West Midland Bird Club VJiP^ Annual Report No 51 1984 Little Ringed Plover by M C Wilkes West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No 51 1984 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 3 Recorder's Report 3 Birds in 1984 6 Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement 9 Secretary's Report 9 Membership Secretary's Report 10 Field Meetings Secretary's Report 10 Research Committee's Report 11 Staffordshire Branch Report 11 Ladywalk Reserve 14 The Dipper in Worcestershire 23 Bird Populations of the Roaches Estate, 1978-84 29 1984 Bird Record Localities 32 Classified Notes 116 Ringing in 1984 121 Key to Contributors 123 Submission of Records Price £2.50 2 Officers and Committee 1985 President C A Norris, Brookend House, Welland, Worcestershire Vice-President G C Lambourne, Melin Dan-y-rhiw, St. Davids, Dyfed Chairman A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warwickshire B80 7JG Deputy Chairman G M Lewis, 9a Plymouth Road, Barnt Green, Birmingham B45 8JE Secretary A I Whatley, 8 Bowstoke Road, Great Barr, Birmingham B43 5EA Treasurer K Webb, 8 Vernon Close,'Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4EA Recorder and G R Harrison, "Bryher", Hatton Green, Hatton, Research Warwickshire CV35 7LA Committee Chairman Membership D S Evans, 49 Inglewood Grove, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield Secretary B74 3LN Field Meetings S H Young, 32 Carless Avenue, Harborne, Secretary Birmingham B17 9EL Miss M Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Permit Secretary Birmingham B15 3LX A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Tamworth, Ringing Secretary Staffordshire P K Dedicoat, 2 The Elms Paddock, Pattingham, Bulletin Editor Wolverhampton WV6 7DW Staffs Branch D W Emley, 127 Harpfields Road, Stoke-on-Trent Chairman Solihull Branch M Hewitt, 33 Hurdis Road, Shirley, Solihull, Chairman West Midlands Main Committee S C Brown, T E Giles, J Holden, T B Hutton, H McGregor and R M Normand Records Committee G R Harrison (Chairman), A R Dean, D W Emley, G Evans, S K Welch and S M Whitehouse 3 Recorder's Report More records than ever were submitted this year and I should like to thank everyone for their contributions. Nothing was received from some hitherto regular contributors, however, and this has left some important gaps, notably at Brandon and Draycote. Indeed, coverage for Warwickshire is generally poor away from Alvecote and the Tame Valley. I should like to thank Maurice Eccleshall and Brett Westwood again for their illustrations; Dave Emley, Graham Evans, Steve Welch and Steve Whitehouse for their help in compiling the Classified Notes; and the Records Committee for assessing over 500 sightings of Category A species. In this respect, the Committee was pleased to see a great improvement in the standard of descriptions this year — it made the task of assessment much easier and all contributors are thanked for their co-operation. Finally, I must draw attention to a belated 1983 record of Long-billed Dowitcher — a new addition to the regional avifauna. G R Harrison Birds in 1984 1984 was an average year, with 211 species. Winter was again generally mild, spring was sunny but cool, summer dry, warm and sunny, and autumn typically unsettled. The year began wet and windy. Both Great Northern Diver and Hoopoe remained from 1983 — the latter staying until April at least. Bittern and Firecrest were discovered on New Year's Day, a Bearded Tit on the sixth and another Great Northern Diver on the seventh. An especially vigorous depression on the thirteenth brought a marked passage of Kittiwakes over the next few days. Associated with this movement were two Whooper Swans and a Little Auk on the fourteenth, and Red-throated and Black-throated Divers, Purple Sandpiper and Snow Bunting the next day. A Cetti's Warbler, discovered in mid-month, stayed until March and two Smew and a Peregrine were new on the twenty-first. A strong passage of thrushes and plovers preceded a blizzard in northern England on the twenty-second, after which three Brent Geese appeared and quite unexpectedly a Wood I ark was seen. The next weekend five Shags, seven Whooper Swans, a further Brent Goose, Great Grey Shrike and Snow Bunting were present — no doubt an aftermath of the hard-weather movement. February began with Hooded Crow on the third, then strong westerly winds on the fifth brought a herd of 22 Bewick's Swans. A Bittern was discovered on the same day, followed by another and a Shag on the tenth. The previous day a Mealy Redpoll was reported. The rest of the month was cold, calm and largely uneventful. It was an outstanding winter for Iceland Gulls, with at least 17 different birds, but Glaucous Gulls were scarcer. A little flurry of activity late in February saw another Whooper Swan on the twenty-fourth, a Mediterranean Gull on the twenty-sixth, another Hoopoe on the twenty-eighth and a large movement of Pink-footed Geese the next day. 4 March brought Bittern on the second and good movements of Bewick's Swans on the fourth and tenth. Cold northerlies or easterlies persisted for most of the month. However, a strong southerly wind and heavy overnight rain on the twenty-fourth brought an influx of seven Avocets, which were part of a nationally widespread displacement, followed by the first Ring Ouzel, Chiffchaff and Wheatear. The month closed with two Waxwings on the twenty-eighth and further Mealy Redpolls the day after and on April 7. April began dry, but cool. Warmer westerlies in mid-month brought two Firecrests and a small influx of White Wagtails around the fifteenth. Not until the last ten days, however, did conditions really encourage migration. Then, from ihe twentieth unwards, many summer visitors began to arrive in small numbers. Among the less usual, a Shag and two Little Terns appeared on the twenty-first, a harrier was seen on the twenty-fourth, 31 Bar-tailed Godwits paused overnight on the twenty-sixth and a White Stork was seen next day. Six Ruffs stayed for a few days during which time they were observed lekking, and a Quail and yet another Hoopoe appeared on the twenty-eighth. The month closed with a good passage of Black Terns, Wryneck on the thirtieth and a very strong movement of Little Gulls that peaked with a flock of 27 on May 1. The same day another Avocet was seen and a party of seven drake Velvet Scoters passed through. Easterly and southerly winds for the next week brought Red-breasted Merganser on the third, Sandwich Tern on the sixth and a few Arctic Terns on the eighth. An anticyclone then developed, but declined in mid-month to be replaced by unsettled weather on a series of fronts. Such conditions promised much of interest. In the event the best birds were Wryneck on the twelfth; another Red-breasted Merganser on the sixteenth; Osprey, Temminck's Stint and Golden Oriole on the nineteenth; Sandwich Tern and a pair of Black-necked Grebes the next day; another Temminck's Stint on the twenty-first; two Little Terns on the twenty-fifth; and another Osprey on the twenty-sixth. A strong passage of Common Terns occurred during cool, unsettled weather in the first week of June. Thereafter it was dry, but cool at times. Another pair of Black-necked Grebes enlivened the seventh, a Ring- tailed Harrier was seen on the eleventh and the first Quail were heard in mid- month. Hotter weather between the sixteenth and twentieth brought a Spoonbill on the latter date. The month then closed with yet another Hoopoe, this time regrettably dead, more Quail and a scattering of Little Terns. The most unexpected bird of the spring, however, was a Pectoral Sandpiper on the twenty-seventh. Insects were abundant in the warm, dry summer, so the breeding season was generally good. Common Terns and Oystercatchers both did well, and both Black Grouse and Common Sandpipers were found to have healthier populations than previously feared. On the other hand, Sand Martins and Macsh Warblers were down, the former by 70%, and it was a very poor year for Grasshopper Warblers. Most exciting, yet paradoxically most disappointing, however, was the unsuccessful breeding attempt by a pair of Black-necked Grebes. Successive anticyclones led to a sunny, dry July and August. With no 5 inclement weather there were few surprises. However, exceptional numbers of White-rumped Sandpipers appeared in Britain — one of them in north Staffordshire on July 7. Later in the month a Golden Oriole was found on the twenty-third and an unseasonal Kittiwake appeared five days later. Three Peregrines and a Black-necked Grebe were seen in August, as well as a Little Tern on the third, two Arctic Skuas the next day, and a large passage of Shelduck on the twenty-second. Settled weather continued for the first week of September, during which two more Peregrines appeared and yet another Black-necked Grebe was seen on the seventh. The same day also brought the first of three Pectoral Sandpipers (the others appearing on the fifteenth) and the eighth saw yet another Peregrine arrive — completing an excellent year for both species. A few Knot came in on the eleventh. Low pressure over the North Sea on the fifteenth and twentieth coincided with the arrival of Manx Shearwater, Red-necked Grebes on the fifteenth and nineteenth. Wryneck on the sixteenth, Mediterranean Gull on the eighteenth and another Manx Shearwater on the twenty-second. Unsettled westerly weather continued into October. Hirundines and many other summer visitors left unusually early and the month was generally quiet.