West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No 54 1987 Yellow Wagtail (Male) by at Moffett West Midland Bird Club
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West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No 54 1987 Yellow Wagtail (male) by AT Moffett West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No 54 1987 Being the Annual Bird Report of the West Midland Bird Club on the birds in the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and West Midlands. Contents 2 Officers and Committee 4 Editor's Report 4 Birds in 1987 23 Hon. Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement 26 Secretary's Report 27 Field Meeting Secretary's Report 27 Permit Secretary's Report 27 Membership Secretary's Report 28 Research Sub-Committee 28 Staffordshire Branch Report 29 Belvide Report 31 Ladywalk Reserve 33 Solihull Branch Report 34 The 1986 House Martin Survey 40 Movements of Chaffinches and Redpolls to and from the West Midlands 46 Marsh Warblers in Worcestershire — A Personal Review 55 The Decline of Worcestershire's Marsh Warblers 64 Distinguishing Marsh Warbler from Reed Warbler, in Early Summer and as First-years 68 1987 Bird Record Localities 73 Classified Notes 178 Ringing in 1987 186 Key to Contributors 188 Species requiring descriptions Price £3.00 2 Officers and Committee 1988 President C A Norris, Brookend House, Welland, Worcestershire WR13 6NL Vice President G C Lambourne, Melin Dan-y-rhiw, St Davids, Dyfed Chairman and A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warwickshire Promotions and B80 7JG Fund Raising Committee Chairman Deputy Chairman G R Harrison "Bryher", Hatton Green, Hatton, and Research Warwickshire CV35 7LA Committee Chairman Secretary H M MacGregor, 74 Ivyfield Road, Erdington, Birmingham B23 7HH Treasurer K A Webb, Copper Beech Cottage, Bagot Street, Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire WS15 3DB Report Editor N P Barlow, 1 Yew Tree Cottages, Maxstoke Lane, Meriden, Coventry CV7 7HR Bulletin C J Francis, 91 Upper Meadow Road, Quinton, Editor Birmingham B32 1NR Membership D S Evans, 49 Inglewood Grove, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield Secretary B74 3LN Field Meetings S H Young, 32 Carless Avenue, Harborne, Birmingham Secretary B17 9EL Permit Secretary Miss M Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Birmingham B15 3LX Ringing A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Tamworth, Secretary Staffordshire B78 3HZ Staffs Branch D W Emley, 127 Harpfields Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Chairman Staffordshire ST4 5LT Solihull Branch G A Morley, 64 Cambridge Avenue, Chairman Solihull, West Midlands B91 1QF Warwickshire S M Haynes, 4 Spinney Close, Old Arley, Recorder Coventry CV7 8PD Worcestershire S M Whitehouse, 5 Stanway Close, Rudyard Gardens, Recorder Blackpole, Worcester WR4 9XL Staffordshire G Evans, Flat 5, Kenilworth Court, Mill Street, Recorder Cannock WS11 3EP 3 West Midlands R M Normand, 18 Hamstead Hall Avenue, Handsworth Recorder Wood, Birmingham B20 1EY Main Committee S C Brown, Mrs D Dunstan, E S Clare, G M Lewis, R M Normand, G F Nicholson, B L Kington, J R Winsper Records Committee N P Barlow, G Evans, S M Haynes, R M Normand, S M Whitehouse 4 Editor's Report The operation of a County Recorder system for record submission and compilation is reaping rewards, as the number of records received from each county was up on last year. The quality of record submission was better, although a number of important records were either not received or could not be accepted due to poor descriptions. I think that the County Recorders, their Teams and I have found the preparation of the Report easier than last year and hopefully this will be reflected in the quality of the finished article. Thanks are due to the writers and the artists who submitted material for the Report. There was a much wider variety of artistic styles than last year and I am only sorry that I could not use all the material submitted. Drawings have been included from Roger Hancox (RH), Alan Dean (ARD), John Newman (JLN), Phil Jones, Ray Bishop and John Martin (JPM). The photographs are now an integral part of the Report and my thanks goto Alan Richards and Charlie Brown for their help. Together with the photographers as indicated Steve Haynes and Graham Evans provided invaluable additional editing and finally thanks to the Recorders and their teams:— Warwickshire: Steve Haynes, Steve Cawthray. Typing assistance from Julie Tighe and Hazel Woolands. Worcestershire: Steve Whitehouse, Richard Harbird, Gavin Peplow, John Sirrett. Staffordshire: Graham Evans, Dave Emley, John Martin, Trevor Smart, Steve Welch. West Midlands: Bob and Alicia Normand, Tim Hextell, Pete Forbes, Pete Hackett. Migrant Arrivals and Departures: Steve Welch. Hotline: John Bennett. Birds in 1987 1987 was essentially wet and cool, with little warm weather. January was cold and snowy and spring and summer temperatures were below average, except for warmer spells in April and late June/early July. Although September and October were reasonably mild, there was much stormy weather and the tremendous gale of October the sixteenth had profound effects on the landscape of much of southern and eastern England. November was very variable but cold weather at the end of the month continued into December, with the year ending on a mild note. As so often happens with poorer weather, the birding was good with 236 species seen, (excluding Exotica), a record year and of these Cattle Egret, Lesser Scaup, Pallas's Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike and Rustic Bunting were new to the Region. Relatively mild weather from 1986 continued into January, but from the sixth, colder weather arrived from the north. From the eleventh, snow flurries arrived 5 on cold easterly winds, due to cold anticyclonic air from Siberia pushing into Scandinavia and the North Sea. This led to some of the coldest temperatures in Scandinavia and Finland recorded in the last 100 years, down to -50°C. This cold weather led to a large influx of birds into the Region, from the fourteenth. Returning to the start of the year, a Great Northern Diver was at Blithfield on the first and the Belvide bird from 1986 finally left on the fifth. There were up to 4000 Common Gulls at Draycote on the first (along with a Smew which had arrived in 1986), 516 Great Black-backed Gulls at Cannock Tip on the second and up to 12000 Black-headed Gulls at Chasewater in early January, part of a very large influx of gulls into the Region during January. Glaucous Gulls were recorded at Cannock and Kingsbury and an Iceland Gull was at Westport, early on. On the fourth, there were Kittiwakes at Bittell and Blithfield, a Mediterranean Gull at the latter, two Slavonian Grebes at Kingsbury and four Smew at Bittell. Two Long-eared Owls, also at Bittell, were part of a national incursion. On the seventh, a Cattle Egret was seen at Doxey, believed to be the bird seen in Derbyshire beforehand. Chiffchaffs were noted at Ladywalk, Sandwell and Aldridge on the third, ninth and eleventh respectively, and up to four Short- eared Owls were seen at Lea Marston throughout much of the month; there was also a Water Pipit there on the tenth. On the eleventh, cold weather movements were noted of Golden Plovers, Lapwings and Skylarks, but despite this, flocks of the latter remained, with 160 at Draycote and 120 at Holt. A male and female Firecrest were seen, separately, at Park Hall, on the twelfth and by this date, there were upto eight Smew at Draycote, part of a national influx, and two Sanderling at Draycote. On the fourteenth, a passage of Pink-footed Geese commenced, with 180 flying north-west over Westport. A Common Sandpiper and Long-eared Owl were recorded at Sandwell, with a Whooper Swan the next day. Also on the fifteenth, there were 11 Bewick's Swans at Larford, a Short-eared Owl at Brandon, a Red-breasted Merganser at Netherton (staying until the thirtieth) and a Hen Harrier in the Sherbrook Valley. Divers were relatively scarce, though Grebes were well recorded. On the sixteenth, there was a Black-throated Diver at Bartley and over the next few days, there was a notable influx of Grebes with Red-necked at Draycote (two), Blithfield and Tittesworth and up to five Slavonians at Draycote. Mid-month saw the arrival of many wildfowl. Flocks of between 100 and 450 Pink-footed Geese were seen in Staffordshire, exceptional numbers of Wigeon were noted, there were seven White-fronted Geese at Blithfield, a small arrival of Scaup occurred and further Smew and Mergansers arrived. A Bittern was found in poor condition on the nineteenth in the West Midlands, taken to R S P B Sandwell and successfuly released at Leighton Moss, Lancashire later on. A Short-eared Owl was seen at Aqualate, also on the nineteenth, and further Long-eared Owls were noted at Park Hall (two) and near Longton. Towards the end of the month Pochard and Tufted Duck numbers were reported as variable, no doubt weather related. From the twentieth, marginally warmer cloudy northerly air moved over the country and a slow thaw developed. A Waxwing was seen at Codsall on the twenty-second, remaining for two days and part of a national arrival on the northerly winds. Another Slavonian Grebe was recorded, this time at Branston and further Smew were found at Shustoke and Chasewater during the twenty- third and fourth. On the latter date, 15 adult Brent Geese were at Kingsbury but 17 Barnacle Geese left Bittell as the cloud cover thinned and then later cleared, leading to very cold, frosty weather and freezing waters. On the twenty-fifth a Brent Goose arrived at Sandwell, staying, perhaps surprisingly, until February the sixth; there was a male Common Scoter at Blithfield, with a Knot there and also at Bartley. This was also the first date for a long staying Long-eared Owl at Chasewater.