Swift answers needed for declining visitor

Common Swifts are familiar birds in many European cities, breeding close to man under the roofs or in cracks in the walls of buildings, bridges and other constructions. However, they are also disappearing from many cities, and the possible reasons for this are the decreasing availability of flying insects (their staple food) or the gradual improvement of buildings, which prevents swifts from gaining access to suitable nesting places.

BirdLife International and the RSPB would therefore like birders to contribute to a survey of Common Swifts in the capitals of the 27 Member States of the EU. The collected data will be used for media release, drawing the attention of the public to the conservation issues around common and familiar birds and the quality of our living environment.

The survey needs participating birders to do the following:

• Undertake a one-hour survey of Common Swift (Apus apus) – and no other swift species – in the centre of your capital city.

• Counts should be undertaken in relatively warm conditions with only modest breeze, and preferably between the hours of 18:00 and 22:00.

• Observers should watch for a one-hour period and count the approximate number of swifts in parties they see flying over the city. They should count the birds seen and make a note of the number. Swifts in small parties can be counted individually, but for birds in larger parties it may be easier to count in groups of five, or 10, to come up with your best estimate.

• Observers also need to provide with the maximum total number of swifts they record in one of four categories: (1) 0, (2) 1-10, (3) 11-100, (4) 101-1000.

• Zero counts are extremely valuable, so please send these in too!

• We ask that the survey is carried out on one evening between 25th June and 9th July • Please feel free to repeat the survey on several evenings, if you wish to do so, and send us the maximum counts for each date. • You need to provide: a) Date of the count, b) City name, and c) Maximum number of common swift seen in a simple table (see Annex). Anyone who wishes to take part or who needs more details should respond by email to: Darren.Moorcroft@rspb.org.uk.

Photo: Mark Thomas (RSPB)

Thriving Bald Eagle 'no longer endangered'

The Bald Eagle, the national symbol of the USA which was once almost wiped out by hunters and DDT poisoning, has not only survived but is thriving.

The Interior Department is removing the majestic bird from the protection of the Endangered Species Act, capping a four-decade struggle for recovery. US government biologists have counted almost 10,000 pairs of Bald Eagles, including at least one pair in each of 48 contiguous states, giving assurance that the bird's survival is no longer in jeopardy.

The species’ population hit rock-bottom in 1963 when only 417 mating pairs could be documented in the 48 states and its future survival as a species was in doubt.

There were once believed to be as many as a half million Bald Eagles in North America, pre-dating the arrival of settlers from Europe. The Continental Congress put the bird onto the country's official seal in 1782, although Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey and called the eagle a “bird of bad moral character”.

The Interior Department has been mulling over what to do about the bald eagle for eight years since government biologists in 1999 concluded its recovery had been a success. Earlier this year, a federal court directed it to make a decision on the bird's status by this Friday, acting in a lawsuit by a Minnesota man who complained the government's delays kept him from developing seven acres that included an eagle's nest.

Read more …

Source: Guardian Unlimited

Rare antbird rediscovered and photographed in Colombia

The rare Recurve-billed Bushbird has recently been rediscovered by scientists in Colombia after a 40-year absence.

Clytoctantes alixii had not been observed between 1965 and 2004, due to its limited range and remote habitats. It was seen recently in Venezuela and in a region of north-eastern Colombia, where it was photographed.

Researchers found the bird in a 250-acre (101-hectare) reserve next to the Torcoroma Holy Sanctuary near the Colombian town of Ocaña, where in 1709 locals claimed they saw the image of the Virgin Mary in a tree root. The forests of the sanctuary have been protected by Catholic Church authorities in the centuries ever since.

Read more and photo ...

Trawling identified as major new threat to albatross conservation

An estimated 100,000 albatrosses die annually in the longline fishing industry, but recent research has highlighted that large numbers of albatrosses are also dying in trawl fisheries. In one recent study, 12,000 albatrosses are estimated to have died in the South African trawl fishery in one year.

As new threats for albatrosses emerge – heightening their risk of extinction – the RSPB, in conjunction with BirdLife International, is aiming to spend up to £2 million over the next five years, doubling the capacity of its Albatross Task Force programme.

Currently, the Albatross Task Force employs seven full-time personnel: three in South Africa; two in Brazil; and two in Chile. The RSPB hopes to expand the work of the task force in other albatross hot-spots, especially those along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America.

Dr Euan Dunn, Head of Marine Policy at the RSPB, said: “Operating in some of the world’s most dangerous environments, seven task force members are already working with the fishing industry in the southern hemisphere preventing the deaths of albatrosses and other seabirds. Extending the programme will enable us to double the number of task force instructors and reach several new countries.”

The work of the Albatross Task Force can be seen on BBC1 at 7 pm on Thursday 28 June, as Carol Thatcher investigates the plight of albatrosses as part of the BBC’s Saving Planet Earth series.

Dr Dunn is hugely encouraged by the difference the Albatross Task Force is making to the future of these iconic seabirds. He said: “Fishing practices pose by far the greatest threats to the survival of albatrosses. These birds are dying at sea right now and they need our help urgently. Putting task force members on as many vessels as possible today will help prevent these birds’ deaths tomorrow.”

Albatross Task Force members crucially advise fishing crews on the simple and cost-effective ways to avoid catching albatrosses that steal bait from the longline hooks. Measures such as weighting the lines, so they sink more quickly, or attaching streamer (bird-scaring) lines to the stern of the vessels have proved highly effective.

In the trawl fisheries, research has shown that albatrosses, and other seabirds, can become entangled and drowned in fishing gear. A vital part of the Albatross Task Force will be to encourage crews to use effective mitigation measures, such as bird-scaring lines.

* The work of the Albatross Task Force features in a special article in the July issue of Birdwatch, on sale now in all good newsagents.

Photo: Peter Exley (www.rspb-images.com)

New study reveals importance of moorland to snipe

A new study by the Game Conservancy Trust, to be published in the July edition of Bird Study, highlights the threat that land drainage can have on wading birds, particularly Common Snipe.

This species has declined by about 62 per cent over the past 20 years in lowland Britain due to the loss or deterioration of wetland habitat. As a consequence, it is now designated an Amber List species.

To understand whether snipe are fairing better in upland areas, the Trust's study investigated both habitat use and the food preferences of breeding Common Snipe on moorland in northern England. This scientific study is part of the Trust's long-term Upland Predation Experiment, which is investigating the effects of predation on breeding populations of upland waders, such as European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing and Curlew.

On lowland wet grassland, the snipe's breeding season is determined by the duration for which the soil remains soft enough for the birds to probe for food such as earthworms and tipulid larvae (crane fly or mosquito larvae).

However, since the 1940s the serious population decline in lowland areas has been driven by the loss of this soft wet grassland habitat through increased land drainage aimed at creating more arable land, as well as increased livestock grazing.

On Britain's moorland, however, the study revealed that densities of snipe were comparable to those in the best lowland habitats in England and Wales. Moorland is clearly an important habitat for the British snipe population, notably because it is far more extensive than the remaining suitable lowland habitats. The availability of suitable wetland feeding areas on moorland appears to be the main factor determining breeding densities.

But between 1980 and 1990 the number of sheep in the uplands more than doubled, resulting in a shift from heather-dominated habitats to heather/grass mosaics in many areas. Although this might have made some moors marginally more attractive to breeding snipe, it is likely to have resulted in increased trampling rates of snipe nests – one of the major factors that caused snipe to decline in lowland wet grasslands. In addition, the agricultural improvement of pasture fields adjoining moorland is detrimental to most breeding waders, including snipe, and improved grass held the lowest snipe densities within the study sites.

Dr Andrew Hoodless, who carried out this research on The Game Conservancy Trust's study sites at Otterburn in Northumberland, said: "Because of its specialist feeding requirements, snipe are very susceptible to habitat change. Given the poor status of breeding snipe in lowland Britain and the emerging evidence of declines on upland marginal grassland, we need to ensure that any future upland habitat management practices are beneficial to snipe and do not result in further deterioration of their important moorland habitats."

Photo: Common Snipe by Alexis de le Serre

Secret wintering grounds of Europe's rarest migrant songbird discovered

After five years of searching, an expedition team has finally located the wintering grounds of the Aquatic Warbler in Senegal. The species is Europe’s most endangered migratory songbird, and its whereabouts in the winter months have long remained a mystery.

Co-ordinated by Birdlife International’s Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team (AWCT), the RSPB and the French organisation Bretagne Vivante, the search party located significant numbers of Aquatic Warblers in a region of some 100 sq kms within the boundaries of the Djoudj National Park, an important bird area in the north-west of the country.

Feathers from Aquatic Warblers trapped in Europe were analysed to help refine the search area. Aware that the feathers would have grown on the wintering grounds in Africa, the research team looked for isotope patterns and then compared the results with isotope maps of West Africa.

The results from this analysis showed that the birds were wintering at sites just south of the Sahara, and a closer look at the sparse African records, alongside computer modelling of possible suitable climatic conditions, led the researchers to likely areas along the Senegal River.

AWCT Chairman Martin Flade commented: “Thankfully, substantial parts of the bird’s wintering range fall within protected areas, with the Djoudj National Park alone possibly holding up to a third of the world population.”

Aquatic Warblers breed as far west in Europe as Poland and Hungary, but the population is declining and knowledge of the species in its winter range, as well as on the breeding grounds, is crucial to its conservation. Interestingly, it occurs regularly in small numbers in south-west England and Brittany on migration in autumn to its wintering areas, but not in spring, suggesting a different route back to Europe.

Photo: Steve Young.

Fossil remains of giant penguin found in Peru

The remains of a giant penguin which preferred the tropics to the southern oceans have been discovered by a team of scientists, according to the BBC. The fossilised bones of the bird, which lived some 36 million years ago, were discovered in Peru.

About 1.5 m (5 ft) tall, the penguin would have looked quite different from its modern-day cousins. It had a long, protracted skull and what its discoverers are describing as a grossly elongated beak that was spear-like in appearance.

The Icadyptes salasi penguin would dwarf all extant penguin, and would have stood head and shoulders even over the two largest species, Emperor and King Penguins.

Its well-preserved skeleton was discovered on the southern coast of Peru along with the remains of as many as four other previously undiscovered penguin species, all of which appear to have preferred the tropics over colder climes.

Read more …

Concern over swift numbers prompts nationwide survey

Fears that one of summer’s more familiar sights and sounds could be becoming scarcer have prompted calls for help from the public in a new nationwide survey. The RSPB believes that Common Swifts could be declining in numbers and is asking for details of birds nesting in homes or neighbourhoods across the country.

Since the earliest human occupation of Britain, swifts have been living alongside man: first in caves; then on castles and churches; and finally in our homes. Concern over their fortunes is being linked to the possibility that renovation and development of older buildings may be evicting the species from some locations in which it formerly thrived.

The RSPB’s Darren Moorcroft said: “There is some evidence that the Swift has declined across the UK, but we really need people’s help to understand more about where this bird still occurs.”

The online questionnaire will ask people to state whether swifts are nesting on properties or whether people have heard swift ‘screaming parties’ around their properties. To take part in the survey click here.

Photo: Steve Young

Arson suspected in Welsh nature reserve fire

Wardens for the Countryside Council for Wales are assessing the damage caused to a nature reserve at Cadair Idris, after a recent fire decimated important wildlife habitats. Following a visit by a wildlife crime officer, there are fears that the fire was started deliberately.

Nearly 30 hectares of prime wildlife habitats have been lost as a result of the fire at Tan y Gader, a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the north side of Cadair Idris. CCW is appealing for any information on the incident.

Paul Williams, CCW’s Senior Reserve Manager at Cadair Idris, said: “It will take many years for the area to recover – a generation of young trees were killed and the heathland ruined. This will inevitably have an impact on birds in the area – Merlin, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat and Skylark, for example.”

Any activities that may have an impact on a Site of Special Scientific Interest must be discussed with CCW before being carried out. Deliberately damaging an SSSI is a criminal offence.

Heather burning can take place between 1 October and 15 April in the uplands, and between 1 November and 31 March in the lowlands. But any burning on a SSSI must be discussed with CCW in advance.

Paul Williams added: “Through discussion and co-operation many activities, including heather burning, can be managed in a way that avoids damaging SSSIs. A constructive way ahead can usually be found if projects are discussed with us in advance.”

A leaflet giving practical advice on how heather burning should be managed, and outlining what the law says on the matter, is available from Mike McCabe at the Countryside Council for Wales on 0845 1306229.

Kites and eagles to be reintroduced to eastern Scotland

Over the next three years 30 Red Kites are to be released annually on private land on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Scotland, as the latest stage in efforts to reintroduce the species around the country. The birds will be wing-tagged and fitted with radio transmitters to track their progress, and RSPB Scotland hopes that the public will report sightings to help monitor their behaviour and well-being.

Populations of reintroduced Red Kites are thriving in southern and central England but the scheme has been less successful in Scotland, with reports of persecution persisting and kites failing to colonise new areas.

This latest initiative, which is supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Aberdeen Countryside Project and other organisations, comes at the same time as a consignment of 15 White-tailed Eagle chicks arrives from Norway to help get another reintroduction programme off the ground. Up to 20 young eagles per year will be imported over four years for release in eastern Scotland.

The first batch of eaglets will be reared in special aviaries on Forestry Commission Scotland land in eastern Scotland before their release in the autumn, in an effort to bolster the breeding population in the west of the country which has been slow to expand beyond Skye and Mull. The news follows the launch of an Irish reintroduction project for the species in Co Kerry earlier this week.

Read more on the latest Red Kite reintroduction here.

Read more about the White-tailed Eagle project here.

Photo: Red Kite by Dominic Mitchell

Birdwatch July 2007: table of contents

ISSN 0967-1870: issue 181

Features

Vinicombe, K E. Green and Wood Sandpipers (Tringa ochropus and T glareola) [Identification of these two similar species at a glance]

Madge, G. Trailing a tori [The work of the Albatross Task Force on longline trawlers in the South Atlantic]

Watts, O. The heat is on [Mitigating the effects of climate change on Britain’s birds]

McKenzie, D. Losses and gains [How global warming might affect Britain’s breeding birds and scarce visitors]

Young, S. Taking the slow road [Bird photography: using a slow shutter speed to great effect]

Better Birding

Resources – water on the brain; other wildlife – is it a bird or a bat?; bat walks; feeding – bills of fare; behaviour – feather dusters; must see – Cirl Bunting; on the move – southward bound; what’s on – July events; optical events – July guide; birding courses and workshops; tide tables for July for Britain and Ireland

Where to watch birds

Chubb, J. Axe Estuary, Devon

Duffin, B. Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

Ahmed, R. Bishop Middleham, Co Durham

Pullan, D. Handa Island, Highland

Reader Holidays

Öland and Falsterbo, Sweden: 22-29 September 2007

Azores: 6-13 October 2007

Panama: 11-20/23 October 2008

News and related items

News digest – Common Cranes breed in Suffolk; farmland birds decline;1200 bird species face extinction; doves downed in Cyprus; police investigate harrier incident

Fraser, M. ListCheck – updating the world view of birds. [Split: Common Bush Tanager (Chlorospingus opthalmicus). Potential splits: Madeiran Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma castro); Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Relationships: white-eyes (Zosterops).]

Tools of the trade

Product reviews: Pentax 8x43 and 10x43 DCF ED binoculars

Brochure watch: Birdquest 2008/09

Reader holiday report: Bulgaria, February 2007

Internet birding: satellite mapping, new Birdwatch news blog, new-look websites

Book/DVD reviews: Raptors: a Field Guide to Survey and Monitoring by Jon Hardey, Humphrey Crick, Chris Wernham, Helen Riley, Brian Etheridge and Des Thompson (Stationary Office TSO); The Selborne Pioneer: Gilbert White as Naturalist and Scientist, a Re-examination by Ted Dadswell (Open Gate); Life on the Wing by Brutus Östling and Magnus Ullman (Collins)

Accounts of recent rarities in Britain and Ireland

Staff writer. After three decades, the wait finally ends. [White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus), Caerlaverock WWT, Dumfries & Galloway 6-8 June 2007]

McKenzie, D. Booby prize for Wight watchers [Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra), English Channel, May 2007]

Filby, D. The ultimate twitch [Black-browed Albatross (Diomedea melanophris), Sula Sgeir, Outer Hebrides, May 2007]

Butcher, R. Reality check for daydreamer [Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii), Dungeness, Kent, 16 May 2007)

Monthly highlights summary: May 2007

Recent reports

Monthly round-ups from eight regions in Britain, and from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, May 2007, including photos of Black Scoter (Melanitta americana), Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii), Squacco Herons (Ardeola ralloides), Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), Pallas’s Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus), Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula), Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) and Little Crake (Porzana parva).

Highlights summary for the Western Palearctic in April 2007, including photos of Great Rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilla) in Georgia, Great Snipe (Gallinago media) in Lesvos, White-winged Black Terns (Chlidonias leucopterus) in The Netherlands, a hybrid shrike (Lanius sp) in Malta, Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) on Heligoland, Germany, and Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia) in Denmark.

Britain’s rarest raptor on view in Lincolnshire fens

A pair of Montagu’s Harriers which are nesting at Digby Fen between Lincoln and Boston will be on view to the public at a special RSPB viewpoint seven days a week from Saturday 23 June.

With fewer than 10 pairs nesting each year, Montagu’s Harriers are Britain’s rarest breeding bird of prey. They spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa and migrate north to summer in Europe, with Lincolnshire right on the northern edge of their breeding range.

John Badley, Site Manager of nearby Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore RSPB Reserves, explained: “The Montagu’s Harrier hunts small birds, mammals and even amphibians or insects by quartering low across fields and using their keen eyesight and agility to pounce on or grab their prey. The viewpoint at Digby Fen is an exclusive chance to watch these birds in action.”

The ‘Digby’ male has been seen taking prey items to the nest, providing for the recently hatched chicks. This atypical behaviour caused some alarm to RSPB staff – the female would usually take prey from the male in a mid-air pass. The visits to the nest by the male, coupled with no sign of the female, prompted concerns about her well-being. Thankfully, however, she eventually made an appearance to reassure RSPB Harrier Protection Scheme staff that all was well.

The RSPB viewpoint will be open from 9 am until 7 pm on weekdays, 8 am until 8 pm on weekends and public holidays from Saturday 23 June until Monday 26 August. The viewpoint is free, but there is a suggested donation of £2 per vehicle to help cover the costs of running the projects.

Photo: male Montagu's Harrier by Roger Tidman (rspb-images.com)

Mass die-off of Great Shearwaters in south-eastern US waters

Thousands of dead Great Shearwaters are being washed up on south-east coast of the USA, according to press reports today, with corpses being picked up along the shoreline from Georgia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The shearwaters are currently undertaking their circular Atlantic migration to waters off New England and beyond, before heading east and then south back across the equator towards breeding grounds at Tristan da Cunha.

A spokesperson for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission told First Coast News that scientists are performing necropsies, or animal autopsies, on a number of the dead birds.
"They are emaciated and they don't have any food in their system which indicates that starvation has played a role, and likely that's through part of their migration process," said FWC's Wendy Quigley.

Read more …

Common Crane reintroduction project gets underway

A breeding programme to boost the numbers of Common Cranes in English wetlands has got underway with the hatching of six chicks, the backbone of a new reintroduction scheme, at Slimbridge WWT in Gloucestershire. The chicks emerged from their eggs earlier this week, and will be raised in a semi-wild environment before being released at protected sites in 2009.

In historical times a widespread breeding species in British wetlands, cranes were over-hunted and their habitat destroyed, and by the 17th century they had become extinct. A tiny population became re-established in Norfolk in the late 1970s and breeding commenced in 1981, since when numbers have slowly consolidated.

Ironically, news of the captive hatchings and planned reintroduction scheme comes at the same time as wild birds have nested outside Norfolk for the first time in recent years, a pair being found breeding at Lakenheath RSPB in Suffolk.

The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust hopes that its Great Crane Project will restore a viable breeding population of 100 cranes to secret wetland sites in England over a five-year period from 2009. Nigel Jarrett, Aviculture Manager at Slimbridge, said: “These birds really do capture the imagination. Once you've heard their incredible bugling calls and seen their courtship dancing, the traditional British wetland would seem silent without them.”

Staff at Slimbridge will be rearing the six chicks using crane costumes and crane heads made out of litter pickers so that the birds don’t become too accustomed to humans.

These chicks will become the star attraction at Slimbridge’s new ‘Crane School’ from July, and will go on to train future generations of cranes that will be released into the wild as part of The Great Crane Project.

Read more …

Photo: Common Cranes at Lakenheath by Andy Hay (RSPB)

White-tailed Eagle to be reintroduced to Ireland

Fifteen White-tailed Eagle chicks are to be released in Ireland’s Killarney National Park as part of a five-year breeding experiment to reintroduce the species to the Irish countryside.

The chicks will be reared with minimum human contact and monitored closely by a team of experts.

White-Tailed Eagle was once common in Ireland, but died out after being trapped and shot in the 19th and 20th centuries. International researchers identified this area of Co Kerry as the best place in Ireland to reintroduce the birds because of the unique rugged coastline habitat.

A similar scheme to re-establish Golden Eagles in the country notched up its first success this summer when the first successful breeding in Ireland for 100 years was announced.

Read more …

New hope for conserving New Caledonia’s birds

A much-anticipated ‘stock take’ of the habitats and birds of the Pacific territory of New Caledonia will form a blueprint for the conservation of the region’s birds, among them the extraordinary Kagu.

Published by Société Calédonienne d’Ornithologie (SCO), the local BirdLife International partner, Zones Importantes pour la Conservation des Oiseaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie is the culmination of work undertaken over two and a half years by research institutes and New Caledonian NGOs, led by the SCO’s Jerôme Spaggiari.

The publication details landscape and ornithological data from Important Bird Areas (IBAs) over all 32 islands, of which eight have a special importance by virtue of their diverse seabird colonies which include boobies, terns, tropicbirds and frigatebirds.

Vivien Chartendralt, SCO project co-ordinator, commented: “This book is definitely a great achievement for the SCO and the birds, but also for conservation as a whole in New Caledonia. It will strengthen our capacity to handle major threats to the avifauna, but also to sensitise people and particularly local communities.”

With support from the British Birdwatching Fair, Northern Province and The Packard Foundation, the SCO is charged with developing conservation work and project strategies for New Caledonia’s IBAs (including projects in the New Caledonian lagoons and forested IBAs on Ouvéa Island).

Lying just over two hours north of Sydney, Australia, in the Melanesian Pacific region, New Caledonia is home to a number of highly range-restricted endemics, perhaps most famously the Kagu. This and other species, including Cloven-feathered Dove, Crow Honeyeater and Horned Parakeet, are under threat.

The head of Birdlife’s Pacific Division, Don Stewart, welcomed the SCO’s achievement in publishing the book: “The SCO must be congratulated as regards an excellent example of how the concentrated efforts of a small but completely devoted conservation organisation can greatly influence efforts to save the planet’s most threatened species.”

Six months after the Napoli disaster, 485 oiled birds cleaned and released

A total of 485 birds covered in oil as a result of the grounding of the MSC Napoli in Devon have been cleaned, rehabilitated and released back into the wild by the RSPCA.

The final figures, issued today, reveal that the rest of the 1,020 oiled seabirds picked up by RSPCA staff died or were put to sleep to alleviate their stress and suffering, because they were not strong enough to stand a decent chance of survival in the wild.

Tim Thomas, a senior scientific officer in the RSPCA's wildlife department, said: “I’m proud to say that RSPCA staff have worked around the clock and done a wonderful job to give these birds the best chance of survival.

"When seabirds are covered in oil they are lucky to get to shore at all because they can’t fly or dive for food and the oil also reduces their buoyancy. Those eventually washed up on beaches were badly malnourished and in many cases poisoned by the effects of the oil.

"There were probably many more which died out at sea and didn’t make it back to the shore to be rescued by the RSPCA," said Mr Thomas.

"Many of those we received were put to sleep because they had no realistic chance of survival and a great many of these had severe enteritis [inflammation of the intestine] due to the effects of the oil. Being held in captivity is also extremely stressful for wild birds.”

Common Guillemots, which comprise 467 of the released birds, are known to be extremely difficult to rehabilitate successfully once covered in oil. Studies in the mid 1990s found that 70 per cent of rehabilitated oiled guillemots were found dead within 14 days of release.

So far, it is hoped the birds released from the Napoli disaster may be faring far better: only four of those released have been found dead in the critical two-week period following release.

Mr Thomas added: "It is hoped the rest of the released birds now stand as good a chance of survival as the rest of the guillemot population. The low numbers found dead may be thanks to the increased veterinary input and modifications to the way the birds were looked after. However, we must remain only tentatively optimistic about their long-term survival due to the compelling evidence produced in the 1990s to the contrary.”

Guillemot photos: Andrew Forsyth (RSPCA)

Record vulture influx underway in north-west Europe

An unprecedented influx of Griffon Vultures into north-west Europe has been taking place over the last three days, with record numbers reported at sites in Belgium and The Netherlands.

The first signs of an extraordinary movement came with sightings in Belgium over the weekend, including a single flock of 89 birds watched circling over Oudenaarde. Today (Monday 18 June), the indications are that that flock has dispersed and most, if not all, birds seen in Belgium have continued north over the Dutch border, perhaps with new individuals also arriving.

Dutch ornithologist Arnoud van den Berg told Birdwatch that this morning a flock of 50-60 Griffons had been reported over Gilze-Rijen, Noord-Brabant, with another 18 over Schoondijke, Zeeland. This was followed by a flock not far away of 56 over Oostburg, also in Zeeland. Some duplication may have been involved in the Zeeland records, but more reports continue to be received and it will be some time before it is known just how many individuals are involved.

The appearance of vultures well north of their southern European breeding ranges has become a feature of recent years, with The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium all benefiting from the phenomena. Although Griffon Vulture is the primary species, Eurasian Black Vulture and Lammergeier have also been involved, and individuals of wild descent and also originating from reintroduction projects in the Alps and the Cevennes in southern France are known to have wandered north.

The reasons for the movements are unclear, though one possible factor is food shortages in the Spanish Pyrenees. It is now illegal for animals carcasses to be left out in the countryside in Spain, resulting in reduced carrion availability for the region’s large vulture population. But earlier movements involving birds from other regions indicate that other, as yet unexplained, factors are at work.

With record numbers of Griffon Vultures now at large just across the North Sea, it will be interesting to see whether any make it across the water to reinstate the species on the British List – the sole record, of two birds in Derbyshire in 1927, was removed by the British Ornithologists’ Union’s Records Committee back in October 1999 (more details here).

Photo: Griffon Vulture by Dominic Mitchell

Gannet population under threat from global warming

Researchers at the University of Leeds have warned that global warming is a major threat to the Gannet, a species known for its stable populations and constant breeding success.

In a paper published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, Dr Keith Hamer of the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences reports that diminishing fish stocks around the birds’ natural habitats – caused partly by an increase in sea temperature – are forcing them to search further afield for food for their young.

“Usually, one parent will stay with a chick while the other goes out hunting,” said Dr Hamer. “But if left for long enough, it will eventually leave the nest itself to find food. This leaves the chick alone and vulnerable to attack - mainly from other Gannets seeking prime nesting space, which is fiercely contested within colonies.”

Two thirds of the world’s Gannets nest in the UK, with the largest northern Gannet colony found in the Scottish islands of St Kilda. Dr Hamer’s research group has been studying birds nesting on the Bass Rock, off the Lothian coast in Scotland, using satellite transmitters attached to the birds, to gather information about their movements.

“Gannets have been forced to travel as far as the Norwegian coast to find food – a round trip of over 1,000 km,” said Dr Hamer. “They compensate by flying faster to make sure they don’t leave their nests for too long, but our research shows they’ve hit their limit. They just physically can’t increase their speed any further.”

Until now, Gannets have bucked the trend in the North Sea, their breeding success remaining stable while other seabirds were in decline. However, as sea temperatures continue to rise and fish stocks diminish, Gannets are being forced further afield and are away from their nests for longer. The Leeds researchers are already seeing the numbers of unprotected chicks rise, and fear it can only get worse.

Gannets pair for life and breed annually, occupying the same nest each year. It takes 40 days for an incubated egg to hatch and a further 90 days for chicks to fledge. “There’s only time for each Gannet pairing to raise one chick each year, so with an increasing number losing their chicks and their nesting sites we may start to see a decline in overall numbers,” says Dr Hamer.

* Prior to this new research being published, Gannet was one of the species tipped to decline in Des McKenzie’s article ‘Losses and gains’, published in the July 2007 climate change special issue of Birdwatch. For details of more species set to benefit or lose out through global warming, see pages 40-42 of that issue.

Washout for breeding waders on the Ouse Washes

Floods over the meadows of the Ouse Washes in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk have wiped out this year’s nesting season for wading birds. The RSPB anticipates that some 1,000 pairs of ground-nesting waders have lost their eggs or recently hatched chicks across the Ouse Washes, mostly on its nature reserve in Cambridgeshire.

The wet weather – which included 47 mm of rain falling in just four days – put the whole of the 19-mile Ouse Washes under water. This internationally important wetland remains flooded, with no prospect of a nesting season for most birds this year as the wet weather continues.

There is a glimmer of hope for some breeding waders in the area. Newly created wet meadows at Manea have attracted 19 pairs of waders, namely nine pairs of Northern Lapwing, seven pairs of Redshank and five pairs of Common Snipe. This 44-hectare ‘pilot’ area demonstrates the feasibility of creating much larger areas of new wetland close to the Ouse Washes.

The problem of spring flooding on the Ouse Washes is one of the region’s biggest environmental challenges, says the RSPB. Conservation organisations have been working with the Environment Agency for many years to find a solution to this problem, and fresh hope has recently emerged for a satisfactory solution.

In March 2005, Elliot Morley, then a DEFRA Minister, announced the Government’s commitment to fix the deterioration of the Ouse Washes Special Protection Area. To fulfil obligations under EU Directives, the Government agreed to fund the purchase of land for habitat creation outside the Ouse Washes to provide alternative homes for these birds.

The Environment Agency is now leading this habitat creation protect, which will enable it to continue to operate the site as a washland, protecting people and property. The RSPB is providing help and support to this project to ensure new areas of wetland are established without undue delay.

Pat Sones, the Environment Agency’s Ouse Washes Habitat Creation Project Officer, said: “Put simply, spring flooding is bad for the birds of the Ouse Washes. The Environment Agency fully recognises this problem and we’re working hard both to acquire land to create new habitat safe from flooding for these important bird populations. The Agency is planning engineering improvements to rivers in and near to the Ouse Washes to improve flood management and help wildlife.”

Graham Elliott, Fens Area Manager for the RSPB, said: “Cambridgeshire is by far England’s most important county for wading birds nesting on wet meadows – nearly all the Black-tailed Godwits and well over a half of England’s nesting Common Snipe. The new wet meadows at Manea have worked just as we hoped they would but clearly birds from 2,000 hectares cannot pack into an area less than one fiftieth the size of the Ouse Washes.”

He continued: “This year’s floods show how important it is to create large areas of new wet meadows for breeding waders near to the Ouse Washes as soon as possible. We have learnt valuable lessons in creating new meadows at Manea and are happy to share our experience in supporting the Environment Agency with its habitat creation project. We’ll continue to work with the Agency to prevent further deterioration of the Ouse Washes itself.”

Floods in the nesting season have been the main cause for the collapse in the Ouse Washes breeding population of godwits, one of the UK’s rarest breeding waders. In 1972, there were 65 pairs breeding on the Ouse Washes; this year there were just four pairs, and these will now have lost their nests.

Photo: drumming Common Snipe by Steve Young

Maltese conservationists to target illegal raptor hunting

In a bid to put a stop to the widespread illegal killing of birds of prey and other protected species during autumn migration, BirdLife Malta is seeking volunteers to sign up for a special ‘raptor camp’.

Illegal hunting surveillance and raptor migration monitoring will be the two main elements of the camp’s activities. Carried out every day by groups of 5-10 volunteers, they will be concentrated on areas which are known for illegal hunting and raptor migration – previous experience has shown that just the presence of active birdwatchers is enough to deter illegal hunters. Where necessary, surveillance work will be co-ordinated with local police forces.

Key raptor species at this time of year include Marsh and Montagu's Harriers, Honey Buzzard, Common and Lesser Kestrels, Osprey, Hobby, Red-footed Falcon and Eleanora's Falcon, as well as rarities such as Lesser Spotted and Short-toed Eagles and Pallid Harrier. Participants will also record migration of a range of other species, including herons, bee-eaters, orioles, thrushes and doves, that migrate through the island in numbers.

RaptorCamp Malta will take place from 8-23 September this year. Click here for full details and for information on how to sign up, or send an email to raptorcamp@birdlifemalta.org.

Reintroduced Cirl Buntings breed in Cornwall

Britain’s rarest farmland bird is showing early signs of a comeback after a reintroduction programme notched up its first success with breeding in a new county for the first time in around 15 years.

The Cirl Bunting was reintroduced to Cornwall through a pioneering project last summer. The birds were brought back from the brink in Britain thanks to the efforts of farmers and conservationists after the population declined to just 118 pairs in the late 1980s, and the species became confined to just a narrow strip of south Devon.

Now a conservation partnership, bringing together experts from the RSPB, Paignton Zoo, Natural England and the National Trust, is celebrating its first success with the reintroduction programme. RSPB Conservation Director Mark Avery said: “Many individuals and organisations are working together to put wildlife back into the countryside – this news will encourage us all to do even more! It’s great to work with farmers to help make the Cornish countryside richer for wildlife.”

More than 70 Cirl Bunting chicks were hand-reared by aviculturists from Paignton Zoo last year, after being collected under special licence from Natural England from nests in south Devon. The birds were then released on farmland in south Cornwall, and the first reintroduced breeding pair chose to nest in a farmer’s back garden.

RSPB Conservation Officer Chris Townend said: “It is very symbolic that the birds have chosen this particular back garden to nest in. What better tribute to the efforts of farmers in supporting the species than to be rewarded not just by a pair of Cirl Buntings in your garden – but the first confirmed breeding pair in Cornwall for such a long time.”

Farmers and landowners are integral to the species’ ongoing comeback, as Cirl Buntings have very specific needs. They rely on what is known as ‘the big three’ – safe places to nest, winter food from weedy stubble fields where they can feed on seeds and spilt grain, and a summer menu of insects, such as their favourite grasshoppers.

Farmers are supported in meeting the birds’ needs through Government agri-environment schemes, through which they can receive payments for managing their land in the appropriate ways.

The reintroduction site, which remains a secret to minimise disturbance to the birds, has been monitored throughout the winter to determine how the released buntings were progressing.

To begin with the birds stayed closed to where they were released, feeding in special wild bird crops, but a wet and windy winter made it hard to keep an eye on where they were and there were fears that they might have fallen foul of the weather. But field workers relocated more than 50 per cent of the released birds early in the year, indicating that they had adapted well to their new environment.

Ian Carter, Ornithologist for Natural England, said: “Cirl Bunting reintroduction is one of the projects we’re backing through DEFRA’s Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund and we’re really pleased that it seems to be on track.

“Although there have been projects reintroducing larger species such as Red Kites and (White-tailed) Eagles, this is the first time it has been attempted with a small farmland bird, so it is a groundbreaking piece of conservation work.”

Although only one pair of reintroduced Cirl Buntings has bred so far, a second nest has already been located and field staff say they have recorded ‘a good number’ of other pairs and are confident that there will be more Cornish bunting chicks to report over the summer.

The first of this year’s intake of young birds are already being hand-reared by Paignton Zoo experts and the project hopes to release around 60 more Cirl Buntings in Cornwall during the summer.

North-East wetland rejuvenated by Tees industry

Water that might otherwise not have been utilised is helping to bring life to a new nature reserve currently under construction in the Tees Valley.

With spring 2007 one of the driest on record, at the start of the bird breeding season some of the newly created wetland habitats at the Saltholme site in the Tees Valley were looking more like a desert, rather than a haven for wildlife. Meadows designed to attract breeding birds were unseasonably dry, and a newly created lake was more of a puddle. Wetland-loving birds such as Northern Lapwing and Common Snipe were showing little signs of wanting to nest in the dry conditions.

To get around the problem, the RSPB teamed up with local industry to bring Saltholme’s silver meadows back to life and the site is now teeming with nesting wetland birds. A supply of water has been brought to the reserve thanks to the help of local company SABIC UK (formerly Huntsman) which is ‘donating’ the water, produced as a by-product of their brine production management operations. The water might otherwise have gone unutilised, but is now providing a lifeline for breeding birds.

Already 30 pairs of Northern Lapwings, several pairs of Redshanks and three pairs of Common Snipe are using the rejuvenated wetland, along with Shovelers and Yellow Wagtails. An Avocet has called in at Saltholme this spring. The wet grassland also attracted a flock of Black-tailed Godwits which stopped off on their migration to Iceland, giving hope that the species could breed at Saltholme in the future.

The pipeline lifeline has been installed across 1,000 m of the site, bringing the spare water from SABIC’s operations to Saltholme’s main lake and onwards through a sluice to feed 45 ha of wet grassland. It took 47,520 cubic metres (47,520 tons) of water and several weeks to fill the wet grassland after it had dried out in one of the driest Aprils on record.

The RSPB is working in partnership with the Teesside Environmental Trust to create the Saltholme reserve, which is situated near the mouth of the River Tees between Billingham and Seaton Carew. The site is due to open to visitors in 2008, and with around 100,000 visitors expected every year, it will be one of the largest tourist attractions in the region. An inspirational ‘Wild Bird Discovery Centre’ will be at the heart of the site, providing a family-friendly experience of wildlife, and facilities for recreation, education and local community activities.

Photos: Saltholme and Avocet courtesy of RSPB

Another nail in the coffin for Ivory-billed Woodpecker ‘rediscovery’?

First it was the barking calls of deer, and now it’s the ‘wing collisions’ of flying Gadwall. It seems that the so-called double rap calls of what search teams had believed must be the extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker, somehow risen from the dead in the southern US, are now being claimed as anything but that impressive species.

The calls in question were recorded on remote devices placed by scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in cypress swamp habitat in both Arkansas and Florida, two states once inhabited by the world’s largest woodpecker. The recordings had, along with blurry video footage, formed a major part of the evidence supporting the claim of rediscovery when it was announced to the world at the US Department of the Interior back on 28 April 2005. But the ornithological establishment has been uneasy about the lack of hard evidence in support of the woodpeckers' continued existence, and this latest revelation suggests its fears could be well-founded.

The claim comes in a paper by Clark Jones and colleagues who, writing in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (119(2): 259-262), say that the confusion with woodpecker raps may arise because of “close similarities in amplitude ratios, peak-to-peak times between raps, and auditory quality between ARU recordings and wing collisions from a Gadwall”.

Searchers in Arkansas and north-west Florida will receive little encouragement from this latest broadside, which seems set to explode the myth of ‘rediscovered’ Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. With further searches having failed to reveal new evidence, the original claim is looking increasingly tentative.

One thing has changed since the ‘rediscovery’ was made. The following year, analysis of Ivory-billed Woodpecker DNA from museum specimens led to the suggestion that birds from mainland North America and Cuba in fact represented separate species. Fleischer et al (2006) showed significant genetic differences between the two and evidence of a split more than one million years ago, meaning that the lost woodpecker of the south-east US bottomlands was in fact endemic to the region.

Although Cuba’s Ivory-bills have not been officially reported since the 1980s, persistent rumours that the species survives in remote and rarely visited areas in the east of the island perhaps now hold the best hope of an Ivory-bill rediscovery in the future.

* Read Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s discussion of similar sounds here.

Sightings wanted for garden bird survey in Fife

If you live in Fife and feed the birds in your garden you could help the British Trust for Ornithology find out how, why and when birds use Fife’s gardens, and just how important they are.

Being bound to the north and south by large estuaries and having a long coastline, Fife holds important numbers of wildfowl, in both summer and winter. Indeed it is probably the best place in Britain to see the rare Surf Scoter from North America. But just how important are the gardens of Fife for our birds? If you can tell the difference between a Blue Tit and a Blackbird, you could help to find out.

The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch survey has been monitoring our garden birds since 1995 and is open to anyone that watches the birds in their gardens. Participants count the birds in their gardens for as little as one hour per week and report their findings back to the BTO. The House Sparrow is in long-term decline across English counties but is actually increasing in parts of Scotland. Do House Sparrows feed in your garden, and if so, how many? The BTO would like to know.

Jacqui Kaye of BTO Scotland said: “Many people wonder why we should record the common species that turn up in our garden but, the recent dramatic declines in birds, such as House Sparrow and Starling, show just how important it is to understand what is happening to garden birds. The fact that these declines have been less severe in many parts of Scotland, also show how important it is to know how garden birds are doing in different parts of the country. Often these local differences can give us clues that will help conserve these species.”

She added: “This is not just looking at the birds out of your window, this is looking at the birds out of your window and making a difference.”

Norman Elkins, BTO Regional Representative for Fife and Kinross, commented: “Garden BirdWatch data for Fife were a valuable source of information for the best-selling Fife Bird Atlas published in 2003. It is a habitat not monitored by any other survey method.”

The importance of recording the birds in gardens can’t be underestimated – collectively they are in effect the biggest nature reserve. By making simple notes of what you see in your garden, you can help the BTO monitor what is happening, and the more people that take part, the greater the understanding that will be gained.

To receive a free information pack about the survey, please send your name and address details to GBW, BTO Scotland, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA (email: scot.info@bto.org; telephone 01786 466560).

Image: Blue Tit by Steve Young

Source: British Trust for Ornithology

Man in court on egg-collecting charges

A 40-year-old man has appeared in court in Lincolnshire accused of possessing one of the biggest collections of wild bird eggs ever discovered in the UK.

Richard Pearson, of Phelps Place, Cleethorpes, is alleged to have raided the nests of rare wild birds to amass a collection of more than 7,000 eggs.

Right: Peregrines are frequently targeted by egg thieves. (Image: Steve Young)

Read more ...

Source: BBC

Aplomado Falcons breed in New Mexico

The US population of the endangered Aplomado Falcon, reintroduced into the country at sites in states along the Mexican border, has been boosted the arrival of newly hatched chicks to a pair of one-year-old falcons released last August in New Mexico.

The birds are the first reintroduced falcons to reproduce in the state. The US's wild population became extinct in the state in 1952, although there was a breeding attempt involving a wild pair in 2001. A programme to reintroduce birds to Texas has been underway for some years, with nesting taking place there since 1995.

Read more ...

Source: Wildlife Extra

Photo: Aplomado Falcon in Texas by Dominic Mitchell

Pesticides still harming wildlife in the US 45 years after ‘silent spring’

The 100th birthday of Rachel Carson was celebrated recently to honour the person widely credited with ushering in a new age of environmental consciousness with the publication of her book, Silent Spring, in 1962.

This ground-breaking work alerted the world to the dangers of DDT, dieldrin and other persistent organochlorine pesticides that were responsible for the deaths and reproductive failures of raptors, seabirds, herons and songbirds. Ten years later, following the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency, those chemicals were banned.

“Thanks to Rachel Carson, endangered bird species in the United States have recovered, including Bald Eagle, Brown Pelican, Peregrine Falcon and Osprey,” said Dr Michael Fry, Director of American Bird Conservancy’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign. “But there is more to be done; millions of birds are still being poisoned each year. ABC is committed to continuing the great work begun by Rachel Carson and others to ensure that all America’s birds are safeguarded against dangerous pesticides.”

The highly toxic and persistent ‘first generation’ insecticides have mostly now been superseded by newer generations of reduced risk chemicals. But despite these gains, birds are still being poisoned. One estimate suggests that more than 670 million birds are directly exposed to pesticides each year on US farms alone, 10 per cent of which – 67 million birds – die as a result.

ABC’s Avian Incident Monitoring System (AIMS) documents more than 2,500 cases of pesticide-caused bird deaths in the past 40 years, representing more than 400,000 individual dead birds, and involving more than 100 different pesticides. This is a small percentage of the total number of bird poisonings since most incidents are never reported.

The Breeding Bird Survey has documented that over 200 of the 654 bird species in the United States are still in decline. While habitat loss and fragmentation is likely to be the biggest cause, continued use of toxic chemicals still plays a significant role.

Since 1996, ABC’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign has played a leading role in getting the most hazardous pesticides to birds removed from the marketplace. Of the 25 worst pesticides in terms of bird deaths, 17 have now been banned or are currently in the process of being cancelled or strictly regulated. ABC led in the withdrawal, restriction or proposed cancellation of many of these, including fenthion, which posed a hazard to endangered Piping Plovers in Florida, carbofuran, brodifacoum, bromodialone, zinc phosphate and monocrotophos for international use.

Diazinon and aminopyridine are now ABC’s top targets for regulation or cancellation. Many of the household uses of diazinon were cancelled in 2001 because of storm water contamination and water quality issues in California, an action also supported by ABC. However, agricultural and other lawn uses still kill many waterfowl and ground-feeding birds.

Photo: American Robin by Steve Young

Cautiously Chough-ed with success

A recent announcement by RSPB Northern Ireland has raised hopes that the region’s rarest breeding bird, the Chough, will continue to prosper under its watchful eye. The 2007 breeding season has proved to be a productive one for this species, with three young hatching at Rathlin Island RSPB, Co Antrim.

The island’s warden, Liam McFaul, commented: “We are obviously delighted that the only breeding pair of Choughs in Northern Ireland have now become a fully fledged family.”

This year’s success story follows a barren period for the species on the island, with the last breeding success there as long ago as 1989 when a single chick was hatched.

Although things have gone well so far and the family have been watched engaged in feeding activities and exploratory flights, there is still cause for concern. Liam explained: “The next few months will be critical. Threats from predators and poor habitat management could place the birds in danger. We have been working over this past number of years … to ensure that the land was fit for the breeding pair.”

The species’ requirements include good quality foraging areas – essentially, short grassland on cliff tops and nearby fields where they can gather invertebrate prey.

The RSPB’s Chough Project Officer, Dr Gareth Bareham, commented: “This is wonderful news; yet we still have a long way to go before we can talk about the successful recovery of the Chough in Northern Ireland. Continued co-operation between conservationists, land managers, island farmers and government agencies is essential if we are to protect and retain this wonderfully charismatic species.”

The Chough, once known as the Fire Raven, has a British population of between 450-500 pairs and is considered to be declining over its European range, with less than 110,000 pairs. There was a strong decline during the period 1970-90 and although numbers stabilised overall between 1990-2000, the main population centres, in Spain and Turkey, declined by about 10 per cent.

Commenting on the Northern Ireland success, Hugh McCann of the Environment and Heritage Service said: “EHS and RSPB have been working towards providing the appropriate conditions to allow Chough to recolonise on Rathlin. I am delighted that they have responded to the habitat management and bred successfully on our reserve.”

Photo: Choughs by Dominic Mitchell

Volunteers rally to safeguard breeding Hen Harriers

A task force of volunteers has rallied round to help with a 24-hour security operation to watch over a pair of rare birds of prey that are nesting at a secret location in Northumberland.

The pair of Hen Harriers has settled in north Northumberland, and the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police are working together to safeguard the nest, with funding support from SITA Trust.

There are only 15 active harrier nests known in the whole of England this year. All but three are in one area of Lancashire, where most of the land is owned by United Utilities, and the nests are monitored by the RSPB and others.

More than 25 volunteers are helping to watch over the Northumberland birds and they are working day and night alongside RSPB officers, Forestry Commission rangers, members of the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club and the Police. The harrier ‘task force’ is equipped with high-powered optics, cameras, specialist night vision equipment and other security measures are in place in the area where the birds are nesting.

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Rare breeding birds gain a foothold in Britain

North American birds are becoming increasingly happy to settle in Britain and breed, according to the latest report from the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP).

Three Nearctic species may just be on the verge of becoming regular breeders, according to the RBBP’s detailed assessment of recent data from around the country: Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck and Pectoral Sandpiper have all bred or attempted to do so.

A male Green-winged Teal, considered to be a wild bird, paired with a female Common Teal in Lancashire and North Merseyside, maintaining their pair bond for at least three weeks in June 2004, though no young were seen.

The story was slightly different with Ring-necked Duck: previously reported as paired with Common Pochards in both 1977 and 1998 (again with no young produced), a single male was present in Lincolnshire for nine days during May 2003. However, in 2004 a male paired with a female Tufted Duck on the Outer Hebrides and the eventual result was two hatched young, though whether they fledged or not is unknown. Given the number of each seen annually in Britain nowadays it may only be a matter of time before a pure pair meet and produce young.

The story with Pectoral Sandpiper is even more impressive. Following a bird present in mid-July and August 2003, there were at least two separate breeding attempts in 2004 by different pairs at widely separated locations, thought to possibly be the first such attempts in the Western Palearctic (note that this species breeds to the east of Britain, in north-east Siberia, as well as across the Atlantic).

One of the occupied sites was the same as the 2003 site and display was noted there, eventually resulting in sightings of an adult accompanied by a fresh juvenile in July, with both remaining until October.

Secretary of the RBBP, Mark Holling, commented in the report that it seems “very likely” that breeding did in fact occur (mainland Scotland) and that the activities of the other pair (Outer Hebrides) represent the first breeding attempt in the Western Palearctic.

Mr Holling also explained: “Obviously it is far too early too consider the occurrences mentioned in our report as possibly the start of colonisation. However, it will be interesting to see whether future large scale arrivals are followed by further breeding attempts”.

Furthermore, the report reveals that it wasn’t just Nearctic species attempting to gain a foothold in Britain, and that a pair of Smew, a duck which breeds from Scandinavia eastwards through Russia, were seen copulating on an inland Scottish loch.

In the future it seems likely that climate change may be the catalyst for certain species to colonise Britain, though not North American species. The dynamic at work with these species is well understood and can be attributed to the increasing numbers of certain accidentals reaching our shores.

Reference: Holling, H, et al. 2007. Rare breeding birds in the United Kingdom in 2003 and 2004. British Birds 100: 321-366.