Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society
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20 NOV 2Q02 I FXCHA^O'-"> 1 Norfolk Bird Report - 2001 Editor: Giles Dunmore Editorial 95 Review of the Year 98 Wetland Bird Surveys for Breydon and The Wash 1 05 Norfolk Bird Atlas 1 07 Systematic List 1 09 Introductions, Escapes, Ferals and Hybrids 248 Earliest and Latest Dates of Summer Migrants 253 Latest and Earliest Dates of Winter Migrants 254 Non-accepted and non-submitted records 255 Contributors 256 Ringing Report 258 Hunstanton Cliffs: a Forgotten Migration Hotspot 268 1 Yellow-legged Gulls in Norfolk: 1 96 -200 1 273 Marmora’s Warbler on Scolt Head - a first for Norfolk 28 Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler at Blakeney Point - the second for Norfolk 283 Blyth’s Pipit at Happisburgh in September 1 999 - the second for Norfolk 285 Norfolk Mammal Report - 2001 Editor: Ian Keymer Editorial 287 Bats at Paston Great Barn 288 Memories of an ex-editor 298 Harvest Mice: more common than suspected? 299 Are we under-recording the Norfolk mink population? 301 National Key Sites for Water Voles in Norfolk 304 A Guide to identification of Shrews and Rodents 309 Published by NORFOLK AND NORWICH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY Castle Museum, Norwich, NRl 3JU (Transactions Volume 35 part 2 October 2002) Please note that the page numbering in this report follows on from part 1 of the Transactions pub- lished in July 2002 ISSN 0375 7226 www.nnns.org.uk Keepsake back numbers are available from David & Iris Pauli, 8 Lindford Drive, Eaton, Norwich NR4 6LT Front cover photograph: Tree Sparrow (Richard Brooks) Back cover photograph: Grey Seal (Graeme Cresswell) NORFOLK BIRD REPORT - 2001 Editorial x On behalf of the Society 1 am pleased to present the annual report on the Birds of Norfolk. Acknowledgements The Editorial Team continues to function and comprises: • myself - Editor and Joint Recorder • Neil Lawton - Joint Recorder, • John Williamson - liaison with Norfolk Bird Club and the printers, • Julian Bhalerao - co-ordinating photographs and sketches, • Justin Lansdell - co-ordinating articles and writing Review of the Year. 1 am grateful to them for their encouragement, help, and support. The Report continues to be very much a team effort and without help from many people its production would not be possible. My thanks go to: • the other compilers of the monthly and annual Record Cards - Dave and Jacquie Bridges, Vince Hanlon, Justin Lansdell, Neil Lawton, Mick Saunt and John Williamson; • the other authors of the Systematic List - Peter Allard Chris Baker, Andy Benson, Andrew Bloomfield Dave and Jacquie Bridges, Andy Brown, Pete Clement, Keith Dye, Mick Fiszer, Vince Hanlon, Phil Heath, Gary Hibberd Ian Johnson, John Kemp, Justin Lansdell, Neil Lawton, Ben Murphy, Mick Saunt, Enid Stanford Andy Stoddart, Peter Wilson and John Williamson; • members of the County Records Committee; • authors of the articles in the Report, in particular Peter Wilson and Dawn Balmer on Yellow-legged Gulls, and Neil Lawton and Gary Hibberd on migration at Hunstanton Cliffs. • the artists and photographers who have made their work freely available; • Moss Taylor for supplying breeding details of the ongoing Norfolk Bird Atlas; • Steve Wakeham for the meteorological information; • Mike Rogers, Secretary of the British Birds Rarities Committee; • all the many individual contributors and clubs/societies, and in particular Birdline East Anglia, who have contributed records; • finally my wife Judy for her continued help in typing, layout and in many other ways. Waders and seals (Martin Woodcock) 95 The County Records Committee (Mick Fiszer, Steve Gantlett, Phil Heath, John Kemp and John Williamson) considered a total of 98 records in the year; 18 of these were rejected, mostly as a result of insufficient detail and not owing to an incorrect identification. The Committee also reviewed the list of species needing submission of a written description or photographic evidence (and subject to acceptance) prior to publication and decided to retain the present list. The list is as follows: Black-necked Grebe (at sea) Dark-breasted Barn Owl Cory’s Shearwater Bee-eater Great Shearwater Short-toed Lark Balearic Shearwater Tawny Pipit Storm Petrel Flava Wagtail (continental races except Night Heron Blue-headed and Grey-headed) Purple Heron Bluethroat (White-spotted only) White Stork Aquatic Warbler Greenland White-fronted Goose Marsh Warbler ‘Vagrant’ Canada Goose Melodious Warbler American Wigeon Dartford Warbler Ring-necked Duck Pallas’s Warbler Surf Scoter Chiffchaff {tristis race) Spotted Crake Woodchat Shrike Corncrake Raven Buff-breasted Sandpiper Rose-coloured Starling Grey Phalarope (in flight at sea) Serin Sabine’s Gull Common Rosefinch Ring-billed Gull Ortolan Bunting Caspian Gull Little Bunting Ring-necked Parakeet With regard to the submission of details, obviously the Committee would expect a far more detailed description of a species such as Ring-billed Gull (which is not only rare in the county but difficult to identify) than a species such as a White Stork. Written descriptions should consist of a brief note of the circumstances of the observation (weather, distance from bird, any other observers, etc), followed by a description of the actual bird(s) and details of any other species nearby for comparison. Written notes should state clearly how a bird was identified. Observers are also requested to include a note of their previous experience of the species and, if relevant, a brief outline of how any confusable species were eliminated. Copies of field sketches (however poor artistically) are often invaluable together with written field notes. It should be noted that on occasions observers may be asked for further details of species not contained in the above list - if records relate to unusual dates, localities, etc. Editorial Material: Articles for consideration, artwork, photographs and transparencies should continue to be submitted to me at 49 Nelson Road, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8DA. Submission of Records All records for the Systematic List should continue to be submitted to me at 49 Nelson Road, 96 Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8DA. Preferably these should be submitted on a monthly basis or, if this is not possible, on a 3-monthly or 6-monthly basis. Obviously records can be accepted annually after the end of the year but all observers are requested to submit their notes within a shorter time scale if possible to reduce the pressure of recording in January/February the following year. Receipt of late records causes a major problem in drafting the Systematic List and observations received after February’ of the following year cannot be guaranteed for inclusion in the Report. All records should be listed in the order of species appearing in this Report. Notes will not normally be acknowledged but names of all contributors will be published. To obtain as complete coverage as possible records ‘phoned-in’ to Birdline East Anglia have been frequently used in the compilation of the List. However, records of national and local rarities have only been included where considered and accepted by the appropriate Committee. During the year 1 spend a considerable amount of time ‘chasing’ descriptions of both county and national rarities. 1 would request that finders of such birds should submit details to me as soon as possible and certainly not left to the end of the year. In the case of national rarities these should be submitted in duplicate. Obviously if other observers have particularly good views of a rarity for example, but were not the finder, then additional descriptions would be gratefully received. As far as I am aware there are still several outstanding records awaiting a decision from the British Birds Rarities Committee, mainly as a result of late submission of descriptions. At the time of writing this editorial (August 2002) considerable progress has been made on the computerisation of records. The monthly records for January-April 2002 have been inputted onto the new system but owing to the time factor involved, especially in the short term, it is clear that additional help is needed to input records. Volunteers are therefore requested, the only initial requirements being an interest in bird recording and the availability of a home computer. Giles Dunmore Review of Year 2001 Justin Lansdell (with weather patterns provided by Steve Wakeham) An unsettled start to January failed to deter keen observers from enjoying the now familiar crop of special birds remaining from before the New Year celebrations. Among familiar friends. Common Cranes strutted serenely around the Broads, a mobile band of Shore Larks roamed Holkham Bay, the (by now elderly) Black-winged Stilt continued to draw admiring glances at Titchwell and a Rough-legged Buzzard once again took up residence on the vast marshes of Haddiscoe. However, it was hoards of every layman’s favourite, the Waxwing, which drew most attention and it soon became obvious that we were at the forefront of the largest influx since 1996. Less high profile, but no less dramatic, thousands of Guillemots accumulated off the north coast culminating in an estimated 20,000 in the Cley area; whatever caused this unusual build-up, few other species responded, although a number of Pomarine Skuas were unable to resist an opportunistic meal. The mild start to the year both in Norfolk and further east kept numbers of wildfowl, and particular Taiga Bean Geese and Whitefronts, at modest levels although sawbills were widespread and in the case of Red-breasted Mergansers plentiful. By the 9th a building high pressure to the north and strengthening winds from the east dragged increasingly cold air from the continent for ten days. With them came quality birds with a brief Arctic Redpoll at Swanton Novers, a White-billed Diver off Titchwell and an inland Slavonian Grebe (the first of four at Hickling during the year) the most notable, before milder weather returned. Despite a period of very windy and unsettled conditions, the last few days of the month confirmed it as the sunniest January since 1959.