Lancashire & Cheshire Fauna Society Publication No. 106 Lancashire Bird Report 2003 The Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside S. J. White (Editor) W. C. Aspin, D. A. Bickerton, A. Bunting, S. Dunstan, C. Liggett, B. McCarthy, P. J. Marsh, D. J. Rigby, J. F. Wright 2 Lancashire Bird Report 2003 CONTENTS Introduction ........................................... Dave Bickerton & Steve White ........ 3 Review of the Year ............................................................. John Wright ...... 10 Systematic List Swans & Geese ........................................................ Charlie Liggett ...... 14 Ducks ....................................................................... Dominic Rigby ...... 22 Gamebirds ........................................................................ Bill Aspin ...... 37 Divers to Cormorants ................................................... Steve White ...... 40 Herons ................................................................. Stephen Dunstan ...... 46 Birds of Prey ........................................................ Stephen Dunstan ...... 49 Rails ................................................................................. Bill Aspin ...... 55 Oystercatcher to Plovers ............................................ Andy Bunting ...... 58 Knot to Woodcock .................................................... Charlie Liggett ...... 64 Godwits to Curlew ........................................................ Steve White ...... 70 Spotted Redshank to Phalaropes ........................ Stephen Dunstan ...... 73 Skuas ........................................................................... Pete Marsh ...... 78 Gulls to Auks ................................................................ Steve White ...... 79 Doves to Thrushes ................................................. Barry McCarthy ...... 90 Warblers to Buntings ............................................... Dave Bickerton .... 112 Escapes and Feral Birds .................................................. Bill Aspin .... 140 Lancashire Ringing Report ................................................ Pete Marsh .... 143 Lancashire Firsts Dartford Warbler .......................................................... Steve Martin .... 151 White-tailed Eagle .................................... Roy Taylor/Peter Wilson .... 152 Status of Greylag Geese in North Lancashire ................ John Wilson .... 153 Water Pipits on the North Ribble Marshes ............ Stephen Dunstan .... 156 An Odd Quail at Plex Moss .............................................. Chris Kehoe .... 158 Earliest and Latest Migrant Dates .................................... Steve White .... 160 Contributors List .................................................................................. .... 161 Cover photograph: Snow Bunting, Crosby Shore (Steve Young) Lancashire Bird Report 2003 3 Introduction D. A. Bickerton, S. J. White The work involved in the compilation of the Society’s reports is an ever-increasing one and, as you can see from the contents page, we now have many compilers of certain sections of the bird report. This sharing of the load certainly helps in reducing the reliance on certain key people but also, I believe, results in a more comprehensive species account. We are always looking for volunteers to help with the compilation of the report, so if you have access to a computer and e-mail and could help then please e-mail the editor, Steve White. This year has certainly been a busy one; earlier in the year we published the General Report 2004, the first for eight years. This publication included systematic lists and articles on Cetaceans, Fishes and Macro-Lepidoptera to name a few. This was received well by the membership and there are plans to get another one out in a couple of year’s time. Also on the boil is work on the Avifauna of Lancashire, a book that we plan to publish in 2005. Details of pre-publication and membership offers will be circulated nearer the time. Membership of the Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society is still only £5 a year though there are plans to increase this in 2006 as subscription rates have not increased in many years and publication costs have risen considerably. However, when you consider that this year’s subscription includes this report and the General Report posted to your home as soon as they’re published, I think you would agree that it is fantastic value for money. The Society is non-profit making charity, manned totally by volunteers who give many hours of their time freely. It provides data that is key in many aspects of conservation in the North West. Please consider joining. Details can be obtained from the web site or directly from the Honorary Secretary. Officials of the Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society, 2003 - 2004 Chairman: Dr Frank Walsh, 80 Arundel Road, Lytham St. Annes, Lancs, FY8 1BN Tel: 01253 737765 E-mail: [email protected] Secretary: Dave Bickerton, 64 Petre Crescent, Rishton, Lancs, BB1 4RB Tel: 01254 886257 E-mail: [email protected] Treasurer: John Wright, 68 Dukes Brow, Blackburn, Lancs, BB2 6DH Tel: 01254 580268 E-mail: [email protected] Report Editor and Lancashire Bird Recorder: Steve White, 102 Minster Court, Crown Street, Liverpool, L7 3QD Tel: 0151-707 2744 (home) or 0151-920 3769 (work) E-mail:[email protected] Our web-site address is www.lacfs.org.uk 4 Lancashire Bird Report 2003 SUBMISSION OF RECORDS The task of compiling the report is becoming ever more daunting with the increasing number of records coming into us. With the authorship of the report split between nine people and the growing number of people using bird recording software or word-processing, the preferred method of submission is via e-mail, though posting a disc or written records is still perfectly acceptable. Please can you ensure that records are submitted in systematic order. Files sent by e-mail or on disc should be in Word or simple text format and can be zipped up to save downloading time. Paper records should preferably be on one side of A4. In order to keep to our very strict deadlines so that the report can be published during September, all records from individuals should reach us by the end of February and reserve or area reports by the end of March. All records in whatever format you wish to use should be sent to the County Recorder. BRITISH BIRDS RARITIES Descriptions of nationally rare species (for the list, see British Birds Rarities Reports) should be submitted to the British Birds Rarities Committee via the County Recorder at the address above. The following records have been accepted by the BBRC since the publication of our last report: Great White Egret, Eric Morecambe Pools, 5 August 2003 American Golden Plover, Fishmoor & Parsonage Reservoirs, 28 October to 11 November 1995 American Golden Plover, Marshside & Crossens, 19 October to 28 November 2003 White-rumped Sandpiper, Wyre estuary, 3 to 11 August 2003 White-winged Black Tern, Seaforth, 14 to 17 July 2003 White-winged Black Tern, Lune estuary, 14 to 24 August 2003 Great Reed Warbler, Marton Mere, 21 to 29 May 2003 Savi’s Warbler, Leighton Moss, 4 to 23 May 2003 Dusky Warbler, Fairhaven dunes, 23 to 24 October 2003 The following record is still under consideration by the BBRC and the BOURC: Blue Jay, Thornton, Merseyside & Ainsdale, 5-7 June 2003 The following record was not accepted by the BBRC: Black Kite, Little Singleton, 15 April 2003 COUNTY DESCRIPTION SPECIES Descriptions of species considered to be county rarities (see list below) should be sent to the County Recorder, preferably as soon after the sighting as possible. Most descriptions now come in by the preferred e-mail route, some with digital images attached, but paper records are perfectly acceptable. The increase in digital submissions has meant that the county records committee has been able to circulate records and make decisions promptly. Consequently, there has been a significant increase in time spent in assessment of each and every record submitted with problematical records left to the annual meeting held in May. Current members of the committee are Steve White (Chair), Maurice Jones, Barry McCarthy, Pete Marsh and John Wright. The job of the committee is to run the rule over every record of a species that requires a description and they have an obligation to apply the rules even-handedly. On odd occasions this means that a perfectly good record will be rejected (normally through lack of detail). It is very rare that a record is thought to be incorrect, just that it is not 100% proven or there is some doubt. Lancashire Bird Report 2003 5 Many county rarities get to be seen by many observers and the committee generally accepts such records on the nod - but it is still important that someone writes the record up so that all records can be reviewed by future generations. All records of scarce migrants and rare breeding birds are submitted each year for publication in British Birds. This makes it vital that we are confident about the accuracy of all records. In the past we have had two categories of ‘description species’ but have decided to drop the ‘basic details only’ one so that only major county rarities require descriptions. These need to be as full as possible - if anyone needs any guidance, please contact the recorder. The records committee has had particular difficulties in making decisions on bird records that have been identified from calls/song only. These fall into two main categories - • those in which the