West Midland Bird Club Annua! Report No. 59 1992 Little Grebe, Whitacre Heath, April 1992 (Keith Warmington) West Midland Bird Club Annual Report No. 59 1992 The Annual 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 Editor's Report 4 Birds in 1992 11 Hon. Treasurer's Report 13 Secretary's Report 14 Field Meeting Secretary's Report 14 Permit Secretary's Report 15 Membership Secretary's Report 15 Solihull Branch Report 16 Staffordshire Branch Report 17 Tamworth Branch Report 18 Warwickshire County Recorder's Report 18 Belvide Report 21 1992 Bird Record Localities 27 Classified List 161 County Bird Lists 167 Ringing in 1992 173 Key to Contributors 175 Submission of Records The West Midland Bird Club is a registered charity. Registered Charity No. 213311. Printed by C. H. Healey. 49-55 Fore Street, Ipswich IP4 1JL. Price £5.00 Officers and Committee 1992 President C A Norris Vice Presidents F C Gribble, W E Oddie Chairman A J Richards, 1 Lansdowne Road, Studley, Warwickshire B80 7JG Deputy Chairman G R Harrison, 'Bryher', Hatton Green, Hatton, Warwickshire CV35 7LA Secretary H M MacGregor, 74 Ivyfield Road, Erdington, Birmingham B23 7HH Treasurer D J Hall, 160 Browns Lane, Knowle, Solihull, B93 9BD Report Editor S D Norman, 62 Portland Drive, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV10 9HY Bulletin Editor P J Rollin, 48 Kiln Way, Polesworth, Tamworth, Staffordshire B78 1JE Membership J 0 Reeves, 9 Hintons Coppice, Knowle, Solihull B93 9RF Secretary Field Meetings P M Pratt, 110 Lyndon Road, Solihull B92 7RQ Secretary Permit Secretary M A Surman, 6 Lloyd Square, 12 Niall Close, Birmingham B15 3LX Ringing Secretary A E Coleman, 67 Park Lane, Bonehill, Tamworth, Staffordshire and Promotion B78 3HZ & Fund Raising Committee Chairman Research Committee J R Winsper, 32 Links Road, Hollywood, Birmingham B14 4TP Chairman Solihull Branch G A Morley, 64 Cambridge Avenue, Solihull, B91 1QF Chairman Staffordshire Branch F C Gribble, 22 Rickerscote Avenue, Stafford, Staffordshire Chairman ST17 4EZ Tamworth Branch B Stubbs, 1 9 Alfred Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire Chairman Warwickshire S M Haynes, 4 Spinney Close, Old Arley, Coventry CV7 8PD Recorder Worces tershire S M Whitehouse, 5 Stanway Close, Rudyard Gardens, Black- Recorder pole, Worcester WR4 9XL Staffordshire G Jones, 4 The Poplars, Lichfield Road, Abbots Bromley, Recorder Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 3AA West Midlands T C Hextell, 49 Cradley Croft, Handsworth, Birmingham B21 Recorder 8HP Main Committee R C Broadbent, S C Brown, S Cawthray, E S Clare, D Coles, D B Dunstan, G M Lewis, J Neal Minutes Secretary, C F Nicholson Records Committee S M Haynes, T C Hextell, G Jones, W J Low, S D Norman, S M Whitehouse 3 Editor's Report The 59th West Midland Bird Club Annual Report is the fourth I have edited and will be the last. I hope that the additions I have made to the Report have been a positive aspect of its continued evolution. In 1989, colour photographs were included inside the Report. The standard achieved each year by local photographers is most impres- sive. Also in that year, subspecies and races were shown separately. This will hopefully assist any future research. The 1991 Report introduced the use of scientific names; the County Lists, that I hope are a useful reference for Midland birders and a laminated cover, which should increase the longevity of the Reports. In this, the 1992 Report, frequency of occurrence figures for scarce and rare species have been introduced. One of my major concerns as Editor was having responsibility for such a large part of Club expenditure. In 1989 the Report cost £6925. In 1990 it cost £7942. In 1991, I changed printers with great anxiety, fortunately without foundation, the Report cost £6033. Due to typing the entire 1992 Report on to computer, the quoted price has been reduced to £4760. Although it meant I did not go birding between September and January, the financial savings to the Club have been considerable. The above figures are a graphic demonstration of the benefits that computers could bring to the Club. Although I must admit to a sudden onset of 'demob-fever', it has been both a challenge and a pleasure to have been the Editor of this publication. The Annual Report could never be published if it were not for the people who willingly give up much of their spare time. In particular, I am eternally grateful to the following: The County Recorders and their teams: Warwickshire Steve Haynes. Worcestershire S M Whitehouse, G H Peplow, A Warr, J H Sirrett and F J Skinner. Staffordshire Gilly Jones, Bill Lowe, Eric Clare, Steve Jaggs, John Martin, Ben Reavey, Trevor Smart and Mark Sutton. Wesf Midlands Tim Hextell and Mark James. The Artists Phil Jones, Adam Holliday, John Martin, Kevin McGee and Terry Parker. The Photographers Audrey L Clark, Keith Warmington and Phill Ward. The Cartographer Graham Harrison. WMBC Hotline Eric Clare (0283 791171). Operator I am also most grateful to those observers who take the time and trouble to send details of their sightings to the relevant County Recorders. Thank you to C H Healey Printers, in particular Mike Gaydon, who never turns a drama into a crisis. Finally, thanks to my wife Linda for the hundreds of hours she has spent proof-reading over the last four years. S D Norman 4 Birds in 1992 The chart shows the number of species recorded in the Region over the last ten years, compared to the number of observers who have submitted records. It is interesting that the smallest number of observers saw the greatest number of species, during the year 1987. During 1992, there were 220 species of birds recorded in the Region. This is the lowest total since 1984. Great White Egret was the only addition to the Regional List. Other rare species included Little Egret, Ring-necked Duck, Bonaparte's Gull for the third time in as many years, White-winged Black Tern and Red-rumped Swallow. Several species give cause for concern, in particular those associated with farmland. The Song Thrush also appears to be in rapid decline. On the brighter side, birds of prey continue to do well. The numbers of Merlin and Peregrine records were again impressive. The weather during January was dominated by high pressure, that caused very cold, frosty nights and on many occasions freezing fog. Compensation was in the form of bright sunny days for some of the month but on others, the weather was dull and overcast in the still conditions. Night-time temperatures fell as low as - 10°C on several occasions. The month ended with a week of fog by day and night. The year's national lowest temperature - 12.3°C, was recorded at Barbourne in Worcestershire on 23rd. During the month, Regional maxima of 143 Goldeneye at Draycote and 127 Goosander at Belvide were recorded. On 1st, there were still two Great Northern Divers in the Region, both, first seen in 1991. The Chasewater bird remained for most of the month. The bird at Draycote lingered for six weeks. On 3rd, a Red-throated Diver arrived at Earlswood to begin a two week stay. At Westport, a Velvet Scoter was found on 5th. On the same day, a Snow Bunting graced Bredon's Hardwick with its presence. Four Waxwings were discovered at an industrial estate near Leek on 10th. On 11th, the number of Bewick's Swans at Whitemoor Hay had risen to 22. A Great Northern Diver first seen at Gailey on 12th, appeared intermittently for more than three months. A site not usually associated with Iceland Gull, Newford Valley landfill, Stoke-on-Trent, was visited by one on 15th. The first Warwickshire Hawfinch in four years was found at Ryton Pool on 19th. Two Waxwings were no doubt a 5 proud addition to a Walmley garden list on 21st. The 26th day of the month produced the last appearance of the 1991 Long-tailed Duck at Draycote. The fog and frost of the previous month were replaced by mild and dry conditions during February. However, most of the Reyiun experienced -now nn 1 7th and 18th. The rest of the month remained dry. The largest Regional counts of both Wigeon and Teal were made, during the month, 1368 at Bredon's Hardwick and 1066 at Blithfield respectively. On 2nd, the Black Redstart from 1991, was last seen at Stratford-upon-Avon. The same town played host to nine Waxwings on 16th. At Blithfield, there were 70 Pink-footed Geese on 19th. Two Twite, first seen during 1991, put in their last appearance at Throckmorton tip on 23rd. The long-staying Ferruginous Duck at Lea Marston disappeared on 28th. March was dominated by westerly winds that produced a mainly wet but mild month. There was an exception during the mid-month period, when the wind came from the northwest and caused a severe cold snap. The extremes were exemplified by the highest national temperature during the month, 18.2°C recorded at Great Malvern, Worcestershire on 16th. The Barn Owl that flew over the High Street in Shirley on 3rd must have been a pleasant sight. On 4th, the Gailey Great Northern Diver called in at Belvide. Thoughts of summer were instigated by the arrival of the first Sand Martins on 7th. Another summer visitor arrived on 8th, the first Northern Wheatear. Four Hawfinches were found at Old Storridge on 9th and were seen again on 1 5th. At Westwood on 13th, a Mediterranean Gull in breeding plumage was discovered.