SPOTLIGHT ON LITTLE TERNS AT RSPB MEMBERS' DAY

Little tern and chick. Photo: RSPB 

THE focus will fall on the fight to save the little tern as a British breeding species at this month's annual RSPB Members' Day.

The species' eggs and chicks is highly vulnerable to disturbance from people, predators and curious dogs.

Because they nest on the shore, high tides can also prove devastating.

Between 1914 and 1918, the RSPB embarked on an  EU-funded project  to protect little terns across 20 sites by:

• Erecting warning signs and raising awareness
• Fencing off nests to protect chicks
• Creating safer nesting sites
• Sheltering chicks and relocating nests threatened by flooding

As a result, says the charity, 2,933 young successfully fledged, "helping to slow local population declines".

At the Members' Day to be held at the Queen Elizabeth II conference in London on October 26, guests will hear an update on what has been achieved this year and of proposed initiatives for the future.

BYGONE BIRDING (6): 'GOOD SPORT' CHASING THE DIVERS

Slavonian grebe in winter plumage

From The Zoologist, Vol 16, 1858


Occurrence of rare birds near Barnstaple

Singular to relate, although the commencement of the past winter was  unusually mild, birds which are rare visitants here even when the weather is  severe, have appeared on our river in some numbers. 

I refer especially to members of the family Colymbidee (divers). 

What seemed to be a small flock of Colymbus glacialis (great northern diver) frequented the river throughout the greater part of December.

At high water, on more than one occasion, good sport was had by parties in boats in chasing one of these divers, and they generally had to make a good pull for it, and to expend a considerable quantity of cartridges before a specimen was hauled dead into the boat. 

All the birds which were shot were in an immature state of plumage. 

C. septentrionalis (red-throated diver) has also been shot this winter as well as a beautiful specimen of Podiceps cornutus (Slavonian grebe).

This grebe is obtained on our river with some regularity nearly every winter. 

One day, in the early part of January, I saw a fine specimen of Lanius excubitor (great grey shrike), but did not get very near to it.

I watched it fly some distance down the valley, its grey and white plumage making it visible at a considerable distance.

Its flight is in a straight line, with regular dips, closely resembling that of Turdus viscivorus (mistle thrush). 

I also observed a specimen of Emberiza nivalis (snow bunting) on a marsh close to the town, a far from common winter visitant with us.

The bird in question I saw frequenting the same spot for more than three weeks.

His favourite haunt was a turnip field bordering on the marsh where he associated amicably with a flock of skylarks, always leaving them on the approach of any one, and often settling on the top of a tall tree in the hedgerow.

There, when the sun was shining brightly, he glistened as if a small ball of the purest snow were attached to the topmost branch. 

Rev Murray A. Mathews

Raleigh 

near Barnstaple

Devon

March 15, 1858.

NOISE AND SPEED - THE WATERSPORTS ENTHUSIASTS WHO SPOOK THE HUMBER ESTUARY'S WADERS

SEEN here, the  oystercatchers and black-backed gulls don't seem too disturbed by jetski action off Cleethorpes.

However, knot, bartailed godwit, curlew, grey plovers and some other species were thrown into panic.

There was no indication that the sports enthusiasts were deliberately targeting the birds, but the commotion was not good to see (video below).

The Humber Estuary is a Special Protection Area for waders and wildfowl - notably knot which arrive in thousands during winter from their breeding grounds in Canada, Greenland and elsewhere.

It is an offence to disturb them as they feed and roost on the sand- and mud-flats - prime habitat for certain shore waders and wildfowl.

At high tide in daylight hours, jetski enthusiasts pursue their sport along the estuary all the way from Cleethorpes Pier to the Humberston Fitties.

BYGONE BIRDING (5): EAST COAST SKUAS

From The Zoologist journal, December, 1880

Pomatorhine Skuas on the Durham and Yorkshire coasts

I have to record the occurrence of another large flight of Pomatorhine Skuas at Redcar, a flight similar in some respects to that which visited this place on the 14th October last year, but not in such vast numbers.

Similar in this, that it consisted almost entirely of mature birds of the white-breasted variety, only three or four being dark-plumaged, but whether immature or adult I could not ascertain. 

While the terrific storm of October 28th was at its height, considerable numbers, amounting to several hundreds, of these Skuas passed Redcar, coming from eastward and seaward and going N.W. and W.

They passed along the front of the town flying close to the esplanade and houses, struggling to make headway against the storm, and, although possessed of great strength of wing, many of them were obliged to rest for a time on the water or else were driven inland. 

Unconscious of danger, they flew within a few yards of those persons who had courage to venture out. 

I did not hear of any having been shot or captured in any way.
In fact, it was well nigh impossible to stand out in the face of a blinding storm of hail, rain and sand driven by a N.E. hurricane of fearful severity, and shooting was entirely out of the question. 

Several Storm Petrels were observed, and a birdstuffer at Marske obtained three, two of which I have secured, as also a Fulmar picked up by a Redcar fisherman. 

Two Gannets were captured during the storm in an exhausted condition, and another Fulmar was picked up about the middle of October. 

Attention has been called to the manner in which the Pomatorhine Skua carries its tail, shut up like a fan. 

I may here state that last year, when the great flight of Skuas occurred at Redcar, I was very much struck by the peculiar appearance of the tails of these birds, especially those of the mature examples. 

When flying straight ahead the tail was closed, and had a most strange and unnatural look, giving the bird when seen from underneath almost the appearance of a cross, the wings being nearly motionless and the tail seeming to be much longer than was found to be the case on examining them after having been shot. 

The structure of the Pomatorhine Skua is eminently adapted for rapid flight, and the tail plays an important part in guiding its owner in its evolutions when pursuing the Gulls and Terns. 

In several instances when I had shot a Skua, others came to the dead or wounded bird, and in their twistings and turnings while swooping round, continually opened and shut their tails, much in the same way as Terns do when fishing over a shoal of sprats.

T. H. Nelson
North Bondgate
Bishop Auckland
Co Durham

BYGONE BIRDING (2): A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY?

From The Zoologist, Vol 16, 1858

The snow bunting that wasn't

In the April number of The Zoologist, Mr. Mathews states that a snow bunting was in the habit of perching upon a tall tree in a hedgerow. 

Surely this is a mistake. 

At page 281 of British Ornithology, Mr. Selby, in speaking of the snow bunting, says "they run with ease and celerity, like the lark genus and never perch on trees.

I can confirm Mr. Selby 's statement from my own observations. 

I have seen numbers of these birds on the coast of Essex, but in no instance have I ever seen one attempt to perch on a bush or tree, but they will occasionally upon low, broad railings. 

I may also say that the pure black-and-white plumage is their summer livery in which state they are very rarely seen in Britain. 

In winter, the black feathers of the back are broadly edged with ferruginous, and the head, neck and all the under parts are strongly tinged with the same colour, becoming of a deep chestnut on the crown of the head and back of the neck; in the breeding plumage, these parts are pure white.

Henry Doubleday
Epping.

 April 16, 1858. 

Editor: There is certainly a mistake in Mr. Mathews's statement which it is important to correct. Was the pied flycatcher the bird that he saw?

BYGONE BIRDING (4) SLAUGHTER OF THE SEABIRDS ON THE YORKSHIRE COAST

Blasted from the cliffs - anything with wings was shot at

The following paragraph is extracted from The Guardian of November 18, 1858 

 “On a strip of coast eighteen miles long near Flamborough Head, 107,260 seabirds were destroyed by pleasure parties in four months.


"Of these, 2,000 were killed for their feathers to adorn women's hats, and 79,500 young birds died of starvation in nests. 


"Commander Knocker (of Bridlington Coastguard), there stationed, who reports these facts, saw two boats loaded above the gunwales with dead birds.

Kittiwake - killed both for sport and for millinery

"One party of eight guns killed 1,100 birds in a single week.”


Note: Public outrage at the slaughter of seabirds intensified such that, in 1869, it was outlawed, at least during the breeding season. This was largely through the detemination of a Bridlington clergyman. His forthright initiative is chronicled in a new e-book, Saving Britain's Seabirds : The Campaign to End Bird Murder on the UK Coastline (price £1 via Amazon/Kindle).

Shooting took place from land as well as vessel

APPEAL FOR SIGHTINGS OF 50 CURLEWS THAT WERE 'HEADSTARTED' AT SLIMBRIDGE IN SUMMER

Curlew feeding on Cleethorpes Beach - watch out for birds with rings on both legs

WATCH out for curlews 'headstarted' at Slimbridge, in Gloucestershire, during July.

Headstarting is the technique whereby eggs are taken under licence from nests - invariably on Ministry of Defence land - then  incubated in confinement to prevent them being predated by creatures such as rats.

The chicks remain in confinement until they are mature enough to be released into suitable habitats in the wild.

Curlew eggs - removed under licence from MoD land (photo: WWT)

The 50 birds in question could  turn up feeding anywhere - on muddy estuaries, on playing fields and even in cemeteries.

For ease of identification,  each bird has been fitted with a yellow ring at the top of the right leg and a white ring with a number at the top of the left leg.

The organisation behind the headstarting project is the Slimbridge-based Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) which is appealing for information on sightings.

It says: "Please include as much information as you can - date, time, location, ring number and what they were up to.

"Is it feeding? Is it in a high tide roost? We’d love to know.
"If you manage to capture a picture of the bird - even better!"

Although common locally in winter, UK-wide curlew numbers have declined by over 65 per cent  since 1970.

Continues the WWT: "Modern landscapes are making it increasingly difficult for adults to rear enough chicks to fledging age.

"Because curlew live for a relatively long time, the hit on their population hasn't been obvious, as adult birds are still readily seen - but the lack of new chicks is becoming more and more apparent.

"Predators are having a major impact. Curlew eggs and chicks are predated by mammals and birds.

"This is a natural process, but some of these predators – such as foxes and crows - are more abundant in the UK than anywhere else in Europe, and there’s simply too much predation for the curlew population to sustain.

"The efficiency of modern farming, along with a warming climate, means that hay and silage crops are harvested earlier by larger, faster modern machinery. In some places, eggs and chicks accidentally fall victim to the mower.

"Breeding curlews favour open, usually damp, grassland and heaths, which provide safe nest sites and places for both adults and chicks to feed.

"But over recent decades, the land has become drier, more uniform and supports fewer insects, making it harder for curlews and their chicks to find food.

"The curlew is now regarded as the most pressing bird conservation priority in the UK where we hold a quarter of the world’s population.

"Its  decline  is not just the loss of a valuable wetland species, but a significant cultural and heritage loss too.

"We are working with farmers and landowners, conservationists and communities to improve the curlews’ chances."

Anyone who detects one of the ringed birds is urged to email the info to: curlew@wwt.org.uk

Curlew cutie - one of the headstarted chicks (photo: WWT)