· . Herefordshire Ornithological Club ANNUAL REPORT 1993 Vo!. 5 No. 3 £2.50 HEREFORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB Vo!. 5 No. 3 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE 1993 President J.L. FOX Vice-Presidents P.W. HINDE, M.B.O.V., Dr C.W; WALKER, M.C., A.G. FYSHE Chairman - A.J. SMITH Hon. Secretary I.B. EVANS (R.S.P.B. Representative) Hon. Treasurer I.T. STONE Hon. Recorder K.A. MASON Hon. Field Secretary K.A. MASON (B.T.O. Representative) Hon. Editor I.B. EVANS Hon. Bulletin Editor :P.GARDNER Committee R.F. BIRCHENHOVGH P. GARNER (Resigned) S.P. CONEY (YO.C. Leader) LW. PREECE Mrs. H.R. DWYER J.R. PVLLEN A.H. EVELEIGH P. THOMSON Mrs F.R. FRANCIS HEREFORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB RULES 1. NAME. The Club shall be called the Herefordshire Ornithological Club. 2. OBJECTS. The objects of the Club shall be (a) to further the study ofbirds in the field and (b) to assist in their preservation. 3. MEMBERSHIP. The Club shall consist ofa President, a Chairman, a Secretary, a Field Secretary, a Treasurer, an Editor, a Recorder and Ten Committee Members and Ordinary Members. The President and the Chairman to retire after serving a term of three years. The Secretaries, the Treasurer, the Recorder and the Editor shall be elected annually. The three senior of the ten Ordinary Members of the Committee shall retire annually and they shall not be eligible for re-election for a period of 12 months. The Officers and Ordinary Members of the Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and the Officers shall be eligible for re­ election. Nominations for the Committee must be received in writing by the Hon. Secretary by February 14th. 4. CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP. Members shall be required to support and keep the provisions ofthe Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Any members failing to support and keep this law shall be required to resign. Members shall not divulge to unauthorised persons (e.g. known collectors of skins and/or eggs) information in a manner likely to be detrimental to the objects of the Club. 5. SUBSCRIPTIONS. (a) Junior members, over 12 but under 18 years of age, £3. Ordinary members, 18 years and over, £5. A married couple, £7.50. Any additional members of a household, £1. Subscriptions are payable on January 1st or on election to membership. Corporate Members: Kindred bodies, Schools, etc. Subscription £5 per annum. Honorary Members: As approved by the majority present at the Annual General Meeting. (b)All subscriptions, subsequent to those paid on admission shall be due on January 1st each year. Where a member has been elected on or after 1st September in any year, there will be no further liability to subscribe in the year immediately following that ofhis or her election. Any member whose subscription is six months in arrears shall cease to receive the Club's publications and, should the subscription not be paid by December 31st, his or her name shall be deleted from the list of Members. 6. MANAGEMENT. The Secretary shall keep Minutes of the Meetings and prepare such literature as shall keep the Members informed ofthe Club's activities. 7. MEETINGS shall be held as often as deemed desirable at the discretion ofthe Officers. 8. REPORT. There shall be an Editorial Committee of at least three Members including the Secretary, appointed at an ordinary Committee Meeting. These shall prepare and present an Annual Report and such special reports as may be decided upon. 9. ALTERATIONS OF RULES. An alteration of the Rules may be made only if proposed at one meeting, printed on the agenda for the following meeting and passed by a two-thirds majority of those present. EDITOR'S REPORT This, the 43rd. annual report ofthe Herefordshire Ornithological Club, is the first that I have edited and is on behalf of the Committee as a result ofthe resignation ofMr. Alan Marchant. Alan was appointed Sub­ Editor in 1981 and took over as Hon. Editor when T.R.H. Owen, C.B.E., the Club's editor since 1967 relinquished his post following the publication of the 1981 Annual Report. The 1992 Report was Alan's 11th. Report as editor. His contribution over the years has helped to raise the standards and ensured the success oftheAnnual Reports. His work has been much appreciated and the members' grateful thanks go to Alan for his efforts on behalf of the Club. The Classified Notes for 1993 were compiled as follows:- C. Wells - Little Grebe to Peregrine; G.S. Bilbao - Red Grouse to Lesser Spotted Woodpecker; I.B. Evans - Skylark to Willow Warbler; P.J. Eldridge - Goldcrest to Corn Bunting; K.A. Mason - Reading and commenting on the whole text. There were no additions to the County list in 1993 but it is pleasing to note that Little Egret, Scaup, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Kite, Hen Harrier, Osprey, Jack Snipe,Arctic Skua, Kittiwake, Black Tern, Hoopoe and Wryneck were recorded. The total number of species seen in 1993 was 154 and this compares favourably with previous years. The following figures show the number ofspecies seen in Herefordshire during the ten years 1982 to 1991:- 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 139 145 139 151 133 142 150 145 147 147 It is interesting to compare the average number of species seen annually over the ten years, 143, with that of the West Midland Bird Club whose average for a similar period was 221 species. Oh! for a Blithfield and an Upton Warren. Field meetings have again proved very popular. Meetings at Hergest and Sned Wood were led by Helen Dwyer in June. 32 members met at Ashleworth for Peter Eldridge's meeting in January. Tony Eveleigh led the River Wye walk at Hampton Bishop in February, Hartleton Lake and Little Doward in March, Holywell Dingle in May, nightjar meeting at Pecket Stone in July, Cotswold Water Park in August and Wigmore Rolls in November. The meeting at Fawley and Kings Caple Wye on 23rd. May was led by Mrs. R. Francis.Anightingale search near Eastnor Castle 99 on 7th. May and the Malvern Hills walk in November was led by Peter Garner. Alan Marchant led meetings at Glasbury in March, Harley Dingle inApril, Llyn Heilyn and Llan Bwch Llyn in July, Holme Lacy inAugust, Glasbury and Begwyns in October and the Severn Estuary in December. Meetings at Penclacwydd, Llanelli, Upton Warren, Worcestershire and the North Norfolk Weekend in Sept. were led by Keith Mason. Ifor Preece again organised the spring and autumn censuses at Haugh Wood. The meetings at Whitfield Estate in January and the Elan Valley in May were led by John Pullen. Peter Thomson led the meeting at Ewyas Harold Common and Merbach Hill. The New Forest Weekend led by John Vickerman from the 12th. - 16th. May attracted 12 members who were shown Woodlark, Dartford Warbler, Hobby, Stone Curlew and Black Tern to name but a few but unfortunately the hoped for Firecrest did not make an appearance. Our grateful thanks go to all the leaders and to all the Landowners who have kindly given us permission to visit their properties and especially to all those who submitted records for inclusion in the Annual Report. A programme of meetings was again held at the Education Centre. This has proved to be a popular venue with very good attendances. The Members' Evening in January was a combined effort with Keith and Chris Mason ably assisted by Tony Eveleigh recounting, with the aid of video, their holiday in Iceland. In February our Chairman, Mr. A.J. Smith gave a most interesting talk/slide show on Bird Watching in South America. The winter programme was concluded on the 25th. March with a return visit by Dee Doody who entertained us with Birds of Prey of Uplands. The autumn programme started in September with a visit by David Saunders, Director of the Dyfed Wildlife Trust, who guided us on The Natural History ofSkomerIsland. This was followed in October by Gareth Thomas from Ludlow who took us on an exploration of another island, Fair Isle - on the map a lonely spot on the sea between Orkney and Shetland. By Request - British Birds was the title of Eric Harvey's lecture in November followed in December by Tany Hamblin who gave us an insight to Birds of the Coast. The Club is indebted to Chris Mason, Elaine Evans and Josephine Field for organising the refreshments after each meeting and a special thanks to Elaine and J osephine for making the mince pies for the December meeting. At the 2-day Herefordshire Nature Trust Exhibition held at the Shirehall in October the H.O.C. and R.S.P.B. stands were organised and 100 manned by the Evans' with assistance from Keith Mason. November 12th. was a sad occasion with the last ofthe R.S.P.B.'s annual Film Shows at the Shirehall, Hereford. They ended on a high note with The Flamingo Triangle, Sky Dancer - Hen Harrier in Profile, and another showing of the award winning film The Secret Reeds first shown in 1981. My wife Elaine and I have been involved with the film shows since Isles of the Simmer Dim in 1973 and we will always have fond memories of some great films such as Beyond a Tangled Shore, Plumes to Peregrines, Osprey, BirdAbout Town, Commendable Crow, Where Eagles Fly, Wings Over Wales, Puffins, Seabird City, Barcud the Red Kite and Barn Owl­ Bird ofDarkness to name but a few. Our grateful thanks to all our helpers over the years and especially to the members for their loyal support for the R.S.P.B.