Birds in Northumbria The 2014 Bird Report for Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside Classified List compiled by Steve R Barrett, Graeme Bowman, Paul Buskin, Eddie Crabtree, Tim Dean, Ian Kerr, Lindsay J McDougall, Andy D Mould & Mike Richardson Edited by Mike Richardson Illustrations by Phil Allott, Alan Hart, Mike Henry, Stewart Sexton & John Steele Photographs by Chris Barlow, Jack Bucknall, Alan Curry, Tim & Janet Dean, Jonathan Farooqi, Ian Fisher, Mike S Hodgson, Ian Kerr, David Kinchin-smith, Stef McElwee, Andy D Mould & Gary Woodburn Published by THE NORTHUMBERLAND AND TYNESIDE BIRD CLUB ISBN: 978-0-9557406-7-1 Registered Charity No: 517641 Designed and produced by: Differentia Design (differentia.co.uk) Printed in Newcastle upon Tyne on Era Recycled paper using Soya based inks. © Copyright, Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club 2015 Contents Introduction 4 Acknowledgements 6 Black-winged Pratincole - First for Northumberland 7 Collared Pratincole at Castle Island 10 Caspian Gull at Amble Harbour 2013-14 - Second for Northumberland 11 Red-eyed Vireo at Low Newton - Second county record 14 Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler – Second county record 17 Classified List / Authors 20 Mute Swan - Brent Goose Paul Buskin 22 Shelduck – Ruddy Duck Graeme Bowman 29 Quail - Black-necked Grebe Lindsay J McDougall 57 Red Kite - Snipe Ian Kerr 77 Pomarine Skua - Great Skua Mike Richardson 108 Puffin - Arctic Tern Andy D Mould 110 Kittiwake - Great Black-backed Gull Mike Richardson 118 Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) - Short-eared Owl Andy D Mould 127 Nightjar - Great Spotted Woodpecker Steve R Barrett 133 Kestrel – Peregrine Ian Kerr 136 Ring-necked Parakeet - Marsh Tit Mike Richardson 141 Skylark - House Martin Eddie Crabtree 150 Long-tailed Tit - Reed Warbler Ian Kerr 155 Waxwing - Dipper Eddie Crabtree 166 Ring Ouzel – Wheatear Mike Richardson 170 Dunnock - Rock Pipit Eddie Crabtree 181 Brambling - Reed Bunting Mike Richardson 189 Rare and Scarce species Tim R Dean Birds of unknown origin, Escapes and Hybrids Tim R Dean 198 Reference Section 200 Swallows nesting in a natural site – a first for Northumberland 202 Record year for breeding Barn Owls in 2014 205 First & Last Date of Summer Visitors in 2014 208 Last & First Date of Winter Visitors in 2014 209 Additions and Corrections to Previous Reports 210 Ringing Recoveries Reported in 2014 211 Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) 2014 220 Species on the County List not recorded in 2014 228 The County Records Committee 2014 232 BBRC decisions and records under review 234 Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club Development Fund Grants 2014 236 Secretary’s Report 2014 237 List of Contributors 238 Kingfisher Glossary of Terms 239 (Ian Fisher) Wryneck (Jonathan Farooqi) Introduction The entries in this report cover all species found during 2014 in our recording area, which comprises the county of Northumberland and the districts of Newcastle and North Tyneside. Overview A total of 277 full species were recorded in Northumberland in 2014, equalling the record annual total for the county set in 2013. A Black-winged Pratincole at Hauxley in June, which reappeared at Holywell Pond in July, was the only addition to the county list. Ring- necked Parakeet, formally regarded as an escape or of unknown origin, was awarded full status by the County Rarities Committee (CRC) and was therefore also added in 2014, bringing the official county list to 412 species. A Lesser Whitethroat of the race Sylvia curruca blythi in a Tynemouth garden from January to March was the first confirmed record of this ‘Siberian’ sub-species. In addition to the returning Caspian Gull at Amble Harbour there were a further 13 species in the Extremely Rare category (no more than nine records in total); Stilt Sandpiper (second record), Red-eyed Vireo (second record), Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler (second record), Cattle Egret (third record), Collared Pratincole (third record), Broad-billed Sandpiper (fifth record), Bridled Tern (sixth record), Blue-winged Teal (seventh record), Bonaparte’s Gull (seventh and eighth records), Little Bittern (eighth record), Great Reed Warbler (eighth and ninth records), Lesser Yellowleg (ninth record) and Glossy Ibis (ninth and tenth records). The list of rare or scarce species recorded in 2014 was long and impressive and included; American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Ferruginous Duck, Surf Scoter, Fea’s/Zino’s Petrel, Cory’s, Great and Balearic Shearwater, Leach’s Petrel, Great White Egret, Black Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, Corncrake, Crane, Dotterel, Temminck’s Stint, White-rumped and Pectoral Sandpipers, Sabine’s Gull, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Red- footed Falcon, Golden Oriole, Red-backed, Great Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, Bearded Tit, Shore Lark, Greenish, Pallas’s, Hume’s, Dusky and Barred Warblers, Waxwing, Rose- coloured Starling, Bluethroat, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Siberian Stonechat, Citrine Wagtail, Richard’s and Olive-backed Pipits, Common Rosefinch, Ortolan, Rustic and Little Buntings. In addition it was another excellent year for Yellow-browed Warblers. Breeding records included the first nesting of Little Egrets, with a pair in Druridge Bay. Three pairs of Ospreys nested successfully at Kielder Water, fledging a total of eight young. Four pairs of Mediterranean Gulls bred on Coquet Island, Marsh Harriers were again successful at East Chevington, Avocets had a good season and a pair of Goldeneye raised a brood at a site used since 2010. Other breeding records included a bumper year for Little Terns (the best for two decades), 93 pairs of Roseate Terns nesting on Coquet Island, Black-necked Grebes at three sites and an excellent Barn Owl season. Introduction Acknowledgements Black-winged Pratincole at Hauxley Nature Reserve The following are all thanked for providing essential data for this report: David Steel of and Holywell Pond: First County Record the National Trust (Farne Islands), Paul Morrison and the RSPB (Coquet Island), the Northumbria Ringing Group (raptor and owl breeding data), Ian Fisher (Ringing Report) By Alan Curry and Dan Turner and Steve Holliday (Wetland Bird Survey-WeBS). The editor would also like to thank all the illustrators and photographers who have Pratincoles of any form are an extremely rare commodity in Northumberland and with a once again produced a range of fine work. Appreciation is also extended to the authors cool thirty-one year gap since the last record of a Collared Pratincole at Beadnell (May of various papers and to Peter Fletcher, who compiled the 2014 records from monthly 1983), any reports were sure to generate a high degree of interest from within the local bulletins on to individual species sheets. The map of the recording area was prepared by birding community. Mike Hodgson. Such a report emanated from the Tern Hide at Hauxley NR just after 11.00hrs on 12th The compilers of the monthly bulletins, which form the basis of this report, are also June, when visiting bird watcher Helen Mears located a pratincole resting on the rocky acknowledged. An annual report would not be possible without their contribution. In shore opposite the hide. After alerting fellow hide occupant Hector Galley who quickly 2014, bulletin data was collated by Dick Myatt and prepared by the following authors; concurred with Helen’s tentative appraisal they set about informing the birding world at Chris Barlow, Trevor Blake, Graeme Bowman, Eddie Crabtree, Tim Dean, Peter Fletcher, large via Alan Tilmouth at the Birdguides news desk. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of Ian Forsyth, Steve Holliday, Alan Jack, James Littlewood, Lindsay McDougall, Mike the reserve, local birder David Dack who was blissfully unaware of events unfolding in the Richardson, Mike Smith and Alan Tilmouth. David Sanders provided data from the North Tern Hide, had brief distant views of what he too considered to be a pratincole hunkered Northumberland Bird Club. The bulletin was edited by Steve Barrett and mail distribution down on the shore of an island looking towards the Tern Hide. After encountering a quick was by Paul Stewart. off the mark Alan Tilmouth in the reserve car park, they both hurried to the Tern Hide where the pratincole was fortunately still present, and offering reasonable telescope views. Status of Species With a fundamentally dark bill, black lores, dark forehead and ‘long-legged’ appearance, Status Definitions: the general consensus within the hide was that of Black-winged Pratincole. A potential first record for Northumberland! Further endorsement of the identification soon came in Abundant: 10,000 or more individuals per annum the form of a series of brief flight views, when no evidence of a pale trailing edge to the Common: 1,000 to 9,999 individuals per annum secondaries could be seen, along with essentially black underwings. However, just prior to Well-represented: 100 to 999 individuals per annum the main arrival of would-be observers, the Black-winged Pratincole after receiving some Uncommon: 10 to 99 individuals per annum rough treatment from the local Lapwings departed high south just after 13.00hrs, after a Rare: No more than nine individuals per annum. paltry two hour stay. With only a collection of gripping digital images to pore over, there Extremely Rare: No more than nine individuals in total. still remained optimism amongst the gathering that all was not lost and it was only a matter of time before the pratincole made another appearance at a wetland within the county. Breeding species. The same status definitions are used, but in reference These hopes were dashed however a mere twenty-four hours later, following news of a to pairs rather than individual birds, therefore 10-99 pairs will be Black-winged Pratincole at Saltholme RSPB (Cleveland) and although it did not linger for referred to as an ‘uncommon’ breeding species. long it surely scuppered any hopes of another Northumberland occurrence. Fast-forward another three weeks as the Black-winged Pratincole defied all the odds by making yet another public showing in the North-East, this time at Hurworth Burn Reservoir (Co.