AVON BIRD REPORT 2009 AVON ORNITHOLOGICAL GROUP September 2010 2 Avon Bird Report 2009 CONTENTS Avon Ornithological Group (AOG) Front cover Editorial H.E. Rose 3 From the Recorder J.P. Martin 5 A review of 2009 R.J. Higgins 7 Weather in 2009 R.L. Bland 11 A guide to the records required 14 Species for which descriptions are required 15 Introduction to systematic list 17 Contributors of records 20 Systematic list Swans and geese R. Mielcarek 21 Ducks M.S. Ponsford 25 Game birds M. Hayes 35 Divers to Grebes R.J. Higgins 37 Raptors B. Lancastle 45 Water Rail to Crane M. Hayes 52 Waders H.E. Rose 54 Skuas to Auks R. Mielcarek 68 Doves to Woodpeckers D. Nevitt 77 Passerines J. P. Martin & R.L. Bland 83 Escaped, released and hybrid birds M. Hayes 113 Migration summary 115 Long-distance migrants and climate variations H.J. Boyd & R.L. Bland 119 Wildfowl numbers at CVL, 1960 - 2010 R.J. Higgins 127 Population of Reed, Sedge & Grasshopper Warblers in M. Dadds 137 ST58 Pacific Diver – new to Avon area M. Hayes 149 Grey-headed Wagtail – new to Avon area J. P. Martin 151 The diet of breeding Peregrines in Bath, 2009 E. Drewitt 153 Urban Gulls breeding in Bath P. Rock 157 Breeding Birds Survey for 2009 R.L. Bland & J.Tully 159 Avon Ringing Report M. Bailey & E. Drewitt 165 Fifty Years Ago H.E. Rose 171 Gazetteer R.L. Bland 173 Index of Species Accounts 175 Typeset in WORD 2007 and printed by Healeys, Ipswich ISSN Number – 0956-5744 Front cover: Whitethroat (R. M. Andrews). Rear cover: Map of the Avon area computer generated by S. Godden, Dept. of Geography, University of Bristol. Text drawings by R.M. Andrews, M. Hayes, J.P. Martin, A. Merritt, B.E. Slade and the late L.A. Tucker 3 Editorial The taxonomy of British birds has been the subject main genera in this group has also been changed. of much debate since the first British list was So after Long-tailed Tit we now have Phylloscopus produced over four centuries ago; for a detailed including Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, then Sylvia account of this debate see A History of Ornithology including Blackcap and Whitethroat, followed by (New Naturalist 104) by Peter Bircham published by Locuststella and Hippolais including Grasshopper Collins in 2007. The latest changes to the list and Icterine Warblers, and finally Acrocephalus introduce a major re-ordering of the passerines – the including Sedge and Reed Warbler. Note this new song birds. As this affects the common garden and group does not include the flycatchers. farmland birds familiar to all of us it seems only right to comment on these changes and describe the An assorted collection follows which includes main features of the new structure. Waxwing, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Starling and These changes are the result of DNA analysis, they Dipper provide an accurate idea of how the various groups have developed over time and how they are related But note not Dunnock. Another big group follows to one-another. It is sanctioned by the BOU (British which includes Ornithological Union) and is clearly an on-going process, so we can expect some more changes The thrushes, Robin, the chats and Wheatear probably in the non-passerine groups in the near future. One such change was made in 2009, the This group is now not thought to be closely related grebes now follow the egrets, herons and Spoonbill to the warblers but it does include the flycatchers. and come directly before the diurnal raptors Spotted Flycatcher is placed between the thrushes beginning with Honey Buzzard. It is to be hoped that and Robin, whilst Pied Flycatcher comes at the end the passerine changes discussed below will be fixed of the list after Wheatear. Next come for the next few years at least. The sparrows including Dunnock In general the orders of the main passerine groups (genera) have not been changed markedly in followed by themselves, it is their relative positions to one- another that have been altered. There are a number The wagtails and pipits of exceptions including the ‘crests’ (Gold and Fire), Long-tailed Tit and Dunnock that have been moved So these two groups now come well down the main out of their traditional groups and into new ones; see list and are fairly distant from the hirundines. From below. In general I have ignored vagrants and now on the list has a more familiar look with the concentrated on the common species. So after some North American species the first Avon area Finches including Chaffinch, the redpolls, and entries in the new BOU passerine list are Hawfinch Golden Oriole, the shrikes and the corvids coming next, followed lastly by including Magpie, Jay and Raven Buntings including Snow Bunting, In the taxonomic system that prevailed up to the Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting middle of the last century the corvids were placed early in the list, so we have come full circle here. This is the current last entry for us in Avon. The Next come complete BOU list actually ends with the North American wood warblers. For this Report we have The crests and the tits including Bearded Tit used the new list. listed last During part of 2009 and the whole of 2010 access to So Goldcrest and Firecrest are now thought to be two major ornithological sites in Avon has been more closely related to the tit family than to the severely curtailed, they are Avonmouth Sewage warblers. Following these we have Works (ASW) and Steep Holm. Some records were received for 2009 but it is likely that virtually none The larks, Swallow and the martins will be forthcoming for 2010. This will have a considerable impact on this Report in the future. It is This group used to head the passerine list so they to be hoped that these access problems will be have been displaced from this position by the two sorted out soon, and that records from these groups above. Next we have the relatively large important sites can again appear in this Report. group of Note also that some of the wildfowl average The warblers which include Long-tailed Tit maximum counts for the last decade have been recalculated so that for this Report onwards they are The single tit species is now placed at the head of consistent with the definition given on page 19. the warblers after Cetti’s Warbler. The order of the 4 Avon Bird Report 2009 During the past year two active birders whose survey of wildfowl of Chew Valley Lake (CVL) over names or initials have appeared many times in this the past fifty years, it is hoped that the second part Report died, they were Trevor Silcocks and Mike will appear in next year’s Report. The third paper is Taylor. In their younger days they were both active by Mark Dadds, it describes his detailed survey of ringers, and Mike was president of the BTO from the breeding of Reed, Sedge and Grasshopper 1981 to 1984 and edited this Report for several Warblers at a site near Almondsbury which now years up to 1990. Obituaries will appear in Nature in forms part of the Forest of Avon. Avon, our sincere condolences go to their families. As we go to press the death of another active birder As usual it is a great pleasure to thank all those who has been announced, Margaret Searle. She was have helped to make this Report possible. First and Chairman of the Bristol Ornithological Club from most important, thanks go to all those who submitted 1999 to 2001, and its secretary from 2003 to 2009. records either electronically or on paper, no Report would be possible without them. Secondly, I would We have a number of interesting papers in this like to thank all those involved in the preparation and Report, I will single out three. The first is by Hugh production of this Report, they are listed on the Boyd with considerable assistance from Richard inside front cover. Special thanks go to Richard Bland, it discusses the question: Is the changing Bland, John Martin and Steve Hale who spent many weather affecting the arrival and departure times of hours preparing the electronic records for the editors our migrants. Hugh was born in Bristol and to work with, and to Richard Mielcarek – our undertook his first ornithological work locally, he was technical editor – who spent many long hours in the warden on Lundy Island in 1948 and 1949, but front of his PC getting this Report into its excellent he has spent most of his life in Canada. The second final shape. main paper, by Rupert Higgins, is the first part of a Harvey Rose (Editor) Pheasant by Richard Andrews 5 From the Recorder This is the second Report for which I have been not been reported as true Scaup in recent years but ‘Area Bird Recorder’. I think the title is possibly a if we suspect they might have been we will request little misleading for although it has proved to be quite supporting details. a demanding role there are others who seem to Storm Petrel (notes still required for inland records) have even more to do and without whose help the – this species is now fairly regular in the Estuary in job would be impossible. summer in small numbers, especially after westerly winds. Bear in mind they can be outnumbered by The job has become more complicated in the digital Leach’s in some years in late autumn and are age because there are now so many ways in which always exceptional in winter, in which case we are records can be submitted.