Records: 133 records from 63 sites Breeding was confirmed at: Lower Jury Farm on 7 Apr, 2 pairs at Coneygree Wood on 17 Apr and Much Marcle Church on 23 May. Seven birds were seen at Mousecastle Wood on 9 Dec. Treecreeper (Eurasian Treecreeper) Certhia familiaris Very common resident breeder Records: 75 records from 45 sites Breeding was confirmed at: Gamber Meadows on 19 May and Glewstone Lake on 19 Jul. Six birds were seen at Wilton on 20 Jun. Dunnock Prunella modularis Abundant resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 211 records from 38 sites The number of records has doubled since last year although there are no breeding records for this species this year in spite of it being a common bird. 17 birds were seen in the Gamber Meadows on 16 Oct and 15 seen on Garway Hill on 12 Oct. House Sparrow Passer domesticus Very common resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 285 records from 66 sites The number of records has doubled in the last 12 months. Breeding records were re - ported from Copper Beeches Close Much Dewchurch on 1 Apr; Credenhill on 17 Jun and Stapleton Castle Court on 30 Sept. A flock of 50 was recorded at Credenhill on 15 Aug and flocks of 50 at Ballingham in July and Westfields on 4 Oct. Tree Sparrow (Eurasian Tree Sparrow) Passer montanus Uncommon resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 20 records from 7 sites Two breeding records were received both from Stretford Bridge on 30 Jun and 3 Jul. A flock of 12 birds was noted at Stapleton Castle Court on 30 Sept. Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava flavissima Uncommon migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 29 records from 11 sites The earliest record received was from Brockhall GP on 2 Apr and the last from Hartle - ton Lakes on 17 Sep. The only breeding record was from Willersley on 15 Jun. Juveniles were noted in 4 lo - cations: Biddlestone Lake on 12 Jul; Wellington GP on 27 Jul and Hartleton Lakes on 11 Sep. A group of 5 mm and 3 ff were recorded at Castleton & Winforton Wye on 17 Apr. Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava flava Very rare passage migrant 65 Records: 2 records from 2 sites A single bird was recorded at Brampton Abbots on 16 May (N Hopkinson) and a sec - ond record, also of a single bird, from Wellington GP on 18 May (PH Downes). Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea Common resident breeder BCC listed: Amber Records: 57 records from 37 sites Breeding records were reported from 6 locations: Alt Yr Ynys, Olchon Brook, Llan - cillo, Kentchurch, Walterstone and Llanveynoe. All other records were of ones and twos except for 6 at Chanstone Wood on 13 Apr. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii Abundant resident breeder, common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 93 records from 39 sites. Breeding was reported from 2 locations: Yatton on 1 Jun and Stapleton Castle Court on 30 Jun. Notable flocks recorded were: 25 at Brockhall GP on 27 Feb and 40 birds on 27 Mar at the same location. White Wagtail Motacilla alba alba Uncommon passage migrant Records: 5 records from 3 sites Single birds were recorded at: Winforton on 8 Apr; Brockhall GP on 2 and 16 Apr and Wellington GP on 9 Apr, also 4 birds were noted there on 18 Apr. Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris Very rare passage migrant Records: 1 record from 1 site This is the first record for this species in the County and was identified at Wellington GP on 13 May (NC Pegler, PH Downes). Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis Uncommon migrant breeder and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 20 records from 12 sites No breeding records were received this year. The earliest record was from Midsummer Hill on 18 Apr and the last record was from Wapley Hill on 30 Jul. A regular population of 5 birds was recorded on Garway Hill between Apr and Jun. Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis Common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 55 records from 29 sites A breeding record was noted on Bradnor Hill where 5 birds were seen on 5 Jul. Larger counts were: 50 birds were observed on Lugg Meadows on 4 Jan and 60 birds at Rotherwas on 1 Apr. Also 15 birds were noted ‘on passage’ at Garway Hill on 12 Oct. Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs Abundant resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 168 records from 54 sites No breeding records were received for the year, but undoubtedly breeding was wide - 66 spread throughout the County. Large flocks were: 100 at Devereux Wootton on 1 Jan and again on 9 Jan; 300 at Nor - ton Canon on 9 Jan; 200 at Shobdon on 5 Dec and 100 at Brampton Abbots on 19 Dec. Brambling Fringilla montifringilla Common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant Records: 36 records from 29 sites 1st winter: The latest record was from Bodenham on 28 Feb. 2nd winter: The earliest record was from Haugh Wood on 30 Oct. The largest flocks were: 25 at Old Gore on 27 Jan; 250 at Devereux Wootton on 2 Nov and 40 at Shobdon IE on 5 Dec. Greenfinch (European Greenfinch) Carduelis chloris Very common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant Records: 97 records from 37 sites Although this species was well recorded throughout the County there are no breeding records for this year. Two flocks of 30 birds were seen, 1 at Whitecross on 19 Jan and 1 at Brampton Abbotts on 19 Dec. Goldfinch (European Goldfinch) Carduelis carduelis Common resident breeder and very common winter visitor Records: 277 records from 50 sites In spite of the numbers of sightings reported there was only one breeding record at Hartleton Lakes on 10 Jun. A large flock of 135 was recorded at Much Marcle on 2 Jan and a flock of 80 recorded at Wellington GP on 31 Jul. Siskin (Eurasian Siskin) Carduelis spinus Uncommon resident breeder, very common winter visitor and common passage migrant Records: 49 records from 34 sites No breeding activity was noted but 1 m and 2 ff were recorded at Clehonger on 9 May. A flock of 100 was recorded at Wapley Hill on 1 Jan and 70 at Edvin Loach on 17 Jan. This species was recorded during every month of the year. Linnet (Common Linnet) Carduelis cannabina Common resident breeder, very common winter visitor and uncommon passage mi - grant BCC listed: Red Records: 74 records from 37 sites One breeding record was received from Bradnor Hill on 5 Jul. A large flock was recorded early in the year, initially 26 at Moreton Eye on 1 Jan feeding on oil seed rape, building up to 245 on 9 Jan and to 800 by 12 Jan. It was still numbering 700 on 14 Jan. Other large flocks were: 300 at Devereux Wootton on 1 Jan; 300 at Luston on 15 Dec and 400 at Brampton Abbotts on 18 Dec. Lesser Redpoll Carduelis cabaret Common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 21 records from 16 sites A flock of 22 was recorded in Oaker Coppice on Bircher Common on 17 Jan and 40 were recorded at Penyard Woods on 3 Apr. Mealy Redpoll (Common Redpoll) Carduelis flammea Rare winter visitor and rare passage migrant 67 Records: 1 record from 1 site A single bird was noted in birches with 22 Lesser Redpolls at Oaker Coppice Bircher Common on 17 Jan (PH Downes). This is the 16th record for the County. Common Crossbill (Red Crossbill) Loxia curvirostra Scarce breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant. Prone to ir - ruption Records: 16 records from 9 sites 50 birds were noted at Bircher Common on 17 and 24 Jan and 30 at Wigmore Rolls on 6 Mar. Bullfinch (Eurasian Bullfinch) Pyrrhula pyrrhula Common resident breeder and common winter visitor BCC listed: Amber Records: 124 records from 64 sites One breeding record was received from Stapleton Castle Court between 1 Aug and 30 Sept. Pairs were noted at various sites during the breeding season. Birds were recorded in every month of the year, the largest flock was of 7 at Sutton St. Nicholas on 7 Feb and 6 at Dinedor on 19 Jan. Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes Rare resident breeder, uncommon winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Red Records: 6 records from 3 sites No breeding records were received for the year. 20 birds were recorded in Coneygree Wood on 20 Mar and a male was noted feeding in a yew tree at Wigmore Castle gar - den on 19 Oct. Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella Abundant resident breeder and very common winter visitor BCC listed: Red Records: 108 records from 56 sites Breeding was recorded at Bagwyllydiart on 15 May and Madley Earth Station on 22 Jun. A flock of 100 birds was recorded at Brampton Abbots on 14 Nov and again on 18 and 19 Dec. Records of this bird were received for every month of the year. Other large flocks were: 40 at Garway on 24 Jan and 40 at Harewood End on 10 Feb. Reed Bunting (Common Reed Bunting) Emberiza schoeniclus Common resident breeder, common winter visitor and uncommon passage migrant BCC listed: Amber Records: 83 records from 56 sites Breeding was recorded at Gamber Meadows on 2 Jul. Largest counts were: 8 at Upper Lugg Meadows on 18 Feb and 6 at Holmer Pools on 25 Feb. This bird was recorded in every month of the year. Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra Rare resident breeder BCC listed: Red Records: 2 records from 2 sites A single male was found at Bromsash on 5 Jun and another single bird was recorded at Shobdon IE on 4 Dec (T Freeston). 68 Exotica & Escapes Reeves Pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii Records: 3 records from 3 sites The three records were all of males, the first one seen at Perrystone Estate on 2 Feb, one at Sandy Cross on 13 Mar and finally, 1 seen at R Wye Holme Lacy on 30 Nov. Black Swan Cygnus atratus Records:1 record from 1 site One seen at Brockhall GP on 29 Jun. South African Shelduck Tadorna cana Records: 6 records from 2 sites A pair were seen at Brockhall GP from 2 Jan until 3 Jan, a female was present at Brock - hall GP on 23 Sep, 25 and 26 Sep and one was at Berrington Hall Pool on 10 Oct with a further sighting there during Oct. Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata Records:1 record from 1 site One was seen at Wellington GP on 10 Dec. Chiloe Wigeon Anas sibilatrix Records: 12 records from 3 sites The first sighting was of one seen at R Wye Bunch of Carrots on 5 Jan, the following were then seen: 1 on 21 Feb, 1 on 14 Mar, 2 on 18 Jul, 2 on 13 and 14 Aug then peaking at 6 on 19 Sep and 1 on 25 Sep all at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Road. One was then seen at Brockhall GP on 10 and 14 Oct with a further sighting in Oct. Finally, 1 was at Hereford Quarry, Bromyard Road on 7 Nov.

A fieldfare finds some windfalls Picture: Mick Colquhoun 69 HOC Observers 2010 Mrs J Allen R Davies Mike Archer S Davies R. Ashman G Davis D Barnes DBarn T Dixon Heather Barwick P H Downes Kevin Bayliss P & T Downes AJ Beasley T Downes D Bennet P & J Eldridge Jocelyn Bennett B Embling Mrs B P Best I Evans G Bilbao Ms S Evans Birdguides A H Eveleigh Dr D Boddington G Ewart P Bone T Fairfield E Bowen-Jones Christopher Flynn P & F Bradley Dr A Foxton G Brown T Freeston P A Brown Mrs A Gardner Mrs F Burge P & J Gardner I Buttriss Carry & Geoff Glyn-Jones Mrs N Buttriss I Grafton N Cavanagh T Green Bizzy Campbell Mrs C Greenway C & J Chapman W Gregory Mrs J Chapman TG Griffiths R Churchill Ms S Grunsell Club outing Mrs D Hart I Clucas I Hart Mrs M Clucas N Hart M Coleman Brian Hawker Dr R Collins R Hemming Miss R Collins B & J Herrick M Colquhoun H Hesketh David Coker J Hollings Miss H Coney Bryan J Holmes S P Coney N Hopkinson T Cooke Nic Howes T & V Cooke T Hulme K Coupland Ms C Hume Mary Cox R Husbands David & Melinda Crook Mrs E Ing G Cundale P. Jennings Roger Darsley Andrew Johnston Ms M Davey Brian Jones Heather Davies Mrs M Jones J C Davies M July Miss N Davies Mrs B Kedward P Davies J Kedward 70 Paul King R Relph G King-Salter Jim Roberts Miss C La Monica C Robinson Miss E La Monica Miss M L Robinson C & A Lankester Ian Rose Charles Martell R Roseveare Robert Martin Dr J H Ross Malvern Bird Group J Russell A Marchant Peter Seal W Marler P & S Seal Derrick Masters H V R Smith H Mason L Smith K & C Mason P & L Matthews Les Smith A McElhayer PJ Smith Kay Miles Med Snooks Dr R G Miller M Stewart G Morris Dave Stoddard AR Mountford J Sykes D Mullin Paul Styles S Nickols John Taylor Martin Noble M & S Taylor Eric Osbaldeston Mrs SJ Taylor Mrs S Page Terry Taylor G & M Parker Bridgit Symons G Parker N Telfer Ms S Parkinson Andrew Thomas C Parr L Thomson P & J Parsons J Tupper Christine Peacock R Tushingham C Peacock Dr S Tyler Mrs S J Peacock J Voysey A Pearce S Watkins N C Pegler Daniel Webb N & L Pegler G A H Wells J Penrice Welsh Kite Trust B Phillips J Phillips James White Jennifer Piper Floyd Wilkinson Maurice Piper B & A Willder J Potts B Willder G Poulton J Williams G Price M Williams William Priest P & C Williams J Pullen Mrs K Wollen M Pullen J Woodruff S Pullen M Woodward Mrs V Quinn Jean Worthington E Quinto-Ashman Ms J Wynne-Jones 71 Summer & Winter Records for 2010 Summer Migrants: Earliest & Latest Dates

Earliest Latest Species Location Location in 2010 in 2010 Garganey 23 Apr Wellington GP 5 Oct Brockhall GP Quail 19 Jun Sheepcote Farm 23 Aug Garway Hill Osprey 5 Apr Lugg Meadows 17 Oct Bromyard Hobby 27 Apr Bodenham Lake 26 Sep Clehonger Little Ringed Plover 19 Mar Brockhall GP 10 Sep Kenchester Pools Common Sandpiper 5 Apr Brockhall GP 10 Oct Brockhall GP Greenshank 6 Apr Brockhall GP 5 Oct Wellington GP Eccleswall Court Turtle Dove 27 Apr Bodenham Lake 9 Aug Bromsash Cuckoo 8 Apr Arkstone Common 6 Jul Kings Caple Swift 18 Apr WellingtonGP 5 Sep Wilton R Wye Sand Martin 17 Mar Backney Bridge 4 Sep Hartleton Lakes Swallow 24 Mar Wellington GP 7 Oct Bridge End Farm Wellington GP & House Martin 30 Mar 5 Oct Shobdon Berrington Hall Queens Wood Din - Wood Warbler 25 Apr Newton Wood 27 Jun more and Sned Wood Aymestrey Willow Warbler 24 Mar Wellington GP 11 Sep Bircher Common Garden Warbler 8 Apr Moreton Eye 22 Sep Clehonger Lesser Whitethroat 24 Apr Wellington GP 12 Sep Brockhall GP Almeley Road Whitethroat 11 Apr Broadlands NR 22 Sep Hereford Grasshopper Warbler 18 Apr Berrington Hall 8 Jun Newhouse Farm Sedge Warbler 9 Apr Wellington GP 2 Sep Gamber Meadows Reed Warbler 24 Apr Wellington GP 11 Sep Bircher Common Ring Ouzel 27 Mar Black Daren 25 Nov Bradnor Hill Spotted Flycatcher 9 May The Batch Almeley 25 Sep Mawfield Farm Redstart 7 Apr Lower Jury Farm 5 Sep Letton Lakes 72 Earliest in Latest in Species Location Location 2010 2010 Redstart 7 Apr Lower Jury Farm 5 Sep Letton Lakes Weston-under- Whinchat 23 Apr 5 Jul Bradnor Hill Penyard Wheatear 20 Mar Wellington GP 10 Oct Fownhope Stapleton Castle Pied Flycatcher 17 Apr Wigmore Rolls 20 Jul Court Yellow Wagtail 2 Apr Brockhall GP 17 Sep Hartleton Lakes Tree Pipit 18 Apr Midsummer Hill 30 Jul Wapley Hill Winter Migrants – Latest and Earliest Dates 1st Winter 2nd Win - Species Period in Location ter period Location 2010 in 2010 Bewick’s Swan 12 Jan Wilton R Wye 19 Dec Brampton Abbotts Whooper Swan - No record received 12 Dec Much Marcle Pink-footed Goose 28 Feb Bredwardwine - No record received Wigeon 27 Jun Brockhall GP 27 Jul Wellington GP Teal 22 Apr Wellington GP 20 Jul Brockhall GP Pintail 7 Feb Wellington GP 30 Sep Hereford Quarry Pochard 8 May Brockhall GP 17 Jul Wellington GP Goldeneye 30 Mar Wellington GP 10 Oct Brockhall GP Golden Plover 10 Apr Hergest Ridge 21 Oct Bradnor Hill Jack Snipe 14 Mar Wellington GP 30 Oct Wellington GP Great Grey Shrike 29 Mar Bircher Common 15 Oct Bradnor Hill Waxwing - No record received 13 Nov Luston Eaton Bishop & Fieldfare 21 Sep Bunch of Carrots R 17 Apr Brockhall GP and Wye Letton Lakes Moreton Eye and Redwing 5 Apr Clehonger 10 Oct Clehonger Brambling 28 Feb Bodenham 30 Oct Haugh Wood

73 Bird Ringing in Herefordshire 2010 HIS is a summary of birds ringed in Herefordshire in 2010 as part of the national Bird Ringing Scheme, together with brief details of significant recoveries of birds previously ringed in the County and of “controls” in Herefordshire of birds ringed Toutside its borders. Ringing provides information of growing value to science, conservation and govern - ment on bird movements, migration, survival, longevity, breeding success and habitat use, among other aspects. More details on the Ringing Scheme, its objectives, methods and results (including The Migration Atlas) can be found on the British Trust for Or - nithology website at http://www.bto.org (look under Volunteer Surveys or Core Sur - veys). Ringing totals Species Adults Pulli Total ringed (nestlings/chicks) Mute Swan 1 1 Red Kite 3 3 Goshawk 10 10 Sparrowhawk 2 2 Buzzard 3 3 Woodpigeon 2 2 Kingfisher 3 3 Green Woodpecker 2 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker 7 7 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 2 2 Jay 1 1 Jackdaw 1 1 Raven 7 7 Goldcrest 28 28 Blue Tit 344 78 422 Great Tit 143 100 243 Coal Tit 27 9 36 Marsh Tit 4 15 19 Sand Martin 157 157 Long-tailed Tit 117 117 Chiffchaff 274 274 Willow Warbler 252 252 Blackcap 119 119 Garden Warbler 18 18 Lesser Whitethroat 15 15 74 Species Adults Pulli Total ringed (nestlings/chicks) Whitethroat 1 1 Sedge Warbler 14 14 Reed Warbler 115 3 118 Nuthatch 10 21 31 Treecreeper 10 10 Wren 48 48 Dipper 10 114 124 Blackbird 137 137 Fieldfare 14 14 Song Thrush 26 26 Redwing 32 32 Mistle Thrush 2 2 Spotted Flycatcher 16 16 Robin 57 57 Redstart 4 33 37 Pied Flycatcher 58 518 576 Dunnock 76 76 House Sparrow 15 4 19 Grey Wagtail 22 22 Pied Wagtail 2 2 Chaffinch 40 40 Greenfinch 22 22 Goldfinch 55 55 Redpoll 21 21 Bullfinch 28 28 Reed Bunting 7 7 Grand Totals (51 species) 2339 940 3279 Part of this ringing was undertaken at Much Marcle as part of the BTO’s Constant Effort Sites (CES) Scheme to provide data on changes in population size and breeding success and on adult survival rates for 28 species of common songbird. Some ringing of Pied Flycatchers likewise formed part of the BTO’s Retrapping Adults for Survival (RAS) Project , for estimating survival of species that cannot be monitored so effectively by other ringing projects such as CES. More details and results of these ongoing surveys can be found on the BTO website. 75 Recoveries and controls This section gives details of birds ringed or subsequently encountered in Herefordshire and felt to be of particular interest. Similar information for the whole of the country is given in the annual report on Bird Ringing in Britain and Ireland included in the journal Ringing & Migration (BTO). The recoveries are arranged by species, with the ringing information on the first line and one or more subsequent recoveries below. The symbols and conventions used are as follows: Age when ringed (and when recaptured if still alive); mostly determined by careful examination of condition and pattern of plumage (the details vary from species to species). Standard terms as follows (with Euring “age codes” used by ringers in parentheses): Nestling: Ringed as a chick, typically in or close to the nest (Euring age code 1) Juvenile: Caught in the calendar year of hatching, not yet completed “post-juve - nile” moult (this is a first moult, typically partial, undertaken a few months after leaving the nest to replace plumage grown during the nestling phase) (Euring aged code 3J) 1st-year: Caught in the calendar year of hatching, after post-juvenile moult (Eur - ing age code 3) 2nd-year: Caught in the calendar year after the year of hatching (Euring age code 5) Adult: Caught after the year of hatching, when precise age can no longer be de - termined (all pertinent plumage features have been moulted) (Euring age codes 4, 6, 8 etc) Sex: M = Male, F = Female Circumstances of recovery – mostly self-explanatory, but in particular: Caught alive: Caught and released by a ringer, some distance from the site of ringing (in most cases more than 5 km) Recaptured: Caught and released by a ringer at the site of original ringing For recoveries involving movement over a significant distance details are given of the time elapsed in days between ringing and recovery, the distance between ringing and re - covery site, and the compass bearing of the recovery site from the ringing site. Elapsed time is stated as calendar years, months and days, for ease of reading; these years may contain 365 or 366 days (leap years), which should be borne in mind when making pre - cise age comparisons. l “Much Marcle” refers to the Constant Effort Site discussed above, at grid reference SO6533. Mute Swan W03629 Nestling 24.09.2000 Leighton, near Telford, Shropshire Dead (on 04.04.2010 River Lugg, 9y 6m 47km SSW wire or Leominster 11d netting) W18703 1st-year F 15.11.2004 Lower Hope Alive 16.08.2010 Conwy Nature 5y 9m 149km NNW (colour Reserve, Conwy, 1d rings seen) Gwynedd 76 Cormorant 5231242 Nestling 15.06.2007 Denny Island, Bristol Channel, Gwent Alive 03.01.2010 River Wye, 2y 6m 68km NNW (colour Castleton 19d rings seen) 5231193 Nestling 23.06.2009 Denny Island, Bristol Channel, Gwent Alive 03.01.2010 River Wye, 0y 6m 68km NNW (colour Castleton 11d rings seen) Goshawk GN31473 Nestling M 15.06.2008 Site in Gloucestershire Freshly 15.01.2010 Lea, near Ross on 1y 7m 7km NNW dead (cold Wye 0d weather) MA24538 Nestling F 30.05.2010 Site in Hereford - shire Freshly 30.08.2010 Ruspidge, Forest 0y 3m 20km SSE dead of Dean, Glos 0d

Kestrel EX37229 Nestling F 16.06.2010 Upton Cheyney, Avon Freshly 01.12.2010 Burley Gate 0y 5m 79km N dead (dis - 15d ease)

Hobby EL13190 Nestling 05.08.2007 near Linton, Der - byshire Alive 28.06.2008 Ramsey Hollow, 0y 10m 109km ESE (colour Cambridgeshire 23d rings seen)

Alive 13.05.2010 Site in Hereford - 2y 9m 102km SW (colour shire 8d rings seen)

77 Black-headed Gull EN82186 First-year 27.12.1986 Stretton Sugwas, Hereford Caught alive 18.05.1990 Bohmke Und 3y 4m 1,143km E Werder, Wolgast, 21d Rostock, Ger - many 53°57’N 14°2’E Alive (ring 28.05.2010 Bohmke Und 23y 5m 1,145km E read in Werder, Ostvor - 1d field) pommern, Ros - tock, Germany 53°57’N 14°2’E The current longevity record for a British-ringed Black-headed Gull is over 29 years, so this bird has achieved a respectable proportion of that. Note the long time interval between successive encounters in Germany. Lesser Black-backed Gull GF31459 Nestling 03.07.1997 Widemarsh, Herefordshire Sighted 22.08.1998 Throckmorton 47km E landfill site, Worcs “ 29.09.1998 Westport Lake, 115 km NNE Stoke-on-Trent “ 03.01.1999 Westport Lake, Stoke “ 18.12.1999 Westport Lake, Stoke “ 04.03.2004 Throckmorton landfill site, Worcs “ 04.04.2004 Throckmorton landfill site “ 19.08.2004 Hereford “ 14.12.2004 Stoke Orchard 46 km ESE landfill site, Glos “ 02.08.2005 Hereford “ 14.08.2005 Hereford “ 27.12.2005 Westport Lake, Stoke “ 28.12.2005 Westwood Park 44 km ENE Lake, Worcester 78 “ 20.02.2008 Stoke Orchard landfill site, Glos “ 30.12.2008 Gloucester land - fill site “ 16.10.2009 Gloucester land - 39 km SE fill site “ 05.08.2010 Hereford 13y 1m 2d 1 km E

GR20412 Nestling 04.07.2010 Havergate Island, Suffolk Alive (colour 13.09.2010 Stretton Sugwas, 0y 2m 9d 295km W rings seen) Hereford

Tawny Owl GN31482 Nestling 11.05.2009 Hillaston Freshly dead 29.05.2010 Aston Ingham 1y 0m 18d 3km

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker VT50887 1st-year M 10.07.2005 Much Marcle Recaptured 11.06.2006 Much Marcle “ 31.07.2010 Much Marcle 5 y 0m 21d A nice long-term record of this declining and elusive species.

Blue Tit T985341 Juvenile 02.07.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured M 17.08.2008 Much Marcle

“ 05.09.2010 Much Marcle 4y 2m 3d T985350 Juvenile 02.07.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured 26.08.2006 Much Marcle “ 27.08.2007 Much Marcle “ F 15.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 23.05.2009 Much Marcle “ 03.04.2010 Much Marcle 3y 9m 1d These birds were caught at the Constant Effort Site (CES) at Much Marcle; CES ringing involves fairly frequent catching operations to a consistent plan at the site from May through to August, thereby enabling the abundance, productivity and adult survival of bird populations using the site to be monitored. 79 Sand Martin FRP 1st-year 26.08.2008 Plaisance, Saint- 5626627 F Froult, Charente- Maritime, France 45°54’N 1°4’W Caught 10.06.2010 Llancillo Court, 1y 9m 683km N alive near Pontrilas 15d Long-tailed Tit AJA413 Juvenile 07.06.2005 Much Marcle Recap - 27.08.2007 Much Marcle tured “ F 31.05.2008 Much Marcle “ 09.08.2010 Much Marcle 5y 2m 2d BJP228 Juvenile 11.06.2006 Much Marcle Recap - 26.08.2006 Much Marcle tured “ M 20.05.2007 Much Marcle “ 10.05.2009 Much Marcle “ 04.06.2010 Much Marcle 3y 11m 24d Chiffchaff In contrast to Reed Warbler (see below), we do not get Chiffchaffs with long-term re - capture histories. However, there is some site fidelity: a total of eight individual Chiff - chaffs were recaptured at Much Marcle in 2010, all originally ringed there as juvenile or 1st-year birds – details of one such bird are given below. Chiffchaff is by far the most numerous species ringed at that site. CHH832 Juvenile 04.07.2009 Much Marcle Recap - 30.08.2009 Much Marcle tured “ 03.05.2010 Much Marcle “ 22.05.2010 Much Marcle “ 12.06.2010 Much Marcle 0y 11m 8d Blackcap X983998 1st-year 04.07.2010 Queenswood, Hope M Under Dinmore Caught 08.09.2010 Pett Level, Sussex 0y 2m 4d 273km ESE alive V680911 1st-year 26.09.2009 Titchfield Haven, M Hill Head, Fare - ham, Hampshire Freshly 18.04.2010 King’s Thorn 0y 6m 23d 165km NW dead (hit glass) 80 Reed Warbler R043888 Adult 24.05.2003 Much Marcle Recaptured – 12.07.2003 Much Marcle M “ 01.05.2005 Much Marcle “ 22.07.2006 Much Marcle “ 28.07.2007 Much Marcle “ 04.07.2009 Much Marcle “ 04.06.2010 Much Marcle 7y 0m 11d R820272 1st-year 25.07.2004 Much Marcle Recaptured – 10.07.2005 Much Marcle M “ 22.07.2006 Much Marcle “ 15.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 22.07.2009 Much Marcle “ 24.08.2010 Much Marcle 6y 0m 30d T985217 Adult 30.04.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured – 22.07.2006 Much Marcle M “ 17.06.2007 Much Marcle “ 15.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 22.05.2010 Much Marcle 4y 0m 22d T985385 1st-year 15.07.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured – 18.07.2007 Much Marcle M “ 27.07.2008 Much Marcle “ 16.08.2009 Much Marcle “ 09.05.2010 Much Marcle 3y 9m 24d T985444 Adult – M 22.07.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured 04.06.2010 Much Marcle 3y 10m 13d T985661 Adult – F 05.08.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured 21.08.2010 Much Marcle 4y 0m 16d T985673 1st-year 05.08.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured – 07.07.2008 Much Marcle M “ 09.08.2010 Much Marcle 4y 0m 4d V948883 Adult 22.08.2009 Uskmouth, Newport, Gwent Caught alive – 27.06.2010 Much Marcle F Recaptured 07.08.2010 Much Marcle 0y 11m 16d 60 km NNE 81 These (and some more recent) Reed Warbler capture histories are summarised below, showing the years in which each bird was encountered and the interval between first ringing (indicated by N) and most recent recapture. Other ringing sites have similar sets of records. The maximum recorded age for British ringed Reed Warblers is just under 13 years. Ring No 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Interval R043888 M N X X X X X 7 yrs 11 days R820272 M N X X X X X 6 yrs 30 days T985217 M N X X X 4 yrs 22 days T985385 M N X X X X 3 yrs 298 days T985444 M N X 3 yrs 317 days T985661 F N X 4 yrs 16 days T985673 M N X X 4 yrs 4 days V488524 F N X X 3 yrs 23 days V488535 M N X X X 2 yrs 357 days V488537 M N X X X 3 yrs 22 days V488609 F N X X X 2 yrs 320 days Wren AJA451 1st-year 16.07.2005 Much Marcle Recaptured 29.07.2005 Much Marcle “ M 28.05.2006 Much Marcle “ 29.04.2007 Much Marcle “ 18.07.2007 Much Marcle “ 31.05.2008 Much Marcle “ 10.05.2009 Much Marcle “ 03.0402010 Much Marcle “ 28.08.2010 Much Marcle 5y 1m 12d BXD069 2nd-year M 20.05.2007 Much Marcle Recaptured 24.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 10.04.2010 Much Marcle 2y 10m 21d AJA451 was included in previous reports and was encountered again in 2010; this extensive capture history suggests it was resident at the site. Dipper RT10768 Nestling F 10.04.2005 Deerfold Bridge, Kinsham Caught alive 22.01.2006 Knighton, Powys* Caught alive 14.10.2007 Knighton Powys Caught alive 29.09.2009 Knighton, Shropshire Caught alive 21.09.2010 Knighton, Shropshire 5y 5m 11d 11km WNW * The county boundary crosses the river several times near Knighton, so the county of capture depends on precisely where each encounter occurs along the river. 82 Blackbird CW32058 Juvenile – F 16.07.2005 Much Marcle Recaptured 02.07.2006 Much Marcle “ 28.07.2007 Much Marcle “ 24.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 12.06.2010 Much Marcle 4y 10m 27d Robin T985313 Juvenile 02.07.2006 Much Marcle Recaptured – 09.06.2007 Much Marcle M “ 15.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 08.09.2008 Much Marcle “ 14.06.2009 Much Marcle “ 03.04.2010 Much Marcle “ 29.08.2010 Much Marcle 4y 1m 27d V488712 1st-year 06.09.2007 Much Marcle Recaptured – 15.06.2008 Much Marcle M “ 25.09.2010 Much Marcle 3y 0m 19d Pied Flycatcher L358949 Juvenile 29.07.2010 Much Marcle (see note Recaptured 31.07.2010 Much Marcle below) P048943 Nestling 07.06.2003 Bryn, Longtown Caught alive – 19.05.2010 Cwm Claisfer, 6y 11m 24km WSW F near Crickhowell, 12d Powys P775921 Nestling 03.06.2006 Llancillo Court, nr Pontrilas Caught alive – 04.06.2009 Whitney Wood- M Sawmills (box W) Caught alive 06.06.2010 Whitney Wood- 4y 0m 24km NNW Sawmills (box Y) 3d R541998 Adult 23.05.2008 Brilley Green Caught alive – 02.06.2010 Whitney Wood- 2y 0m F Sawmills (box TP1) 10d R601826 Adult F 20.05.2006 Crow Wood, Tur - nastone (box 27) Recaptured 20.05.2007 Crow Wood (box 12) “ 24.05.2008 Crow Wood (box 4) “ 23.05.2009 Crow Wood (box 24) “ 30.05.2010 Crow Wood (box 3) 4y 0m 10d 83 R601838 Adult F 21.05.2006 Mansel Lacy (box 64) Recaptured 02.06.2007 Mansel Lacy (box 95) “ 18.05.2008 Mansel Lacy (box 11) “ 11.05.2009 Mansel Lacy (box 29) “ 14.05.2010 Mansel Lacy (box 30) 3y 11m 24d R601874 Nestling 04.06.2006 Crow Wood, Turnas - tone (box 12) Recaptured 23.05.2009 Crow Wood (box 18) – F “ 03.06.2010 Crow Wood (box 2) 3y 11m 30d R601960 Nestling 05.06.2006 Mansel Lacy (box 89) Recaptured 29.05.2008 Mansel Lacy (box 11) – M “ 28.05.2010 Mansel Lacy (box 30) 3y 11m 23d T600245 Adult M 26.05.2007 Whitney Court (box 18) Recaptured 30.05.2009 Whitney Court (box 05) “ 20.06.2009 Whitney Court (box 12A) “ 02.06.2010 Whitney Court (box 27) 3y 0m 7d T600534 Nestling 07.06.2008 Crow Wood, Turnas - tone (box 4) Caught 17.05.2010 Court Wood, 1y 11m 10d 10km NNW alive – F Bredwardine T600783 Nestling 23.05.2009 Crow Wood, Turnas - tone (box 3) Caught 30.05.2010 Llancillo Court, near 1y 0m 7d 10km SSE alive – F Pontrilas T600919 Nestling 02.06.2009 Crow Wood, Turnas - tone (box 21) Recaptured 19.05.2010 Crow Wood (box 21) 0y 11m 17d – F T939664 Adult – F 09.05.2009 Barnacre Reservoir, Lancashire Caught 17.05.2010 Whitney Court (box 8) 1y 0m 8d 202 S alive km V168445 Nestling 09.06.2007 Wigmore Rolls Caught 07.06.2010 Shobdon Hill Wood, 2y 11m 29d 6km S alive – F Leominster 84 V202626 Nestling 09.06.2007 Llancillo Caught 03.06.2008 Nagshead, Parkend, alive – M Gloucester “ 28.05.2009 Nagshead “ 31.05.2010 Nagshead 2y 11m 22d 30 km SE V202778 Nestling 08.06.2008 Upper Bryn, Longtown Caught 03.06.2010 Crow Wood, 1y 11m 26d 6 km N alive – M Turnastone (box 2) V209311 Nestling 08.06.2009 Shobdon Hill Wood, Leominster Caught 02.06.2010 Mansel Lacy (box 69) 0y 11m 25d 19 km SSE alive – F V577560 Nestling 11.06.2008 Beulah, Powys Caught 25.05.2010 Shobdon Hill Wood, 1y 11m 14d 50 km ENE alive – F Leominster X257979 Adult – F 26.05.2009 Hurst, Clun, Shropshire Caught 30.05.2010 Shobdon Hill Wood, 1y 0m 4d 19 km SSE alive Leominster X760065 Nestling 20.06.2009 Paradise Farm, Presteigne, Powys Caught 28.05.2010 Yatton Court, 0y 11m 8d 13 km E alive – F Aymestrey, Leominster X771633 Nestling 08.06.2009 Bucknell Wood, Shropshire Caught 30.05.2010 Shobdon Hill Wood, 0y 11m 22d 11 km SSE alive – F Leominster L358949 is included above because it is the first Pied Flycatcher caught at Much Marcle since ringing began there in 1995. Although many of this species are ringed in the county as nestlings, it is unusual to catch them here after fledging. T600245 is an example of a “bigamous” male, caught in two different boxes in the same season. T600919 showed not just site fidelity but box fidelity! It returned to exactly the same box (for its first breeding attempt) in which it had hatched in 2009. Dunnock T235631 Adult M 27.06.2005 Much Marcle Recaptured 24.06.2008 Much Marcle “ 05.09.2010 Much Marcle 5y 2m 9d

85 Greenfinch TH04934 2nd-year M 28.02.2010 Kempley, Glos Caught alive 04.06.2010 Much Marcle 0y 3m 4d 6km NNW TR08671 Juvenile 25.07.2010 Kempley Juvenile – F 21.08.2010 Much Marcle 0y 0m 27d 6km NNW

Siskin V601965 Adult M 16.03.2009 Chase Road, Upper Colwall Caught alive 17.07.2010 Lognavatn, Aseral, 1y 4m 1d 967km NE Vest-Agder, Norway 58°45’N 7°30’E

Lesser Redpoll L518478 1st-year 25.09.2010 Much Marcle Caught alive 16.11.2010 Pett Level, Sussex 0y 1m 22d 253km ESE

Bullfinch X258084 Juvenile 20.07.2008 Much Marcle Recaptured 16.08.2009 Much Marcle – F

Reed Bunting R820008 Adult M 02.05.2004 Much Marcle Recaptured 05.09.2004 Much Marcle “ 15.05.2005 Much Marcle “ 02.07.2006 Much Marcle “ 09.06.2007 Much Marcle “ 16.08.2009 Much Marcle “ 12.06.2010 Much Marcle 6y 1m 10d

The following ringers contributed information for this summary; we appreciate their help: Dominic Ash; Dr David Boddington; Sara Bone; Felicity Burge; David Coker; Bert Coleman; Tony Cross; Maurice Durham (Severn Estuary Gull Group); Dr Graham Geen (Llancillo Ringing Group); Mervyn Greening (Much Marcle CES); John Hodson (Wychavon Ringing Group); Rob Husbands; Alan Marchant; Dr Stephanie Tyler. If you ringed birds in Herefordshire but your name is missing from this list, please ac - cept apologies and contact me ([email protected]) or the Report editor to en - sure inclusion of your totals for future years. If any reader is interested in participating in ringing activities in the county, please contact me. David Coker 86 Herefordshire Nature Trust Nest Box Recording Scheme 2010 Co-ordinator: Beryl Harding Summary of the 2010 nest box results from 16 Non-HNT sites and 13 HNT Reserves. Non-HNT Reserve Sites Badnage Wood, Tillington Recorder Bryn Jones (36 boxes, Occupation: 25%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 8 57 39 36 63.1% Great Tit 1 4 0 0 Nil Brockhampton, Bromyard Recorder Dr D. Boddington (12 boxes, Occupation: 25%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 1 6 6 6 100% Great Tit 1 9 9 9 100% Wren 1 6 6 ? ? Coppett Hill, Welsh Bicknor Recorders Mike Thompson & Chris Crane (20 boxes, Occupation: 75%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 7 52 52 46 88.5% Great Tit 8 53 51 50 94.3% Gatley Park Recorder Dr. D. Boddington (21 boxes, Occupation: 85.7%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 7 59 53 41 69.4% Great Tit 4 26 26 20 76.9% Pied Fly - 66.6% 6 36 24 24 catcher All ringed. Redstart 1 9 6 6 66.6% Notes: Woodland thinned and underlay flattened so results poorer than usual. Mary Knoll Recorders Peter & Joan Gardner (104 conventional boxes + 1 owl & 1 tree creeper types) Note: Unfortunately, no records were available this year due to the ill health of Mr. Gardner but we are very grateful to them both for many years of detailed recording on such a large site. 87 Merryhill, Mansell Lacy Recorder Dave Coker (102 boxes, Occupation: 55.8%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 24 87 31 ? ? Great Tit 14 34+ 20+ ? ? Pied Fly - 77.7% All 13 27 23 21 catcher ringed. Coal Tit 1 9 9 9 100% Marsh Tit 2 15+ 14+ 0 Nests failed Tit species 3 29 8 ? ? Note: Due to lack of time in many cases the full brood results were not seen, but were apparently successful as no corpses were found. An abandoned Flycatcher egg was found in 1 Blue Tit nest. Also a pipistrelle bat was found roosting in one box when it was later cleaned out. Moccas Park Recorder Alan Marchant (70 boxes, Occupation: 31.4 %) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 4 33 24 23 69.7% Great Tit 2 14 14 14 100% Redstart 2 13 6 6 46.1% Pied Fly - 61.0% 14 95 79 78 catcher All ringed. Note: Blue & Great Tit occupancy of nests was down by 60+% – probably due to the cold winter. St. Wulstan’s Wood, Welsh Newton Recorder Sue Parkinson (18 conventional boxes + 3 other types, Occupation: 76.1%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 8 70 55 27 38.5% Great Tit 6 47 39 31 65.9% Nuthatch 2 6 4 4 66.6% Note: Unusually – 2nd brood of 5 Blue Tits successfully raised by 28th June. Shobdon Hill Wood Recorder Dr. D. Boddington (42 boxes, Occupation: 88%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 12 97 71 56 57.7% Great Tit 6 43 42 42 97.6% Pied Fly - 81.2% All 15 80 72 65 catcher ringed Nuthatch 1 8 8 8 100% 88 The Leathers, Aymestrey Recorders Dr John Ross & Dr D. Boddington (24 boxes, Occupation: 70.8%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 8 60 54 49 81.6% Great Tit 4 26 26 26 100% Pied Fly - 97% All 5 34 33 33 catcher ringed. Tidnor Wood Orchard Recorder Felicity Burge (29 boxes: 26 used: 89.6% take up) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 14 122 98 82+ c. 67.2% Great Tit 10 63 38 38 60.3% Tit species 2 7 7 Failed - Wellington Wood Recorder Felicity Burge (20 boxes, Occupation: 80%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 8 92 77 77 83.7% Great Tit 7 73 58 58 79.4% Nuthatch 1 9 9 9 100% Note: One Blue Tit sat tight while the box was drilled to fix the lid!

Whitfield Recorder John Pullen (30 boxes, Occupation: 66.6%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 14 131 113 113? 86.2%? Great Tit 6 38 35 35 92.1%

Whitman’s Hill, Storridge Recorder Janet Parry (12 boxes; 8 used: 66.6% take up)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 3 28 23 23 82.1% Great Tit 5 38 35 35 92.1% Note: Two of the six dormouse boxes were used by Blue Tits and produced 14 fledglings.

89 Whitney Court & Whitney Sawmills Recorders Dave Bennett & Dave Coker (67 boxes, Occupation: 38.8%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 18 169 150 20+ c. 11.8% Great Tit 15 100+ 98 23+ c. 23% Marsh Tit 1 9 9 9 100% Pied Fly - c. 60.6% All 5 99 97 60+ catcher ringed. Note: One ringed bigamous male Flycatcher was found serving 2 nests. Yatton Court, Aymstrey Recorder Dr. D. Boddington (17 boxes, Occupation: 35.2%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 2 11 10 10 90.9% Pied Fly - 100% All 3 19 19 19 catcher ringed. Great Tit 1 9 9 5 55.5% Note: Four boxes with wasps’ nests in them. Yoke Wood Recorder Felicity Burge (16 boxes, Occupation: 75%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 4 37 36 35 94.6% Great Tit 5 40 26 24 60% Pied Fly - 66.6% All 3 33 25 22 catcher ringed. HNT Reserve Sites Brilley Dingle Recorder Rod Symondson (17 boxes: 14 used: 82% take up) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Great Tit 14 86 82 81 94.2% Pied Fly - 1 1 - - - catcher Note: The one Pied Flycatcher nest was taken over by a Great Tit, which reared 3 young successfully. Clay Vallets Recorder John Voysey (18 boxes, Occupation: 61.1%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 3 18+ 4+ ? ? Great Tit 5 30+ ? 20? 66.6%? Pied Fly - 3 21 14+ ? None ringed. catcher 90 Coughton Marsh, Nr. Ross-on-Wye Recorder Pete Barley (20 boxes, Occupation: 45%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 4 32 25 25 78.1% Great Tit 5 28 28 26 92.8% Note: As usual dormouse boxes were used by birds but not included in these results Court Wood Recorder Felicity Burge (20 boxes, Occupation: 75%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 5 49 25 21 42.8% Great Tit 7 53 38 38? 71.6%? Pied Fly - 86.6% All 3 15 13 13 catcher ringed. Crampton Lower Wood Recorder Graham Wren (8 boxes, Occupation: 75%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 3 34 29 18 52.9% Great Tit 3 17 16 16 94.1% Crow Wood, Turnastone Recorder Bryn Jones (41 boxes, Occupation: 75.6%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 11 89? 63? 63? 70.8%? Great Tit 6 36? 36? 34? 94.4%? Redstart 3 18 13 13 72.2% Pied Fly - 69.6% All 11 79 60 55 catcher ringed. Lea & Pagets Wood Recorder David Phelps (36 boxes, Occupation: 55.5%) Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 9 91 80 77 84.6% Great Tit 8 73 61 56 76.7% Wren 1 - - - No access Nuthatch 2 6 6 6 100% 91 Leeping Stocks Recorder John Sumner (23 boxes, Occupation: 60.8%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success

Blue Tit 4 33 21 17 51.5%

Great Tit 9 51 39 32 62.7%

Nuthatch 1 6 6 5 83.3%

Miners Rest, Doward Recorder Graham Wren (15 boxes, Occupation: 66.6%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success

Blue Tit 6 56 51 47 83.9%

Great Tit 4 25 25 16 64%

Nupend Recorder Leslie Smith (20 boxes, Occupation: 75%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success

Blue Tit 8 44 33 33 75%

Great Tit 7 49 40 40 81.6%

Titley/ Eywood Pool Recorder Dr D. Boddington Note: This site is too difficult to record and only marginal as far as Pied flycatchers are concerned. White Rocks, Doward Recorder Sarah Thomas (25 boxes, Occupation: 72 %)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success Blue Tit 8 78 74 74 94.8% Great Tit 8 54 51 51 94.4% Nuthatch 2 6 6 6 100%

Note: No dead fledglings found this year. Two nests on ash trees were ignored, oaks probably preferred – more caterpillar food?

92 Woodside, Doward Recorder Graham Wren (26 boxes, Occupation: 61.5%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success

Blue Tit 8 77 64 58 75.3%

Great Tit 6 44 20 19 43.2%

Nuthatch 1 8 6 6 75%

Wyevale Wood Recorder Bryn Jones (27 boxes, Occupation: 85.1%)

Species Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged Success

Blue Tit 16 136 122 122 89.7%

Great Tit 7 40 39 39 97.5%

Note: Two Great Tit boxes had birds sitting on every occasion visited.

Overall results for 2010 Results for last the last nine years are as follows:

Summary 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

Sites recorded 29 30 29 33 30 27 29 23 16

Boxes available 818 939 961 943 983 825 766 824 567

Boxes used 510 508 519 639 578 510 467 431 282

% Used 62.3 54.1 54.0 67.7 58.7 61.8 60.9 52.3 49.7

93 Species Results for 2010

Species Sites Nests Eggs Hatched Fledged % Success

Pied Flycatcher 12 82 539 459 404+ c. 74.9%

Blue Tit 28 227 1944 1483 1199+ c. 61.7%

Great Tit 28 184 1203 1001 878+ c. 72.9%

Coal Tit 1 1 9 9 9 100%

Nuthatch 7 10 49 45 44 89.7%

Redstart 3 5 31 16 16 51.6%

Wren 1 1 - - - No access

Marsh Tit * 3 24+ 23+ 9 9 39.1%

Note: Two Marsh Tit nests failed, but one had 100% success with 9 young fledged. The cause of failure is unknown but could be either due to lack of food or the death of the parents. Recorders could not always visit the nests in time to detail all the changes especially those with a number of sites or a large number of nests on one site – hence the + sign Comparative annual success rate in fledging for the various species

Species 2010 2009 2008 2007

Pied 74.9% -12 sites 67.2% – 13 sites 63.0% – 13 sites 41.4% – 12 sites Flycatcher

Blue Tit 61.7% – 28 sites 73.1% – 29 sites 64.7% – 29 sites 63.6% – 33 sites

Great Tit 72.9% – 28 sites 75.3% – 30 sites 68.1% – 29 sites 61.2% – 32 sites

Marsh Tit 37.5% – 3 sites - - 50.0% – 1 site

Coal Tit 100% – 1 site 100% – 1 site 56.2% – 2 sites 100.0% – 1 site

Nuthatch 89.7% – 7 sites 87.9% – 7 sites 73.2% – 8 sites 77.9% – 11 sites

Redstart 51.6% – 3 sites 80.0% – 4 sites 63.1% – 2 sites 85.7% – 3 sites

Wren ?% – 2 sites ? – 1 site ? – 1 site Failed 1 site

94 Pied Flycatcher only Results Year Sites Nests Eggs Fledged Success 2000 24 140 669 494 73.8% 2002 14 96 685 263 38.3% 2003 14 109 708 376 53.1% 2004 14 89 620 443 71.4% 2005 14 85 574 423 73.6% 2006 16 88 520 503 96.6% 2007 12 107 636 263 41.4% 2008 13 81 582 367 63.0% 2009 13 93 525 353 67.2% 2010 12 82 539 404 74.9%

Conclusions For much of the early year high pressure over Europe kept the wet westerly winds at bay giving dry weather. This largely contributed to this year’s breeding successes com - pared with the adverse effects of trying to incubate and/or feed young during the wet springs of 2008 and 2009. The weather continued cool and dry but sunny into early April and May with the ‘real’ summer arriving in late June. The rare event of the Iceland volcanic ash cloud and its dispersal during April and May did delay some migrant returns even though much of the ash was at a high altitude.

Pied Flycatcher in May – how many “wives” did he have? Picture: George Ewart 95 Obituaries

Elaine with her husband Ifor Evans Elaine Evans laine with Ifor joined the Club in 1972 – so both have been active members for 38 years. When Ifor joined the Committee in 1975 Elaine not only took on the role as his supporter and ‘secretary’ but also became an enthusiastic and welcoming leader of outdoor meetings— especially for children attending with their parents. Ever busy at HOC indoor meetings, she helped with the provision of refreshments. Elaine helped Ifor produce a “History of the HOC’s First Fifty Years” – a task for which they were well qualified. Elaine with Ifor also took over the running of HOC’s Garden Bird - watch when Ray Mellish became too ill to continue. Elaine and Ifor for a long period of time collated and arranged for the posting of the HOC Bulletin. Elaine was an enthusiastic supporter of the RSPB, helping Ifor to or - ganise the annual presentation of RSPB films in Hereford Town Hall for the 17 years from 1967-93. She sold badges at various retail outlets to raise funds and promote the work of the RSPB and also fed and housed RSPB staff who were keeping an eye on egg collectors endan -

96 gering Red Kites in the Club area, which years ago included Radnorshire (now Powys). In 2005 Elaine acted as a volunteer guide at the Bee-eater’s nest by the Wye and this year (2010) received the RSPB’s 35-year long-service award, comprising certificates and gold pin badges, in recognition of her work and support. Elaine never sought recognition for her work for wild birds and so this appreciation is now due to her. John Pullen & Nick Smith. Beryl Bayliss n 1988, at the age of 65 and after a career as a midwife and district nurse, Beryl would have been entitled to spend a little more time bird watching Iand travelling abroad. However, instead Beryl embarked on another re - markable spell of commitment to the people of Herefordshire, running the Athene Sanctuary. For some time Beryl had acted as an out-of-hours service for Brookfield Vets in Hereford. One day vet John Davies asked if she would like to see a recently arrived patient- a Little Owl. She volunteered to take the bird into her home to recover, and soon other bird patients arrived. Eventually, taking the Latin name for Little Owl, the Athene Sanctuary was born. Beryl went on woodwork classes to build her first cage and, armed with her handiwork and an aviary, she felt sure she was suitably equipped. It was soon obvious that this was not the case! Over the following years, her house and garden were remodelled and landscaped to accommodate cages, aviaries, ponds and sheds suitable for the wide range of birds that arrived at her door. Often birds needed rescu - ing and many an able-bodied man was embarrassed to find that he had called out this diminutive, elderly lady who gamely scaled ladders, climbed gates and ventured into situations that many would not tackle. During the peak spring periods Beryl would usually work throughout daylight hours tending to nestlings and fledglings, as well as all manner of adult birds in her care. She would often finish one round of hand-feed - ing in time to start all over again. Even night time gave no respite from enquiring phone calls and then, in response to an obvious local need, she started to take in hedgehogs, en - suring that even the quieter winter months were still busy. All this was achieved by Beryl with just a few hours assistance most days from a small band of helpers. Beryl gave up the running of the Athene Sanctuary in 2009 and died a few months later in February 2010. John Pullen & Kevin Tillett

97 Alphabetical index to the Systematic List Arctic Tern ...... 46 Great Tit ...... 58 Red Kite ...... 36 Avocet ...... 39 Green Sandpiper ...... 43 Red-legged Partridge ...... 34 Barn Owl ...... 55 Green Woodpecker ...... 56 Redshank ...... 43 Barnacle Goose ...... 23 Greenfinch ...... 67 Redstart ...... 61 Bar-tailed Godwit ...... 42 Greenland Wheatear ...... 62 Redwing ...... 61 Bewick’s Swan ...... 22 Greenshank ...... 43 Reed Bunting ...... 68 Black Redstart ...... 61 Grey Heron ...... 35 Reed Warbler ...... 64 Black Tern ...... 45 Grey Partridge ...... 34 Ring Ouzel ...... 60 Blackbird ...... 60 Grey Phalarope ...... 43 Ringed Plover ...... 39 Blackcap ...... 63 Grey Wagtail ...... 66 Ring-necked Parakeet ...... 55 Black-headed Gull ...... 44 Greylag Goose ...... 22 Robin ...... 61 Black-necked Grebe ...... 36 Hawfinch ...... 68 Rook ...... 57 Black-tailed Godwit ...... 42 Hen Harrier ...... 37 Ruff ...... 41 Blue Tit ...... 58 Herring Gull ...... 45 Sand Martin ...... 59 Blue-headed Wagtail ...... 65 Hobby ...... 38 Sanderling ...... 40 Brambling ...... 67 House Martin ...... 59 Sedge Warbler ...... 64 Bullfinch ...... 68 House Sparrow ...... 65 Shelduck ...... 23 Buzzard ...... 37 Jack Snipe ...... 41 Shoveler ...... 29 Canada Goose ...... 23 Jackdaw ...... 57 Siskin ...... 67 Carrion Crow ...... 57 Jay ...... 57 Skylark ...... 59 Chaffinch ...... 66 Kestrel ...... 38 Slavonian Grebe ...... 36 Chiffchaff ...... 63 Kingfisher ...... 55 Smew ...... 31 Coal Tit ...... 58 Lapwing ...... 40 Snipe ...... 41 Collared Dove ...... 46 Lesser Black-backed Gull ...... 44 Song Thrush ...... 60 Common Crossbill ...... 68 Lesser Redpoll ...... 67 Sparrowhawk ...... 37 Common Gull ...... 44 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ...56 Spotted Flycatcher ...... 61 Common Sandpiper ...... 42 Lesser Whitethroat ...... 63 Starling ...... 60 Common Scoter ...... 31 Linnet ...... 67 Stock Dove ...... 46 Common Tern ...... 45 Little Egret ...... 35 Stonechat ...... 62 Coot ...... 39 Little Grebe ...... 35 Swallow ...... 59 Cormorant ...... 34 Little Gull ...... 44 Swift ...... 55 Corn Bunting ...... 68 Little Owl ...... 55 Cuckoo ...... 55 Little Ringed Plover ...... 39 Tawny Owl ...... 55 Curlew ...... 42 Little Stint ...... 41 Tawny Pipit ...... 66 Curlew Sandpiper ...... 41 Long-tailed Tit ...... 62 Teal ...... 25 Dipper ...... 60 Magpie ...... 56 Tree Pipit ...... 66 Dotterel ...... 40 Mallard ...... 26 Tree Sparrow ...... 65 Dunlin ...... 41 Mandarin Duck ...... 23 Treecreeper ...... 65 Dunnock ...... 65 Marsh Tit ...... 58 Tufted Duck ...... 30 Feral Pigeon ...... 46 Meadow Pipit ...... 66 Turnstone ...... 43 Fieldfare ...... 60 Mealy Redpoll ...... 67 Turtle Dove ...... 46 Firecrest ...... 57 Mediterranean Gull ...... 44 Water Rail ...... 38 Gadwall ...... 25 Melodious Warbler ...... 64 Waxwing ...... 64 Gannet ...... 34 Merlin ...... 38 Wheatear ...... 62 Garden Warbler ...... 63 Mistle Thrush ...... 61 Whimbrel ...... 42 Garganey ...... 29 Moorhen ...... 38 Whinchat ...... 62 Glossy Ibis ...... 35 Mute Swan ...... 22 White Wagtail ...... 66 Goldcrest ...... 57 Nightingale ...... 61 Whitethroat ...... 64 Golden Oriole ...... 56 Nuthatch ...... 65 Whooper Swan ...... 22 Golden Plover ...... 40 Osprey ...... 37 Wigeon ...... 24 Goldeneye ...... 31 Oystercatcher ...... 39 Willow Tit ...... 58 Goldfinch ...... 67 Peregrine ...... 38 Willow Warbler ...... 63 Goosander ...... 31 Pheasant ...... 34 Wood Sandpiper ...... 43 Goshawk ...... 37 Pied Flycatcher ...... 62 Wood Warbler ...... 62 Grasshopper Warbler ...... 64 Pied Wagtail ...... 66 Woodcock ...... 41 Great Black-backed Gull ...... 45 Pink-footed Goose ...... 22 Woodpigeon ...... 46 Great Crested Grebe ...... 36 Pintail ...... 28 Wren ...... 59 Great Grey Shrike ...... 56 Pochard ...... 29 Wryneck ...... 56 Great Northern Diver ...... 34 Quail ...... 34 Yellow Wagtail ...... 65 Great Skua ...... 44 Raven ...... 57 Yellowhammer ...... 68 Great Spotted Woodpecker ....56 Red Grouse ...... 34 Yellow-legged Gull ...... 45 98 Interesting sites in Herefordshire (see map overleaf) Abbreviations: PRW = Public footpaths; NE = Natural England; HNT = Herefordshire Nature Trust; NNR = National Nature Reserve; NT= National Trust.

Key Location NGR Type of habitat Access 1 Berrington Hall S0510638 Lake, wood & farmland National Trust 2 Bircher Common S0460670 Common & woodland Public access 3 Bodenham Lake S0527511 Lake & Wetland Public access 4 Bradnor Hill NT S0282584 Hill & common Road and PRW 5 Bringsty Common S0702550 Common & woodland Public access 6 Brockhampton NT S0684549 Farmland, woods, parkland National Trust & PRW 7 Brockhall Gravel Pit S0451423 Gravel pits PRW 8 Bromsash S0643241 Farmland Road & PRW 9 Castle Pool, Hereford City S0513397 Pool Road & PRW 10 Credenhill Park Wood S0454441 Woodland Public access 11 Coneygree Wood, Ledbury S0718375 Woodland Public access 12 Coppett Hill S0573178 Common & woodland Public access 13 Croft Ambrey Fort S0445667 Hill Fort & woodland National trust & PRW 14 Croft Castle S0451657 Parkland & woodland National Trust & PRW 15 Downton Gorge NNR S0444743 River & woodland Natural England 16 Eastnor Deer park S0745378 Parkland PRW 17 Ewyas Harold Common S0385300 Common Public access 18 Frith Wood S0718395 Woodland Public access 19 Garway Hill S0437251 Common Public access 20 Harley’s Mountain S0345690 Open farmland & Hill Public footpaths 21 Hartleton Lakes S0652254 Lakes PRW 22 Haugh Wood S0593365 Woodland Public access 23 Holme Lacy, River Wye S0567347 River & farmland PRW 24 Hergest Ridge S0255562 HNT& common Public access 25 High Vinnals S0472731 Woodland Public access 26 Kenchester Pools S0432427 Farmland & pools Road & PRW 27 Leominster By-pass S0505585 Farmland & River Road and PRW 28 Letton Lakes S0354477 Farmland & wetland PRW 29 Lugg Meadows S0532418 Farmland & wetland PRW 30 Mary Knoll Valley S0497718 Woodland Public access 31 Mathon Gravel Pits S0739454 Gravel pits PRW 32 Merbach Hill S0304447 Common & woodland PRW 33 Midsummer Hill & Hollybush S0760375 Hill & woodland Public access 34 Milton Cross & Shobdon Ind Est S0382606 Farmland & Industrial est Road only 35 Moccas Deer Park NNR S0344431 Parkland Road or Natural England 36 Newton Coppice S0485377 Woodland Public access 37 Olchon Valley S0288317 Farmland PRW 38 Queens Wood Country Park S0506514 Woodland Public access 39 Red Daren and Black Daren S0297300 Moorland Public access 40 Sellack, River Wye S0565277 River & farmland PRW 41 Shobdon Court Pools S0401626 Lake, woods, farmland PRW 42 Sink Green, River Wye S0545376 River & farmland PRW 43 Sutton Walls Fort S0525464 Fort & farmland PRW 44 Titley Pool HNT S0324594 Pool & wetland Public access 45 Wapley Hill S0358623 Woodland Public access 46 Wellington Gravel Pits S0509480 Gravel pits PRW 47 Welsh Newton Common S0515175 Common & woodland Public access 48 Wigmore Rolls S0397688 Woodland Public access 49 Wilton, River Wye S0590242 Farmland & river PRW 50 Winforton River Wye S0293462 Farmland & river PRW 99 Interesting sites in Herefordshire

For key to numbered sites, see inside cover. Please remember the Bird Watchers’ Code concerning access on land and disturbance of birds.

www.herefordshirebirds.org

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