Scottish birds : the journal of the SOC

| NATURAL HISTORY
| MUSEUM i inmanv

10 DEC 2013
PURCHASED |

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EP NTS Os OT ANY ORD DTD 9 nae!

Scottish Birds

published by the
SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Scottish Birds is the quarterly journal for SOC members, and is
published in March, June, September and December annually.

Containing original papers relating to ornithology in Scotland,
topical articles, bird observations, reports of rare and scarce bird
sightings, alongside branch and Club-related news, our members tell
us that Scottish Birds is one of the key benefits of belonging to the
SOC. Its different sections have been developed to meet the wide
needs of the birdwatching community, and the publication is
renowned for its first-class photography.

An archive of the journal is available on the SOC website, where
links can be found to other Club publications, including the Scottish
Raptor Monitoring Scheme Report and the Scottish Bird Report online.

On the one hand, a birdwatching club; Established in 1936, the
Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) is Scotland’s bird club with 14
branches around the country and a growing membership of over
2700. Through a programme of talks, outings, conferences and other
events, it brings together like-minded individuals with a passion for
birds, nature and conservation.

On the other, a network of volunteers across Scotland, gathering
vital, impartial information about our wild birds; The data we
collect is made available to conservationists, planners and
developers, and is used by organisations such as the RSPB, as one
of the first points of reference in informed conservation planning.

Club Headquarters can be found at Waterston House, Aberlady,
overlooking the scenic local nature reserve. Housed within, is the
George Waterston Library, the largest ornithological library in
Scotland, and the Donald Watson Gallery - one of the jewels in the

Waterston House crown, exhibiting wildlife art all year-round.

As well as receiving Scottish Birds every quarter, SOC members
have access to a programme of talks and outings across Scotland
and affiliation to a local branch of the Club. New members will
receive a welcome pack on joining, plus a thank you gift if paying
their subscription by direct debit.

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re IS @ E15 supplement to all categories to cover postage.
yject to change thereafter

For more information about the Club and its activities, including
details of how to join, please visit www.the-soc.org.uk or
contact Waterston House on 01875 871 330, or email
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Scottish Birds

290 President's Foreword C. Mclinerny

PAPERS

291

The status of Ptarmigan in Scotland: results of a survey questionnaire of land managers
K. Fletcher, D. Howarth & D. Baines

298 The status of breeding gulls on Lady Isle, Ayrshire, 2012 D. Grant, D. Robertson, R. Nager
& D. McCracken
408 Timing of breeding and estimated fledging dates of Gannet at St Kilda in 2012 S. Murray,
S. Wanless & M.P. Harris
317. The inland breeding colonies of Fulmars in Lothian H.E.M. Dott
OBITUARIES
323 Brian Orr (1961-2012)

ARTICLES, NEWS & VIEWS

326 SOC Conference 2013 - Marine Hotel, Troon

534 NEWS AND NOTICES

357 Get Mobile for BirdTrack - record your bird sightings on your phone

338 Breeding Water Rails at Bathgate, West Lothian in 2013 J. Easton

340 Am | seeing the collapse of the Swift population in Glasgow? C. Darlaston

343 North-east Scotland's breeding Cranes H. Maggs

344 BOOK REVIEWS

347 OBSERVATORIES' ROUNDUP

352 Ascension Frigatebird, Bowmore, Islay, 5 July 2013 - second Scottish and Western
Palearctic record J.M. Dickson

356 Mongolian (Lesser Sand) Plover at Lossiemouth, July 2013 - first record for Moray & Nairn
M. Sharpe

358 Scotland's sixth Bridled Tern - July/August 2013 M. Newell & M. Souter

362 Two Swinhoe’s Petrels on Fair Isle in 2013 - second and third records for Scotland
W.T.S. Miles

471 Rock Thrush, Scotstown, North-east Scotland, July 2013 - first Scottish mainland record
M.B. Cowie

SCOTTISH BIRD SIGHTINGS

374 1 July to 30 September 2013 S.L. Rivers | NATURAL HISTORY .

i
381 Index to Volume 33 (2013) MUSEUM LIBRARY i
PHOTOSPOT 10 DEC 2013

BC Osprey and Mallard David Devonport -

)
PURCHASED |

33:4 (2013)

289

President's Foreword

This is my first foreword to Scottish Birds as the new SOC
President and I’m delighted to start with reporting the success
of the 2013 Annual Conference held in Troon over the weekend
of 25-27 October. Over 160 members attended (including 12 at
the special student rate) and enjoyed a wide range of excellent
talks over three days. The topics ranged from bird politics to
Honey-buzzards and Harpy Eagles, from ornithological fraud
to the life of Tony Marr, from ornithological research at
University of Glasgow to marine protected areas and wind-
farms. So, something for everyone. Many old friends were met,
3 and new friends were made, with a real atmosphere of
ag P| conviviality. And to cap it all, up to seven Mediterranean Gulls

» were seen on the golf course around the hotel! Next year, the
conference will be in Perth, and we have already invited some
excellent speakers who have not presented to the SOC before.
Plate 247. Chris Mcinemy, October 5013. Please keep the end of October 2014 free in your diary and
© CJ. Mclnerny attend. You will be most welcome.

A considerable amount of work by SOC staff, volunteers, and the speakers ensures the success
of these events, and I would like to acknowledge our deep gratitude to them, for all their efforts.

On this note, I’d also like to extend great thanks to my predecessor, Ken Shaw, who was President
for the past two years. Ken did a fantastic job in leading the Club, particularly in embracing
developments for its future. He has also contributed enormously to ornithology, not just in
Scotland, but across the UK as a whole, and we wish him well.

I'd also like to welcome Ian Thomson as the new Vice-President and Alison Creamer as a new
elected member of Council. I am sure they will both bring much to the Club and look forward
to working with them.

Now that the national atlas has been completed, I’m sure many of you are aware of spin off
local atlases that are being completed. If you still have the ‘atlas bug’, I urge you contribute

to these important ventures. Your local recorder (listed at the back of Scottish Birds) is the best
contact for this.

| would also like to mention some upcoming artist exhibitions at Waterston House: Darren

Woodhead from 16 November to 15 January 2014; Pat Beveridge and The East Coast Stitchers
from 18 January to 19 February 2014 and Carol Barrett from Saturday 22 February until 2 April.
[hese popular events are well worth attending.

I'd like to finish by asking readers of Scottish Birds to consider contributing an article to the
Club's journal. The editors are always looking for material, and would welcome contributions,
particularly from new authors.

Best wishes to all over the festive period.

Chris McInerny, SCC President

33:4 (2013)

NG

Plate 248. Ptarmigan, Cairngorms, Moray & Nairn, October 2013. © Robert Ince

K. Fletcher, D. Howarth & D. Baines

Ptarmigan are montane specialists, with little published information on their status and trends in
Scotland. In a survey of managers of 56 Scottish upland estates within the Ptarmigan’s range, 39%
of respondents considered that Ptarmigan numbers had declined in the past 25 years, 13% that
numbers had increased, and 48% that numbers remained unchanged. The majority of respondents
(84%) considered that the range of Ptarmigan had remained unchanged during the same period.

lnetennlsrtian

Ptarmigan Lagopus muta occur in Scotland’s arctic-alpine zone (Watson 1966), with higher
breeding densities recorded in the Scottish Highlands than elsewhere in their circumpolar range
(Watson 1965). Estimated breeding abundance in Scotland is at least 10,000 pairs (Ratcliffe 1990,
McGowan et al. 2003), but given their cyclical fluctuations and the paucity of surveys, the range
could be 2,000 to 15,000 pairs (S. Rae in Forrester et al. 2007). There is also no published evidence
of long-term change over recent decades (A. Watson in Francis & Cook 2011). However, Ptarmigan
populations are potentially at risk from a range of direct and indirect influences including high
grazing pressure, human disturbance, predation, pollution and climate change (Watson & Moss
2008). Ptarmigan are on the quarry list, so can be legally shot within the UK, but numbers shot
are much lower than for Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica, and shooting is not considered to
be a strong influence on population size (S. Rae in Forrester et al. 2007).

33:4 (2013)

291

Surveys of Ptarmigan are limited by the harsh terrain, scarcity of volunteer surveyors and the cost
of dedicated surveys. We therefore conducted a questionnaire survey of land managers in areas
within the known Ptarmigan range to assess possible changes in status.

North-west
Highlands

Monadhliath

Cairngorms

West Inverness
-shire

Perthshire &
Stirlingshire

tals I. “eal vwonnaire respondents split into five areas, with percentage of respondents recording
numbers O Ging

\
remained unchanged or decreased in the last 25 years for each area.

292 | Scottish 33:4 (2013)

; |
]

Methods

In December 2010, 116 questionnaires were sent to estate workers (primarily rangers, stalkers and
gamekeepers) employed within montane habitats that may host Ptarmigan. A single questionnaire
was sent to each estate with the aim of covering the whole Ptarmigan range (Gibbons et al. 1993).
These estates included both those privately owned and those managed by organisations such as RSPB,
SNH, John Muir Trust and the National Trust for Scotland. We asked whether respondents considered
the abundance and distribution of Ptarmigan within the estate to have changed over the past 25 years
(Appendix 1). This length of period was considered appropriate as it would encompass more than one
10-year cycle of abundance (Watson et al. 2000). Participating estates were allocated to five areas:
Cairngorms (n = 21), Monadhliath (n = 10), North-west Highlands (n = 16), Perthshire € Stirlingshire
(n = 10) and West Inverness-shire (n = 6) to compare any potential differences in trends. Respondents
were also asked to select an index of abundance; number of birds seen in a day in a good year. We
specified a ‘good year’ so that all respondents were reporting on the peak part of any cycle.

Ptarmigan can be shot in Scotland between 12 August and 10 December, either by ‘driven’ shooting,
where a line of beaters drive the birds towards shooters, or by ‘walked-up’ shooting, when shooters
walk across the hill, usually with dogs, to flush the birds. To assess the importance of Ptarmigan as
a quarry species, we asked about the intensity of shooting, the decision-making process of whether
or not to shoot Ptarmigan and if they were shot, how many. If the responses to questions were
unknown or unanswered then they were excluded from the analysis. Variation in the responses to
questionnaires were analysed using G-tests on the number of estates in each category.

We also analysed shooting data submitted by 59 sporting estates to the Game & Wildlife
Conservation Trust, to compare trends in numbers of Ptarmigan shot between 1961 and 2009 and
compare numbers shot with questionnaire responses (Mann-Whitney U test). For each estate, the
number of 1-km squares which included ground = 750 m altitude was counted to allow numbers
shot to be corrected for area of suitable habitat (A. Watson & S. Rae in Gibbons et al. 1993).

Results

Overall 56 (48%) questionnaires were completed and returned. These respondents are involved in
the management of nearly 6,000 km? of upland Scotland. Forty-eight percent reported that
Ptarmigan abundance had not changed, 39% thought numbers had declined and 13% that
numbers had increased in the last 25 years. There were no regional differences in reported declines
(Gl = 02,12 = OD, ance)

Abundance indices varied; 14% reported no Ptarmigan (even in good years), 36% 1-10, 19%
11-20, 19% 21-50 and 14% 50+ birds seen in a day. Estates reporting different abundance indices
did not differ significantly in whether that abundance had increased, remained unchanged or
decreased over the last 25 years (G1 = 2.4, P = 0.3). The higher Ptarmigan abundance indices were
more common across the Cairngorms, Monadhliath and North-west Highland areas compared to
West Inverness-shire and Perthshire and Stirlingshire (Figure 2).

Irrespective of reported changes in abundance, 84% of estates reported that the distribution of
Ptarmigan on their ground had not changed in the last 25 years (14% decreased, 2% increased
out of 51 respondents).

Twenty-six estates (45%) reported shooting Ptarmigan in the last ten years and 32 estates (55%)
reported not shooting. Similar trends in abundance and distribution were found regardless of
Ptarmigan shooting or no shooting practice (P > 0.5). However, the highest abundance indices
were more often reported on estates that had shot Ptarmigan in the last ten years (75% out of 27
estates reported the highest three abundance categories) compared with estates that had not shot
Ptarmigan (31% out of 32 estates, G1 = 14.02, P = <0.001). Only one estate mentioned driven

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 291-297 ©

733)8)

The status of Ptarmigan in Scotland: results of a survey questionnaire of land managers

20

Number of Ptarmigan
i 50+
Me 21-50
ms 11-20
ma 1-10
m= O

Number of estates
=)

Cairngorms Monadhliath North-west Perthshire & West Inverness
(n=18) (n=10) Highlands Stirlingshire -shire (n=6)
(n=15) (n=10)

Figure 2. Responses to the question of how many Ptarmigan are seen in a day in a good year, comparing
estates in different areas.

shooting (4%), with walked-up shooting specifically for Ptarmigan (73%) or combined with Red
Grouse (38%) being more common. The most frequent reason for not shooting Ptarmigan in a
particular year was that numbers were considered to be too low for sustainable harvesting (45%
of 51 estates). Another frequent response for not shooting was that shooting game birds was not
part of the estate’s management strategy (37%). Estates that did shoot Ptarmigan mainly decided
how many days they would shoot considering the numbers of birds that had been seen during
surveys or other tasks (52% out of 21 estates). In addition, many chose how many days to shoot
based on the interest level from guests (38%).

Table 1. Regional comparison of Ptarmigan shooting intensity and trends in numbers shot from 1961 to 2009
(where sufficient data were available).

TI NESE GR STARE EDS AS Re RB A RR a a I IEE

(a) Estates with 2+ years of data between 1961 and 2009.

Mean number of estates Mean % change in 95% Confidence
providing data per year numbers of birds shot Limits
All Scotland 16 -69% -97% to -19%
Cairngorms 6 +25% -71% to +117%
North-west Highlands 4 -78% -86% to -40%

Perthshire and Stirlingshire
Monadhliath
West Inverness-shire

(b) All estates where Ptarmigan recorded shooting in at least one year between 1961 and 2009.

Number of estates Index of shooting intensity (mean number shot
per year corrected for area of suitable habitat)
All Scotland 56 0.95
Cairngorms 22 0.69
North-west Highlands 14 0.99
Perthshire and Stirlingshire 12 135
Monadhliath 5 1.60
West Inverness-shire 3 O52!
' Four estates in North-west Highland with no 1-km squares with ground 2750 m altitude were excluded.

294 | Scottish Birds: 33:4 (2013)

Since 1961, there has been a significant decline of -69% in numbers of Ptarmigan shot across
Scotland (Table 1). Temporal trends were also calculated for the Cairngorm area (no significant
change) and North-west Highlands (significant decline of -78%), but insufficient data were
available to calculate trends in other areas (Table 1). The index of shooting intensity (mean
number shot per year, corrected for area of suitable habitat) was highest in the Monadhliath and
lowest in the West Inverness-shire, although the number of estates supplying data for these two
areas was low (Table 1). Where questionnaire responses and records of Ptarmigan shot in the last
25 years were available for the same estate, the number shot was no different on estates reporting
stable abundance (mean number shot per year corrected for area = 1.0, range = 0.7-3.18, number
of estates = 9) compared with estates reporting decrease in abundance (mean = 0.6, range =
0.3-1.77, number of estates = 11; U = 47.5, P = 0.9).

Discussion

The range of Ptarmigan was considered to be stable on many estates and over 60% of the
respondents reporting that numbers had increased or remained stable. Although area differences
were not statistically significant, in the most southerly area (Perthshire and Stirlingshire), 75% of
estates reported that Ptarmigan numbers had declined compared to an average of 31% across the
other four areas. This area at the southern edge of the UK range may be the most vulnerable to
changing climate, which may lead to loss of Ptarmigan from some montane areas.

Similar trends in abundance and range were fg!
found across estates irrespective of whether or ae ae
not they shoot. This suggests there is no Cs
evidence for over-harvesting, however more fa

intensive studies would be needed to confirm
this. Those estates that shoot Ptarmigan
primarily undertook walked-up days, rather
than the more intensive driven method of
shooting Red Grouse. The reported numbers of
Ptarmigan shot have been declining since
1961. This could be due to both changes in
species abundance and _ shooting effort
(Aebischer €& Baines 2008). Shooting bag
density has been found to be a good surrogate
for abundance of Red Grouse (Hudson 1992,
Cattadori et al. 2003) and harvest data have
been used to infer population fluctuations in
Ptarmigan elsewhere (Nielsen €& Petursson
1995). Increasing the number of estates
providing bag data in each year would improve
the validity of the annual trend statistic
reported and reduce the confidence intervals.

The trends reported here were similar to those
from the comprehensive field surveys
undertaken recently, which show no change in
range between the 1988-91 and 2008-11
breeding bird atlases (Figure 3) (Balmer et al. Figure 3. Comparison of range from 1988-91 and 2008-11

2013). Ptarmigan are currently not considered breeding bird atlases; showing 10-km squares where birds

: Saat were present in both periods (pink), birds only present in
to be of conservation concern within the UK 4998-11 (orange upward-pointing triangles) and birds only

(Eaton et al. 2009) and are therefore a low present in 1988-91 (grey downward-pointing triangles).
priority for national bird surveys. Detecting Reproduced with kind permission from Balmer et a/. (2013).

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 291-297 | 295

Plate 249. Ptarmigan, Cai

296

rngorms, Moray & Nairn, October 2013. © Robert Ince

future trends is likely to require land managers and other visitors to montane habitats to record the
presence of this species, for example, by co-ordinating volunteer effort (Calladine & Wernham 2009).

We are grateful to all those who responded to questionnaires. Julie Ewald and Nicholas Aebischer
assisted with questionnaire design and data analyses and Holly Stevens with data collation. This
study was part-financed by the Cairngorm National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage
through the Cairngorms Local Action Group.

Aebischer, N.J. & Baines, D. 2008. Monitoring gamebird abundance and productivity in the UK:
the GWCT long-term datasets. Revista Catalana d’Ornitologia 24: 30-43.

Balmer, D., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B., Swann, B., Downie, I. & Fuller, R. 2013. Bird Atlas
2007-11: the breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO, Thetford.

Calladine, J. & Wernham, C. 2009. Extensive monitoring of rock ptarmigan Lagopus mutus in
scotland: a pilot to test the efficacy of using volunteer surveyors for monitoring arctic-alpine
birds. Avocetta 33: 217-224.

Cattadori, I.M., Haydon, D.T., Thirgood, S.J. €& Hudson, P.J. 2003. Are indirect measures of
abundance a useful index of population density? The case of red grouse harvesting. Oikos 100:
439-336.

Eaton, M.A., Brown, A.F., Noble, D.G., Musgrove, A.J., Hearn, R.D., Aebischer, N.J.. Gibbons,
D.W., Evans, A. & Gregory, R.D. 2009. Birds of Conservation Concern 3: the population status
of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. British Birds 102: 296-341.

Bire 33:4 (2013)

Forrester, R.W., Andrews, I.J., McInerny, C.J., Murray, R.D., McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B., Betts,
M.W., Jardine, D.C. & Grundy, D.S. (eds) 2007. The Birds of Scotland. The Scottish
Ornithologists’ Club, Aberlady.

Francis, I. €& Cook, M. (eds) 2011. The Breeding Birds of North-East Scotland. Scottish
Ornithologists’ Club, Aberdeen.

Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.S. (eds) 1993. The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in
Britain and Ireland: 1988-91. T. & A.D. Poyser, London.

Hudson, P.J. 1992. Grouse in Space and Time. The Game Conservancy Trust, Fordingbridge.

McGowan, R.Y., Clugston, D.L. & Forrester, R.W. 2003. Scottish endemic subspecies. Scottish
Birds 24: 18-35.

Nielsen, O.K. & Petursson, G. 1995. Population fluctuations of gyrfalcon and rock ptarmigan:
analysis of export figures from Iceland. Wildlife Biology 1: 65-71.

Ratcliffe, D. 1990. Bird Life of Mountain and Upland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Watson, A. 1965. A population study of Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) in Scotland. Journal of
Animal Ecology 34: 135-172.

Watson, A. 1966. Hill birds of Cairngorms. Scottish Birds 4: 179-203.

Watson, A. & Moss, R. 2008. Grouse. Harper Collins Publishers, London.

Watson, A., Moss, R. & Rothery, P. 2000. Weather and synchrony in 10-year population cycles
of rock ptarmigan and red grouse in Scotland. Ecology 81: 2126-2136.

Kathy Fletcher & David Howarth, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Drumochter
Lodge, Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire PH19 1AF.
Email: kfletcher@gwct.org.uk

David Baines, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, The Coach House, Eggleston Hall,
Barnard Castle, County Durham DL12 OAG.

Revised ms accepted June 2013

Appendix 1
Questions included in survey.

1: In the last 25 years, on your estate, would you say Ptarmigan have

Abundance: Increased Remained at Decreased Unknown
in numbers similar numbers in numbers
Distribution: Become more Remained across Become less Unknown
widespread a similar area widespread
2: In a good year how many Ptarmigan would you see on a shoot day (or whilst stalking)?
O O-10 =20 21—50 50+
3: What method(s) are used to shoot Ptarmigan? (please indicate multiple responses if applicable)
Whilst shooting Red Grouse: Specific day for Ptarmigan:
Driven Walked-up Driven Walked-up

4: How do you decide how many days of Ptarmigan shooting to undertake?
Number of birds seen during specific surveys / other tasks
Same number every year
Ptarmigan shot if poor year for Red Grouse
Interest level from guests
Other :

5: Are Ptarmigan not shot because
Numbers are currently too low to undertake sustainable harvesting
Numbers are currently too low to guarantee flushing birds
Shooting gamebirds is not part of estate management strategy
High ground Is too inaccessible

33:4 (2013) scottish Birds: 291-297 | 297

Plate 250. Gulls crowd the air over Lad

298

Wag, Rie $v

ae a i cg es BF a
hese, DIZ BSN gs isc, Bike =

y Isle, Ayrshire, May 2012. © D. Gran

r ey

D. Grant, D. Robertson, R. Nager & D. McCracken

Introduction

Over the last few decades there have been significant changes in the abundance of British
seabirds, although population trends vary geographically (Mitchell et al. 2004). The larger
gulls (Larus sp.), have declined nationally, and particularly Herring Gulls Larus argentatus to
such an extent that they were moved on to the UK’s Red List (Eaton et al. 2009). A continued
assessment of their abundance in different parts of the British Isles is therefore important.
Within the Clyde area the combined breeding population of larger gulls grew from just under
250. pairs at the end of the 19th century, to over 12,500 pairs by the mid-1980s (Gibson 1985).
Over the next 15 years, the number of breeding pairs in the Clyde area either remained stable
(Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus), declined similarly to the national average (Herring
Gull), or actually increased (Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus) (Seabird 2000 census,
Mitchell ef al. 2004). It is of particular importance to continue monitoring population changes
of these species at important breeding sites.

Lady Isle off the Ayrshire coast has been of ornithological interest since at least the mid-1930s,
when the Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii colony was probably first discovered by Thornton
McKeith, a well-known naturalist of the time. The Roseate Tern was the flagship species, which
led to the eventual, albeit informal, protection of the island. Unfortunately, this colony has long
since gone, though the island still plays an important part in Ayrshire’s bird life. Whilst Lady Isle
may be best known ornithologically for its historic colony of Roseate Terns (Gibson 1969), it is
currently of importance as a gull roost and breeding site for Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed

rds: 2 33:4 (2013)

Gull and Great Black-backed Gulls as well as ‘some’ Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Shag
Phalacrocorax aristotelis and Common Eider Somateria mollissima. A few pairs of Lesser Black-
backed and Herring Gulls were breeding on Lady Isle in the 1940s, and by contrast to other areas
of the Clyde area, this population remained small until the 1970s (Gibson 1985). Gibson suggests
that the relatively low numbers of larger gulls on Lady Isle may have been due to the effort to
protect the Roseate Tern colony by controlling the numbers of large gulls and that these
measures were carried out unceasingly until the early 1970s. However, with the reduction in
numbers of terns over all of the Clyde area, the Roseate Tern soon disappeared as a Clyde
breeding species. Shortly after this period, the control of large gulls ceased and within a few
years the large gull population increased enormously. This was reflected within the Clyde area
as a whole, as the combined breeding population of larger gulls grew from just under 250 pairs
at the end of the 19th century to over 12,500 pairs by 1985 (Gibson 1985). Despite one last failed
attempt in 1990 to further reduce large gull numbers, thereby encouraging the reintroduction of
breeding terns, a decision was made by the Scottish Society for the Protection of Wild Birds
(SSPWB) to allow Lady Isle to develop as a reserve for gulls. The current significance of Lady
Isle as a breeding location for gulls was primarily based upon anecdotal information,
observations of gulls moving from the mainland to the island and ad hoc counts of gulls during
occasional ringing trips to the island. It became apparent that in order to gain a more accurate
understanding of the structure of the breeding gull colony, an in-depth survey would have been
needed. As part of some wider research being undertaken by SRUC and Glasgow University, the
opportunity to carry out such a survey arose during the 2012 breeding season.

Methods

0 50 100 Meters

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- - - Mean Low Water (Springs)

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@ WardensHut

| "© Crown Copyright/database right 2013. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service.”

Figure 1. Location of Lady Isle off the Ayrshire coast, south-west Scotland.

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 298-307 | 299

PES mem | hin lee : ir ND)
ling gulls on Lady Isle, Ayrshire, 2012
TF) + .

Lady Isle is a small island situated 5.6 km off the coast of Troon (OS Grid Ref. NS 276 292) in
Ayrshire (see Figure 1), with a high point of only 6 m above sea level and an area of approxi-
mately 4.4 ha. It has a rocky shoreline, which often makes landing difficult at certain states of the
tide. The island has peaty soil and at certain times of the year has profuse vegetation, mainly:
Common Nettles Urtica dioica, Curled Dock Rumex crispus, Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare and
Annual Meadow Grass Poa annua. There is a warden’s hut on the island which was constructed
in the 1950s during its heyday as a breeding colony for Roseate Tern.

The appropriate time period for the survey of breeding gulls on Lady Isle was determined by the
breeding season as identified in Ferguson-Lees et al. (2011) and previous experience of breeding
seasons on Lady Isle. Three visits to the island took place between 5th and 22 May 2012 and
between the hours of 1000hrs and 1600hrs in line with recommendations from Bibby et al. (2000),
who state that colony attendance is most stable during these hours. The weather conditions were
dry, warm with at most a slight breeze. During the first visit, on 5 May, a visual count from a
fixed highpoint was taken of the three species of gulls and their approximate location was noted.
This gave an approximate overview of the island population. The intention of this was to provide
a base of knowledge for further survey work.

During later visits, a Leica GPS500 (www.leica-geosystems.co.uk) with base station was used
providing accuracy to within centimetres for nests that were apparently occupied i.e. nests which
had eggs or egg shell remains in or very close to them. During two survey sessions (16 and 22
May), two different approaches were used: firstly, for the peripheral nests on the rocky platform
surrounding the island a wide sweeping clockwise count was used within the constraints of high
tide mark and vegetation; secondly, for the main body of the island a five-metre transect corridor
running north to south was used starting from the eastern edge and culminating at the western
edge. This was repeated until the whole area of the main body of the island was surveyed. At each
gull nest we noted the species and number of eggs and/or hatchlings. Ferguson-Lees et al. (2011)
state that it is hard to distinguish between the eggs of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls and
our observations reinforce this as there was a noticeable variation in egg colouration, size and
even shape within the same species (see plates 253 €€ 254). Where this complication arose we
noted which species guarded the eggs.

The data gathered was comprehensive and provides an accurate estimate of the number of gulls
on Lady Isle for the 2012 breeding season. As with all GPS devices, there is an element of potential
positional error. However, through the use of the Leica GPS500 this error was likely to be in the

order of centimetres as opposed to metres as experienced with normal handheld GPS devices. The
r
rey *
aie

Plate 251. The old beacon, lighthouse and warden’s hut on Lady Isle are the only notable high points breaking an
otherwise flat landscape suitable for breeding gulls, May 2012. © D. Grant

300 scottish B: 33:4 (2013)

(oy ee

Plate 252. The Leica GPS base station was placed on the highest point of the island in order to provide the best signal
with the mobile unit, Lady Isle, May 2012. © D. Grant

GPS data were uploaded to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, ESRI Arcgis
versions 10.0. The GIS data were used to calculate the mean nearest neighbour distance and
geographical distribution on a colony and a species level. To determine the nearest neighbour
distance on Lady Isle, the method of Savoca et al. (2011) was used. This involves calculating the
mean distance of the three closest neighbouring nests. This was determined using GIS by taking
the GPS location of each nest recorded and determining the mean distance of the three closest
nests. This was calculated for all gull nests in the colony and also for nests by species.

Results

Over approximately eight hours of surveying (32 man-survey-hours) 1,353 apparently occupied
nests were counted, this represented the whole colony. Table 1 shows the results by species and
includes the average number of eggs present per nest by species and also the number of nests that
had signs of hatching already taking place.

The number of eggs seen per nest varied from one to four, though only four nests were recorded
Table 1. Number of apparently occupied nests on Lady Isles for the three larger Larus species from a comprehensive
survey of the entire island undertaken on 16 & 22 May 2012.

Species Nest count Number of nests Average number of

(n) hatching eggs present [+ SE]
Great Black-backed Gull (GBBGU) Uh 8 DOO
Herring Gull (HERGU) 831 12 DI] 22 OLOZP
Lesser Black-backed Gull (LBBGU) 445 20 DS) IE OOS
Total 1353 40

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 298-307 | 301

pane _ with four eggs and one with two eggs and two
chicks. During the survey period only 3% of
the island’s nests showed signs of hatching,
. suggesting that the peak hatching date for the
Lady Isle gulls occurs towards the end of May
and the beginning of June. The proportion of
Great Black-backed Gull nests with at least one
~._ hatchling (10.4%) appeared to be considerably
larger than for the other two gull species (Table

it):

With the data plotted using GIS (Figure 2) there
appears to be a clear demarcation between the
two common species, with the area occupied
by Herring Gulls (gold points) encircling the
outer part of the island and the Lesser and
' Great Black-backed Gulls (grey and black
points, respectively) dominating the higher
, ground in the centre of the island.

i It would appear that most, if not all, of the
@ cescu or a breeding gulls were fully adult in at least

s

"| @- Leecu ‘ : 5
© Hercu | ae fourth-year summer plumage. This conforms
ee enw fered Eos es ei with previous research by Coulson et al. (1982)

which suggests that mature breeding colonies
Figure 2. Location (plotted using GIS) of individual nests of tend to be comprised of older birds as they tend
the three larger Larus species (see Table 1 for abbreviation tS eeinbi breedine cede
of species names) on Lady Isle, Ayrshire, 2012. © Crown 2s tate ie so
Copyright/database_ right 2013. An Ordnance ;
Survey/EDINA supplied service For the island’s gull colony as a whole, the

mean nearest-neighbour distance was 3.4 +

= =

— i SaaS

a - Le :
s Z\
aheeh 2.

Ar
LX

7 4 "

——

aN
Plate 253

colour, Lady Isle, May 2012. © D. Grant

. Lesser Black-backed Gull nest showing variation in eg

go

302 | Scottish Birds: 33:4 (2013)

s “ : . ‘3

Plate 254. Herring Gull nest showing variation in egg colour, shape and size, Lady Isle, May 2012. © D. Grant
0.03 m, range 0.05-20.44 m, n=1339. In the Lesser Black-backed Gull sub-colony, which
inhabited the higher more vegetated part of the inner isle, the mean nearest-neighbour distance
was calculated as 3.75 + 0.7 m, range 0.22-20.45 m, n=438. The Great Black-backed Gulls were
further apart from each other, with a mean nearest-neighbour distance of 8.3 + 0.64 m, range
0.16-49.16 m, n=75. The sub-colony of Herring Gull was predominantly around the periphery of
the island with a mean nearest-neighbour distance of 3.64 + 0.05 m, range 0.05-35.18 m, n=824.

Figure 3a shows the density of all of the gull nests surveyed on the island. The darker areas
represent the densest areas of nests. There is an obvious area running north-west to south-east
where there were no nests recorded. The ground here was not suitable for nests due to a rocky
outcrop. The inner colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls was densest
on the eastern side, whilst the outer colony of Herring Gull appear to be uniform in its density
from the east side around the south and appeared reduced to the west. The northern part of the
island has fewer to no nests due to the rocky habitat and the presence of breeding Shags.

Figures 3b, c, & d show the density of nests surveyed on the island for Herring Gulls, Lesser
Black-backed Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls respectively. The Herring Gull colony around
the periphery of the island is constrained by the mean high water mark. Those points that appear
to be below the mean high water mark are nests that are located on small rocky pillars. There are
four darker patches which represent areas of greater breeding density, though on the whole
density is fairly uniform within the Herring Gull colony. By contrast, both the Lesser Black-backed
and Great Black-backed Gulls are predominantly found within the more vegetated inner part of
the island, which corresponds with a comment made by Monaghan (in Forrester et al. 2007). The
Lesser Black-backed Gulls appear to have a focus around the two buildings on the island and
radiate outwards north-west with decreasing density. The Great Black-backed Gulls have one
obvious area of density in the middle south-west part of the island.

Discussion

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds:

303

The status of breeding gulls on Lady Isle, Ayrshire, 2012

ey ‘ = ---
ees Sc .
i ue
Lia SSS.
~ 4 ~

Nest Density per km?
11,983.43137 - 20,000
(ager 20,000.00001 - 40,000
Eas 40,000.00001 - 60,000
es 60,000.00001 - 80,000
ee 80,000.00001 - 100,000
eae 400,000.0001 - 120,000
ESS 120,000.0001 - 140,000
as 140,000.0001 - 160,000
pod 160,000.0001 - 180,000
pe] 180,000.0001 - 200,000

Mean High Water (Springs)

- — — Mean Low Water (Springs)

A Lighthouse
@ = WardensHut

Figure 3. Comparison of density of gull nests by species on Lady Isle, Ayrshire, 2012: A all gull species; B Herring
Gulls; C Lesser Black-backed Gulls; D Great Black-backed Gulls. © Crown Copyright/database right 2013. An

Ordnance Surv: YNA supplied service

304 | Scot 33:4 (2013)

inne tp Ses

This survey is the most comprehensive review of the breeding gull population on Lady Isle
since the island became a stronghold for larger gulls in the 1980s. The Lady Isle population
in 2012 was approximately 61% Herring Gull, 33% Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 6% Great
Black-backed Gulls. The number and proportion of Great Black-backed Gulls suggests that
Lady Isle is a potentially important site for these breeding gulls. Predation could have affected
some nests which would then have not been counted. However, at no point during the surveys
was such predation observed nor were there any signs such as broken eggs. In addition, some
birds may have built a nest but not laid any eggs. In this situation, the nest would not have
been counted resulting in a potential undercount.

The use of survey-grade GPS to mark the nests has a number of pros and cons, though on
reflection the pros outweigh the cons. Whilst time-consuming, it does provide a more accurate
representation (to within a few cm) of the colony than any other measurement technique e.g.
a visual count of birds. A visual count of the birds as an indicator of colony size for such a
dense colony is problematic for a number of reasons: duplication of counted birds; counting
of non-breeding birds; and identification of sub-colonies. On the negative side, the longer
time taken to comprehensively survey the island does potentially produce a disturbance to the
birds though our observations would indicate that this disturbance was minimal as we moved
through the colony at a constant and relatively fast speed. The apparent location of nests
below the mean high water (Figure 3b) would appear to represent a high risk breeding strategy.
It is possible that these birds were less-experienced breeders. However, this survey did not
record the ages of these birds, therefore at best we can only speculate.

Since the island does not exhibit uniform density, it would appear that there is scope for the
colony to grow. However, there are indications which suggest that this is probably not the
case. The non-uniform landscape would be a barrier to uniform density in that there are some
areas which clearly are not as suitable for nesting, such as the north-west to south-east rock
platform, shown in Figure 3 as the area with no nests. Savoca et al. (2011) differentiate sub-
colonies into loose and dense clusters. They go further in providing a quantifiable measure for
these categories. In the ‘loose sub-colony’ context, the mean distance of the closest three
neighbouring nests was identified as 19.5 + 1.4 m, range 7.8-45 m, whereas they defined a
‘dense sub-colony’ as having a mean distance of the closest three neighbouring nests as 4.2 +
0.2 m, range 1.8-7.3 m. Comparing the results from Lady Isle against these parameters would
suggest that the breeding gull colony as a whole conforms to a dense nature. When the colony
is broken down by species, two of the gull species, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull,
are clearly exhibiting dense sub-colony attributes. The Great Black-backed Gulls are more
loosely distributed and as they are a more dominant and aggressive species, this should be
expected. This, along with the anecdotal observations of the breeding gulls being at least in
their fourth-summer plumage, suggests that the Lady Isle colony is a mature, well-established
colony, which is at or near the optimum size.

Using combined data from annual surveys, conducted by the SSPWB and subsequent ringing
activity, Figure 4 shows the different trends in breeding terns and gulls since the 1940s. Whilst
Figure 4 appears to show a correlation between larger gulls and the decline in terns, this
should not be taken as a causal relationship, as there were no doubt many other factors at
play within the wider Clyde Basin which could have affected the tern population.

To further reinforce this trend in larger gull island colonies off the Ayrshire coast, one needs
look no further than Horse Isle, off Ardrossan, approximately 15 km NNW from Lady Isle. This
isle is approximately twice the size of Lady Isle and is managed by RSPB. Its history of gull
colonisation is similar to Lady Isle (Figure 4) and just as on Lady Isle, it is now predominantly
a breeding colony for larger gulls. As with Lady Isle Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gull

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 298-307 | 305

2000 - —=terns, Lady Isle
=™§=— larger gulls, Lady Isle

¥ | ~=ate= larger gulls, Horse Isie
@ 1500 -
Cc
is)
D
i=
= 1000 1
we |

500 -

1940s 1950s 1960s 1980s 2012s

Figure 4. The changing structure of breeding gulls on Lady Isle (1940-2012) and Horse Isle (1960-2012). Source of
historical data: SSPWB & RSPB Lochwinnoch. |

make up the majority of the gulls on Horse Isle with Great Black-backed Gulls present in much
smaller numbers. Data gathered (Figure 4) by RSPB Lochwinnoch (pers. comm.) show that on
Horse Isle in the 1960s there were no more than ten pairs of Herring Gull and Lesser Black-
backed Gulls combined. This number rapidly increased by 1970 to over 400 pairs. It appears
that numbers peaked on Horse Isle in 2000, with over 2,600 breeding pairs of Herring and
Lesser Black-backed Gulls combined. There does appear to have been a decrease in numbers
of nesting pairs from 2000 to 2012. Unfortunately, due to an incomplete data set, it is
unknown whether such a decrease in numbers also occurred on Lady Isle.

Seabird 2000 estimated the Scottish coastal breeding population of Herring Gull as 71,650
(Forrester ef al. 2007). Since then, the abundance for Herring Gulls has declined further with
it reported that in 2011 they were at their lowest level since 1986 (JNCC 2013). Today’s
population of Herring Gull on Lady Isle would represent approximately 2% of the Scottish
population as identified in Seabird 2000. Given that the overall Scottish population has
decreased it is highly likely that Lady Isle’s Herring Gull population now probably represents
closer to 4-5% of the Scottish population. The combined Lady Isle and Horse Isle population
would be close to 10% of the overall Scottish Herring Gull population, clearly demonstrating

that the Ayrshire islands have an important role to play in the future conservation of Herring
Gulls in Scotland.

Acknowledgements
[his survey was supported by SRUC as part of a wider on-going research project. We are grateful
to Tom Pennycott, David Grieve, Mark Johnston and Gwen Raes for help with the fieldwork and

also RSPB Lochwinnoch for their data on Horse Isle. We are also grateful to the anonymous
referee for comments which improved the text.

References

Sc 35-4) (2013)

Bibby, C.J., Burgess, N.D., Hill, D.A. & Mustoe, S. 2000. Bird Census Techniques. Academic
Press, London.

Coulson, J.C., Duncan, N. & Thomas, C. 1982. Changes in the breeding biology of the Herring
Gull (Larus argentatus) induced by reduction in the size and density of the colony. Journal of
Animal Ecology 51(3): 739-756.

Eaton, M.A., Brown, A.F., Noble, D.G., Musgrove, A.J., Hearn, R., Aebischer, N.J., Gibbons,
D.W., Evans, A. & Gregory, R.D. 2009. Birds of Conservation Concern 3: the population status
of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. British Birds 102: 296-341.

Ferguson-Lees, J., Castell, R. & Leech, D. 2011. A Field Guide to Monitoring Nests. BTO.

Forrester, R.W., Andrews, I.J., McInerny, C.J., Murray, R.D., McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B., Betts,
M.W., Jardine, D.C. & Grundy, D.S. (eds) 2007. The Birds of Scotland. The Scottish
Ornithologists’ Club, Aberlady.

Gibson, J.A. 1969. Populations Studies of Clyde Seabirds: Part 1. Transactions of the Buteshire
Natural History Society 17: 79-95.

Gibson, J.A. 1985. Populations Studies of Clyde Seabirds: Part 4. Transactions of the Buteshire
Natural History Society 22: 85-105.

JNCC. 2013. Herring Gull Larus argentatus |Online. Available at: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-
2887] [Accessed: 25 January 2013].

Mitchell, P.I., Newton, S.F., Ratcliffe, N. & Dunn, T.E. 2004. Seabird Populations of Britain and
Ireland. T. & A.D. Poyser, London.

Savoca, M.S., Bonter, D.N., Zuckerberg, B., Dickinson, J.L. & Ellis, J.C. 2011. Nesting Density is
an important factor affecting chick growth and survival in the Herring Gull. The Condor 113(3):
565-571.

Revised ms accepted July 2013

Dave Grant, SRUC Riverside Campus, Ayr KA8 OSX.
Email: dave.grant@sruc.ac.uk

Duncan Robertson & Davy McCracken, Sustainable Ecosystems Team, SRUC
Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW.
Email: duncan.robertson@sruc.ac.uk
Email: davy.mccracken@sruc.ac.uk

Ruedi Nager, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, Graham

Kerr Building, University of Glasgow G12 8QQ.
Email: ruedi.nager@glasgow.ac.uk

33:4 (2013)

307

Plate 255. Stac Li summit from Boreray, St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, 18 July 2010. © S

508

1 Oa
. Murray

” Pine

S. Murray, S. Wanless & M.P. Harris

Information on the timing of breeding, and hence the period when chicks are present in the colony,
has rarely been collected for Gannets at St Kilda. However, given the growing pressure for greater
access to islands and stacks in the St Kilda group, the National Trust for Scotland, the owners and
managers of the archipelago, have identified the collection of phenological data on Gannet breeding
as being of high priority. In July 2012, NTS commissioned a photographic survey of Boreray, Stac
Li and Stac an Armin from the sea, and a land survey of Boreray only, in order to obtain compre-
hensive data on the age distribution of chicks and thus the likely schedule of fledging dates.
Projections based on a fledging period of 90 days indicated that the peak of fledging on St Kilda in
2012 was 16-22 September. Twelve, 11 and 20% of nests on Boreray, Stac Li and Stac an Armin
respectively were classified as still having eggs at the time of the check. About one half of these eggs
were likely to be infertile and, assuming that the remainder hatched immediately after the check, 4,
5 and 12% of breeding sites in the three colonies would still have chicks present on 17 October.

33:4 (2013)

Papers

Introduction

Across its Atlantic range the Gannet Morus bassanus has increased as a result of protection from
human predation and disturbance, and the slow increase of the St Kildan gannetries since 1931
suggest that here also the Gannet has benefited from the ending of hunting; in this case following
the abandonment of the islands by the native people in 1930.

The NTS has therefore taken a precautionary approach to risks associated with human disturbance
and advise against access onto the great stacks, Stac Li and Stac an Armin, or the cliffs of Boreray,
from the start until after the end of the annual Gannet breeding season.

However, information on the timing of breeding of Gannets in the St Kilda colonies, needed to
define the duration of the breeding season, has not been routinely collected. Accordingly NTS has
identified collection of such data as having high priority and commissioned a comprehensive
assessment of the age distribution of chicks present on Boreray, Stac Li and Stac an Armin in July
2012. Results of this survey were used to determine expected fledging dates and thus provide an
indication of the end of the breeding season.

ot

Plate 256. Stac an Armin summit from Boreray, St Kilda, 25 July 2012. © S. Murray

»

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 308-316 | 309

dates of Gannets at St Kilda in 2012

Gannets on the great stacks are particularly vulnerable to disturbance because nests are at high
density, both on narrow access ledges leading to the summits and on the summits themselves
(Plates 255 €& 256). Large scale losses of panicked chicks, particularly in August and September
when they are large and mobile, would therefore be inevitable. For example, “Try to imagine the
scene [on Stac Li summit]. Five thousand great white birds, with long necks raised, giving out a
loud harsh cry of alarm, and then a confused mass of shrieking, frightened creatures falling over
one another. There they went, simply rolling head over tail down the sides, bouncing from rock
to boulder, all adding to the confusion below, while thousands of young birds were giving out
lesser sounds, and trying to follow their mothers. It was a wild pandemonium - like a panic
amongst a crowd - a screaming, terrified panic, with beautiful birds for the actors, and the helpless
fluffy youngsters as spectators. It was a great avalanche of living birds, rolling down to the edge
of the cliff and I stood transfixed with the novelty of the scene.” Pike (1910).

Methods

Sections of the Gannet colonies on Boreray, Stac Li and Stac an Armin were photographed from
the sea on 20 July 2012, using a Canon EOS 1000D with a 70 to 300 mm lens. All the photographs
were taken between 12:00 and 14:00 BST, in calm conditions and bright sunshine. Both stacks
were circled in the boat at varying distances from 50 to 200 m depending on nest height above
the water. Boreray nests were photographed on the south, west and east cliffs. Nests at 40 to 50 m
vertical height were considered to be the upper limit for usable photographs, since small chicks
are difficult to see in nests higher than this. Digital images were examined on a computer screen
with the zoom optimized to provide clear views of nest contents. Chicks were classified into
weekly age classes on the basis of size relative to the parent and plumage development according
to guidelines in Nelson (1978) and Appendix 1.

In some cases although the adult’s posture indicated that it was breeding, it was not possible to
see the nest contents clearly. Thus it was impossible to determine if a bird was incubating an egg
or brooding a small chick less than three weeks old. Since information about such nests was
critical for estimating fledging dates of the latest breeding birds, a land visit to Boreray was made
on 25-26 July, in order to make a careful check of a large sample of nests where the nest contents
could be clearly seen. Good vantage points close to breeding groups were found and the observer
waited until the movements of adults on the nest allowed eggs or chicks to become visible. No
further disturbance was caused and adults did not leave the nest sites (Plates 257 & 258).

x iA
’ +. ~*~ . a Voie : R .
mows: aie ok Lie
Plates 257-258. (left) Adult Gannets with eggs, Boreray, St Kilda, 25 July 2012. © S. Murray (right) Adult Gannet
with two-week-old chick. Bo st Kilda, 25 July 2012. © S. Murray

L

310 | Scottish 33:4 (2013)

This allowed chicks four weeks and older to be aged directly. However, because of the difficulty
of obtaining a clear view of eggs or small chicks (see above), nests where birds were obviously
breeding but the contents could not be seen, were initially classified as incubating/brooding. We
then applied the frequency distribution of eggs, one-, two- and three- week-old chicks from the
land check of Boreray to this category to obtain a complete age distribution for each colony.

Approximate hatch dates were estimated by back calculating from chick age at the time of the
check, using the mid-point of each age category (e.g. for week three, 15-21 days = 18 days).
Expected fledging dates were estimated assuming a fledging period of 90 days (Nelson 2002). To
estimate the number of chicks likely to hatch from the eggs present at the time of the check, we
assumed that 6.5% of the total eggs laid during the season were infertile and were present past
their expected hatch date (mean infertility rate from studies on Bass Rock and Ailsa Craig (Nelson
1978, Wanless 1978)) and a mean hatching success of 85% (Nelson 1978).

Results

Combining data for Boreray, Stac Li and Stac an Armin, a total of 997 nests were checked from
photographs taken from the sea (Table 1). The median age of Boreray chicks was estimated at 32
days on 20 July, with a median hatch date around 17 June. Projecting forward from this, the
median fledging date was estimated to be in the week beginning 16 September. On Stac Li, the
median age of chicks was 29 days, median hatch date was estimated to be 20 June and peak
fledging was predicted to be around 19 September, a few days later than Boreray. In contrast, on
Stac an Armin, the median age of chicks was considerably younger, at 17 days, estimated hatch
date was 2 July, two weeks after Boreray, and 12 days later than Stac Li. Median fledging date
was thus also later, at around 30 September. The reason for this significantly later breeding than
on either Stac Li or Boreray is unknown at present and highlights the limitations of a single visit
to such a large and diverse colony as St Kilda. For the median age to be so different between the
islands suggests environmental or other factors in play that affect only Stac an Armin.

What these factors are is currently unknown; but it is of interest to note that on 1 March 2013,
Boreray and Stac Li were found to be fully occupied by Gannets, but there were next to none
on Stac an Armin (pers. obs.). Arrival dates at the three colonies are not known in detail,
although it is assumed that all are fully occupied by early April and that occupancy is
synchronised. Whether this early season difference noted in 2013 also occurred in 2012 is not
known; neither is it clear, if it did occur, what influence this may have had on the later median
laying date found on Stac an Armin in 2012.

Estimating dates for the end of the breeding season is more problematic because of uncertainties
associated with the hatching dates and hatching success of eggs still present on 20 July when the
checks were made. Based on data available from other studies, we assumed that 1) about 50% of
eggs still present on 20 July were infertile, and 2) all viable eggs hatched immediately after the
check. Our estimated values should therefore be viewed as conservative in terms of identifying
the end of the season. The results presented in Table 1 suggest that between 4% (Boreray) and
12% (Stac an Armin) of chicks would still be present in mid-October and if some eggs did not
hatch until early August (which is quite possible, though unlikely), a few chicks could be present
until November, particularly on Stac an Armin.

Discussion |

The timings of Gannet breeding on St Kilda estimated in 2012 accord well with those obtained in
2007, 2010 and 2011 (Wanless et al. 2008, Murray & Wanless 2011 unpublished). However, all
these data sets are strongest in terms of providing information about chicks from the early and
middle parts of the season and are less informative about those from the end. This is because
checks were made in the second and third weeks of July, before all eggs laid had hatched.

33:4 (2013)

Table 1. Numbers of chicks recorded in weekly age categories in samples of nests photographed on Boreray, Stac Li
and Stac an Armin on 20 July 2012. The median age of chicks and estimated median hatching and fledging dates and
the percentage of chicks estimated to still be present in each colony on 17 October are also shown. Details of the
methods and assumptions are given in the text.

— ee eel

Chick age in weeks Median dates
Island Nests Eggs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hatch Ageindays Fledge Predicted % of
date on 20 July date of chicks present
on 17 October
Boreray 622-755) 59 %S15 49397279 27, Se ly une 62 16 September 4.0
Side Hike On ty. 14S il 235) OS ia 2 lee? OR UME 29 19 September 0)
Simleci 22s. Ze sia) is) 2S) Sil Be Se 2 July 17. 30 September 12.0

Armin

Confidence in predicting the end of the breeding season could be increased if checks were also
made in mid- to late August (or delayed until then) when the age distribution of the last hatching
chicks would be clearer. Having information from late checks would reduce the need for
assumptions about infertility rates and hatching success. However, projections would still need to
be based on the assumption that the fledging period of late chicks was 90 days. Evidence from
detailed studies on Bass Rock and Ailsa Craig indicate that late chicks can show either reduced or
extended fledging periods making it difficult to predict final departure dates with any certainty.
Converting percentages of chicks into numbers still present in the colony by a given date requires
the numbers of pairs breeding to be known. Boreray and the stacks were last counted in 2004
(Wanless et al. 2005). Assuming that the current population is similar to, or slightly higher than
the 2004 total, there could be somewhere in the region of 500-2,000 well-grown chicks still
present in mid-October, with the largest proportion likely on Stac an Armin. We stress that
uncertainty around these figures is high. However, such chicks are very vulnerable to disturbance
and if approached closely may leave the cliffs prematurely with potentially fatal consequences.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Angus Campbell for getting SM on and off Boreray and Susan Bain of the NTS
for her support in making the study possible.

References

Murray, S. & Wanless, S. 2011. Timing of gannet breeding at St Kilda in 2011. Report to NTS.

Nelson, J.B. 1978. The Gannet. T. & A.D. Poyser, Berkhamsted.

Nelson, J.B. 2002. The Atlantic Gannet. 2nd edition. Fenix Books, Norfolk.

Pike, O0.G. 1910. Through Birdland Byways with Pen and Camera. Jarrold & Sons, London.

Wanless, S. 1978. Aspects of population dynamics and breeding ecology in the gannet Sula
bassana of Ailsa Craig, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Aberdeen.

Wanless, S., Murray, S. & Harris, M.P. 2005. The status of the Northern Gannet in Britain and
Ireland in 2003-04. British Birds 98: 280-294.

Wanless, S., Harris, M.P., Lewis, S., Frederiksen, M. & Murray, S. 2008. Later breeding in
northern gannets in the eastern Atlantic. Marine Ecology Progress Series 370: 263-269.

S. Murray, Easter Craigie Dhu, Butterstone, Dunkeld, Perthshire PH8 OEY.

Email: murra

S. Wanless & M.P. Harris, Pittenkerrie Cottage, Glassel, Banchory, Aberdeenshire AB31 4DD.

Email: swanl

Revised ms accepted July 2013

S12 Scottish Bira 33:4 (2013)

Plates 259-260 (top). Week one: fairly black, with sparse, hair-like down; very wobbly (normally brooded constantly
by adult). Plates 261-262 (middle). Week two: partly covered with down; larger than parent's feet; head and neck
bare; movements well co-ordinated. Plates 263-264 (bottom). Week three: body and wings covered in white
down, but lacks luxuriantly fluffy look of four-week-old; cannot be covered by parent. © all S. Murray

<3

es
-

rs,
oy?

Plates 265-266 (top). Week four
267-268 (middle). Week five: st
down. Plates 269-270 (bottom). Week six: fluffy, b

t

‘

than the parent. © ai/ S. Mi

33:4 (2013)

Plates 271-272 (top). Week seven: mantle and b

head and neck covered in long white down. Plates 273-274 (middle). Week eight: mainly black above; down
disappearing from forehead; mantle/back and tail. Plates 275-276 (bottom). Week nine: down starts to go from
ventral surface, but still thick on flanks, belly and parts of neck; looks scruffy. © all S. Murray

33:4 (2013) Sc ) Bird: 315

"A

+. we

Plates 277-278 (top) me down on nape, flanks and back. © S. Murray. Week 11 (not illustrated): only

wisps of down r nd flanks. Plates 279-280 (bottom). Week 12: complete juvenile plumage; no
down remains

33:4 (2013)

Plate 281. Fulmar, Isle of May, May 2013. © /an Halliday

=

|

el

Gt i) Wi}

H.E.M. Dott

In Lothian, Fulmars colonised inland cliffs mainly in the 1960s-70s. Four sites between 3 and 9.5
km from the sea became established small colonies, each with under 50 apparently occupied sites
at their maximum. Numbers have declined since the late 1990s. Predation by mammals probably
limits the breeding ledges available to inland Fulmars, while fledglings from inland cliffs may
suffer higher mortality than coastal birds due to the need to make hazardous first flights overland.

Introduction

The tiny minority of Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis in Britain which breed inland at some distance
from the sea have not been well documented. Lothian in south-east Scotland is unusual in having
four inland Fulmar colonies. This paper summarises information about these colonies and
compares this with coastal Fulmars.

The Lothian inland colonies
The four extant Lothian inland Fulmar colonies are, from west to east:
Torphin Quarry: an igneous rock quarry at the south-west edge of Edinburgh city, OS grid ref.
NT1967-2067, 9.5 km distance from the sea.
®@ Salisbury Crags: a line of natural igneous rock cliffs in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh city,
NT2673, 3 km from the sea.
Gutted Haddie: a natural igneous cliff in Edinburgh city near to Salisbury Crags, NT2772,
3.5 km from the sea. |
Traprain Law Quarry: an igneous rock quarry in central East Lothian, NT5874, 8 km from the
sea (5.5 km from the tidal Tyne estuary).

33:4 (2013) © Scottish Birds: Bi 7/

318

carat Tey fies
At Er ilmonr > sthidn
O!1 FUIMASs IN LOTMIAN

Other inland sites were explored by Fulmars in south-east Scotland, and though young were
reared at two of them none became permanent colonies. At Garleton Quarry in East Lothian
(OS grid ref. NT507763), 5.5 km from the sea, two pairs were on ledges in 1954 and may have
laid eggs in 1955-57 (Edinburgh Bird Bulletin, Fisher 1966); a pair reared a chick there in 1980
and up to 10 ledges were apparently occupied from 1981 to 1984. Garleton Quarry was checked
in 1986, 1993 and some later years and no Fuimars were present (da Prato & da Prato 1987,
pers. obs., S. Welch pers. comm.). On a scree slope south-east of Cockburnspath 2.2 km from
the coast (OS grid ref NT786687) two Fulmars occupied a site in 1954, and a chick was hatched
in 1955, but both chick and adults had disappeared by 7 August (Edinburgh Bird Bulletins). At
North Berwick Law, 1 km from the shore, occasional Fulmars have been reported “prospecting”
as early as 1939 and 1948-50 (Fisher 1952, 1966), and six birds were seen in 1981 and 1983
(Lothian Bird Reports), but there have been no known breeding attempts. At Blackford Hill
Quarry in Edinburgh, 6 km from the sea, 2-3 Fulmars were seen from 1979 (Brown 1983), 1-2
most years through the 1980s, and one in 1995 (Lothian Bird Bulletins) when the main quarry
was being infilled. On crags of Arthur’s Seat at Samson’s Ribs near Gutted Haddie, Fulmars
sometimes alighted, but never held sites (Lothian Bird Reports, I.J. Andrews pers. comm.).
Occasionally 1-2 Fulmars showed brief interest in Edinburgh Castle Rock in 1955, 1998 and
1999 (Edinburgh Bird Bulletin, pers. obs. Lothian Bird Reports), Craigiehall Quarry in 1987,
and Caerketton Hill in 1984 and 1994 (Lothian Bird Reports).

The counts of Fulmars at the Lothian inland colonies

Factors affecting the counts: The numbers of Fulmars countable at colonies are affected by
Fulmar behaviour, season and weather. Sub-adult or other non-breeding Fulmars visit
colonies from spring through to early September in variable numbers. The proportion of these
visiting non-breeders can be large - between two and five times as many as may breed there,
and at which times of year their numbers are greatest is poorly known (Dott 1973, Dunnet
1991). Young Fulmars usually remain at sea for some years; many first returning to land
when about four years old with some earlier and later (Macdonald 1977). Breeding Fulmars
commence their annual return to colonies from November or December. Counts are affected
by time of day and weather; in winter to spring numbers rise towards noon and reduce to
none after dusk, and increasing wind strength reduces or prevents appearance at land
(Coulson €& Horobin 1972, Dott 1975). Numbers increase up to egg-laying in May, reduce
through incubation and brooding when one or other parent is usually at sea, and from mid-
July the single chick is left alone for long spells between brief feeding visits. Chicks fledge
in late August or early September, and by mid-September colonies are normally deserted by
all categories of Fulmars (Fisher 1952, Dunnet 1991). June is prescribed as the best time to
census the number of breeding pairs, when most birds are incubating (Walsh ef al. 1995),
although the time of highest numbers including breeders and non-breeders is usually in April
(M. Tasker in Forrester ef al. 2007).

The counts: For Lothian’s inland colonies, Table 1 shows the highest known counts in each

year of (a) individual Fulmars, (b) “apparently occupied sites” (AQS), and (c) chicks seen
including evidence such as obvious down around the ledge.

Ihe counts presented in Table 1 were not systematic. They were made by various bird-watchers,
mostly submitted to the Local Recorders, and were made in different months of the year as
people happened to visit. In the recommended censusing method, an “apparently occupied site”
(AOS) is a position occupied by one or two Fulmars apparently sitting tightly, judged to be
reasonably horizontal, and capable of holding an egg (Walsh et al. 1995). Not all of the
observers at Lothian’s inland colonies are likely to have been familiar with this definition, and
so the counts of AOS in Table 1 probably include some unsuitable places where Fulmars had
landed at the time of counting as well as genuine nesting sites. They are sometimes the only

33:4 (2013)

counts made in a year, particularly at Torphin and Traprain, though at Salisbury Crags and
Gutted Haddie there were sometimes two or more counts in a year. In some years, the highest
count was obtained in June or July, while in others it was in February, March or April.

Table 1. Counts of Fulmars at inland breeding colonies in Lothian, south-east Scotland. Counts are from any month,
and are the highest counts per year where two or more counts are known. For definition of “apparently occupied sites"
(AOS) see text. The sources of these counts are: Scottish Bird Reports to 1978, Lothian Bird Reports 1979-2011,
unpublished reports held by Lothian Recorders prior to 1979, Edinburgh Bird Bulletins 1950-58, diaries of the late
G.L. Sandeman from 1931, unpublished counts of the present author, IJ. Andrews, and D.J. Bates, Fisher 1952, 1966,
Brown 1983, da Prato & da Prato 1987, Munro 1988 and Checkley 2012.

Torphin Quarr Salisbury Crags Gutted Haddie Traprain Law Quarr
Pp y y (rag y

(9.5 km from sea) (3 km from sea) (3.5 km from sea) (8 km from sea)

Year All AOS Chicks All AOS Chicks All AOS Chicks All AOS Chicks
adults & seen adults & seen adults & seen adults & seen
sub-adults sub-adults sub-adults sub-adults
1949 2 flying near
1960s_ occasional occasional occasional
birds flying birds flying birds flying

1970 ]
197] 3 S Th
1972 ]
1973 ]
1974 ]
1975 ]
1976 4 4 p)
1978 5) 5 ] ID
1979 34
1980 20 14 48 7 present
198] 21 14 Oy ] 2. ]2 8
1982 24 16 ] SF. 10 2 10
1983 2 Sil D7. 5 2 16
1984 D5 20 Dp 46 4 8 D. 34 7,
1985 24 16 ] AO 5 5 18
1986 31 20 S 2 6 5 1 40 ]
1987 Sy) Dy: 3 A@) 5 2 8 6 le
1988 46 24 D 44 Si
1989 40 13 | 38 26 ] 8 4 13
1990 40 14 5S 29 5
199] 48 8 4 Dp
1992 28 50 ] 4 4
1994 24 DS ] 44 ff 4 ] 15 14 6
1994 65 28 ] 46 20 5 5) ] 20
1995 Dy, 16 4 7 2 5) 2 10
1996 25 15 6 40 ls 8 8 4 16 10
1997 11 8 DES) If 8 S
1998 26 13 ] 6
1999 24 19 10 10 4
2000 8
2001 S 9 ]
2002
2003 2 6 ]
2004 24 11
2005 2 ] 13 10 7 S ] Wf 5)
2006 ] ] 4 ] p)
2007 2D ] 20 le, 4 7 4 ] D ]
2008 ] il 7, 4 4 S 2 2 ]
2009 ] U7 3 2, 6 D ]
2010 S ] 24 |S 5 7 D ] 6 D
2011 4 D 10 4 D D
DOW ] 10 S

320

In spite of their unsystematic nature, the counts in Table 1 show distinct trends. The 1960s and
early 1970s was the period of first prospecting, when singles or a few Fulmars flew around and
occasionally landed at the future breeding colonies. In the later 1970s and early 1980s the
numbers of birds clearly began to rise, and breeding was first confirmed by a chick seen at
Torphin Quarry in 1978. At Salisbury Crags and Traprain Law, the numbers of birds suggest that
breeding probably occurred in years before chicks were first seen; eggs and small chicks are
normally concealed by adults and at Salisbury Crags many ledges are impossible to view well.

Through the 1980s and most of the 1990s, high numbers and some successful breeding were
maintained in all four colonies. At Torphin, AOS numbers were c.20 up to 28, and birds seen c.30
to 36. At Salisbury Crags, AOS were c.25 to 44, and birds c.35 up to 50. Gutted Haddie had 2-6
AOS and 7-10 birds. At Traprain Law, AOS were 10-20 up to 30, and birds ranged from 15 to 34.

From the later 1990s onwards, Tablel shows a downward turn in all four colonies. At Salisbury
Crags and Gutted Haddie, this decline is clear, but some successful breeding has continued. The
Traprain Law colony has dwindled to only one or two breeding pairs, and these have not managed
to fledge young in every year recently (pers. obs.). At Torphin Quarry, Fulmars have almost
disappeared, apart from brief visits by one to four birds. At this colony it is possible to see onto
ledges fairly well, and it is certain that no chicks were hatched, and probably no eggs were laid,
from 2006 to the present (pers. obs.).

Discussion

Before 1878, Fulmars nested nowhere in UK except St Kilda, and then spectacularly spread around
Scotland and to all UK coasts in the 19th and 20th centuries (Fisher 1952, Mitchell et al. 2004).
By the 1920s they had commenced breeding in the Firth of Forth and were breeding on all the
Forth islands but one by the 1960s (Murray et al. 1998). The establishment of the inland Lothian
colonies followed this in the 1970s. The UK expansion finally stabilised, and the population
levelled and slightly decreased overall, sometime after 1990 (Mitchell et al. 2004, M. Tasker in
Forrester et al. 2007), and breeding success declined during this time (Foster & Marrs 2012). The
timing of the establishment, rise, and recent decline of the Lothian inland colonies are therefore
consistent with being part of wider UK Fulmar trends. Probable causes of the great spread and
recent downturn in Fulmars, including changes in fisheries, climate, marine food chains, pollution
and debris, are discussed in Mitchell et al. (2004) and M. Tasker in Forrester et al. (2007).

A young Fulmar fledging from an inland cliff may find it more difficult to reach the sea than
from a coastal one, due to the need to remain airborne over a greater distance, and as the required
direction may be less immediately obvious. There have been anecdotal reports of Fulmars in
Lothian becoming grounded, some with injuries, mostly in streets or land around Salisbury Crags
(Brown 1983, local newspapers). The first flights of young Fulmars have had little attention in the
literature. Fisher (1952) concluded from St Kildan, Faroese and Icelandic fowlers and others, that
most fledglings fly down onto the sea, a few scramble and fall, and a few master flight quickly
and tour along cliffs. Williamson (1954) on Fair Isle found that most young flew of their own
accord; most flew between 10:00-13:00 with some earlier and later; all flew towards the sea; most
lost height steeply and some flew more steadily; most landed on the sea from 500 yards to 0.5
miles offshore, and one was stranded on the moor. These observations suggest that for inland
fledglings mortality before reaching the sea may be considerably greater than for coastal young,
and, as Fulmars have a tendency to be faithful to their natal or nearby colonies (M. Tasker in
Forrester et al. 2007), there would be a consequent reduction in recruitment to inland colonies as
compared with coastal ones.

Fulmar density tends to be higher in colonies free from mammalian predators (M. Tasker in
Forrester et al. 2007). As with coastal mainland colonies, inland colonies will attract predators

317-322 33:4 (2013)

Papers
such as Foxes Vulpes vulpes or Stoats Mustela ermine. The remains of a large Fulmar chick with
feathers bitten in the manner of a Fox kill were found on grass just above the Fulmar crag at
Gutted Haddie in 1995 (pers. obs.). Foxes are frequently seen at Torphin Quarry, and a Peregrine
Falco peregrinus took a flying Fulmar there in 2012. At Traprain Law in 2010 Ravens Corvus
corax reared young close to occupied Fulmar ledges in April, and no adult or young Fulmars
were present later in that summer.

Lothian has a relatively large coastal Fulmar colony at Tantallon, which had 500-660 AOS in
1982-1996 (Murray et al. 1998). Later counts are not available, though in sample plots their
productivity declined severely in 2002-13 (Lothian Bird Reports 2002, 2008-11, S. da Prato pers.
comm.). Like the inland colonies, the Tantallon colony is considered to be vulnerable to
mammalian predators, and many ledges where birds appear to sit tightly as though on eggs in
June never produce young (Lothian Bird Report 2002, S. da Prato pers. comm.). Fulmars breed on
nine islands in the Firth of Forth; largest numbers being on Inchkeith with over 500 AOS most
years in 1979-97. Total numbers on all nine islands rose to a peak of 2,045 AOS in 1997 followed
by an overall decline thereafter, though on individual islands trends were not all similar, and
numbers remained steadier on Isle of May and Inchgarvie (Forth Seabird Group counts in annual
Edinburgh Natural History Society Journals, Murray et al. 1998, Isle of May Bird Observatory
Annual Reports, Isle of May NNR Studies of breeding Birds and Other Biological Recordings,
Eggeling 1974). Thus, the declines at the Lothian inland and coast colonies, on most Forth Islands,
and in Scotland generally, all began about the late 1990s or early 2000s.

The prospects of the four Lothian inland colonies vary from poor to critical. At Salisbury Crags
and Gutted Haddie, breeding continues, and the numbers of birds seen suggest that pre-breeders
are still visiting. At Traprain Law, the future looks tenuous, and at Torphin, the colony may
already be effectively extinct.

Elsewhere in Scotland, a Fulmar colony existed at 13.5 km from the sea on the west-most crags of
Benarty Hill, Kinross. A chick was reared there in 1972 and up to 12 birds were seen during the
1980s, after which breeding attempts became intermittent and the colony was deserted from about
2001 (D. Fairlamb pers. comm., Scottish Bird Reports). At c.14 km inland, at Ternemny Quarry in
North-east Scotland, a few pairs nested in the 1980s, but disappeared in the 1990s when the quarry
was overgrown (M. Cook pers. comm.), and a few pairs nested at other sites less far inland in North-
east Scotland some of which have disappeared (Francis & Cook 2011). Scotland also has larger
colonies on natural crags 7 km inland in east Sutherland (Pennie 1962, Sharrock 1976, Vittery
1997), and in two quarries in Fife 3.5-4 km inland (Fife Bird Reports, Elkins et al. 2003).

In England, there are some small inland colonies near the east coast, the furthest inland being in
north Northumberland up to 14.5 km from the sea, though some no longer have confirmed
breeding (Fisher 1952, Thomas 1988, Day et al. 1995, Brown & Grice 2005), and in north Yorkshire
some small colonies up to 12 km inland (Fisher 1966, Gibbons et al. 1993). In Ireland and the Isle
of Man there are some not more than 10 km inland (Lloyd et al. 1991). In the Arctic, Fulmars can
nest on high cliffs many kilometres inland from the sea, especially in Iceland and Svalbard (Fisher
1952, Cramp et al. 1974, Lloyd et al. 1991).

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Alan F. Leitch whose comments helped to improve the manuscript, and to Stephen
Welch and Ian J. Andrews for supplying unpublished Local Recorders’ records.

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds: 317-322

S21

622

References

Brown, A. &t Grice, P. 2005. Birds in England. T. & A.D. Poyser/A. & C. Black, London.
rown, A.W. 1983. The Fulmars of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Scottish Birds 12: 228-229.

Checkley, G. 2012. Holyrood Park Birds. Unpublished.

Coulson, J.C €& Horobin, J.M. 1972. The annual re-occupation of breeding sites by the Fulmar.
Ibis 114: 30-42.

Cramp, S., Bourne, W.R.P. & Saunders, D. 1974. The Seabirds of Britain and Ireland. Collins, London.

da Prato, S.R.D. & da Prato, E.S. 1987. Fulmars on the East Lothian mainland in 1986. Lothian
Bird Report 1986: 69-71. :

Day, J.C., Hodgson, M.S. & Rossiter, B.N. 1995. The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Northumbria.
Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club, Newcastle.

Dott, H.E.M. 1973. Fulmars at land in summer and autumn. Bird Study 20: 221-225.

Dott, H.E.M. 1975. Fulmars at colonies: time of day and weather. Bird Study 22: 255-259.

Dunnet, G.M. 1991. Population studies of the Fulmar on Eynhallow, Orkney Islands. Ibis 133
(supplement): 24-27.

Dunnet, G.M. 1992. A forty-three year study on the Fulmars on Eynhallow, Orkney. Scottish
Birds 16: 155-159.

Eggeling, W.J. 1974. The birds of the Isle of May. Scottish Birds 8: supplement 93-148.

Elkins, N., Reid, J.B., Brown, A.W., Robertson, D.G. & Smout, A-M. 2003. The Fife Bird Atlas.
Woodland Studios, Dunfermline.

Fisher, J. 1952. The Fulmar. Collins, London.

Fisher, J. 1966. The Fulmar population of Britain and Ireland, 1959. Bird Study 13: 5-76.

Forrester, R.W., Andrews, I.J., McInerny, C.J., Murray, R., McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B., Betts,
M.W., Jardine, D.C. & Grundy, D. (eds). 2007. The Birds of Scotland. Scottish Omithologists’
Club, Aberlady.

Foster, S. & Marrs, S. 2012. Biodiversity: Seabirds in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage Trend
Note, published online: http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/B 1163280.pdf

Francis, I. €& Cook, M. (eds). 2011. The Breeding Birds of North-East Scotland. Scottish
Ornithologists’ Club, Aberdeen.

Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993. The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain
and Ireland 1988-1991. T. & A.D. Poyser, Calton.

Lloyd, C.S., Tasker, M.L. & Partridge, K. 1991. The Status of Seabirds in Britain and Ireland. T.
€& A.D. Poyser, London.

Macdonald, M.A. 1977. An analysis of the recoveries of British ringed Fulmars. Bird Study 24:
208-214.

Mitchell, P.L., Newton, S.F., Ratcliffe, N. & Dunn, T.E. 2004. Seabird Populations of Britain and
Ireland. T. & A.D. Poyser, London.

Munro, I. 1988. Birds of the Pentland Hills. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh.

Murray, R.D., Holling, M., Dott, H.E.M. & Vandome, P. 1998. The Breeding Birds of South-east
Scotland, a Tetrad Atlas 1988-1994. The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, Edinburgh.

Pennie, I.D. 1962. A century of bird-watching in Sutherland. Scottish Birds 2: 167-192.

Sharrock, J.T.R. 1976. The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. BTO, Tring.

Thomas, M.I. 1988. The Fulmar in Northumbria. Birds in Northumbria 1987: 94-97.

Vittery, A. 1997. The Birds of Sutherland. Colin Baxter Photography, Grantown-on-Spey.

Walsh, P.M., Halley, D.J., Harris, M.P., del Nevo, A., Sim, I.M.W. & Tasker, M.L. 1995. Seabird
monitoring handbook for Britain and Ireland. JNCC/RSPB/iTE/Seabird Group, Peterborough.

Williamson, K. 1954. The fledging of a group of young Fulmars. Scottish Naturalist 64: 1-12.

Harry E. M. Dott, 8 Mortonhall Park Gardens, Edinburgh EH17 8SL.

Revised ms accepted September 2013

33:4 (2013)

Brian Orr (1961-2012)

In the Scottish birding scene from the late 1980s
onwards, it would have been impossible to have
missed the imposing character that was Brian
Orr. Brian was one of those people who moved
through life by having a bit of fun, much of it
at his own expense; he would always greet you
with his cheerful smile and some customary
banter at various twitches around the country.
So, it was with great sadness that we heard of
his untimely death in late November 2012.

Brian was born in Glasgow on 8 March 1961
into a large family where he was one of five
brothers (including a twin brother) along with a
sister. These early years where not happy ones
as he was fostered out to various carers
throughout Ayrshire. He eventually became
really close with one of these families and
regarded Joe and Doreen Stoker as his true
family. They were very fond of Brian and helped
him set up his first home in Ayrshire. He
attended various schools before studying
horticulture at Langside College in Glasgow
before heading off south to work in England.
The desire to move back home took him to
North Ayrshire Council Parks Department,
where he worked until his retirement.

Brian was a keen local birder in Ayrshire with
Bogside Flats one of his regular haunts. However,
he was always keen on finding out of the way
lochs and farm pools. Some of these places
yielded excellent finds such as Lesser Yellowlegs,
Green-winged Teal and Lesser Scaup. Brian was
very keen on visiting the under-watched region
of Dumfries & Galloway, from where he returned
full of tales of good birding with not another
birder to be seen! Both King Eider and Lesser
Scaup were amongst his finds there, but the icing
on the cake was Scotland’s first mainland record
of Semipalmated Sandpiper at Port Logan in
September 1999.

Although a very keen local birder, Brian was
also a twitcher who travelled the length of
Britain, often in the company of his good friend
the late Bruce Forrester. With his good humour
and immediate likeability, Brian soon made
friends amongst the great and good of British

33:4 (2013)

birding. News of his untimely death was greeted
with much sadness amongst these luminaries.

Brian loved to travel to the Isles of Scilly each
autumn; indeed he managed to visit the islands
for the last time with Gordon after a few years’
absence in autumn 2012. In recent years, he
spent some time on Fair Isle, as well as a spring
week with friends for the past ten years on the
Isle of May. Fittingly, spring 2012 was the
May’s best spring for rare migrants in a long
time, with Brian finding one, a Thrush
Nightingale. Brian left the island early that year
to attend a social gathering. For his friends
present there at that time the poignant sight of
him waving his goodbyes to those on the pier
as he rounded the headland was to be the last
time they would ever see him.

As well as a keen birder Brian was also a very
good artist, particularly of cartoon characters
where his humour shone through. One such
cartoon that appeared in Birding World was the

Plate 282. Brian Orr, Isle of May, June 2012. © Calum Scott

524

infamous Isles of Scilly Spotless Starling
episode; a bird that turned out to be a normal
Starling. His drawing depicted a Starling
handing another Starling a bottle of stain
remover, with the words “guaranteed to remove
spots” on it. This was Brian in a nutshell, keen
to have a laugh with others, but also keen to
poke some fun in his direction, as he had

travelled to see the bird himself!

His other enjoyments in life were golf and
watching Scotland play at Murrayfield along
with his wife Diane. They had met and married
whilst living in Ayrshire. Sadly, however,
Diane died at a relatively early age. After this
setback, Brian picked himself up, took early
redundancy from the North Ayrshire Parks
Department and built a new life for himself by
moving to East Lothian. He stated that he was
keen for some new action with “some bush
bashing rather than more dodgy ducks” The
“dodgy ducks” was a reference to the playful
ribbing that went with each of his waterfowl
finds. He chose to stay in Tyninghame village,
a place he knew very well thanks to some

close friends whom he had known for a
number of years. In his new life in East
Lothian he had found a new partner in
Amanda. However, the last many of his friends
was to hear from him was a text in November
2012 stating that he was off on holiday to
Queensland, Australia, to visit friends. It was
therefore with great shock that we all heard of
his sudden death from a heart attack on 30
November. Amanda flew out to Australia
where a small ceremony took place before he
was cremated. His ashes were returned to
Scotland and scattered in a private ceremony
attended by close family and friends at
Portencross Beach in Ayrshire on his birthday
- an area much loved by Brian.

Brian Orr was a larger than life character,
always with a smile and a kind word to others.
His passing has left a huge hole in the fabric of
Scottish birding but many have been left with
fond memories of a true friend.

lain English, Gordon Macdonald, Angus
Murray & Calum Scott

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Birdwatcher silhouette image courtesy of David Palmar (www.photoscot.co.uk). Image of man and child with telescope courtesy of

SOC Conference 2013
Marine Hotel, Troon

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Plates 283-284. The Marine Hotel, (inset) one of the local Mediterranean Gulls. © Jimmy Maxwell/Eric McCabe

A balmy south-westerly breeze blew across the
nearby Royal Troon golf course fairways as
delegates for the conference arrived at this
grand sandstone hotel.

Even as they arrived, the more observant
birders had sighted more than one
Mediterranean Gull flying near the hotel! After
registration and settling in, the evening's events
kicked off with Ken Shaw, SOC President
welcoming everyone, detailing arrangements,
listing all the contributing organisations, displays
etc. and giving a warm introduction to Tony Marr
our opening speaker.

Tony Marr achieved the notable distinction of
retaining his youthful enthusiasm — for
birdwatching, while making a respectable
supplementary income from it. As in most cases
there were some elements of good fortune, but
these only complemented an imaginative
determination and a lot of hard work.

Birdwatching 50 or 60 years ago was peopled
with some gifted, distinguished, eccentric and
autocratic individuals and Scotland certainly
had its share.

Tony met an allied breed in Sussex where he
was brought up. Far from being deterred by
these characters, he joined them in setting up
the Sussex Ornithological Society, contributing
to their journal and becoming a prime mover
in establishing nature reserves at Pagham
Harbour and Rye Harbour.

His penetrating knowledge and wide
experience made him a welcome and
effective member of the RSPB Council and the
BOU Records Committee.

Plate 285. Tony Marr. © Jimmy Maxwell

33:4 (2013)

He had a distinguished career in the civil
service, learning valuable lessons in man
management. He then began to lead bird
watching trips around the world using his
ornithological knowledge and the skills he had
learnt while working for the government. Being
blessed with a vivid memory, these experiences
provided a fund of stories. As the ornithological
specialist on polar cruises he was not only able
to extend his birding experiences but also his
stock of stories about some of the less
knowledgeable participants.

Not least were his reflections on developments
in communication; TV videos, smart phones
and satellite technology in general. Similarly, the
quality of optical equipment had advanced by
leaps and bounds so that the shotgun was no
longer needed for identification. Tony described
his talk as a magic carpet ride and happily so it
continues providing him with enjoyment and
further stories.

In fact, the magic carpet ride was extended in
his after-dinner speech on Saturday night. This
was a model of gentle observations of human
peculiarities.

I'm sure that he would be a most agreeable
companion guide on future flights of the
magic carpet.

Ivan T. Draper

The now traditional quiz followed, with each
table debating or more accurately struggling
with lan Thomson's varied and devious clues.
Bird recognition was a prominent feature as
usual and migration, observatories and varied
ornithological facts were included, all handled in
lan’s usual humorous and knowledgeable way.

He does this so well that | fear (and hope) that
the task will remain with him for each
conference now. A most enjoyable evening.

Saturday

For the morning Ayrshire Branch had kindly
arranged some local guided walks. The weather
was fair and Angus Hogg’s group started at
Troon harbour viewing across to a sunny Arran,
enjoying the Eider flock in the inner basin and

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

then wader watching at the north beach. Angus
then hurried back to do a splendid Ayrshire
Birds talk at the hotel. Tony Scott took us further
to Irvine harbour where among other birds a
pair of Stonechats appeared across the river
mouth - an encouraging sight for that resident
species. Doonfoot and Rozelle Park were other
venues, led by David Rackham with later help
from Duncan Watt.

After lunch the afternoon lectures began.

see

Ss Scog TRIS Eset iiecons cin een eS EY

Plate 286. Chris McInerny chats to Steve Roberts. ©
Jimmy Maxwell

Shedding light on the Honey-buzzard -
Steve Roberts

Steve began his presentation with his trademark
picture of a Welsh rugby try against England,
followed by a story of his meeting with Seton
Gordon for the Scots. He then gave some
background on the elusive Honey-buzzard, a
trans-Saharan migrant, and explained the
physical adaptations for its unique life style. This
included short tarsi for digging out wasps’ nests,
and slit nostrils. Issues of identification were
illustrated and summed up as being ‘a not-
quite-right Buzzard’!

He then covered field work techniques and
described the bird as tolerant to monitoring,
secretive but confiding. The secrecy also
extended to the politics surrounding this species
and he lamented the lack of openness in some
quarters in revealing breeding records. This does
not help the conservation of the species which
is also hampered by a lot of negative attitudes
regarding disturbance during fieldwork.

Al

The use of nest cameras as a means of both
adding to our knowledge of the bird and
dismissing some of the myths concerning
disturbance was a strong element in the
presentation. The ability to check colour rings to
identify individuals at the nest, view behavioural
patterns and record prey items was well
illustrated. Who will forget images of an adult
Honey-buzzard being catapulted off the nest
platform by a severe gust of wind, the Houdini
frog leaping fearlessly from the nest to an
uncertain fate below, and the sight of Goshawk
predation on young Honey-buzzards.

Finally, he discussed the general conservation
measures which would be adopted to assist the
species in the face of pressures from, for
example, windfarm expansion which will affect
foraging Honey-buzzards. In addition, the
provision of ponds in forestry plantations to
encourage frogs, an important prey Item, would
be a positive management approach. Superbly
illustrated and delivered with a sharp Welsh wit,
Steve entertained us with his usual high
standard of presentation which was extremely
well received by conference members.

Gordon Riddle

From Merlin to Harpy Eagle - Dario
Ferndndez-Bellon

Dario gave a very informative talk with brilliant
visuals covering four raptor species starting with
the Harpy Eagle, the national bird of Panama
which features on their Coat of Arms, having
replaced the Bald Eagle. This clever move has
caught the mood of the country generating
financial and legislative as well as popular
Support for this huge powerful top predator.
Imagine, it takes Howler Monkeys, Sloths and
numerous arboreal mammals! Thus, the
prognosis for this awesome bird, at least in
Panama, is hopeful.

In contrast, Ridgway’s Hawk has been driven
into a small corner of the Dominican Republic;
now only some 200 remain in the National
Park at Haitises and the farmers who clear what
forest they can, wrongly believe the bird to be
a chicken thief, when as a Buteo it is more
dependent on small mammals. The outlook is
grim, except for the 200 Red-listed birds in the

Plate 287. Dario Fernandez-Bellon relaxing after his
talk. © Jimmy Maxwell

poorly protected park. As his choice for the
intermediate situation Dario chose Guiana
Crested Eagle, a smaller version of the Harpy
though a different genus. It inhabits similar
jungle to the Harpy, but exists at much lower
density and does not compete. It eats Skunks,
Armadillos, many birds and small arboreal
mammals. Dario took his data from Misiones
Province in Argentina. Again, threatened by
forest clearance and active hunting, it appears
more resistant and flexible because of low
density distribution.

Finally, we come home to Ireland and Merlins
living in forest-edge situations, nesting mainly in
crow nests. Detailed knowledge of Merlin
ecology in this habitat would perhaps cause
forest management to be more friendly to the
bird. However, collection of detailed data required
is too labour intensive for the resources available.

In future, with the too rapid increase in world
population, reserve areas will not be available,

SO some accommodation in life styles of
cultures will be necessary.

Campbell McLellan

33:4 (2013)

Then coffee time and a moment to visit some
of the many displays and stalls. All the usual
book stands were there - SOC of course along
with BTO, Ayrshire SWT, Hessilhead and SOC
Ayrshire, RSPB South Ayrshire, Arran Natural
History Society and Viking Optical Ltd. On the
artistic side, we had Fran Knowles (wildlife
artist) and David Palmar and Eric McCabe
(wildlife photographers) with their displays.

The Political Birder - Mark Avery

Mark wants us to try to influence politicians
using the methods that modern communi-
cations now provide. He suggested we should
be dissatisfied with the present state of nature
(biodiversity) in the world and in the UK and be
trying to do something about tt. He had recently
joined a large crowd to witness the spectacle of
three-quarters of a million Mexican Free-tailed
Bats emerging from their roost in a man-made
structure (a metal-girder bridge) in downtown
Austin Texas, but he contrasted this with man’s
extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, once the
world’s most numerous bird, on the same
continent in a period of only 100 years. Do we
realise that all diesel fuel now contains 5% of
biofuel? To grow crops for the production of
biofuel ultimately means either that rainforest Is
destroyed or that less land is available for food
production. Within the UK farmland birds have

Plate 288. Mark Avery inviting you to ‘tweet’. ©
Jimmy Maxwell

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

Plate 289. lan Hopkins does some browsing. ©
Jimmy Maxwell

decreased by 50% within a mere 30 years. By
any standards, this is a disastrous state of affairs,
yet politicians tend not to get too worked up
about such environmental changes. Mark
suggests we should consider writing to our
MSP/MP/MEP, writing a blog, signing an e-
petition or tweeting on Twitter. Of these
suggestions the e-petition was found to be
currently the most popular with his audience.
Mark encouraged us to look at the e-petition on
grouse moor licensing even though this is
currently only applicable to England. But he
would like us also to join him in blogging!

Graham Pyatt

The 77th SOC AGM

This turned out to be an unusually brief affair.
The 76th AGM minutes were proposed and
seconded without comment. With reference to
the Annual Report, Ken discussed various points
regarding the membership development project
including assisting members all over Scotland,
the great benefit of the improved SOC Website
and a significant increase In membership.

He emphasised the enormous importance of
our growing commitment within the Scottish
Environment LINK where team efforts are being
made to convince Scottish MPs of the
importance of our seabirds and their declines.
This involves the establishment of marine
protected areas and a concerted effort against
marine crime, a matter which lan Thomson is
taking up with ministers.

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Foraging behaviour and prey selection in
surface-feeding seabirds - Gail Robertson
Gail gave us an entertaining account of her
fieldwork on tiny Coquet Island off the
Northumberland coast, including how to protect
yourself from terns by thickening your hat! Along
with two RSPB wardens, she lived for three
months in the lighthouse buildings. Although
the island is low-lying and without high cliffs, it
is the home of 35,000 seabirds including
Kittiwake and four species of tern, the nests of
which are unusually accessible to the
researcher. There is no public disturbance to the
island throughout the year. The general decline
in Britain's seabirds has been attributed to a
combination of predation, over-fishing, climate
change and human disturbance. Small bird
species such as Arctic, Common and Roseate
Terns which feed near the surface of the sea are
particularly vulnerable as they usually bring only
one item of prey back to the nest and therefore
foraging trips must be short. Gail monitored the
prey of the three terns during 2011 and 2012.
She found that the species had distinctly
different foraging strategies, taking different
proportions and sizes of sandeels, sprats,
juvenile fish and other items (e.g. crustaceans).
With the help of other researchers in a boat, she
was also able to locate their different foraging
areas. At the same time Gail compared foraging
by Kittiwakes during incubation and_ chick-
rearing stages. This involved fitting birds with
GPS tags. During the incubation stage, birds
tended to catch larger prey items from a greater
distance than when chick-rearing. Foraging areas
also differed between years, leading Gail to
conclude that Marine Protection Areas either
need to be flexible or very large.

Graham Pyatt

Monitoring Puffins using photography -
Adam Cross

Time-lapse photography from fixed cameras on
various Scottish islands between May and July
gave useful data to complement the usual
counts of nest burrows and individual birds. The
snag was that there were vast numbers of
photos requiring subsequent analysis! The
regular photography showed up 4—5 day cycles
of returning birds, with largest numbers in late
evening or early morning. Adam also studied

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

Plate 291. Adam Cross & Gail Robertson before their
talks. © Jimmy Maxwell

the concomitant effects of Puffins on the island
ecosystem. Puffin burrowing led to soil erosion
and the birds’ input of guano was considerable.
The annual amount of nitrogen imported varied
mainly with the size of the population from 40
kg/ha on Fair Isle, to 90 kg/ha on Mingulay and
140 kg/ha at St Kilda. Experimental plots on
each island with or without Puffins and with or
without Rabbits revealed that Rabbits preferred
to graze in vegetation that had been enriched by
Puffin guano. The flow of nutrients from fish via
the Puffins to Rabbits was revealed by study of
the isotope ratio of nitrogen. The rabbits gained
the same distinctive 15N/14N isotope ratio in
their tissues that the Puffins had acquired from
their prey. The flow of nutrients does not stop
there; the sea around the island Is also enriched
from water draining from the islands.

Graham Pyatt

Now tea and coffee, and a last chance to select
a suitable book for that Christmas present and
buy some raffle tickets!

Ornithological fraud - Martin Collinson

To all (most?) of us deliberate fraud involving
bird recording would never enter our heads.
Although Martin may have struck a cord when
he talked about ‘wishful thinking’ or filling in the
gaps of a description when, for example, we
didn't actually see that yellow rump on that
glimpsed Pallas's Warbler. But this talk was
about the other end of the spectrum - outright
deliberate fraud. Would he spill the beans? - no,
Martin had to be disappointingly careful with
what he said and keep to published cases!

352

Plate 292. Martin Collinson. © Jimmy Maxwell

The infamous Hastings Rarities and George
Bristow of St Leonards were covered in some
detail. At the time (1962), this caused a major rift
between leading figures, but tt is clear than Martin
agreed that a fraud had been committed. It was
suggested that at this time fraud was rife. Similar
published cases involve taxidermists near York
(Tadcaster Rarities) and near Margate, but there
could be more. The Meinertzhagen fraud was of
a different type - stealing and relabeling
specimens to deceive his peers. In Martin's words
‘an arrogant emperor dominating his empire’.

Today, fraud is potentially of a more technical
nature - changing the embedded details of a
photographic file or claiming a photograph was
taken somewhere it was not. Other recent
incidents have been no more than pranks -
such as the stuffed Night Heron in a tree near
Newcastle - but ‘pranks’ can so easily get out of
control with modern instant and_ global
messaging. Permanent damage can result from
‘youthful indiscretion’.

As a conclusion, Martin posed the question as
to how future generations might view many of
our records, based as they were on field
descriptions and trust.

lan Andrews

Scottish Birds

Should we be concerned about the
impacts of offshore windfarms and wave
and tidal devices on Scottish seabird
populations? - Bob Furness

Bob started by pointing out that the recent
declines in numbers of seabirds breeding in
Scotland are even worse than declines in English
farmland birds, and questioned whether conser-
vation money could be allocated differently. In
many cases our seabirds are an important part of
the world population (from 60% for Bonxies
down to 20% for Shags and Razorbills and 7%
for Fulmars. In contrast to the large sums spent
on birds like Corncrake and Capercaillie where we
have only a tiny part of the world population, little
is being allocated to seabird conservation.

The Scottish Government has stated its wish for
the country to be a leader in the development of
renewable energy, including wind, tidal and wave
power. Offshore windfarms present fewer political
problems and experience more constant winds
than land-based ones, but may be a greater threat
because seabirds are long-lived and breed slowly.
They are also harder to monitor, though radar
systems and collision monitors on the rotor blades
could be deployed in the near future. Sufficiently
fast-flowing tidal streams for power generation are
rather restricted, the Pentland Firth being the best.
Such sites are generally avoided by seabirds
(except Black Guillemots) during periods of fast
flow, so may be less of a threat than wind
turbines. Wave energy devices seem to pose little
threat to seabirds.

The main threats from windfarms are that they
are acting as barriers to bird movements,
collision risks and disturbance/displacement
from normal behaviour. On land, species vary in
their ability to avoid windfarms. With less
evidence, it seems that at sea, auks, divers,
gannets and eiders generally avoid turbine
blades, or fly below them. Skuas and gulls may
be most at risk of collision. Among the ways of
mitigating for the harmful effects of off-shore
windfarms and aiding dwindling seabird
numbers, we could be using supplementary
feeding for breeding skuas, and removing
ground predators such as rats, feral cats and
ferrets from more islands where seabirds breed.

Roger Hissett

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

200 Club winners were then drawn by Vicky
McLellan on behalf of organiser Daphne Peirse-
Duncombe, whose efforts have brought so
many financial benefits to the Club. Then the
Raffle was drawn by Wendy and Kathryn with
grateful thanks to all the companies and
individuals who contributed prizes - the total
amount raised was £458.

Chris Mclnerny then brought the weekend's
conference to a close with many thanks to the
whole SOC team for their organisational work
and also to the hotel for the noted courtesy and
efficiency of their staff. Next year's conference
would be in October 2014 at Perth.

He wished everyone safe home as the wind
increased outside driving the rain past the hotel
entrance - but a very successful event.

Those who were at Troon couldn't fail to notice
the 12 students at this year's conference
(including the two student speakers). The
number of attending students has increased
over the past few years and the Club certainly
plans to continue offering a subsidised
attendance fee to encourage their participation,
as well as providing a slot in the talks
programme for PhD students.

Plate 293. Stephen Hunter discusses visuals with Bob
Furness. © Jimmy Maxwell Jimmy Maxwell

Plate 294. Hotel view across to the Heads of Ayr. © Jimmy Maxwell

33:4 (2013) Scottish Birds | 333

534

© \/jaivwsc

NEWS AND NOTICES

New SOC members

Ayrshire: Ms L. Ralph, Mr R. Wiggins, Borders: Mr
& Mrs H. Bakkes, Mr T. Chamberlain, Mr PH.
Hanmer, Mr & Mrs R. Higgins, Mrs W. Paterson,
Central Scotland: Mr A. Barr, Mr D. Cramb, Mr &
Mrs A. Parraco, Mr S. Ridsdale, Clyde: Mr A. Ash,
Mr S. Ball, Mr E. Cole, Ms P. Dunbar, MrJ. McAree,
Ms FJ. Morton, Mr A. Smith & Ms E. Purvis,
England, Wales & NI: Mr & Mrs D. Derrick, Mr M.
Jeeves, Mr S. Lowe, Mr & Mrs R. Paxton, Fife: Ms
N. Carlson, Highland: Mr & Mrs J. Manson, Ms J.
Tyrer, Lothian: Mr N. Aitken, Mr J. Allison, Mr &
Mrs M. Camburn, Ms R.M. Collins, Mrs S. Dick, Mr
P. Doris, Mr J. Easton, Mr J. Finch, Mr & Mrs M.
Ford, MrJ. Gibson, Ms S. Gossip, Mrs S. Horne, Ms
S. Jackson, Ms N. Jeffery, Mr PJ. Kane, Dr P.
McBride, Mr J. McTague, Mr A. Mellor, Ms E.
Morrison & Dr A. Crerar, Mrs K. Rae, Mr M. Roe,
Mr M. Scott, Ms A. Sinclair, Mrs G. Spoor, Mr & Mrs
R. Taylor, Ms J. Waldie, Miss M. Watson, Mr G.
Watson & Ms R. Marshall, Ms E.E. Whewell, Mr N.
Wilkinson, Ms L. Wylie, Miss S. Yardy, Moray: Mr
D. Main, Mr S. Massie, North-east Scotland: Mr
P. Howey, Mr R. Ince, Ms V. Saint, Orkney: Mr S.
Groundwater, Overseas: Mr D. Bundy, Stewartry:
Mr & Mrs MJ. Appleford, Mr P. Jordan, Mr & Mrs
R. Smith, Tayside: Ms C. McGuffie, West
Galloway: MrT. Marshall.

Plate 295. Long-tailed Tits among Hawthorns.
© Darren Woodhead

Scottish Birds

SOC 200 Club

The latest prize winners are: August: 1st £30 B.
Etheridge, 2nd £20 G. Wren, 3rd £10 J. Fairbrass.
September: Ist £30 D. Boomer, 2nd £20 B.
Pirie, 3rd £10 Mrs A. Inglis. October: 1st £30 Dr
Napier, 2nd £20 G. A. Ball, 3rd £10 S. Howe.

The 2014 Scottish Birdfair

The Birdfair will be held on 10 & 11 May 2014
at Hopetoun House, West Lothian.
www.scottishbirdfair.org.uk

Scottish Birdwatchers’ Conference
Saturday 22 March 2014, Aberdeen (programme
and booking information enclosed).

SOC Annual Conference 2014
31 October—2 November, The Station Hotel, Perth.

Art Exhibitions, Waterston House
= Darren Woodhead, showing until 15 January.
B Pat Beveridge & East Coast Stitchers,
18 January—19 February.
= Carol Barrett, 22 February—2 April.

Request

If anyone has a copy of the 1983 Scottish Bird
Report that they no longer need, could they
please contact Waterston House. A member is
looking for a copy to complete their set.

33:4 (2013)

Plate 296. Tender giants. © Caro/ Barrett

Branch updates

A new branch of the SOC. We're delighted to tell
you that a branch of the SOC has now formed in
Moray! The first meeting of ‘Moray Bird Club - the
Moray branch of the SOC’ took place in Elgin in
early October. We hope that the new branch will
provide an opportunity for those who share a
common interest in birds to meet for a regular
social occasion. Please visit the Moray branch
page on the website for full details of the branch
committee, evening meetings programme and
branch contact details.

New Clyde branch secretary: lan Fulton, 8
Barrachnie Avenue, Baillieston, Glasgow G69
ese tele O41 773 4329, - Email:
soc.clyde@btinternet.com. lan takes up the
reins from Hayley Douglas who the Club thanks
for her time given to the role.

New Argyll recorder: Jim Dickson, 11 Pipers
Road, Cairnbaan, Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31 8UF.
Tel. 01546 603967, Email:
meg@jdickson5.plus.com. Assistant Argyll
recorder: Malcolm Chattwood, 1 The Stances,
Kilmichael Glassary, Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31
8QA. Tel: 01546 SCHASS), Email:

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

abcrecorder@outlook.com. Rare birds (i.e. all
BBRC, SBRC and ABRC species requiring a
description) should be sent to Jim Dickson; all
other records of birds in Argyll should be sent to
Malcolm Chattwood. Advice on what to record is
available on the Argyll Bird Club website (argyll-
birdclub.org) under ‘Bird Recording’. The Club
thanks outgoing recorder, Paul Daw, for his many
years Of Service.

Correction

Pete Gordon's phone number is incorrect on the
Highland-Branch excursions list (Burghead area
on 9 February 2014) sent with the last mailing.
It should be 01479 821339.

Scottish Birds online

As well as being available through the SOC
website, back issues of Scottish Birds (other than
the most recent 2 years) are now available freely
through the Biodiversity Heritage Library
tinyurl.com/bhl-so¢sb. Scanning for the BHL
should be completed shortly. BHL www.biodiver-
sitylibrary.org is the largest free library of online
natural history books and journals. This will make
Scottish Birds available to a much wider audience.

Mark Wilkinson - a new member of SBRC
SBRC welcomes Mark Wilkinson as new member
of SBRC, replacing Alan Lauder for the south-east
Scotland region. Mark brings much experience to
the committee. Based in Edinburgh, he has
birded for c30 years, mostly in Lothian and Fife,
but also travelling widely throughout Scotland,
with annual trips to Shetland. His work frequently
takes him abroad, resulting in him living for
periods in China, Mexico and The Netherlands, as
well as numerous trips to the Middle East, North
America, South America and Africa. The
downside of this travel is that it has taken its toll
on his Scottish List, which has stalled at approxi-
mately 360 species, and currently shows no sign
of increasing! He has experience of record
assessment, having served on the Lothian Birds
Records Committee since 2006.

SBRC would like to acknowledge Its gratitude to
Alan for his work over the period of his tenure.
Alan, in his role as Chairman, has contributed
enormously to the running of SBRC.

Chris MclInerny, on behalf of SBRC

= 2 F = = g
Ceaki:ch Rreoe
at EF EEE IEE EDGE CED 3 3 5

Plate 297. Tayside branch celebration, Dundee, August 2013 (from left to right: Jon Cook, Bob McCurley, Arthur

— 34 : . La
oe aa . =
: _— rs ‘3 i BAM PY

Bastable, Ron Downing, Brian Boag; Brian Brocklehurst, John Campbell, Rosemary Boag). © Bob McCurley

Recognition for Brian and Rosemary Boag
and Arthur Bastable

The Tayside Branch gave a ‘long service
recognition dinner’ to Brian Boag (for being our
secretary for 27 years), his wife Rosemary (who
has so efficiently served the branch with
refreshments at our indoor meetings for many
years) and Arthur Bastable (member since

The Club is held in high esteem by many, and the voluntary work that is taken

on as a matter of course is just breathtaking.

The Club’s future is assured for the next few years, partly due to the kindness and
generosity of the individuals who have remembered us in their wills.

Let’s look beyond that... If you love Scottish birds and like me have had alifetimeof
happiness watching them, please think about the SOC even in a small way in your will.

Having just finished my term as President,
Iam amazed by the level of goodwill shown towards
the SOC throughout Scotland and beyond.

1953). Also present were Ron Downing, John
Campbell (Chairman), Jon Cook (bird report
editor), Brian Brocklehurst (current secretary)
and myself, Bob McCurley (treasurer). It took
place at the Invercarse Hotel Perth Road,
Dundee on 16 August 2013.

Bob McCurley

For information on how you might further support the Club, please see the leaflet

enclosed with this issue.

Help

¢
ere

Articles, News & Views

Get Mobile for BirdTrack - record
your bird sightings on your phone

Love them or hate them (or just plain scared
stiff of them), smartphones are becoming
ubiquitous. The British Trust for Ornithology
(BIO) realised this and a couple of years ago
started developing a suite of useful ‘apps’. One
of these allows us to take the popular BirdTrack
online bird-recording system out into the field
and record birds as we encounter them. The
BirdTrack App was launched for Android in May
2012 and for iPhone in February 2013. | find it
an extremely useful tool in the field and use it
regularly on my Android smartphone.

You need to be registered for BirdTrack through
the online system: www.birdtrack.net. Once you
have downloaded the app to your phone, go to
management options, click ‘Account prefs’ and
enter your username and password to get started.

Figure 1. The
home page on the
Android version
looks like this.

Species |

Species name

GKite >
Count
Location, time L
Place name Hill ¢ ;
al £
Grid Reference La7a2 ¢
Use Last Location (TL8782)

Going to Management options will also allow
you to synchronise your locations from your
own account and to populate the species list.
Once that is done you are ready to go. Records
can be entered as Casuals (late Swallows on 20
October) or else a species list (a visit to
Ruddon’'s Point at Elie on the same day
including such stars as Long-tailed Duck and
Red-throated Diver). Location data is map-
based so remember to switch on your phone's
GPS to get the exact spot (however, remember

33:4 (2013)

to switch GPS off once you have done this to
save battery). An alternative, if you have already
entered sightings from that area — Is to pick the
spot from a drop-down list of locations within 5
miles of where you are. For a new site use the
map and | find it pays to move the pointer to
where you are and set the pointer location.

Creating lists is easy as you ‘add and repeat’
after you make your first entry. Species entry is
simple with a drop-down species list after the
first couple of letters you type. You can enter a
count of the birds seen although this is optional.
You can add birds as you see them and if you
have seen more of a species you saw earlier,
just enter again and the programme ‘does the
maths’. As with the PC-based BirdTrack
complete lists are preferable from the analysis
angle but not mandatory. Once you are at
home where you can access your wi-fi or
somewhere with a stable data connection
(ideally 3G or higher) you can then verify and
upload your records through the Management
Options. Your phone can store lots of lists and
casual sightings so those trips to Fair Isle or the
Outer Hebrides can be safely stored on the
phone until you get home.

| love it as an extension of BirdTrack as a whole
which is becoming a more and more valuable
tool in monitoring Britain’s (and Ireland's) bird
populations. With the phone apps the records
go in straight away and your records are there
forever (no computer crashes, no_ lost
notebooks or faulty memory) and they will add
to the bigger picture.

Go on - get mobile!

Further information on the apps can be found on
the BTO website at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-
surveys/birdtrack/taking-part/birdtrack-apps

BirdTrack is run by the BTO in partnership
with the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the SOC
and the Welsh Ornithological Society

Breed ling: Water Rails at cBathgate;
West, iS apee 2017

Ae EASTON ~ me eS

&

Pista 298. rai Water Rail, Bathgate, July 2013. © Jim Easton

Little Boghead Village Nature Park is a small site
in Bathgate, it consists of a small wooded area
and several small ponds. The ponds were once
part of a small gravel pit that in-filled with water;
this was later developed and divided up into
smaller ponds.

Water Rails were first observed breeding at this site
in 2012, with many people visiting to see them.

What makes these Water Rails so popular Is their
behaviour. For a few weeks they seem to
abandon their skulking secretive habits. The
adults can be seen around the large pond
feeding and when the chicks are about they can
be easily located by their calls.

In 2013, the first chicks were seen on 5 July and
were photographed over the following weeks
documenting their growth (Plates 299a-—i). The
birds gave opportunities to observe otherwise
unseen activities and behaviour.

Birds were seen to feed the chicks small pieces of
vegetation, aquatic larvae and large slugs that
would be broken up by the adults. | also observed
a number of aggressive attacks on chicks by the
adult birds, on one occasion the adult caught a

moth and called for the chick to come and get it.
When the chick took the moth from the adult it
was then attacked and grabbed by the neck and
dunked in the water.

Bonus sightings of other wildlife while watching
the birds were: Great Crested Newts that were
picked off the surface of the pond by a Black
headed Gull (see Plate 2991) and Water Vole
were also seen on several occasions.

More photos and video clips can be seen on
http://www-flickr.com/photos/bathgate_wildlife
/sets/72157634529316427/

Jim Easton, Bathgate, West Lothian

Plate 299. (a) Four-day-old Water Rail chick, Bathgate,
7 July 2013. (b) Nine-day-old Water Rail chicks,
Bathgate, 13 July 2013. (c) Adult with 14-day-old Water
Rail chick, Bathgate, 18 July 2013. (d) Adult Water Rail
feeding chick, Bathgate, 14 July 2013. (e) Adult Water
Rail with slug, Bathgate, 20 July 2013. (f) Twenty-day-
old Water Rail, Bathgate, 24 July 2013. (g) Thirty-one-
day-old Water Rail, Bathgate, 4 August 2013. (h) Fifty-
one-day-old Water Rail, Bathgate, 24 August 2013. (i)
Black-headed Gull with male Great Crested Newt,
Bathgate, 9 June 2013. © All by Jim Easton

33:4 (2013)

340

Articles, News & Views

Plate 300. Swift. © Jan Fouiton

Ten years ago, | used to walk through streets in
parts of Glasgow in summer and see and hear
screaming parties of Swifts displaying around
the buildings until nearly dark (after 11 p.m. in
June). It was never as exciting as, for example,
Castle Douglas, where the buildings are lower
and the Swifts scream down the street at knee
level, but it was the ever-present sound of their
calls on fine summer evenings that alerted me
to their presence and their thrilling chases
around the buildings. Now, | wish | had paid
more attention to recording numbers, as year
on year they have become fewer, even in areas
not badly affected by renovation (e.g. Battlefield
and Hillhead). My focus was and still is location
and conservation of nesting areas.

In the early days of searching, Swifts were found
around the older buildings in the west end of
the city, mainly south of Great Western Road
and Kelvindale and around Queens Park -
especially in Battlefield and Pollockshields. In
the east of the city they were in Dennistoun and
Tollcross. In these locations | generally recorded
screaming parties of between 10 and 20.

The greater excitement was finding larger

colonies in Milton, Barmulloch, Ruchazie,
Garthamlock, Easterhouse, Wellhouse, Barlanark,

c my i ey or =
Scottish Birds

orate Os ———————— IEE ee
PEPE > se

Drive, Castlemilk. © Clare Darlaston

Tena ee tal

Plate 301.

Dougrie

Plate 302. Gable close-up; nest sites are unnoticeable
till you see a Swift go in. © Clare Darlaston

33:4 (2013)

Castlemilk, and Drumchapel. These are the so-
called ‘peripheral estates’ where many of the
buildings date from the 1940s and 1950s and
the era of slum clearance. Most larger Scottish
cities have this style of building. Not only did
cracks and gaps in the concrete lintels on these
post-war houses provide nest sites for them, but
the proximity to the urban fringe of trees and
fields must make feeding easier. Screaming
parties were generally from six to 30. Some nest
sites were recorded, but exactly how many nest
Sites there were it was never possible to
ascertain; the number in a screaming party may
vary from 30 to six from moment to moment and
Is no Indication of the number of nesting pairs

As a generalisation, in the early days of Swift
survey (2000 onwards) core areas would have
screaming parties of up to 30 birds. There were
areas where smaller numbers were recorded, e.g.
Maryhill, but | have not recently seen birds in most
of those, but nor have | searched extensively.

For the three years 2010-12 we had cold wet
summers, and Swift surveying was difficult, for
the birds only party in fine weather. The
summer of 2012 was a breeding failure for
many areas, with Swifts giving up and leaving as
early as mid-July.

At the same time renovation had been
proceeding at a fast rate throughout the
peripheral estates. Whole areas have been
covered in scaffolding, while the lovely
crumbling concrete eaves are clad with PVC
soffits, confusing and excluding the birds.

In summer 2011 | toured three of the previous
‘Swift priority areas’ - Castlemilk, Barmulloch
and Lochfield. In these areas recent extensive
renovation of the houses had removed the old
nest sites. The Housing Associations (under
GHA's umbrella) had willingly created new nest
sites by various methods, but these had not
been ‘found’ by the birds and there was a
horrible silence over the streets that used to be
the hub of screaming parties of up to 30 birds.

Plates 303-305 right. (top) Before renovation with
Swifts nesting. (middle) After renovation, nest sites lost.
(bottom) Box site provided by GHA. © All by Clare
Darlaston

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

This summer, 2013, the weather was better, so
| decided to make an effort to look at as many
as possible of these priority areas. The results of
my searches, compared with previous surveys,
were no more encouraging. In Barmulloch the
most | saw was six Swifts, in Milton four (but in
a different location from previously), in
Castlemilk four and in Barlanark four.

Plate 306. A hole cut in

Pr?

~~

In the peripheral estates, none of the new sites
have been adopted. The few remaining sites |
found were in buildings that had not been
renovated. Thus there remain, to my knowledge,
two or three nest sites in Castlemilk, one
(possibly two) in Barmulloch and maybe two in
Lochend. In Drumchapel, where, due to ‘right to
buy’, not all buildings were renovated, | did not
see any Swifts there over two visits this summer
on fine evenings. Nest sites in one half of
Barlanark have been lost to demolition, as have
many other sites in the east end. Some sites
remain in neighbouring unrenovated properties,
but observable birds were down to half a dozen.

In the older tenement areas, | have seen no
Swifts around Hillhead recently, though there is
still a smaller colony in Hyndland. On two visits
to Battlefield Avenue, | saw none. Between loss
of nest sites and awful weather, it is now hard
to find Swifts in Glasgow.

Scottish Birds

to the PVC sofitt on the gable now provides a better design. © Clare Darlaston

It is clear that unless at least some nest sites can
be retained during renovation of a scheme, the
birds will leave the area entirely, and the
chances of them ever returning are, | believe,
non-existent. My hope is that if it is possible to
retain one or two of the original sites for long
enough (but | do not know how long is long
enough), Swifts may eventually recolonise using
the new nest sites.

One of the big unanswered questions is - what
happens to the dispossessed Swifts? There is no
evidence of new colonies in Glasgow, only a
potentially catastrophic decline in numbers.

Clare Darlaston,

Concern for Swifts (Scotland)
Email: swiftscot@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 07900 637 452

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

North-east Scotland’s breeding Cranes

H. MAGGS

Old written records, artefacts and place names
indicate our ancestors’ familiarity with Cranes,
but definitive evidence of historical breeding in
Scotland is hard to come by. However, it seems
inconceivable that Cranes did not breed in
many parts of Scotland up until at least some
time in the Middle Ages.

We have anticipated the re-colonisation of
Scotland by breeding Cranes for some years
now. The pattern of movement and breeding
colonisation by Cranes across North-west
Europe over the past two decades indicated, in
our calculation, that occupation of Scottish
breeding sites was pretty much inevitable. The
re-colonisation of the UK began in England
during the late 1970s in Norfolk. Since the
1990s, numbers have increased and new
English sites have been colonised. In 2012, the
UK population stood at 22 pairs.

A pair was suspected to have unsuccessfully
bred in Caithness in 1997, but this did not result
in long-term re-colonisation. In 2012, breeding
was confirmed in North-east Scotland and tt is
likely that there had been previous breeding
attempts at the same site in earlier years. This is
the first confirmed breeding in Scotland in

modern times, with a single chick fledging in
both 2012 and 2013.

Cranes are extremely susceptible to disturbance,
to the extent that this could jeopardise the whole
re-colonisation process. To help ensure this does
not happen, the site location is being kept
confidential. There is currently no sanction
available within existing Scottish legislation to
effectively prevent disturbance of this species.
Addition to Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981 would provide such a
sanction. RSPB Scotland has been coordinating
monitoring of breeding activity and any
disturbance through a Crane Conservation
Group, made up of a small group of RSPB staff,
volunteers and local landowners.

The local community are aware of the birds’
presence, understand the disturbance issue and
are generally supportive of actions to protect the
Cranes. The mixed farming system in the area
appears to be benefitting the birds. We would
like to thank all the farmers who are helping the
Cranes gain a breeding foothold in Scotland.

Hywel Maggs, RSPB Scotland.
Email: Hywel.Maggs @rspb.org.uk

4

Plate 307. Crane family, undisclosed site, North-east Scotland, June 2013. © H. Maggs

33:4 (2013)

Scottish Birds | 343

Ow S of the

BOOK REVIEWS

he b n Sco

Owls of the World: a
photographic guide. Heimo
Mikkola, 2012. Christopher
Helm, London, ISBN 978-1-
4081-3028-5, hardback, 512
pages, £34.99.

| am not particularly a fan of
photographic bird guides, as birds
can be captured in a myriad of
different lights, postures and
habitats, and quite often the
salient identification features are
not captured in the photograph
and can cause confusion.
However there are some
photographic guides which stand
out above the rest simply because
of the impact and quality of the
stunning photography. | think Owls
of the World falls into this category!

The introductory section of this
book covers general information
on owl adaptation, behaviour,
evolution, distribution and conser-
vation based on research from
around the world. The species
accounts contain lavish and
spectacular photographs from
some of the world’s finest natural
history photographers, covering all
of the worlds 250 species of owls,
with particular attention to sub-
species differences, ageing and
sexing. Each species account
covers concise text on identifi-
cation, habitat, food, distribution
and voice of these birds, along
with accurate range maps.

This is a superb
photographic guide to
this charismatic group
of primarily nocturnal
Meme birds, and | would
World. Tecommend that any
seems SCTiOUS ornithologist
#2 should have _ this
S@)_ book on their shelf

\

Michael Thornton

Wildlife & The Law. Alan
Stewart, 2012. Argyll
Publishing, Glendaruel, Argyll,
ISBN 978-1-908931-15-3,
paperback, 288 pages, £9.99.

Alan Stewart's
latest book is
subtitled ‘a field
guide to
recognising,
reporting and
investigating

wildlife crime

in Scotland’. |

feel that this is
something of a misnomer, since
it is not a book | would consider
anyone taking into the field. |
also wonder who the book Is
aimed at. Countryside profes-
sionals (however you define
them) should be conversant with
the legislation described in this
book, although it is useful to
have it gathered into a single
volume. However, - legislation
frequently changes and the
author warns in his introduction
that the contents of the book
should be checked against
current law - this is a book that is
likely to require re-publication on
a regular basis. ‘Wildlife & the
Law’ deals with a complex
subject and, whilst hardly a page
turner, it explains the law as it
relates to wildlife crime in
reasonably plain language. It
covers a wide range of issues,
from the familiar raptor
persecution, egg collecting and
animal cruelty to perhaps lesser-
known areas such as taxidermy
and importation of endangered
species. The principal strength of
the book is in having the author's
considerable wealth of experience
and his use of real examples of
crime to interpret the law.

Andrew Bielinski

ottish Birds reflect the views of the named reviewers and not those of the SOC.

Birds of North-east Scotland
Then and Now. Adam Watson
and lan Francis, 2012. Paragon
Publishing, | Rothersthorpe,
Northants, 978-1-78222-043-
6, paperback, 185 pages,
£24.99.

Adam Watson is considered to be
the world’s authority on the natural
history of the Cairngorms, having
completed detailed fieldwork in
this area since the 1940s. This
book, however, provides detailed
ornithological field observations
primarily on the Turriff and Upper
Deeside areas. As well as providing
detailed notes and field
observations in species accounts,
it includes papers on species and
habitat change in a series of
appendices. This includes very
interesting and valuable papers on
the summering population of
Snow Buntings in North-east
Scotland, breeding Greenshanks in
Deeside and

notes on Ring
Ouzels in the
region. These
papers and notes
present
previously
unpublished

accounts on

these species.

The great value in this book lies in
the meticulous field notes and
data collected by Adam Watson
and others going back to the
1940s. These detailed field
studies and notes will serve as an
invaluable baseline data set,
which can be compared with data
in more recent avifaunas, such as
The Breeding Birds of North-East
Scotland edited by lan Francis
and Martin Cook. The book,
however, fails to fully make
comparisons with more recent
data from this region.

33:4 (2013)

Although Adam Watson
established one -of the longest
running studies of Golden Eagles
in the world, collecting data on
this species in Upper Deeside
since the 1940s, very little of this
study is presented in_ this
publication, which | found
disappointing. However, these
data, as well as other long-term
data sets collected by Watson et
al. are published elsewhere.

The book effectively illustrates
habitat change in the region using
a series of photographs taken by
the authors and others, showing
amongst other things, the
devastating effects of overgrazing
by unsustainable populations of
deer and sheep.

This book provides an invaluable
account of birds in North-east
Scotland and will provide
interesting reading for anyone with
an interest in Scottish ornithology.

Mike Thornton

The Rutland Water Ospreys.
Tim = Mackrill, with Tim
Appleton and Helen
Macintyre, 2013. Bloomsbury,
London, ISBN 978-1-4081-
7414-2, hardback, 160 pages,
£20.00.

This combined effort by Tim
Mackrill, Tim Appleton and Helen
McIntyre, with a foreword by Roy
Dennis, is an engaging account
of the Rutland Water Osprey
translocation project, re-
establishing Ospreys in the
Midlands as well as initiating the
re-colonisation of Wales.

The book delves
into the return
| of the Osprey to
_ the reservoir
and intertwines
the stories of
key characters
(human and

33:4 (2013)

Osprey) between 1996 and
2012. There is impressive detail
given to every level of the project,
setting the scene against the
wider history of Osprey
persecution and leading us
through the trials and tribulations
of rearing the first chicks in
captivity. The account of each
breeding season until 2012 is full
of twists, turns and exciting ‘firsts’.
We then follow the birds south
on migration in the last third of
the book as Mackrill synthesises
the results of recent satellite
tracking to describe their routes,
behaviour and the threats they
face. Helpful advice on how to
see the Ospreys provides a
satistying conclusion.

This is a deeply personal account
that interweaves the stories and
experiences -of volunteers and
those permanently involved over
the years. In addition, the book is
beautifully illustrated by John
Wright. It appeals to those with
both avid and little interest in
osprey conservation,
emphasising the value and
potential of bird conservation
projects in re-establishing once-
vibrant populations.

Ben Garlick

A Photographic Guide to the
Birds of the Cayman Islands.
Patricia E. Bradley & Yves-
Jacques Rey-Millet, 2013.
Christopher Helm, London,

ISBN 978-14081-23645,
paperback, 288 pages,
£25.00.

This small field guide covers the
three small Caribbean islands in
the Cayman group and is a handy
size to fit in one's luggage. The
introduction gives a summary of
the geography, climate and
vegetation of the islands, together
with excellent maps showing the
best sites to visit. The 218 species
pages are thorough. The text

Articles, News & Views

describes the 50
breeding species
and all the prolific
migrants, with a list
of vagrants at the
end of the book.
The photographs J
are superb. Many
plates show
different sexes and ages although
there are no size comparisons and
few are illustrated in flight. Local
names are given where they exist
and, like several island guides, the
book provides a comprehensive
guide for visitors and islanders
alike, hopefully boosting local
interest. There is a checklist of
breeding species for each island
and a list of endemic subspecies
for which identification details are
described in the text.

Although | have never visited the
islands, | passed this book by my
daughter, who has been twice and
has birded Grand Cayman using
an earlier field guide by the same
author. She and | would certainly
recommend tit.

Norman Elkins

The Snowy Owl. Eugene
Potapov & Richard Sale, 2012.
T. & A.D. Poyser, London, ISBN
978-0-7136-8817-7, hardback,
304 pages, £50.00.

These authors wrote a

the Poyser title The
Gyrfalcon, and now

bring their
knowledge and
experience to

describing the life
of this enigmatic
Arctic hunter. Few
species evoke such an impact as
seeing a Snowy Owl - an
experience possible for the keen
birder willing to travel to the
highlands or islands of Scotland.

include an
chapters

The 304 pages
introduction and 11

A Photographic Guide to the

Artic News & Views

covering: What makes a Snowy
Owl?; Breeding Range;
Palaeontology, systematics and
evolution; Winter and summer
habitats; Breeding; Timing of
hatching; Diet; Numbers and
population density; Winter range
and winter records; Snowy Owl
friends and foes; Snowy Owls and
people. Appendices give scientific
names of birds, mammals and
amphibians and plants mentioned
in the text and a glossary of
specific terms used, and also an
extensive list of over 680
references, and a thorough index.
There are 62 colour and 42 black-
and-white photographs, five maps,
and over 110 figures, tables and
charts which tie in with different
topics within the book.

A major strength of this book is the
level of Russian literature consulted,
making it particularly compre-
hensive and authoritative. It Is
excellent, packed with information
yet readable, and produced to the
usual high standard expected of the
Poyser series.

Stuart L. Rivers

Looking for the Goshawk.
Conor Mark Jameson, 2013.
Bloomsbury, London, ISBN
978-1-4081-6487-7, hardback,
S66 pages, = 16:99)

Goshawks excite
kes many birdwatchers;
K< to some _ they
&) become an
F\ obsession. This is a
™ lively account of

> «4 the author's quest

Looking for tie

| GOSHAWE | to establish
wesc whether there
were, indeed,

Goshawks living near his home, a
quest hindered by the secretive
behaviour of his subject, the
brevity of the encounters and the
difficulty of certain identification. In
the course of the story one learns
much more about the Goshawk

than one would get from an
academic monograph. Beyond the
birds themselves, Jameson
explores his own and others’
fascination with the Goshawk and
the meaning that the bird has had
for those who have become
obsessed with it.

From the start, Jameson realised
that he needed not only to consult
the experts but to visit them on
their home ground, to go out with
them to observe the birds - or,
more often, not to observe the
birds but merely to observe the
signs that they had left in the form
of prey remains and feathers. He
went as far afield as Berlin and
New York, where Goshawks breed
in city parks in which they can be
seen by any patient observer.
Unfortunately, British game-
preservers not only ruthlessly
persecuted Goshawks in the past,
but also continue to do so today,
with contemptuous disregard for
the law and public opinion.

Conor Jameson’s skill with words
takes one into the places where
he has pursued his passion; one
can smell the dampness, feel the
breeze and be startled with him
as a bird clatters suddenly from
the trees. He has an equal ability
to portray the personalities of his
fellow Goshawk enthusiasts - |
can hear them speaking from the
pages. This book establishes
Jameson as a nature writer of the
first rank. | defy anyone not to
enjoy It.

Jeremy Greenwood

The Birds of Eigg. John
Chester, 2013. Isle of Eigg
Heritage Trust, Isle of Eigg,
ISBN 9781782800538,
paperback, 159 pages, £12.00.

The Isle of Eigg is one of those
magical places that almost
anyone, birdwatcher or not, at
some time hankers after visiting.

Now, thanks to
the tireless
observations -
and erudition -
of John Chester
(or John the
Bird, as he is fe
known on the fi
island), who
has lived there since

1986, there is an authoritative bird
guide available. The initial sections
give a description of the island and
a personal overview of its birdlife.
Indeed, one learns nearly as much
about John as one does about
Eigg, as the text is interspersed
with anecdotes and commentaries
by friends and colleagues of the
author. But the main body of text,
a systematic list of Eigg birds, is
serious stuff, drawing mainly on
the author's extensive
observations, but with reference to
previous publications providing
information in earlier years. Even
here there is some levity - for
example a record of a Golden
Eagle attempting to make off with
a dachshund! There are some
charming black-and-white
drawings of both common species
and rarities, and a few colour
photographs. For anyone planning
to visit Eigg, this is an essential
companion; for the hankerers, this
charming little book may well turn
thought into action.

The Bird
wes Eigg

Jeremy Brock

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

OBSERVATORIES’ ROUNDUP

Observatories’ Roundup is a regular bi-annual feature about our bird observatories in
Scotland. The intention is to publicize the work of the observatories, visiting opportunities,
as well as incidental snippets of news from the islands.

Any divers, swans... a project to computerise
the Fair Isle Bird Observatory daily log

Daily log - it's an institution at all observatories.
On Fair Isle, every single night during the
migration seasons of spring and autumn, more or
less on the dot of 9.00 pm, the stentorian voice
of the warden booms out to quell the background
hum of conversation. There is silence (as a
working biro is sought), an air of palpable antici-
pation (which may be related to whether or not
the cocoa and homebakes have arrived) and
finally the science of the log begins...

An average log might see counts of 60-80
species, more on a good day. Log on a really
good day can take quite some time - ample
justification for those sticky cakes, since log can
require energy-sapping levels of concentration.
Let's say for argument's sake 70 species a day,
every day for six months of the year. That's a lot
of numbers. Multiply that by the 60+ years of
Fair Isle Bird Observatory’s history and you have
a quite monumental pile of numbers. This is a
phenomenal historical record of the observations
at one of Europe's foremost migration sites.

The value of that written record has never been in
doubt, but building the new observatory
highlighted just how potentially fragile that record
is. Although the key observations (such as rarities,
peak counts, first dates and so on) are
summarised in annual reports, the raw data for
many of those years exist in a single, printed copy.
Realising the potential for losing those data to a
catastrophic event such as a major fire spurred us
on to think urgently about a long-term back-up.

Some progress was made over the last decade in
computerising the data for the year in question
but the majority of our daily logs remained as
single paper volumes. And it soon emerged that
there was another important factor to consider
too. Looking to the future Is crucial to FIBO in all
sorts of ways, and ornithology is foremost among
those. What should our main ornithological goals

33:4 (2013)

Plate 308. David Parnaby taking the log on Fair Isle. ©
David Parnaby

be? Where are the efforts of our staff best
directed? Should we continue the long-term
programme, monitoring migration through the
whole island, or would we gain more from
switching to a smaller census area combined with
a more intensive study of certain key species? In
order to answer to those questions about the
future we need to be able to analyse the past.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of what
we already have? Answering that question Is
effectively impossible until all those numbers are
computerised. ..

So began phase 1 of the project, which, at the
time of writing, is almost complete. Over the
course of the winter of 2011/12, we scanned
over half of the existing log pages. They were
digitised off the island by AEL Data Services (the
scanning process ensures that the originals
remain on the island, reducing the possibility of

KR tot ! tit 5>

ere scanned in 2012/13, and we have just
received the files back from AEL. This will then
allow us to produce some basic analyses of a
phenomenal dataset, which, for some Species,
stretches over 75 years (since there are in fact

quite good records for some species dating back
well before 1948 when the Observatory was
founded, back to 1936 in some cases). Those
initial analyses comprise phase 2 of the project,
which we shall embark on in winter 2013/14.

The purpose of this article is twofold - io iell
SOC members about the project, but also to
thank the various people involved so far. In
particular, we are indebted to the Club, who
have generously grant-aided the digitisation
process with a grant of up to £15,000 from The
Birds of Scotland Fund. In addition, | should like
to thank all those who participated in the
brainstorming meeting on Fair Isle in July 2011,
but particularly David Jardine for his role in
securing the above-mentioned funding and lan
Newton for acting as a referee on the
application; Alan Knox for much very helptu
advice on the practicalities of the digitisation
process; and Will Miles for scanning the data.
We plan io report again in Scottish Birds soon,
with some initial results and analyses.

Roger Riddington, Chairman FIBOT

Plate 309. The Low Light (The Isle of May Bird Observat

May Days - past, present and future
As | start to pen these words, the rain is lashin
down and the wind is blowing a gale from the
west. It's definitely not a day for being on the Isle
of May! But, it’s 15 September and by an odd
coincidence, eels ago to the day, the weaiher
was quite similar and that's exactly where

ca

To put it into context, it was just a few w
after England won the World ety

days after the first episode of Star
on TV! ‘It’ was my is ever visit to the Is
In September 1966, as a member of
party from the Omith iological Society
Edinburgh Academy. According io the re
our visit in The Edin burgh Academy Chronicl
by our leader, John (Jock) King, “the ee
conditions were hopeless jor migration and we
did indeed have a lean time’. Bui i
stuck on for an exira day,
Long-eared and fy first
Sandpiper. Perhaps our expectations were lower
then, but from that point | was hooked!

fay)

rT)
ii

a
x
jay)
tT oe
|
an)
(\)
uy
ay
QO

OD =
©

co
&
e 1.
©

'

\ |

lt was no coincidence that my first experience
came through the Edinburgh Academy,
school had ornithologic Gl eee being also th
alma mater of George \ li
of fellow birdwatching pu

+ x ad et } —- Ss Sa SS
observaiory in 1934. li all begun five years
nil > - jcuns £ fCanrce
before when a group ‘consisting of George

Waterston, lan GHB) Munro, J.G. Stewart, Archie
(AGS) Bryson, Hugh Simpson and Frank (HFD)
Elder met at George's house in Inverleith
Terrace in Edinburgh and formed the Inverleith
Field Club. Although the focus was birds, It was
as much a social club as a bird club and in
1933, the keenest birdwatchers took things a
step further and formed the Midlothian
Ornithological Club (MOC).

The group were already well aware of the exploits
of the “Good Ladies”, Evelyn Baxter and Leonora
Rintoul, who had been visiting the Isle of May
since 1907 and by 1933 had ‘collected’ no fewer
than two British firsts (Pied Wheatear and
Siberian Stonechat) and three of the four Scottish
firsts for the island at that time (Nightingale,
Woodchat Shrike and Melodious Warbler).

Inspired by the ‘Ladies’ the club organised a
weekend camp that September when, almost
fatefully, many of them experienced a ‘fall’ for
the first time. A game of football was in progress
against the lighthouse keepers when the
goalkeeper noticed a Bluethroat on the
touchline! By the time the game had finished, a
total of six had been seen along with numerous
other species. During that night of classic
conditions of drizzle and a south-east wind,
Frank Elder recalled that “the lighthouse lantern
was beset by fluttering migrants which
continued until dawn”.

The die was cast and further encouraged by
articles by W.B. Alexander in British Birds about
the observatory on Heligoland, and by Ronald
Lockley about his observatory on Skokholm, the
decision was made. The MOC would set up
Scotland's first bird observatory on the Isle of
May. With permission granted from the Northern
Lighthouse Board, all they needed was the
money to fund the operation, specifically to build
a trap and renovate the old coastguard house
that was to house the observatory. Their budget
for the work was the princely sum of £50 and
following an appeal circular, they raised the
impressive total of £83 which -also allowed
investment in both the ringing hut and the library!
Even given the value of the pound eighty years
ago, It was a somewhat more modest investment
than the redevelopment currently in progress, of
which more later.

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

After the war, the Observatory re-opened in
1946 and moved to the Low Light. Since then,
until this year, the premises remained very
much the same and while they had undergone
a number of changes and alterations, these
were mainly cosmetic or through the addition of
updated equipment. When we first arrived in
the Fair Morn piloted by Willie Hughes on 12
September 1966, there were no fridges, we
peered at our books by the light of ‘Tilley’
paraffin lamps and we started a relationship
with ‘Elsie’ (the outdoor chemical toilet) that
was to last until 2012! Indeed, the island itself
has changed more than the Observatory - gone
are a number of structures and buildings, the
fog horns no longer boom, the Iron Bridge to
Rona has been demolished and the Mars and
Island wrecks are fast becoming heaps of rust!

Despite the changes, the character of the May
remains the same for me as it did all those
years ago. It's the birds that draw us there, and
over the years, the May has certainly had its fair
share of them with the total number of species
recorded, currently standing at 285. While it may
not have the total and profile of George
Waterston's younger offspring, Fair Isle, it has still
had five British firsts (Pied Wheatear in 1909,
Siberian Stonechat in 1913, Isabelline Shrike in
1950, Siberian Thrush in 1954 and Olivaceous
Warbler in 1967) and seven Scottish firsts
(Ortolan Bunting 1885, Nightingale 1911,

Plate 310. Some Isle of May regulars (left to right: Calum
Scott, lain English, Robert Hay, Stuart Rivers and Mark
Oksien) saying goodbye to ‘Elsie’. © Mark Newell

Woodchat Shrike 1911, Melodious Warbler 1913,
Pine Grosbeak 1950, Firecrest 1959 and
Radde's Warbler in 1962).

Since the Observatory was founded in 1934,
some 90 new species have been added and
even now, the list continues to grow with eight
species (Tawny Owl in 2008, Little Egret and
White's Thrush in 2009, Avocet and Tundra
Bean Goose in 2011, Black-winged Stilt in 2012
and White-billed Diver and Bridled Tern in 2013)
recorded for the first time in the last five years.
That's 55 since | first went in 1966. From a
personal point of view, my Isle of May list stands
at 159 which rather oddly is also the total
number of nights that | have spent there - some
29 weeks! I've had some great weeks and one
or two dreadful ones in south-westerlies, but
the lure of never knowing what the weather will
be like and what may turn up Is all part of the
attraction. You always travel with optimism!

My list may not sound many for all those weeks
spent trudging across the island from Ladies Bed
to Rona, but | can claim a couple of ‘firsts’ for the
May - a Red-throated Pipit in 1971 and the first
live Blyth’s Reed Warbler in 2003 (a dead one
was found in 1991). We found the pipit at Cross
Park, below the South Horn and my abiding
memory Is less of the chase and more about the
three pages of meticulous notes and drawings
put into ‘Special Notes’ by the late and sadly
missed, Jeff Watson, which undoubtedly clinched
the deal with the rarities committee. A far cry
from some of the lazy, or non-existent,
descriptions that sometimes get submitted with a
dodgy photo today! Thankfully, we managed to
trap the 2003 Blyth’s Reed Warbler, found in the
little gully running down trom the South Horn
and the views in the hand were certainly helpful
when, In an amazing coincidence, | found the
May's second record in exactly the same place,
some four years later, almost to the day!

All birders have their stories and regular visitors
to the May will all have their own favourites. |
well remember our trip in 1970 when | was
lucky enough to go with my brotherJulian, in the

Plates 311-315. Inside the recently renovated Isle of
May Bird Observatory showing the kitchen, a bedroom
and the new toilet. Insets; Woodchat Shrike, June
2013 and Blyth's Reed Warbler, October 2007. © Al/
Jonathan Osborne

33:4 (2013)

a

oak S tere

company of Donald and Jeff Watson and lan
Munro. | ‘ticked’ my first Bluethroat, and Barred
and Icterine Warblers, and the icing on the cake
was when we found an Arctic Warbler on Ruff
Green and in a perfect ‘drive’, managed to push
it all the way up past the lighthouse and into the
Top Trap. It's so often all about being in the right
place at the right time - clearly demonstrated by
my brother when he made his second school
visit in 1967. He was in the right place to record
the May's first Spotted Crake, but perhaps not
quite when the departing party hurried from the
Low Light down Holyman’s Road to catch the
boat at the end of their week. He briefly saw a
large grey warbler under the bridge, but he was
young and inexperienced and cajoled by “Hurry
up, we're going to be late”. No further investi-
gation was made. The following day, the next
party found the UK’s first Eastern Olivaceous
Warbler in exactly the same place. Though it's
not just about ‘conventional’ rare birds, as the
May's location means that some mainland birds
are very scarce - ably demonstrated by my trip
in 1985 when | recorded Little Grebe, Mute
Swan, Hen Harrier, Coal Tit and that major rarity,
Blue Tit, for the first and only time. | managed to
eventually catch up with Collared Dove this year
(and Woodchat Shrike), but don’t get me going
on Yellowhammer and Mistle Thrush!

So far, I've talked about the past but what of the
future? Thanks to the generosity of many
individuals, trusts and organisations, including the
SOC, we have at long last been able to carry out
a major redevelopment of the Low Light in
2012-13. The major change is the addition of a
new extension, housing three new bedrooms, a
flushing toilet and a shower room, while within
the existing building the old dormitory has been
transformed into an open dining kitchen with the
small room at the back becoming a spacious

Articles, News & Views

storeroom and larder. The lounge remains much
the same although the space occupied by the old
bunks has been transformed into an ‘office’ area,
while the old kitchen is now the ‘Boot Room’,
perfect for all those wet jackets and muddy
wellies! There's still a bit of snagging to be done,
but we're nearly there and when we have the
necessary funds, we're planning to install solar
panels to provide a limited electricity supply.

The new facilities have been roundly praised by
all this year's visitors, even by some of the ‘old
stagers’ who felt the character of the Low Light
might be lost, and so we're hoping for a bumper
year in 2014. | started by talking about how | and
a good number of my contemporaries had been
inspired to add to our birdwatching experiences
by visiting the Observatory as youngsters and so
it seems that the time is now right to turn the
clock back and try and bring on the next
generation to take both the Observatory and the
SOC forward. The details are still to be worked out
but the plan is for the IOMBO Trust and the SOC
to come together and establish a ‘Young
Birdwatchers Week’ from next year, helping to
forge greater links between our organisations and
provide some training and experience for the
next generation of birdwatchers. Keep an eye out
for details in the New Year.

Bookings for 2014 are open to members of the
Trust on 1 January and for non-members on 1
February, so do have a look at the website,
www.isleofmaybirdobs.org, for details of how to
join and how to book. As for me, I'll be back
next year, optimistically looking for another ‘first’
or at the very least a Mistle Thrush!

Jonathan Osborne, (Honorary)
Bookings Secretary, Earlston, Borders.
Email: jonathan @osborne 108.fsnet.co.uk

Plate 316. Approaching the Isle of May. © Jonathan Osborne

Plate 317. Ascension Frigatebird, Bowmore, Is

352

lay, Argyll, 5 J

uly 2013. © Vernon Bonarjee

=

Ascension Frigatebird, Bowmore,

Islay, 5 July 2013

- second Scottish

and Western Palearctic record

J.M. DICKSON

With only one previously accepted record of
Ascension Frigatebird in the Western Palearctic
(an exhausted bird caught in a net on Tiree in
1953), the likelihood of further occurrences were
well off most British birdwatchers’ radar. The
unexpected happened on the morning of 5 July
2013 with the sighting of a very strange seabird
on the harbour wall at Bowmore, Islay. With such
a large and peculiarlooking bird in such a
location, it was not surprising that even non-
birdwatchers were trying to figure out what this
bird was, and this was the case for two separate
groups who independently discovered this bird.

The first known sighting was made at about
08:10 by Tor Egil Matre. He noticed a bird with a
very large wingspan land on the harbour wall. Tor
and his brother-in-law Dr Vernon Bonarjee, both
on holiday from Norway, collected their cameras
and went out and took some photos. The bird
was being mobbed by a few gulls, but stayed put

Scottish Birds

until it flew off around at 08:40. At the time
Vernon thought it could be some kind of large
juvenile seabird, perhaps an albatross! The
following day they showed their photos to some
people at an RSPB stand on the Arran ferry.

As it transpired, news of the bird's presence had
already reached the outside world through the
efforts of more non-birdwaichers at the harbour!
At around 08:25 two Islay fishermen, Tom
Redman and Jim Brown also saw the bird sitting
on the harbour wall. Realising that it was
something quite different they called over to Jim
Sim who was also on the pier. Jim was on holiday
from Renfrewshire, however, not being a
birdwatcher, he was unsure what he was looking
at, but did fetch his camera and he managed to
take six photos. Later that morning, Jim showed
the photos to Mary McGregor, the manager at
RSPB Gruinart reserve, and she in tum Emailed
them to her colleague David Wood at the RSPB

33:4 (2013)

Oa reserve. David identified the bird as a juvenile
frigatebird, with initial thoughts tt was a Great
Frigatebird and put the news out to various bird
groups. Shortly afterwards, John Bowler on Tiree
Emailed back to confirm the identity not as a
Great, but rather a very similar plumaged juvenile
Ascension Frigatebird - almost 60 years to the
day since the bird on Tiree!

It was not long until various groups of Islay birders
were on the trail trying to relocate the bird. It was
last seen flying off into Loch Indaal being
mobbed by gulls some four hours earlier. Despite
a couple of unconfirmed reports from local Islay
folk the bird was not seen again that day. This
caused a dilemma for the potential large number
of UK twitchers who would almost certainly
descend on Islay should the bird settle
somewhere. Despite the fact the bird had not
been relocated, around 30 hopeful birders
arrived on the early ferry the following day, with
most having driven overnight from the south of
England. Apparently a few more also arrived by
plane. There was no great sense of optimism due
to the fact that a few Islay birders had been out
searching for the bird from early morning without
any luck and as the day went on all reasonable
hope of seeing this bird faded.

Plates 318-319. Ascension Frigatebird, Bowmore,
Islay, Argyll, 5 July 2013. © Tor Egil Matre

Four days later on 9 July at around 19:00 there
was what sounds like a very plausible description
of the same bird seen flying around and dip-
feeding just offshore from Point Sands Caravan
Park near Rhunahaorine Point, Kintyre (George
Stevenson per Eddie Maguire). This feeding
behaviour is apparently typical of this species -
being a surface feeder and unable to dive it plucks
fish from the water. Unfortunately, no photographs
were taken and, despite further searches the next
day, this bird was not seen again.

The difficulty with identification arises from the
fact that there are five species within the genus
Fregata - Ascension (aguila), Magnificent
(magnificens), Great (minor), Christmas Island
(andrewsr) and Lesser (ariel), which all have
similar immature plumages. Each species takes
several years to progress from juvenile to
breeding adult and plumages at each stage can
look quite different, but since birds spend their
life wandering the oceans before returning as
adults to breed some of the plumages have not
been well studied until fairly recently. The paper
describing the Tiree Ascension Frigatebird as
new to the Western Palaearctic (Walbridge et al.
2003) describes the juvenile plumages for each
of species well, and relates how the Tiree bird
was originally misidentified as Magnificent and
then confirmed as Ascension after Its review

Articles, News & Views

some 50 years later. Important features to help
with immature frigatebird identification are: size,
head colour, shape and extent of the breast
band and white-belly patch and the presence or
absence of a white extension onto the axillaries
and underwing coverts.

With South Atlantic populations of Lesser and
Great Frigatebirds on Trinidade and Martin Vaz
islands in Brazilian waters now seriously
threatened or extinct the only likely species to
occur in British waters are Magnificent or
Ascension. Until the re-identification in 2003 of
the 1953 Tiree individual, it was generally
assumed that Magnificent was the only species
capable of reaching British waters from the
Caribbean. This species has an_ overall
worldwide population of around 200,000
individuals and is apparently increasing, but the
smaller numbers in the Caribbean are
threatened and decreasing. The population of
Ascension Frigatebirds on Boatswainbird Islet
250 m off Ascension Island is around 25,000 to
30,000 individuals (BirdLife 2013).

wr

Plate 320. Juvenile Ascension Frigatebird on Boatswainbird Islet. © John Stewart Smith

Plate 321. Ascension Frigatebird, Bowmore, Islay,
Argyll, 5 July 2013. © Jim Sim

After identifying this Islay bird to genus, the
main features confirming the specific identity
were sorting out the very similar juvenile Great
Frigatebird from Ascension and also to consider
Magnificent. This involved looking at the
position, extent and shape of the breast band,
absence of any russet on the head, the
presence of an axillar spur and a sharp cut off

7

between the white of the head and the dark
mantle. The Islay bird had all the features to
confirm its identification as a first-stage juvenile
Ascension. Without the excellent photographs,
including flight shots, this sighting would surely
just have gone down as another unidentified
frigatebird in British waters. Praise and congratu-
lations are due to the two groups of non-
birdwatchers who took an interest in the bird
and obtained the necessary evidence to
substantiate its identity.

Discussion

To put this record into context, other than the
previous juvenile on Tiree in 1953, there had only
been one confirmed record of Ascension
Frigatebird more than a few hundred miles from
Ascension Island, and that was from western
Africa. However post-fledging dispersal out at sea
is poorly documented (Ashmole et a/. 1994). The
journey to Islay would be over 4,000 miles for
this species, which is not normally known as an
ocean wanderer. However, recent research by
RSPB staff and the University of Exeter using GPS
loggers is shedding more light on movements at
sea, with first years foraging up to 608 km from
Ascension, and birds travelling as much as 2,662
km in 60 hours and 3,800 km in 12 days, further
than previously thought (Opel 2013). There have
been several other reports of frigatebirds from the
UK and Ireland before, with most not identified to
species level, though two were confirmed as
Magnificent Frigatebird (1998 and 2005).

A paper in preparation (Chalmers in prep.) looks
at the timing of frigatebird records in British
waters and speculates that occurrence of
Ascension Frigatebirds may be more frequent
than records suggest. The author looked at
weather patterns at the time of the Tiree and Islay
sightings and found that both were during similar
periods of high pressure extending up the Atlantic
into British waters. Some of the unidentified
frigatebirds show a marked bunching in the
Summer period. This contrasts with the
Magnificent Frigatebird records, which occurred in
November 2005 and December 1998. Both of
these appear to be storm driven individuals from
the remnants of Caribbean/Atlantic hurricanes,
and that in 2005 was associated with an influx of
Laughing Gulls. Although the sample size is very
small the findings are very interesting.

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

We can only hope that the population of
Ascension Frigatebirds on Ascension Island
recovers from past feral cat and Black Rat
predation and current long-line fishing threat.
The cat eradication programme looks to have
been effective, as six years after the main island
of Ascension was declared cat free, two pairs
were found nesting at the end of 2012 and in
January this year produced the first chick in over
180 years since the last successful nesting
attempt (Fisher 2013).

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Vernon Bonarjee, John Bowler,
lan Brooke, Michael Chalmers, Tor Egil Matre,
Eddie Maguire, Mary McGregor, Malcolm Ogilvie,
Jim Sim, John Stewart Smith and David Wood for
help with various aspects of this record.

References

Ashmole, N.P., Ashmole M.J. & Simmons,
K.E.L. 1994. Seabird Conservation and Feral
Cats on Ascension Island, South Atlantic.
BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.

BirdLife International. 2013. Species factsheet:
Fregata ariel. Downloaded from
www.birdlife.org on 2 August 2013.

Chalmers, M.L. in prep. Ascension Frigatebirds
in Great Britain.

Fisher, |. 2013. Frigates return. RSPB News
International. RSPB Birds Summer 2013: 31.
Walbridge, G., Small, B. & McGowan, R.Y.
2003. Ascension Frigatebird on Tiree - new to
the Western Palearctic. British Birds 96: 58-73.
Oppel, S. 2013. Seabird tracking on Ascension
Island - some amazing foraging facts! RSPB
blog at www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork
/b/biodiversity/archive/2013/03/25/seabird-
tracking-on-ascension-island.aspx. Accessed

22 October 2013.

Jim Dickson, 11 Pipers Road,
Cairnbaan, Argyll PA31 8UF.

rr 55H Viele ear lric ry PI?
Email: meg @jdickson5.pius.com

355

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Plates 322-324. Mongolian Plover, Lossiemouth, Moray & Nairn, 16 July 2013. © Margaret Sharpe

Mongolian (Lesser Sand) Plover
at Lossiemouth, July 2013
- first record for Moray é& Nairn

M. SHARPE

The east beach at Lossiemouth is one of my
most favourite wildlife haunts: | have walked it
for years, several times a week, sometimes
twice a day! It's a glorious three-mile sandy
stretch, merging into a long shingle bank that
stretches round a bay, backed by conifer
plantations. A good place to watch a host of sea
and shorebirds, glimpse a cetacean fin or two,
or watch the odd seal that comes ashore.

This summer has been particularly fine, and
from mid-June | had been out most days,
hoping to observe the start of the autumn
migration. On 4 July, three Sanderlings in full
breeding plumage had appeared, and over the
next few days their numbers rose steadily. The
weather remained warm with light winds, and
the Sanderlings kept pouring in, swelling to a
flock of over 80. By 14th | had noted two
colour-ringed individuals, and thought | had
caught sight of a possible third in amongst the
blur of running legs.

So, on the evening of 16 July | was back, hoping
to secure that third elusive Sanderling. | caught
up with the flock at the far end of the beach as
usual, and they were in small, loose groups
feeding on the tide line as it receded. Although

Scottish Birds

they were spread out, they were generally
heading towards me, so | sat on the sand and
waited for them to pass, making it much easier
to observe their legs. Meanwhile, | had a quick
usual scan along the shingle with my binoculars,
and wham... there it was, a plover with red
chest feathers! What is that? | have to confess |
wasn't sure, other than it ran and bobbed like a
plover, and | knew it was something unusual,
but not to what degree. | had a distant memory
from books, and knew | had to get in closer with
my camera for at least a record shot.

| inched forward, prone on the sand, taking
blurry grab shots as | was still too far away,
holding my breath and hoping to get closer. The
Sanderlings had now reached my position and
were beginning to stream past me. With one
eye on the plover, and one eye scanning legs, |
kept working my way forward on my elbows.
Then | couldn't believe it, a Sanderling streaked
past resplendent with colour-rings! Argh
dilemma, where to look first? | hurriedly took
snaps of the Sanderling hoping to get another
better chance later. The plover was now about
20 metres away, and | felt | could not dare
chance going any closer. | glanced over my
shoulder, and as luck would have it there were

33:4 (2013)

no approaching dog walkers or joggers to
disturb the birds. | noted that the plover stood
slightly taller than the nearby Ringed Plovers, it
had a gorgeous brick-red chest, striking black-
and-white face markings and fawn head and
back; overall a beautiful bird.

There was a brief moment long enough to take
some record shots, but all too soon the plover
was flitting around again unsettled by the Ringed
Plovers chasing one another. Finally, it banked
round and headed eastward along the bay and
was all too quickly out of sight. Not keen to chase
it along the shingle, | waited nearly an hour,
hoping it would return. The sun was still warm,
the tide was near full out and people had started
to appear on the beach. | started to feel that the
window of opportunity had now closed. So,
catching up with the colourringed Sanderling
now feeding on a sand bar, | noted its colour
combination, and headed for home.

Once home, it was a mad rush to fire up the
computer, download the images and compare
them with the book photographs and
illustrations. A thin black line trimming the edge
of the red chest feathers seemed to confirm it
was a male Mongolian Plover, one of the forms
of Lesser Sand Plover, but | still couldn't quite
believe it. Not trusting my identification, |
dashed off Emails for second and third opinions.
In the morning | was back on the beach at first
light at the same spot, and scanned the bay for
hours, but with no luck.

In the next few days, word spread, my Email
inbox started to fill up, and | realised just how
‘mega’ a rarity the bird was. | did and still do, feel
very privileged and lucky to have seen it at all. |
had so very much hoped somebody else would
re-sight the plover, but continued beach searches
proved fruitless. Then some 11 days later, |
received an Email informing me that a Mongolian
Plover had been found in Co. Cork, Ireland. By
comparing the flank feather patterns from mine
and the Irish images, it was generally felt they
matched well enough to confirm that it was in
fact the very same individual that | had seen.

Margaret Sharpe
Email: maggiesharpe9 @btinternet.com

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

Status of Lesser Sand Plover in Scotland
The BOURC currently regards Lesser Sand
Plover as a single species with two distinct
groups of subspecies: atrifrons and mongolus
(other taxonomic authorities regard the two
groups as full species). The ‘atrifrons group’
(Lesser Sand Plover) contains three races:
atrifrons, pamirensis and schaefer, which breed
in Central Asia and the Himalayas and winter
along the coasts of East Africa, the Middle East,
India to Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo. The
‘mongolus group’ (Mongolian Plover)
comprises two races: mongolus and stegmanni
which breed in eastern-most Russia to
Kamchatka and the Bering Strait and winters
along the coasts from the Arabian Gulf to India,
southern China and Japan, Indonesia, New
Guinea and Australia.

There have been five previous records of

Lesser Sand Plover in Britain, with two of

these in Scotland:

1991: North-east Scotland, adult or first-summmer,
Donmouth, 18-19 August

1997: Sussex, adult, Pagham Harbour, 14-16
August

2002: Lincolnshire, female, Rimac, 11-15 May

2003: Hampshire, male, Keyhaven Marshes,
22-26 July

2004: Lothian, adult male, Aberlady Bay, 8-9
July

The two Scottish records and the Hampshire
bird are attributed to birds of the ‘mongolus
group, while the Sussex and Lincolnshire birds
were of the ‘atrifrons group’ (for field identifi-
cation of the forms see Garner et al. 2003). The
dates of occurrence are consistent with
aberrant navigation by birds during their spring
or early autumn migrations, and interestingly
all were in breeding plumage. Either juveniles
are being overlooked or vagrancy by
Mongolian/lesser Sand Plovers is a
consequence of hormone-fuelled wanderings
by older (adult) birds.

Garner, M., Lewington, I. & Slack, R. 2003.
Mongolian and Lesser Sand Plovers: an identifi-
cation overview. Birding World 16(9): 377-385.

Scottish Birds 35/7

Plate 325. Bridled Tern, Isle of May, 27 July 2013. © David Pickett

358

M. NEWELL

On 1 July 2013, a Bridled Tern appeared on the
Farne Islands, Northumberland which brought
about a little disappointment that it hadn't
chosen the Isle of May terns to consort with. By
5 July, tt had relocated a short distance to the
Northumberland mainland and hope rose that tt
might decide to venture north as other
non—breeding and post-breeding terns have
been known to do. However, its next port of call
was to the south in Cleveland, and it was even
seen off Flamborough Head in Yorkshire before
returning to the Farnes from 13 July where it was
then seen daily. Although tt disappeared again
on 25th, it was felt that it was now getting too
late to be lured to the Isle of May, even if it did
come north, as the number of Common and
Arctic Terns on the May were now dwindling.
With no further sightings from the Farnes for a
couple days, | had given the tern roost at
Kirkhaven regular scans. | also knew that other
isle residents were doing the same despite
never really thinking anything would turn up.

On 27 July, a calm day had enabled the crew of
the May Princess to do a spot of fishing while the
visitors were ashore, and they kindly donated

numerous Mackerel to the island cause. With a
fine evening it was decided by the Fluke Street
residents to barbeque the fish down in front of
the Visitor Centre overlooking the harbour and we
gathered there just before 19:00. With the fish
cooked to perfection | was just about to receive
my quota when | glanced up to see a dark tern
flying over Kirkhaven. Grabbing my: bins a
momentary glance was all that was needed and
| shouted “Stop, it’s the Bridled Tern”, or
something to that effect. Cutlery and dinner were
cast aside as all the assembled island residents
picked up binoculars and telescopes as the tern
flew away from us and appeared to land on the
sea rocks out of view. Turning away, but uphill) |
reached a vantage point from which | could see
the bird and take in the relevant features. We
watched the Bridled Tern repeatedly drop down
to join the assembled terns on the Pillow rocks,
between which it was making various sorties out
to sea. It even came inland and flew over our
heads near the Visitor Centre but always returned
to the sea rocks. After about 45 minutes, with the
news phoned out, we returned to our fish supper.
The tern was seen in the tern roost up until dusk
(about 22:00), but despite searching from 06:00
the following morning it was not seen again. The
brief stay mirrored the appearance of the Sooty
Tern that occurred in the Isle of May tern colony
in July 1989, not long after a Bridled Tern had
been seen on the Farne Islands earlier in that
summer. With my near four month island vigil

33:4 (2013)

supervising the seabird studies for 2013 just days
from ending, the Bridled Tern was a stunning way
to bookend the season which had begun with a
sighting of 15 Sperm Whales!

Description

A similar size compared to adjacent Arctic Terns
and structurally barely any different with narrow
wings, long tail and fairly small head. At rest the
legs were longer than Arctic Terns more in
proportion to Common Tern. Buoyant flight
which coupled with the upperpart colouration
somewhat recalled Long-tailed Skua. Quite
easily spooked by other terns which at times
appeared to not tolerate it in close proximity,
and tended to sit on Its own, some distance
from other roosting terns. Head: the crown,
nape and ear coverts were black as was a black
loral stripe from the eye to bill base which was
approximately equal in width to the eye. Above
this was a white forehead which extended
behind the eye ending in a blunt point.
Although broadest above the bill it still formed a
clear white V when viewed head on. All

Articles, News & Views

underparts were a clean white. The upperparts
were a grey brown which contrasted with more
blackish brown wing feathers at rest. In flight the
grey brown coverts graded somewhat into the
darker primaries, primary coverts and
secondaries. There was also a narrow darker bar
along the leading lesser coverts with the leading
edge to the inner part of the wing also pure
white, which was very obvious when viewed
head on. The underwings were white with a
diffuse grey brown border. At rest the tail
appeared slightly longer than the closed wings:
it was deeply forked, with most of the tail a
similar grey brown to the upperparts. The 5th
(second outermost) tail feathers were darker
while the outer tail feathers were white. The
black bill was straight and slightly stouter than in
Common Tern. Legs blackish. In flight tt was
heard to call on a couple occasions sounding
similar to a Kittiwake's sharp alarm call.

Mark Newell, Centre for Ecology
& Hydrology, Edinburgh
Email: manew @ceh.ac.uk

a

vid Pickett

ieee a

Bridled Tern, Ythan Estuary,
8 August 2013 - the second
North-east Scotland record

M. SOUTER

In the late afternoon of 8 August | headed for
the Ythan estuary to count the Eiders at high
tide. Due to the ducks departing to their
moulting areas, numbers were down and all
were visible from my vantage point on top of
the dunes. | therefore quickly tallied the 897
birds roosting along the river banks. With time
on my hands, | decided to check out the
Foveran bushes for early migrants. With no
migrants to be seen, | headed back via the
mouth of the Ythan in order to look at the gull
roost. This area sometimes attracts large
numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls, so |
stopped and scanned. There were only six gulls,
but many terns adorned the beach. As a Black
Tern and a number of Roseate Terns had been
reported earlier, | panned through the flock.

| soon came across a very dark tern and initially
thought | had stumbled upon the Black Tern.
However, this bird was too large for that species.
The bird appeared even larger than the
Common and Arctic species nearby, but closer
inspection showed this was caused by its dark
feathers contrasting more strongly with the
sand, whereas the lighter extremities of other
terns tended to become invisible to the distant
eye. It also had an elongated profile, with the
head low and neck extended. The long black bill
and dark eye stripe together gave the
impression of an extended projection. This was

certainly not a Black Tern, but was it a Bridled or
perhaps a Sooty? | quickly digi-scoped some
record shots.

| searched for my mobile phone in order to
summon support, but as luck would have it |
had left it at my house. | therefore headed for
my car and drove the mile home. Having
confirmed the species as a Bridled, | tried calling
local birders Chris Gibbins and Hywel Maggs,
both of whom failed to answer. | therefore
rocketed back to the beach and managed to
find Chris sat in a telephone blind spot. From
my photos, he agreed with the identification
and headed rapidly towards the mouth of the
Ythan, followed by me, phone in hand calling
the local grapevine.

Upon reaching the viewing point, it was obvious
the bird had gone. The area was thoroughly
searched by the arriving throng but no dark tern
was found. After an hour and with still no sign
of the bird, | had to leave. Happily for those
patient birders who waited as the tide ebbed,
the bird later returned to the same area of
beach where originally found and was clearly
seen and its identity confirmed. As the light
faded the tern flew off again and was last seen
heading north towards the ternery. Despite
various parties carrying out a continual search
the next day, the bird was not seen again.

Moray Souter, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire.
Email: souter @iolfree.ie

Subsequent to its departure from the Ythan
Estuary, the Bridled Tern reappeared on the
Farne Islands from 15—19 August.

Plates 330-331. Bridled Tern, Ythan Estuary, North-east Scotland, 8 August 2013. © Harry Scott

Plates 332-335. Bridled Tern, Ythan Estuary, North-east Scotland, 8 August 2013. © Harry Scott

Status of Bri

= tus Ul

This ane and sub-tropical species has four
- subspecies, with breeding populations on the
Pacific coast of Central America (Onychoprion
anaethetus nelsoni), in the Caribbean and West
Africa (O.a. melanoptera), from the Red Sea
through the western Indian Ocean (O.a.
antarcticus) and from Indonesia, Australia and
western Pacific (O.a. anaethetus). Birds winter
at sea and migration/dispersal patterns are
little known.

== Sear e
idled Tern in Scotland
{= BCE Fit DJULULIC ei

The first British record (Dungeness, Kent, 1931)
was of the form antarcticus, but others have not
been assigned to race. There have been 23
individuals recorded in Britain to the end of
2012, with five of these seen in Scotland:

1979: Orkney, Stromness, Mainland, _ first-
summer, 6—7 August

1988: North-east Scotland, Sands of Forvie,
one, 2 August

1993: Highland, The Perches, Isle of Eigg, one,
21 July

1994: Argyll, Tiree, one, 30 June to 9 July

2003: Angus, Arbroath, adult, 19 July

Like the 2013 individual, several of the previous
British occurrences have involved birds which
have wandered to more than’ one

33:4 (2013)

county/recording area. The earliest find date Is
of a fresh wing on Lundy, Devon on 22 April
1977 and the latest of a recently dead bird on
19 November at Dungeness, Kent in 1931. The
earliest live bird was one at Rye, Sussex on 16
May 1993, and the latest one at Scarborough,
Yorkshire on 18 October 1990. The majority of
initial find dates have been in June (7), July (7)
and August (6) with the 2013 bird and other
Scottish records fitting well into this pattern.

The 2013 individual was seen over a total of 50
days, just exceeding the previous longest stay
of 49 days by a bird in 1988. Remarkably that
bird was also first found in Northumberland, on
11 July, and was presumed to be the same
individual as the one seen at Sands of
Forvie/Ythan Estuary on 2 August that year.
Only three others have been seen for more
than three days (23 Anglesey 1988; 39 Isles of
Scilly 1991; 10 Argyll 1994), with most noted
only on their day of discovery.

Unsurprisingly for a pelagic seabird, the
majority of British records have been from
coastal sites, mostly in south and east England,
but it has been found inland on four occasions
(Leicestershire 1984, Essex 1991,
Northamptonshire 1993 and Yorkshire 1994).

Plate 336. North Haven (foreground), South Haven (background), the bird observatory (far right) and the storm-

Geri

petrel ringing garages (directly below the observatory), Fair Isle, Shetland, July 2013. © Will Miles

Two Swinhoe’s Petrels on Fair Isle
in 2013 - second and third records

562

for Scotland

W.T.S. MILES

Since ringing my first Storm Petrel on Fair Isle in
2005, | have spent many summer nights every
year mist-netting and ringing storm-petrels in
Scotland. Like many bird ringers, | use vocali-
sation play-back to attract the birds in. Tracks of
different storm-petrel vocalisations are
assembled into a playlist, which is then played
continuously through the night via a battery-
powered speaker and MP3 player. Typically,
playlists have included male and female Leach's
Petrel purr- and chatter-call tracks and Storm
Petrel purr-call tracks. However, ever since The
Sound Approach team produced the brilliant
Petrels Night and Day (which includes

~Swinhoe'’s sounds on the two CDs that come

with the book) | have also included a track or
two of Swinhoe’s Petrel chatter-calls.

For seven years | have played Swinhoe’s calls in
this way (on over 100 nights in total on the
Outer Hebrides and Shetland), but until 22 July
2013 | had never heard or seen anything to
suggest that a Swinhoe's Petrel had ever been
attracted by play-back of the tracks. Storm-petrel

Qaattanis, Dia
2COWWISN BIrds

ringing sessions have been carried out annually
by the wardens on Fair Isle since 1957 and over
the years more than 33,000 Storm Petrels have
been ringed; however, Swinhoe's calls have
been played on the isle only since 2011. Playing
Swinhoe's calls was always entirely speculative;
a shot to nothing based on the off-chance that
maybe one day a wandering individual might
be attracted in.

rm @ Aare re
ai ay
é

Storm-petrel ringing is a normal part of summer
life at Fair Isle Bird Observatory, and on the night
of 21/22 July 2013 conditions for a ‘stormie’
session were absolutely perfect. Thick fog
covered the island, creating exceptionally dark
conditions; the wind was very light, with just a
breath of an easterly; and wave movements
were minimal, so the night was also very quiet
- ideal for play-back calls and real calls to be
clearly audible. The previous night, conditions
had been similar and a good early season total
of 26 Storm Petrels and two Leach’s Petrels had
been trapped and ringed.

33:4 (2013)

Just after midnight on the 22nd, the bird
observatory team set up two mist nets, one
facing north into North Haven and the other
facing east into South Haven. Each net had a
speaker system underneath it, each playing a
mixed playlist of various petrel vocalisations. The
speaker under the South Haven net was playing
the following calls on repeat: Leach’s - Leach’s -
Storm - Storm - Swinhoe's - Leach’s - Storm -
Leach’s - Swinhoe’s - Madeiran - Storm. The
Swinhoe's track was a customised track | had
created back in 2008, by cutting together a
series of Swinhoe’s chatter-calls (all from Petrels
Night and Day), minimising periods of silence
and increasing the volume and sound balance of
the calls. It comprised of both male and female
chatter-calls, occasionally with the calls of
Streaked Shearwaters quietly in the background.

That night, Richard Cope and Teresa Donohue
were manning the North Haven net, David
Parnaby and Noa Eden were on the South
Haven net, and Billy Dykes was ferrying petrels
from the nets to the ringing shed, where | was
based, ringing and releasing birds. Soon after
the speakers went on (at about 00:15) Storm
Petrels began to fly in, and by the end of the
night a total of 44 had been trapped and
ringed, plus two Leach’s (one at 01:10 and the
other at 02:00). At 02:30 | happened to walk
out of the garages with BD and hear the
chatter-calls of a Swinhoe’s Petrel being
played from the speaker under the South
Haven net, and the same calls coming from
an area south of the net, just offshore. For a
split second, | thought that the Swinhoe'’s calls
coming from offshore must somehow be
another recording or an echo, but then |
realised that they were not in synchrony with
the track being played, were totally pure
(without Streaked Shearwater recordings in
the background), were not coming from the
speaker under the North Haven net (set
further north and not playing Swinhoe’s then
anyway) and that the source was in mid-air
and moving rapidly around. The penny
dropped and | ran towards South Haven yelling,
“There's a Swinhoe’s calling!” | could hear real
and recorded Swinhoe’s Petrel chatter-calls at
the same time, and right from the off, this was
a useful (and pretty unique) situation for
double-checking the call identification.

33:4 (2013)

Articles, News & Views

DP and NE Joined BD and me standing on the
low cliff top, listening. The bird continued to
call from out in the haven in front of us, very
loud and clear, but now from a stationary
position just a little way offshore (it must have
landed either on the water or a nearby rock).
Suddenly, the sound system automatically
switched track from Swinhoe’s to Madeiran
Petrel, and with Madeiran playing the bird
gave a few more chatter-calls, but then went
silent. We had all been waiting for the bird to
fly in towards the net, but now it was silent we
felt sure it would vanish back out to sea. The
track was quickly switched back to Swinhoe's
and the result was instantaneous, the bird
immediately resumed chatter-calling. With It
calling again, but still at first from a stationary
position, DP ran back to the Observatory to
get a sound recording device. The bird took off
and flew around the haven calling for a while,
but then went silent again. DP came back with
the device, but the bird was heard no more. It
had called on and off for about ten minutes in
total, out in the foggy darkness, but at no
point was It ever seen.

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fi He, hy 1, 20-0 meee
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\pogh Ne seen "oui Tee? wart USD Tdi ae sil "ona
\ se ON ’ pl IZ Sp
> Ming Fill $8
suntoes RR Tee ah, pasado ico Mae
(ero re Lo A lable yg '9! Mtoe,
sii eA! (te j Mag, Pit,

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Sih mee Tf

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nei / \ ’ ak ae
gveaol\ Sloe, Someta fs sx 2nd seetion ISP
Prced : SoUschig 2 a Ads 1 feted |
q, Peeing Sen ry. AAAS tes f) :
Sig? "ile thay set oly, sonabioe
Pak Wigs is Ri ‘ay iM )
"thy the Broie stub IF ND
A lays mt Selina siviltnr, but 5s hreaatee, deren
Aiea en sin 9:
Name lca ee 3 a
; | ; patio 4
“Baow ( slot, 3 Bacic imfrersity 4
dake ta lest

Figure 1. Notes made on 22 July 2013 describing the call of
the Swinhoe’s Petrel heard earlier that night in South Haven,
Fair Isle, Shetland. © Will Miles

sh Birds 363

J

564

Plate 337. Swinhoe’s Petrel (first bird), Fair Isle, Shetland, 27 July 2013. © Will Miles

We soon discovered that RC and TD had heard
the bird too. Hearing raised voices, they
realised something good was going on in South
Haven and walked across from the North
Haven net, heard the bird calling just offshore
in South Haven, and RC recognised it as a
Swinhoe’s Petrel too, without prior knowledge
of the identification.

We waited until well after dawn had passed
before packing up that night, but the bird had
gone. None of the team had any doubts about
the identification and everyone was elated to
have been involved in the record, but we also
hoped that the story would not end there; with
just the calls, the darkness and nothing more.

The first sighting

From 22nd to 26 July the weather was calm on
Fair Isle and the observatory team were able to
do storm-petrel sessions every night. It was an
excellent few days, with over 150 Storm Petrels
and four Leach’s Petrels trapped and ringed,
magnificent views of a pod of four Orcas that
toured the island on the afternoon of the 25th,

and the discovery of a flock of eight Two-barred
Crossbills on the 26th. The week was charac-
terised by drifting fog, thickening on the 26th and
greatly reducing light and visibility for the storm-
petrel session that night. It was the first night with
similar conditions to those on the 22nd, when
the Swinhoe’s Petrel had been heard; however,
the fog was even thicker and the air increasingly
heavy and brooding, like that before a tropical
storm. Fair Isle was conjuring a rare atmosphere;
never before had the darkness felt so charged
and promising. As | sat at the net that night,
waiting for the first petrels to come in, it was as
though the island was saying, “get ready”.

The team on the 26th/27th included me,
Kieran Lawrence, Tegan Newman, Daniel
McGibbon, TD and NE. Two nets were up, in an
'U shape facing east into South Haven, and as
on the 22nd, the speaker system under the nets
was programmed to play vocalisations of
various storm-petrel species, including
Swinhoe's. The night ticked along nicely and by
01.25 am we had caught 32 Storm Petrels and
one Leach's Petrel.

33:4 (2013)

At that time, | happened to be at the net with DM
when suddenly we heard the calls of a Swinhoe's
Petrel seemingly very close to us, just a few feet
away. We were at the middle of the net, having
just extracted a Storm Petrel, but we swiftly
moved aside in case the Swinhoe's came in.
Back at the net pole, | began to prepare some
equipment to make a recording of the calls;
however, almost immediately | saw a large storm-
petrel fly into the net just above the speaker
(which at that point was playing Swinhoe’s). On
quickly reaching the bird | gently took hold of it. It
felt far larger than a Storm Petrel, but slightly
smaller than any Leach’s | had ever held. It was in
the middle shelf of the net, just sitting in the
pocket, and carefully | parted its wing tips to look
at the rump - no white. The bird was all-dark, like
a shadow in the mesh, and my heart began to
race! | quickly took the bird out of the net and
placed it in a bird-bag, then asked everyone to
double check that there were no other petrels in
the net (which there weren't), to turn off the
sound system and to close the mist-nets.

We walked over to the ringing shed and the
Storm Petrel was ringed and released before | sat
down to examine the dark-rumped bird in the
light. It had to be a Swinhoe’s, but | wanted to see
all the features to be certain. They were all there,
it really was one. | put it back into the bird bag,
we gathered up all the ringing kit, and took
everything up to the observatory ringing room. As

Articles, News & Views

we walked up, | put the news out by text to
various folk off the island, including DP, who
unfortunately was in Sunderland that night (his
time would come though). The bird was ringed
and measured, as an appreciative crowd
gathered made up of observatory staff, guests,
and many islanders (Some in nightwear) who
had driven up to the observatory to see the petrel
- an amazing rarity, even by Fair Isle’s standards.

The bird was soon taken back to South Haven
to be released. | stood facing the sea with the
bird on the palm of my hand, letting it
acclimatise to the night, free to go when it was
perfectly ready; and after a couple of minutes it
shuffled onto my fingertips, opened Its wings
and flew off strongly out into the darkness. As
this happened however, three of us heard a
distinctive chatter-call come from far offshore.
We only heard it once, very faintly, somewhere
out in the gloom, but it had sounded like
another Swinhoe’s Petrel.

The second bird

Following the capture of the Swinhoe's Petrel on
the 27 July, the weather remained calm and
settled and storm-petrel ringing sessions were
carried out in the early hours of the 28th, 30th
and 31 July and the Ist, 5th and 6 August.
During these sessions 374 Storm Petrels and
seven Leach’s Petrels were trapped and ringed,
but there was no further sign of the Swinhoe'’s.

Plates 338-339. Swinhoe's Petrel (second bird), Fair Isle, Shetland, 7 August 2013. © Will Miles

On the night of 6/7 August, the weather was
slightly overcast but again very calm, and the
observatory team set out for another petrel
session at 23:30. One 18-m mist-net was set
facing into South Haven, the usual sound system
was placed under the net, and once this was on
a steady stream of Storm Petrels were trapped
and ringed (86 in total) and at least two Leach's
Petrels were heard and seen frequently
overhead (2013 was a record season for Leach's
Petrels on Fair Isle, with a final total of 20 trapped
and ringed. The previous highest total was 14 In
1999). The team that night comprised of DP
(now back from Sunderland), Logan Johnson,
Rachael Redfern, TD, DM, KL and me.

At 02:20, KL was sitting at the south end of the
net and | was at the north end, when we saw
a large storm-petrel hit the mesh close to
where | was standing. Given the obvious
presence of Leach’'s Petrels that night, indeed
within the previous two minutes, and total lack
of any Swinhoe’s calls, | approached the bird
expecting it to be a Leach’s. The first things |
saw were its legs, neither of which was ringed.
In the hand, it felt about the right size for a
Leach’s, but on turning the bird over | saw that
everything about it was dark. It was another
dark-rumped storm-petrel!

ys
“ai
4

Feeling totally astonished, | extracted the bird
and placed it in a bird-bag, KL turned off the
sound system, we checked that there were no
more petrels in the net, and then furled the net
shut. We took the bird over to the ringing shed,
where DP and | quickly finished processing and
releasing the last batch of Storm Petrels. Then,
for the second time in 11 days, | sat down to
check the features of a dark-rumped storm-
petrel and confirmed the mind-bending truth
that it really was a second Swinhoe's Petrel. |
looked up at the faces around the room and
every single one was beaming happiness.

As with the first Swinhoe's, everything was then
transferred the short distance up the hill to the
observatory ringing room. There the bird was
ringed, measured in detail and photographed,
then soon taken back to South Haven to be
released. Standing at the edge of the haven, with
a small crowd gathered behind, | took the bird
out of a bird-bag and carefully placed it onto the
open hands of Dennis Coutts (who, amazingly,
happened to be visiting from Shetland that
particular night purely on the off-chance that a
Swinhoe's Petrel would be caught). The bird sat
quietly for a few minutes on Dennis's binocular-
worn palms, then fluffed itself up slightly, spread
its wings and darted off towards the open sea.

Plates 340-341. Swinhoe's Petrel rump patch and tail (left), showing slightly V-shaped tail fork, and Leach’s Petrel
tail (right), showing more U-shaped tail fork, Fair Isle, Shetland, July 2013. © Will Miles

<7
iF }
, yi,

The second Swinhoe’s Petrel was recaptured
during routine storm-petrel sessions in the early
hours of 8 August, nightly from the 11th to 15th,
on 17 August, and finally on 3 September. The
first Swinhoe’s Petrel was seen only on 27 July.
The second individual behaved unlike any other
storm-petrel ever caught during mist-netting
sessions on Fair Isle by making regular returns to
the trapping area (note that Storm Petrels
attracted to sound-lures are almost exclusively
non-breeding birds and, despite the unusual
behaviour of the second Swinhoe’s, there were
no indications that the Swinhoe’s were breeding
on Fair Isle). Following detailed consultations
between FIBOT and the BTO during this period,
petrel sessions were not held at the havens
between 18 August and 2 September and
Swinhoe’s tracks were not played during a
session there on 3 September (and trapping
operations ceased immediately when the bird
was caught that night). This proved to be the
last session of the year, since sessions stopped
entirely at the end of the first week in
September, the usual end point of the storm-
petrel ringing season on Fair Isle.

Identification of the calls

If Leach's Petrel sounds like “a goblin on acid”,
Swinhoe’s is a goblin on speed. The calls on 22
July were similar to Leach’s, but faster and with
a greater number of high-pitched flourishes.
Each chatter-call was amazingly loud and had a
manic looping quality, like a very high-pitched
racing car revving up a few times and then
zooming away. Like Leach’s, each call
comprised of two parts. The first part was made
up of roughly six notes in very rapid succession
(Leach’s is normally just five and slightly slower
paced), beginning high pitched (one note),
then low pitched rising up high to a big flourish
(roughly four notes), then low again (one note).
The second part included at least eight or nine
notes (Leach’s usually just four or five),
beginning with a big high-pitched flourish (one
note), followed by a rapid-fire rising crescendo
(seven or more short notes in increasingly quick
succession) that started low but rose exponen-
tially in pitch and volume to a shrill, twanging
end. The second part was much less like a
Leach’s call than the first part, and by far the
more distinctive sound. The second part of a
Leach’s Petrel chatter-call typically involves four

33:4 (2013)

Plates 342-343. Swinhoe's Petrel_ bil (top) showing
relatively short and deep structure in relation to Leach’s
Petrel (bottom), Fair Isle, Shetland, July 2013. © Will Miles

Scottish Birds 367

Articles, News & Views

or five notes descending down in pitch relatively
slowly and is quite different to the spritely,
looping, flourish-and-zoom finale of Swinhoe's.

On 22 July, the calls struck me as different to
any petrel | had ever heard before and | was
certain they were the chatter-calls of a
Swinhoe’s Petrel. In this, it was perhaps a great
help to have spent many nights in 2007-10
listening to hundreds of Leach’'s Petrels calling at
their breeding colonies on St Kilda and North
Rona; also, to be relatively familiar with
recordings of Swinhoe's calls (not least from
seven years of play-back). However, the really
critical factor that helped us all identify the calls
that night, was that the Swinhoe's track was
playing, the bird was calling back to It, and that
it was possible to hear real and recorded
Swinhoe's Petrel chatter-calls at the same time -
because they were clearly a perfect match.

Plates 344-345. Swinhoe's Petrel upperwing (top) showing
characteristic pale carpal bar and white bases to the exposed
outer seven primary shafts, and underwing (bottom) showing
glossy greyish-black surround to grey-brown interior ‘lining’,
Fair Isle, Shetland, 27 July 2013. © Will Miles

Identification in the hand

The criteria for identification of Swinhoe’s Petrels
are now well established (e.g. Cubitt et al, 1992,
Cubitt 1995, Baxter & Scott 2000, Flood & Fisher
2011, Howell 2012). The Fair Isle birds both had
an entirely dark rump patch with no trace of any
pale feathering, distinct white bases to the
exposed outer seven (first bird) and outer six
(second bird) primary shafts, a slightly V-shaped
rather than U-shaped tail fork, and a short, deep
bill structure relative to Leach’s Petrel (plates
337-347). |In addition, both birds showed
characteristic pale carpal bars (plate 344), the
underwing was glossy greyish-black with a grey-
brown interior ‘lining’ (plate 345) and,
surprisingly, in both birds the shafts of at least the
outer three tail feathers were found to be white-
based (plate 346; this feature is unlikely to be
visible in the field).

The size, structure and appearance of the two
birds unequivocally fitted with the established
plumage criteria and biometrics of Swinhoe’s
Petrels but not with identification criteria for the
potential confusions species’ (Flood & Fisher
2011, Howell 2012). These include: Leach's
Petrel (same size as Swinhoe’s but lacks distinct
white bases to outer primary shafts and usually
shows at least some pale rump feathering, even
in “dark-rumped" chapmani Leach's Petrels of
the Pacific); Ashy Storm-petrel (same size as
Swinhoe’s, but lacks distinct white bases to outer
primary shafts); and Black, Markham’s, Tristram’s
and Matsudaira’s Storm-petrels (dark-rumped
and with distinct white bases to primary shafts,
but all markedly larger than Swinhoe's).

Discussion

The Fair Isle Swinhoe's Petrels are the latest
addition to a series of extra-limital records of the
species occurring in the North Atlantic, dating
back to 1983 (see James & Robertson 1985,
Bretagnolle et ai 1991, King & Minquiez 1994,
Bolton 1998, Morrison 1998, Baxter & Scott
2000, Robb et ai. 2008, Flood & Fisher 2011). To
date, the only known breeding sites of Swinhoe's
Petrels are around the Sea of Japan and the
Yellow Sea and the only known wintering area is
the northern Indian Ocean (Brooke 2004,
Morrison 2008, Flood & Fisher 2011, Howell
2012). Encounters with this species in the
Atlantic Ocean never fail to amaze and never fail

33:4 (2013)

(the pattern was the same on both individuals), Fair Isle, Shetland, 7 August 2013. © Will Miles

to raise questions. Is there an Atlantic breeding
population? Does the species ‘wander’ into the
Atlantic via the tip of South Africa and/or via the
Red Sea and then overland into the
Mediterranean? Why do individuals return again
and again to the same ringing site and sound-
lure, when Storm Petrels and Leach’s Petrels do
not? Did more than two individuals visit South
Haven on Fair Isle calling in 2013? Will the Fair Isle
birds return in future years? The species has an
alluring aura of mystique, and gaining answers to
the many questions raised by the North Atlantic
records presents a considerable challenge.
Tracking storm-petrels at sea using ultra-miniature
data-loggers is in its infancy. However, these
developing techniques combined with the
species site fidelity and responsiveness to sound-
lures, may present ways to begin to understand
the occurrence of this tiny seabird on the
opposite side of the world to where it breeds.

33:4 (2013)

Acknowledgements

| am very grateful to Magnus Robb, Killian
Mullarney and The Sound Approach team who
produced Petrels Night and Day. For their
voluntary help and brilliant assistance during the
2013 storm-petrel season on Fair Isle, thanks go
to Billy Dykes, Noa Eden, Rob Hughes, Logan
Johnson, Kieran Lawrence, Daniel McGibbon,
Tegan Newman, Rachael Redfern, Alex Rhodes,
Freya Stout and Jacob Wood. Roger Riddington,
David Parnaby, Mark Bolton and Ken Smith
provided useful feedback on the draft. The
massive positive public response to the first
Swinhoe's Petrel for Fair Isle was staggering, |
had never experienced (or expected) anything
like it and | would like to thank everyone who
contacted us personally about the events.
Finally, special thanks to Paul Baxter for getting
me hooked on storm-petrels, here on Fair Isle
through the summer of 2006.

Plate 346. Swinhoe’s Petrel rump patch and tail feathers, showing how the outer tail feather shafts were white-based

Status of Swinhoe’s Petrel in Scotland
There is only one previous Scottish record, a
bird trapped by Paul Baxter and Harry Scott
during a storm-petrel ringing session at Cove
Harbour, Aberdeenshire, on 5 August 2000
(Baxter & Scott 2000, Forrester et al, 2007).

References

Baxter, P. A. A. & Scott, H. I. 2000. Swinhoe’s
Storm-petrel - a new bird for Scotland. Birding
Scotland 3: 179-186.

Bolton, M. 1998. Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel ringed
at Ponta de Almadena, Algarve, 27th June
1998. A Rocha Bird Observatory Report 1998.

Bretagnolle, V., Carruthers, M., Cubitt, M. G.,
Bloret, F. & Cuillandre, J. P. 1991. Six captures
of a dark-rumped, fork-tailed storm-petrel in the
north-eastern Atlantic. /bis 133: 351-356.

Brooke, M. 1994. Albatrosses & Petrels across
the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Cubitt, M. 1995. Swinhoe’s Storm-petrels at
Tynemouth: new to Britain and Ireland. British
Birds 88: 342-348.

Cubitt, M., Carruthers, M. & Zino, F. 1992.
Unravelling the mystery of the Tyne petrels.
Birding World 5: 438-442.

Plate 347. Swinhoe’'s Petrel (second bird), Fair Isle, Shetland, 7 August 2013. © Will Miles

Flood, B. & Fisher, A. 2011. North Atlantic
Seabirds - Storm-petrels & Bulwer’s Petrel.
Pelagic Birds & Birding Multimedia
Identification Guides in association with
www.scillypelagics.com (printed by R. Booth
Ltd., Penryn, Cornwall).

Forrester, R.W., Andrews, 1.J., Mcinefny Ci.
Murray, R.D., McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B.,
Betts, M.W., Jardine, D.C., & Grundy, D.S.
(eds). 2007. The Birds of Scotland. The
Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, Aberlady.

Howell, S. N. G. 2012. Petrels, A/batrosses and
Storm-petrels of North America. Princeton
University Press, New Jersey.

James, P. C. & Robertson, H. A. 1985. First
record of Swinhoe's Storm-petrel
Oceanodroma monorhis in the Atlantic
Ocean. Ardea 73:105—106.

King, J. & Minquiez, E. 1994. Swinhoe’s Storm-
petrel: the first Mediterranean record. Birding
World 7: 271-273.

Morrison, S. 1998. All-dark petrels in the North
Atlantic. British Birds 91: 540-560.

Robb, M., Mullarney, K. & The Sound
Approach. 2008. Petrels Night and Day. The
Sound Approach, Poole, Dorset.

Will Miles, Fair Isle Bird Observatory,

Fair Isle, Shetland, ZE2 9JU.
Email: willtsmiles@hotmail.com

33:4 (2013)

|
|
|
:
|

——

On 18 July 2013, having checked that a Red-
backed Shrike was still at St Fergus, | decided to
drive down to Scotstown, about half a mile
away, and arrived at 14:45. | frequently
birdwatch from the car park in the dunes next
to a small field which often holds cattle. The
field is only a short distance from the sea and
nestles in the landward side of the sand dunes.
The area is potentially good for migrants. Over
the years Snow and Lapland Buntings, Redpoll,
Twite, Redstart etc. have turned up. These kept
my interest alive in the hope something
unusual could appear.

| parked as usual and started scanning. At once
| saw a bird standing on a strainer post at the far
side of the field, roughly 300 yards away. At this
time the sun was very bright and through the
telescope the bird was decidedly blurred, but an
orange haze around the rear end of the bird had
me puzzled. It had a distinctive profile - upright
stance with a long, sharp bill. Its posture and
size suggested Wryneck, but the orange colour
and long bill ruled this out.

| then walked into the field and set up my
telescope, viewing the bird in an annoying
shimmer. It was unfamiliar to me, but Rock
Thrush flitted uneasily through my mind. | took
a photo through my scope, but, having forgotten
my specs, had to return to the car to see what
I'd snapped! | immediately turned to Rock
Thrush in my Collins Bird Guide, viewed the
photo and decided to get back quickly as the
possibility of that species was increasing.

33:4 (2013)

Plate 348. Rock Thrush, Scotstown, North-east Scotland, July 2013. © Dave Pullan

The sky was now overcast and the bird had
flown onto an open area of ground. This gave a
much clearer view and | could see features
matching Rock Thrush. At this point | phoned
Tim Marshall and described what |'d seen, but
because of its rarity and my cautiousness did
not name it. | kept watching while the bird
obligingly presented me with different views
and | took more photos. My _ wariness
evaporated - this had to be a Rock Thrush.

Plate 349. Rock Thrush, Scotstown, North-east
Scotland, July 2013. © Pete Shepherd

Articles, News & Views

Soon after, Tim arrived at a fair gallop, looked
through the telescope and corroborated my
identification. While we were busy spreading the
word the bird disappeared for about half an
hour, which was very worrying. Tim decided to
take a wander round the field in the hope of
finding it again, and soon discovered tt sitting on
the ground in a bunch of nettles and it flew up
onto the strainer post again.

vas |

Description

Size/structure: a Starling-sized, tubby-looking,
short-tailed, long-winged bird, frequently
adopting an upright, alert stance. Head: slaty-
grey head and neck. Eye: was big and black,
dominating the face. Bill: long, fairly thin and
sharply pointed. Upperparts: mantle looked
slightly paler grey than head. Back was liberally
marked with white spots. Grey rump.
Underparts: light brown with darker scalloping
overall. A hint of orange was evident running
thinly up the flanks and sides of breast. Wings:
upperwing mainly dark brown, with narrow white
feather edging to coverts, though these weren't
visible in flight. Underwing appeared to be pale,
but good views eluded me. Tail: very bright
orange, which in flight spectacularly ‘lit up’ an
otherwise sombre bird. Brown central feathers.
Bare parts: eye and bill black, legs greyish. Call:
witnesses saw, but didn’t hear, the bird call.

The bird remained at the site from 18 July until
the evening of 22 July and was seen by a great
number of birders including some from England
who had missed the bird that was at Spurn
earlier in the year.

Margaret B. Cowie, 8 Watson Crescent,
Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

Rock Thrush, Scotstown, North-east Sealand)
July 2013. (above) © Harry Scott (below) © Pete Shepherd

Plates 350-351.

Plate 352. Rock Thrush, Scotstown, North-east Scotland, July 2013. © Harry Scott

cl Thea si aa Ceri |
of Rock Thrush in Scotland

Status « Ss
This species has a fragmented breeding range
from Iberia and Morocco east through southern
Europe and Turkey, Kazakhstan and
Afghanistan to southern Russia, Mongolia and
northern China. The entire population is
migratory and winters in sub-Saharan Africa
from southern Mauritania and Senegal
eastwards to the Red Sea and south through
eastern Sudan and Congo to Tanzania and
northernmost Mozambique.

There have been 28 accepted records in

Britain up to the end of 2012, with five of

these in Scotland:

1910: Orkney, Pentland Skerries, adult male,
shot, 17 May

1931: Fair Isle, one, 8 November

1936: Fair Isle, male, 16 October

1962: Outer Hebrides, Hirta, St Kilda, female,
17 June

1970: Fair Isle, first-year male, trapped, 30 June

33:4 (2013)

The majority of British records have occurred in
spring with a very distinct peak in May (14
birds) and a smaller one in June (6), with
others found in February (1), April (3),
September (1), October (2) and November (1).
The earliest one found was a male at Portland,
Dorset on 16—24 April 1988, and the latest was
the Fair Isle bird on 8 November 1931. The
Scotstown bird lingered for five days, and only
the 1988 Portland bird (9 days) and an
immature male at Minster, Kent on 5 February
to 1 April 1983 (56 days) have stayed longer.

Apart from the first British record at Therfield,
Hertfordshire on 19 May 1843 and a male at
Graveley, Hertfordshire on 8 May 1983, all
other records have come from coastal counties,
particularly in south and east England, with 10
of these on Islands rather than the mainland.

Prior to the Scotstown individual there was a
female at Kilnsea, Yorkshire on 25-26 April
2013, though there had been none prior to
that since 2004.

3/2)

374

Oa AES: Dye] Te F ==
Scotsn Bird signtings

(C)

Scottish Bird Sightings

1 July to 30 September 2013

S.L. RIVERS

Records in Scottish Bird
Sightings are published for
interest only. All records are
subject to acceptance by the
relevant records committee.
Thanks are due to Angus
Murray/Birdline Scotland for
providing information about
arrival dates of summer
migrants in spring 2013.

The following abbreviations for
recording areas are used: Angus
& Dundee - A&D; Argyll - Arg;
Ayrshire - Ayrs; Borders - Bord;
Caithness - Caith; Dumfries &
Galloway D&G; Highland - High;
Lothian - Loth; Moray & Nairn -
M&N; North-East Scotland - NES;
Outer Hebrides - OH; Perth &
Kinross - P&K; Shetland - Shet;
Upper Forth - UF.

The warmest July for many years
provided several unusual sightings,
with the early headlines grabbed by
the frustratingly brief appearance of
an Ascension Frigatebird in Argyll.
Seabirds continued to steal the
limelight with a Swinhoe's Petrel
and a Bridled Tern later in the
month and amazingly further
sightings of both in August. Other
surprises included a Mongolian
(Lesser Sand) Plover and mainland
Scotland's first Rock Thrush in July.
Late July and early August brought
a notable influx of Two-barred
Crossbills to the Northern Isles, and
August saw a good passage of
scarce and uncommon waders
while the passerine migration
included notable numbers of
Greenish Warblers. September had
a wide range of passerine migrants,
and saw the largest ever
documented arrival of Yellow-
browed Warblers in Scotland.

Vagrant Canada Geese: Cackling
Goose (minima) three were on
Sandyay (Ork) on 22 September.
Snow Goose: one was at Barns of
Ayre, Deerness (Ork) on 6 July; one
at Loch of Skaill, Deerness (Ork) on
17 September; a white-phase bird
was at Kinloss (M&N) on 29
September. Garganey: a female
was at Caerlaverock WWT (D&G)
on 19-20 August; two at Loch of
Hillwell, South Mainland (Shet) on
27 August; an eclipse drake at
Carnbarns Pool, Motherwell, Clyde
on 31 August to 1 September; one
at Caerlaverock WWT on 2-3
September, and one at
Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve on
28-30 September. Blue-winged
Teal: an adult female was on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 17 August; an
eclipse drake was at Frankfield
Loch, Clyde from 7 September into
October. Ring-necked Duck: the
drake lingered at Dunbar Quarry
(Loth) to 14 September (latterly in
eclipse); a drake was at Loch of
Tingwall, Mainland (Shet) on 5 July;
eclipse drakes were at Meikle Loch
(NES) on 15—28 September and at
Loch of Spiggie, Mainland (Shet)
on 15th; the latter relocating to
Loch of Clickimin, Lerwick (Shet)
on 16-19 September. Surf Scoter:
an adult male, firstsummer male
and a female were seen intermit-
tently off Blackdog/Murcar (NES) to
18 August, with the female again
on 28 August, a drake on 1
September, a drake and two
females on 8th, and a drake again
on 20-27 September. A drake was
off Rhunahaorine Point, Kintyre
(Arg) on 10-16 July; a drake in
Lunan Bay (A&D) from 7-22
August at least; a female off
Portlethen (NES) on 21 August; a
drake in the Sound of Harris (OH)
on 28 August and in the Sound of

Taransay (OH) on 6th and 23
September. King Eider: the drake
remained at the Ythan Estuary to
10 July; one was near Burghead
(M&N) on 18-22 September.

Fea’s Petrel: one flew north past
Hemsdale (High) at 17:00, and
north past Duncansby Head
(Caith) at 20:20 on 7 September.
Great Shearwater: one was seen
at Loch Snizort, Isle of Skye (High)
on 18 August; one flew past
Dennis Head, North Ronaldsay
(Ork) on 12 September. Cory’s
Sherwater: one was seen from the
Tarbert, Harris (OH) to Uig, Skye
(Arg) ferry on 1 August; one flew
west past North Ronaldsay (Ork)
on 13 August. Sooty Shearwater:
one flew north past Barns Ness
(Loth) on 2 July, with four other
singles in the month. In August
higher counts were 50 past North
Ronaldsay on 29th, and 130 off
Butt of Lewis, Lewis (OH) on 28th.
In September higher counts
included 80 past North Ronaldsay,
140 flew past Fife Ness, Fife on
7th; a flock of 160 east of the Isle
of May on 10th, and at least 1,000
at Burma Bank, off Gairloch (High)
on 19 September (the highest ever
west coast count). Balearic
Shearwater: one flew south past
Saltcoats (Ayrs) on 31 July. In
August 14 birds were noted from
Ayrshire to North Uist and Angus to
Orkney, all singles except two past
Portencross (Ayrs) on 17th, and
two past Saltcoats on 25th.
September produced nine birds
with two past Saltcoats on 2nd, one
off Corsewall Point (D&G) on 16th,
and six singles from Borders to NE
Scotland between 6-—30th.
Swinhoe’s Petrel: one was heard
during storm-petrel ringing sessions
on Fair Isle early on 21 July, and

33:4 (2013)

then remarkably it (or another) was
caught on 27 July, then amazingly a
second bird was trapped several
times between 7—17 August and
again on 3 September - the second
and third records for Scotland.
Ascension Frigatebird: a juvenile
was present at Bowmore, Islay
(Arg) on 5 July - the second
Scottish (& British) record.

Glossy Ibis: four were at
Caelaverock WWT reserve (D&G)
on 30 September. Little Egret: one
was at Loch Kerry, north of
Sheildaig (High) on 6 July, one at
Tyninghame (Loth) throughout July,
with two there on 30th, and one at
Seafield (Loth) on 24th. During
August there were at least five in
Lothian, three in Upper Forth, one
at Vane Farm RSPB reserve (P&K),
four in Fife, up to two in Angus,
three in NE Scotland, and up to
three were in Kirkcudbright Bay
(D&G) on 25-31 August.
September provided up to three in
Lothian, Upper Forth and Fife, one
at Montrose Basin (A&D) and one
at Port Glasgow, Clyde. Spoonbill:
one was at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB
reserve on 17 July and 12-13
August; one was on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 29 July, with
presumably the same bird on
Sanday (Ork) on 3 August; one at
Kinneil (UF) on 13 August and
Skinflats (UF) on 22nd; one at
River Esk mouth, Musselburgh on
23 August flew east at 15:30 and
then at Aberlady Bay (both Loth)
from late afternoon.

Honey-buzzard: an adult was at
Balephuill, Tiree (Arg) on 28 July -
the second island record; one flew
north at Kellas, near Broughty Ferry
(A&D) on 12 September; one flew
over Newhailes (Loth) on 29
September. Black Kite: one flew
over Eriskay and then South
Glendale, South Uist (OH) on 11
September. Pallid Harrier: a
juvenile was near Sandwood Bay,
Cape Wrath (High) on 25 August.
Rough-legged Buzzard: one was
reported at Tarbat Ness (High) on
29 August. Hobby: one flew over

33:2 (2013)

Tyninghame Bay (Loth) on 6 July;
one was at Dounby (Ork) on 27
July; one at Scatness, Mainland
(Shet) on 27 July; one at Herra, Yell
(Shet) on 3 August, with it or
another on Foula (Shet) on 4th;
one on Harray (Ork) on 13th; one
at Hoswick, Mainland (Shet) on
26th; one flew over Drums (NES)
on 27 August. In Angus one was at
East Haven on 9 September, It or
another at Farnell, near Brechin on
10th, and at Maryton, near
Kirriemuir on 13th; one was at
Thornhill/Torrie Forest (UF) on
19th, one at White Sands (Loth) on
22nd, and one over Creachan,
Barra (OH) on 25 September.
Spotted Crake: one was seen at
Balgavies Loch, near Forfar (A&D)
on 13 August; one was at
Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve on 27
September. Common Crane: the
first-summer bird on Unst (Shet) in
June was seen there intermittently
to 26 September; an adult was at
Doune (UF) on 19 August, with it
or another seen flying west over the
B826 near Doune on 2 September.
One flew over Cults (NES) on 17
September, and three over
Queensferry (Loth) on 23rd.

American Golden Plover: one was
at Loch Bee, South Uist (OH) on 26
August. In September there was an
adult at Bakkasetter then Fleck,
Mainland (Shet) on 19—21st; an
adult on Fair Isle on 12th; one on
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 3rd, and
an adult on Sanday (Ork) on
18—40th, with two there on 22nd;
at least three on Benbecula/ South
Uist (OH) between 3-10th; two
adults and two juveniles on Tiree
(Arg) between 5—23rd, and an
adult at Portnaluchaig, near Arisaig
(High) on 15-19 September;
Pacific Golden Plover: one was on
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 1 July.
Mongolian (Lesser Sand) Plover:
a male was present at Lossiemouth
(M&N) on 16 July (remarkably the
bird was relocated in County Cork,
Eire on 27—28 July). Temminck’s
Stint: one was at Rigifa Pool, near
Cove (NES) on 2-9 July; one on
the River Spey at Kingston (M&N)

Scottish Bird Sightings

on 26 July; one was at Letham
Pools, Fife on 7—-10th and 14
September. Baird's Sandpiper:
one was at Wester Sand, Holm
(Ork) on 31 August; a juvenile was
at Loch a’ Phuill, Tiree (Arg) on 5
September, and two juveniles were
at Stoneybridge, South Uist (OH)
on 10-14 September. White-
rumped Sandpiper: an adult was
on Foula (Shet) on 2—3 September.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: one was
on Berneray (OH) on 29-30 July;
one on the Ythan Estuary (NES) on
7 August; one on Burray (Ork) on
22-26 August; a juvenile at
Baleshare, North Uist (OH) on 3
September, and one at Northton,
Harris (OH) on 3rd, with two there
on 6th; one at Hermaness, Unst
(Shet) on 4 September; a jvenile
was at Loch Bornish, South Uist
(OH) on 5—8th; one at Vallay, North
Uist (OH) on 6th; a juvenile at
Kilaulay, South Uist on 7th, and a
juvenile at West Loch Ollay, South
Uist on 7-10th; a juvenile at
Scarista, Harris on 12th; one at Butt
of Lewis, Lewis (OH) on 15—17th;
one at Loch a’ Phuill, Tiree (Arg) on
17th; two on West Burra (Shet) on
17th; one on Sanday (Ork) on
18—20th; one on North Ronaldsay
(Ork) on 20—21st, and one at
Balcomie, Fife Ness, Fife on 28
September. Pectoral Sandpiper:
on Shetland there were six birds
between 2—30 September; one on
Fair Isle on 22—24 July. On Orkney
one was on North Ronaldsay on 19
July, an adult on 10-19 August; a
juvenile from 29 August to 7
September, and another on 13-30
September, with two on 15th; a
juvenile at Loch of Tankerness,
Mainland on 17th, and one on
Sanday on 18-20 September. Up
to 18 were on the Outer Hebrides,
all in September, including two at
Stoneybridge, South Uist on 9th;
and two at Ardkenneth, South Uist
on 22nd. In Argyll there was a
juvenile at Loch a’ Phuill, Tiree (Arg)
on 5 September; one at Middleton,
Tiree on 10th; a juvenile at Loch a’
Phuill again on 24—25 September.
Elsewhere there was one at Vane

Scottish Bird Sightings

Farm RSPB reserve (P&K) on 15
July; an adult at Letham Pools, Fife
on 21 July; single adults at Loch of
Strathbeg RSPB Reserve on 4
August and Meikle Loch on 4—5th
(both NES); one over St. Abbs
(Bord) on 24th; one at Loch of
Strathbeg RSPB reserve (NES) on
24—25th; one at Crinan (Arg) on 29
August; a juvenile at Frankfield Loch,
Clyde on 3—10 September; one at
Glenborrodale, Ardnamurchan
(High) and a_ juvenile — at
Hogganfield Loch, Clyde on 7
September, a juvenile at
Musselburgh Lagoons (Loth) on
9th; a juvenile at Forfar Loch (A&D)
on 16-22nd; one at Spey Bay
(M&N) on 18th; one at Baron's
Folly Loch (Bord) on 20th, and one
again at Frankfield Loch, Clyde on
30 September. Semipalmated
Sandpiper: a juvenile was at Loch
Ordais, Lewis (OH) on 30 August to
1 September; a juvenile was at Loch
Paible, North Uist (OH) on 1-5
September; two juveniles were at
Balephetrish/Clachan and Gott Bay,
Tiree (Arg) on 6th, with one still
from 7—12 September; a probable
adult bird was at Black Mill, Isle of
Luing (Arg) on 7 Sept; one was at
Ardvule, South Uist (OH) on 9

September. Upland Sandpiper:
one was on Fair Isle on 25
September. Hudsonian Whimbrel:
one was at Mid Yell, Yell (Shet) on
30 September. Lesser Yellowlegs:
one on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 6
July was the first for the island; one
was at Bishopburn, Loch Ryan, near
Stranraer (D&G) on 28 July; one
was at Kinneil Lagoon (UF) on 19
August), one —at- ~Pool “of
Virkie/Clevigarth, Mainland (Shet)
on 16-30 September. Grey
Phalarope: first of the autumn
were two north of Fair Isle on 11
July, then relatively few reported -
one past Rubha Ardvule, South Uist
(OH) and one in Portnahaven
Harbour, Islay (Arg) on 15
September; two at Baleshare, North
Uist (OH) and singles at Griminish
Point, North Uist, at Machrihanish,
Kintyre (Arg) and Corsewall Point
(D&G) on 16th; two past Rubha
Ardvule, SU, and one past Turnberry
Point (Ayrs) on 17th, with two past
Turnberry on 18th; one at sea NW
of Luinga Mhor, Arisaig (High) on
19th; one at Stinky Bay, Benbecula
and three off Rubha Ardvule on 20
September. Wilson's Phalarope: a
juvenile was at Broadford Bay, Isle
of Skye (High) on 16—21 August.

Pomarine Skua: widespread in
small numbers starting with one cl
mile north of Fair Isle, on 4 July. In
August higher counts included five
adults past Dalgety Bay, Fife on
15th, and five past St. Abbs Head on
24th. In September higher counts
were six past Chanonry Point (High)
on 3rd; five past St Abbs Head
(Bord) on 7th; three past Eyemouth
(Bord) on 25th, and four off Hound
Point (Loth) on 28 September.
Long-tailed Skua: a juvenile was
off Saltcoats (Ayrs) on 30 August. In
September a juvenile flew past Fife
Ness, Fife on 6th; one past
Collieston (NES), an adult past
Kinghorn Harbour, Fife, and a
juvenile past Eyemouth (Bord) on
7th; an adult past Barns Ness (Loth)
and a juvenile off Tyninghame Bay
(Loth) on 8th; a juvenile past
Griminish Point, North Uist (OH)
and a juvenile over Loch Sandary,
North Uist on 16th; one past
Corsewall Point (D&G) on 17th; a
juvenile past Ardivachar, South Uist
on 20th; a juvenile off St Abb's
Head (Bord) on 26th, and a juvenile
was c5 miles west of Red
Point/Loch Torridon on 28
September. Sabine’s Gull: one was
at sea c7 miles west of Gairloch

Plate 353. Wilson's Phalarope, Broadford Bay, Skye, Highland, August 2013. © Bob McMillan

(High) on 3 July; one seen c4 miles
NNE of the Isle of Skye (High) on 12
July, one in the same area on 26
July, and one off the Stornoway-
Ullapool ferry on 9 August; one off
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 9th; one
NE of the Isle of Skye (High) on
13-14 August; one past Maiden’s
Harbour (Ayrs) on 18th; one at
Ardivachar, South Uist (OH) on
20th; three at Loch Gairloch (High)
on 21st; an adult c6 miles off
Elishader, Skye on 23rd. Two adults
were off Red Point/Loch Torridon
(High) on 25th; a first-summmer was
off Rona, Isle of Skye on 28—29th.
Two flew past the Butt of Lewis,
Lewis (OH) and one was off Labost,
Lewis on 31 August; an adult off
Ardvule, South Uist on 1 September;
one off Gairloch (High) on 5
September; four at Broadford Bay,
Isle of Skye (High) on 16th; two
juveniles past Griminish Point,
North Uist on 16th; one flew past
Corsewall Point (D&G) on 18th; a
juvenile at Ardivachar, South Uist
and one off Tiree (Arg) on 21st; at
least one off the east coast of Harris
(OH) and a juvenile in Stinky Bay,
Benbecula (OH) on 23rd; a juvenile
was off Barns Ness (Loth) on 25th,
and two juveniles off the Shiant
Islands (OH) on 27 September.
Ring-billed Gull: one was at
Skinflats (UF) on 13 August, with
presumably the same bird at Kinneil
Lagoon (UF) on 31 August, and
there again on 26 September; an
adult was at Dingwall (High) from
26 August to 19 September at least;
an adult was at Traigh Ghrianal, Tiree
(Arg) on 27—28th and at Loch a’
Phuill, Tiree on 30 August.

Mediterranean Gull: away from
regular Lothian, Fife, UF, Ayrshire
and D&G haunts an adult was at
Arbroath (A&D) from 24 July; a
juvenile at Baron's Haugh RSPB
reserve on 24th; one at
Caerlaverock (D&G) on 26—29 July;
a second-summer at Bingham’'s
Pond, Clyde on 26-29 July; an
adult at Erskine, Clyde on 27th; one
at Brow Well/ Caerlaverock (D&G)
on 6-8 August and 29 August; a
juvenile near Loch Sandary, North

33:4 (2013)

Uist (OH) on 15-17 August; a
second-summer at Graemeshall,
Mainland (Ork) on 19 August; a
first-year bird at Baltasound, Unst on
27-28 August and 9-11
September; a second-winter at
Gruline, Mull (Arg) on 1 September;
an adult at Sandhaven (NES) on 1
September; a juvenile at Kirkwall
(Ork) on 4 September; an adult at
Embo (High) on 10th; two first-
winter birds at Crinan and one at
Lochgilphead (both Arg) on 15
September, and one at Sandwick,
Mainland (Shet) on 21 September.
Laughing Gull: an adult was on

Sanday. (rk) on. < 19=30
September. Yellow-legged Gull: an
adult was at Brow’ Well/

Caerlaverock (D&G) on 6—9th and
14 August; one was at Browhouses
(D&G) on 25 August. Iceland Gull:
one was on Sanday (Ork) on 17
September, and one at Boddam
(Shet) on 18 September. Glaucous
Gull: a juvenile flew past Rubha
Ardvule, South Uist (OH) on 17
September; one was at Loch
Stiapabhat, Lewis (OH) on 27
September. Bridled Tern: the roving
adult first found in Northumberland
was seen on the Isle of May on 26
July and at the Ythan Estuary (INES)
on 8 August. Gull-billed Tern: one
was at Scatness/Pool of Virkie,
South Mainland (Shet) on 27-31
July. Black Tern: one was at the
Ythan Estuary (NES) on 27 July and
5 August; two off Kinghorn, Fife and
one at Musselburgh (Loth) on 6
August; one cl mile east of Harris
(@R) on 7th; one, at Loch, of
Strathbeg RSPB reserve (NES) on
9th; one flew past St Abbs Head
(Bord) on 11th; one at Blackness
Castle (UF) on 21st; a juvenile at
Lunan Bay (A&D) on 22nd; one off
Thorntonloch (Loth) on 24th; a
juvenile flew past Girdle Ness
(NES) and a juvenile was at Letham

- Pools, Fife on 26th, with it or

another nearby at Wilderness GP,
Ladybank, Fife on 28th. In
September a juvenile was off Embo
(High) on Ist; two flew past
Kirkcaldy, Fife on 6th; one past Fife
Ness, Fife on 6th, three on 7th, and
one on 8th; a juvenile off Kinnell

Scottish Bird Sightings

(UF) on 7—8th; a juvenile in the
Sound of Barra (OH) on 8th; two
off Collieston (NES) on 15th; one
off Dornoch (High) on 15—16th,
and one off Troon (Ayrs) on 18th.
Little Auk: the first of the autumn
was one off North Ronaldsay (Ork)
on 19 September.

Turtle Dove: one was at
Baltasound, Unst (Shet) on 11
September; presumed same still on
19th; one on Fair Isle on 23—24th;
one at Boisdale, South Uist (OH)
on 24th; one at Kilkenneth, Tiree
(Arg) on 25th; one at Palace,
Mainland (Ork) on 28th, and one at
Northbay/ Morghan, Barra (OH) on
28-30 September. Snowy Owl:
the lingering male was seen again
on Hirta, St Kilda (OH) on 3 July
and 10 September; one was near
Blackhamar, Rousay (Ork) on 3—4
July. European Nightjar: one was
on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on
24—26 August, and one on Fair Isle
on 26 September. Roller: an
extremely elusive bird was at Glean,
Barra on 29-30 September- the
second record for the Outer
Hebrides. Hoopoe: one was at
Hoxa, South Ronaldsay (Ork) on 29
September. Wryneck: one on Fair
Isle on 23 August; one at Cove Bay
(NES) on 24 Aug; one on Foula
(Shet) on 24—25th; singles at
Sumburgh (Shet), at Girdle Ness
(NES) on 25—27th, and the Mull of
Oa, Islay (Arg) on 25—27 Aug and
near Port Ellen, Islay on 27th; one
was at Quendale, Mainland (Shet)
on 26 August and on 29 August;
one near Pool of Virkie, Mainland
(Shet) on 10 September, one at
Sandwick, Mainland (Shet) on 14
Sept; Golden Oriole: one lingered
on North Ronaldsay (Ork) from
June to 3 July; an immature bird
was at Glean/ Garrygall, Barra (OH)
on 23 September. Red-backed
Shrike: a male was at St. Abbs
Head (Bord) on 1 July; one on Fair
Isle on 2nd, and a female near St.
Fergus (NES) on 14-21 July. In
August there were eight birds on
Shetland between 19—29th, one
on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 26th
and 29-31 August, and six in NE

377

378

Scottish Bird Sightings

Scotland between 24—26th. In
September a juvenile was near
Dervaig, Isle of Mull (Arg) on
5-—13th; a juvenile at Girdle Ness,
Aberdeen (NES) on 6—8th; at least
five on Fair Isle between 6—26th;
one at Bru, Lewis (OH) on
17—18th; one on Sanday (Ork) on
17-19th and 22—25th; one on
North Ronaldsay on 18 Sept; one at
Aith (Shet) on 21—24th; one at
Fladdabister (Shet) on 21—25th;
singles at Baltasound and Skaw,
Unst on 23rd; one Cunningsburgh
(Shet) on 23rd and 25th; one at
Eoligarry Church, Barra (OH) on 29
Sept; one at Haroldswick, Unst
(Shet) on 28-30 September.
Brown Shrike: one on North
Ronaldsay on 24—29 September
was the first for Orkney; an
immature was at Wester Quarff,
Mainland (Shet) on 27—30th; one
was near Balcomie Farm, Fife Ness,
Fife on 28th, and one at Collieston
(NES) on 28-29 September, the
latter two both firsts for the
respective areas. Short-toed Lark:
singles were on Foula (Shet) and
on Fair Isle on 25 August, and at
Sumburgh (Shet) on 26-27
August. One was at Exnaboe,
Mainland (Shet) on 21-22
September and one on Foula
(Shet) on 30th.

Greenish Warbler: on Shetland
two were at Sumburgh, Mainland
on 23-24 August, with one still on
25—27th; one at Ham, Foula on
23-25 August; one on Out Skerries
on 25-28th, one at_ Isbister,
Whalsay on 25th and 29th; one at
Quendale, Mainland on 25th; one
at Hoswick, Mainland on 25th; two
were on Foula on 26th, with one
still on 27th; one at Brough, Fetlar,
and one at Sandwick, Mainland on
27th; one on Foula on 28 August
to 2 September; one at Quendale
on 29—30th, and one at Skaw, Unst
from 29 August to 5 September.
Two were on Fair Isle on 26-27
August, and one on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 23—29 August.
Elsewhere one was at Girdle Ness,
Aberdeen (NES) on 23—25 August;
at Lybster (Caith), Tarbat Ness

Scottish Birds

(High) and at Bridge of Don,
Aberdeen (NES) on 24th; with
others in NE Scotland at Longhaven
Quarries, Boddam and Collieston
on 24—25th, one at Blackdog on
25th; at least one at Loirston CP,
Girdle Ness on 25 August, and one
at Whinnyfold on 27 August. One
was at Killimster, near Reiss (Caith)
on 27 September. Arctic Warbler:
all sightings were in September. On
Shetland one was at Maywick,
Mainland on 5th; one at
Baltasound, Unst on 11—12th; one
at Muness, Unst on 19—20th; one
at Scalloway, Mainland on 19th;
one at Lund, Unst on 23rd; one at
Bigton, Mainland on 24—28th, and
one at Loch of Voe, Mainland on
30th. One was trapped on Fair Isle
on 4th, an unringed bird seen on
5th, another on 6th, and a further
bird on 13th. On Orkney one was
at Rendall, Mainland on 19th and
one at St Margaret's Hope, South
Ronaldsay on 26th.

Yellow-browed Warbler: © all
sightings were from September.
The first were singles at Skaw and
Norwick, Unst (Shet) on 10th. An
unprecedented passage, partic-
ularly from 24th, brought record
numbers to many areas. In
Shetland notable counts included
100+ on Unst on 26th, with 60 at
Baltasound alone (a new Scottish
record site count); 13 on Foula on
26th; 15 at Voe, Mainland on 28th;
10 at Quendale, Mainland on 28th,
and 19 at Sandwick, Whalsay on
29th. Birds were on Fair Isle from
17 September, with higher counts
of 16 on 25th, at least 40 on 26th;
then 32, 20, 29 & 12 on the next
four days. On Orkney North
Ronaldsay hosted birds from 17th,
with largest totals of 11 on 25th, 17
on 26th, and 13 on 29th, and other
notable counts were four on
Sanday on 19th, with six there on
25th, and six on South Ronaldsay
on 25th. On the Outer Hebrides
the first was one at North Loch
Eynort, South Uist on 21st;
thereafter ones and _ twos
widespread with higher counts of
six Barra on 25th, five at Castlebay,

Barra on 26th, and 12+ on Barra
on 27th. Elsewhere birds arrived
from 19th, mostly ones and twos
but higher counts in the east were
of four at Tarbat Ness (High) on
25th, with five there on 26th; three
at Collieston (NES) on 26th; four at
Arbroath (A&D) on 28th; four at
Buddo Ness, Fife on 25th, five at
Kilminning, Fife Ness, Fife on 26th,
and six at Boarhills (all Fife) on
27th; at least 20 on the Isle of May
on 24th, with 10 still on 25th; three
at White Sands (Loth) on 26—28ih
and at Barns Ness (Loth) on
26—27th, and Scoughall (Loth) on
28th; five at St Abb’s (Bord) on
25th, with 13 there on 26th, 10 on
27th, and five on 28th. Notable
counts from west coast areas were
one at The Oa, Islay (Arg) on 27th;
three at Balephuil, Tiree (Arg) on
29th, and one at Baron's Haugh
RSPB reserve, Clyde on 28th.

Western Bonelli’s Warbler: one
was at Virkie, Mainland (Shet) on
8-14 September, with another on
Whalsay (Shet) on 29-30
September. A bird not definitely
identified to one or other Bonelli's
Warbler species was seen on
Burray (Ork) on 23 September.
Barred Warbler: first of the autumn
were singles on Fair Isle on 16th &
22-23 August. Subsequent August
records included up to 10 on
Shetland, one on the Isle of May on
24th; one at Firth, Mainland (Ork)
and one at Girdle Ness, Aberdeen
(NES) on 29th, and one at North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 30 August. In
September there were at least 12
on Shetland, at least nine on Fair
Isle, and four on Orkney. Elsewhere
there was one at Vaul, Tiree (Arg)
on 6th; singles at Bars Ness on
7—-8th, and Skateraw (both Loth)
on 7th; one on the Isle of May on
16—17th, and one at Balephuill,
Tiree (Arg) on 26th. Western
Subalpine Warbler: a male was on
Fair Isle from 6 July to 16
September (third male Western
there this year). Eastern Subalpine
Warbler: one was near Linkshouse,
Mid Yell, Yell (Shet) on 24-30
September. Sardinian Warbler:

33:4 (2013)

remarkably the male ringed at St
Abb’s (Bord) on 30 June was seen
again there from 25 September into
October. Booted Warbler: one
was on Fair Isle on 22—28 August;
one at Drums (NES) on 26-27
August; one on Out Skerries (Shet)
on 28th and one at Symbister,
Whalsay (Shet) on 28—29th; one at
Easter Skeld, Mainland (Shet) on 31
August; one on Out Skerries on

26-27 September. Sykes’s
Warbler: one was on Fair Isle on
26-30 September. Pallas’s

Grasshopper Warbler: one was on
Out Skerries (Shet) on 23
September. Lanceolated Warbler:
one was on Fair Isle on 25
September, and another on 28th.
River Warbler: one was on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 23 September.

Icterine Warbler: one was on Fair
Isle on 8 July, with others there on
26th and 30 July. In August there
were about 11 on Shetland, and
then one at Norwick, Unst on
25-26 September. On Fair Isle
there was one on 25—28th and 30
August to 2 September, one on 4
September, with two on 5th, and
one on 10th. On Orkney there was
one on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on
22 August, and on 25th, with one

on Sanday on 19 September.
Elsewhere there was one at Kings
Links, Aberdeen (NES) on 22
August; one at Torry Battery, Girdle
Ness, Aberdeen (NES) and one on
the Isle of May on 24th; one at
Kirkton of Slains (NES) on 25th;
and one at Aberdeen (NES) on 26
August. Blyth’s Reed Warbler: all
sightings were In September. One
was on Fair Isle on 7th; On Shetland
one was at Quendale Quarry,
Mainland on 20th; one at Scatness,
Mainland on 21—23rd; one on
Foula on 21—25th; one at Norwick,
Unst on 22—23rd: one at Ronas
Head, Voe, Mainland on 23—25th;
one at Burrafirth, Unst on 26th; one
at Funzie, Fetlar on 26—30th; one at
Northdale, Unst on 28th, and one
at Sandwick, Mainland on~ 29th.
One was at Hestily, South
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 26th. Marsh
Warbler: one was on Fair Isle from
June to 12 July, with three on 4th,
another on 27 July to 1 August, and
one on 22 August. One was on
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 10 July;
one on Foula (Shet) on 25-28
August; one on North Ronaldsay on
7 September; one at Baltasound,
Unst (Shet) on 11th; one on Fair
Isle on 13 September; one on
North Ronaldsay on 19-20

Plate 354. Sardinian Warbler, St Abbs, Borders, October 2013. © Keith Hoey

September, with another on 26th;
one on Out Skerries (Shet) on
22nd; one on the Isle of Harris
(OH) on 29th, and one at Everland,
Fetlar (Shet) on 30 September.

Cedar Waxwing: a first-winter bird
at Vaul, Tiree (Arg) on 21-29
September was the second record
for Scotland. Rufous-tailed Rock
Thrush: a firstsummer male at
Scotstown Dunes, near St. Fergus
(NES) on 18—22 July was the first
on the Scottish mainland. White’s
Thrush: one was on Fair Isle on 25
September. Thrush Nightingale:
one was on Fair Isle on 26-30
August; a first-winter was at
Graemeshall Loch, Mainland (Ork)
on 26 August; one was near
Levenwick, Mainland (Shet) on 29
September. Bluethroat: all
sightings were in September. On
Shetland there was a male at
Sullum Voe, Mainland on 14th; one
on Foula on 21st; singles on

Mainland at Boddam and
Scousburgh on 2Ist, and
Cunningsburgh, Exnaboe and

Fladdabister on 22nd; one again on
Foula on 25th; one on Skeld,
Mainland on 28th and two on
Whalsay on 29th. There were two
on Fair Isle on 21st, and one there
on 25th. Singles were on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 17th, 24—25th,
and 29th. Red-flanked Bluetail:
one was on Out Skerries (Shet) on
29 September. Red-breasted
Flycatcher: all records were in
September. Up to 12 were found
on Shetland from 20—30th; up to
six on Fair Isle on 19—29th; three
on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on
24-30th, and one at South
Glendale, South Uist (OH) on
27—29th. Elsewhere one was at
Tarbat Ness (High) on 25—26th;
one at Fishtown of Usan (A&D) on
25-27th; one at St. Abb’s Head
(Bord) on 26th; one on the Isle of
May on 29th, and one at White
Sands, Dunbar (Loth) on 30th.

Rose-coloured Starling: an adult
was near Finstown, Mainland (Ork)
on 2-4 July, and at Evie on 6 July;
an adult was at Camaschroisd,

Scottish Bird Sightings

Sleat, Isle of Skye (High) on 15-16
July, and presumably the same bird
was at Broadford, Skye on 31 July;
an adult was at Browhouses (D&G)
from about 22nd to 28 July; an
adult at Bridge End, West Burra
(Shet) on 11-13 August. Yellow
Wagtail: a pair bred near East
Linton (Loth), and a pair of the
Blue-headed race bred on North
Ronaldsay - the third time on
Orkney; two were at Coble Shore,
Fife on 18 July; one at Letham
Pools, Fife on 26 July; a peak of five
at Aberlady Bay (Loth) on 27 July;
two juveniles at Barns Ness (Loth)
on 21 July; one at Musselburgh
Lagoons (Loth) on 27 August; there
were five at Barns Ness (Loth) on
26 August, with one still on 8
September; one at Allathasdal,
Barra (OH) on 8th, and one at
Cullivoe, Yell (Shet) on 23rd. Citrine
Wagtail: on Shetland one was at
Quendale, South Mainland on 24
August; one near Pool of Virkie,
Mainland on 29 August to 5
September; one at Melby Loch,
Mainland (Shet) on 31 August to 3
September; one at Skaw, Unst on
8-9 September, and over Norwick
and Haroldswick, Unst on 9th, and
one on Foula on 23—24th. A first-
winter was on Fair Isle on 12-16
August, with two on 17th, one still
to 21 August, and one on 31 August
to 3 September; one on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 26 August to 2
September, and a first-winter on
Hirta, St. Kilda (OH) on 5-9
September. Richard’s Pipit: one
was on Unst (Shet) on 19
September, and one at Exnaboe,
Mainland (Shet) on 22nd. Olive-
backed Pipit: one was at Collafirth,
Mainland (Shet) on 23 Sept; singles
were on Fair Isle and Frakkafield,
Mainland (Shet) on 25th, and on
Unst and Whalsay (both Shet) on
40 September. One was on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 25th; one on
Papa Westray (Ork) on 26th; one
reported on Isle of May on 30
September. Pechora Pipit: one
was at Levenwick, Mainland (Shet)
on 28-30 September.

Common Rosefinch: the singing
adult male at Loch Tummel (P&K)
remained from June to 15 July. On
Shetland there were up to 13 in
August, and over 40 in September.
One was on Fair Isle on 6 July, with
another on 12-17 July, three
during 19-29 August, and up to 15
in September. On Orkney there
was a juvenile at Stromness,
Mainland on 29 August; one at
Burray (Ork) on 22 Sept. and
about nine on North Ronaldsay
between 25 August and 30
September. One was on Hirta, St.
Kilda (OH) on 8 September.
Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll: all
reports were from September. On
Shetland one was at Hoswick,
Mainland on 21—24th; one at
Skaw, Unst on 24rd; one at
Funzie/Leagarth, Fetlar on 24th;
one at Spiggie, Mainland on 25th;
one at Valyie/ Norwick, Unst on
26th; one Fladdabister/Aithsetter,
Mainland on 26th; at least three at
Sullom, Mainland on 27th; one at
Ham, Foula on 27—30th, and one
at Virkie, Mainland on 28th. One
was on Fair Isle on 25-28
September. Two-barred Crossbill:
the end of July saw a mass arrival
of birds in east Britain, though all
but one found in Scotland were on
the Northern Isles. On Shetland
the first seen were a female at
Wester Quarff, Mainland and a
male on Trondra, Burra on 23 July;
with up to 20 others by 31st, plus
one on a ship 40—45 miles west of
Shetland on 25-31 July, with two
on 27th. At least 12 were on
Shetland to 7 August. On Fair Isle
there were eight on 26 July, at least
seven on 1 August, four on 3
August and seven the next day. On
Orkney a male and female were at
Stromness from 29 July to 2
August, with the male still present
on 3rd; six probables at Finstown,
Mainland on 8th, and a juvenile on
North Ronaldsay on 19 August. A
juvenile was at Roseisle Forest,
near Burghead (M&N) on 6
August. Later in the period an adult
male was at Glenborrodale,
Ardnamurchan (High) on 6

September; a juvenile at Norwick,
Unst (Shet) on 22 September, and
it or another at Skaw, Unst on
23—25th. Parrot Crossbill: three
were at Mains of Usan (A&D) on
25 September.

Lapland Bunting: the first of the
autumn were one on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 28-29 August
and 2 September, and one at Butt
of Lewis, Lewis (OH) on 31 August.
Small numbers were then seen on
the Northern and Western Isles in
September with higher counts of
10 on Fair Isle on 9th and 13th; 11
on Hirta, St. Kilda (OH) on 10th; 15
on Fair Isle on 18th, and 10 at Butt
of Lewis, Lewis on 19th. Elsewhere
one was at Carnan Mor, Tiree (Arg)
on 7th; one at Stempster, near
Thurso (Caith) on 13th; four at
Holborn Head, near Scrabster
(Caith) on 14th; singles on the Isle
of May on 14th and 24th, with two
there on 25th, and three on
26th.two at Milton, Tiree on 24th,
and one over West Hynish, Tiree on
28th, and one at Mull of Galloway
(D&G) on 30 September. Ortolan
Bunting: one was at Sumburgh,
Mainland (Shet) on 24 September,
and one at Haroldswick, Unst
(Shet) on 25th. Little Bunting: all
reports were in September. On
Shetland one was on Foula on
18th, with two there on 19—21st,
and another on 29th; one at
Leagarth, Fetlar on 24th; one at
Wester Quarff, Mainland on
28-29th, and one at Maywick,
Mainland on 29th. One was on Fair
Isle on 10th, and another on 30th.
One was on the Isle of May on 29
September. Black-headed
Bunting: one was at Girdle Ness,
Aberdeen (NES) on 25 August.
Black-and-white Warbler: one
was at Funzie, Fetlar (Shet) on 6
September. Baltimore Oriole: one
was at Halligarth, Unst (Shet) on
19th and 23 September.

33:4 (2013)

Scottish
Birds

The journal of the The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club
Index to Volume 33 (2013)

Issue 1 (March 2013) pages 1-96
Issue 2 June 2013) pages 97—192
Issue 3 (September 2013) pages 193-288
Issue 4 (December 2013) pages 289-384

Bold figures indicate a main article. Note: species
are indexed under their vernacular names.

Albatross, Black-browed; 92, 246, 256
Auk, Great; 162, 238

Auk, Little; 120, 192, 284, 377
Avocet; 190, 249, 284, 350

Bee-eater; 51, 90, 167, 280, 285

Bittern; 92, 98, 189, 283

Blackbird: 176, 225

Blackcap; 75-77

Bluetail, Red-flanked:; 379

Bluethroat; 95, 224, 287, 349, 351, 379
Bobolink; 96

Brambling: 168, 192

Brant, Black; 120

Bullfinch; FC (issue 4), 211, 224-225

Bunting, Black-headed; 288, 380

Bunting, Chestnut-eared; 96, 172-173

Bunting, Cirl; 120

Bunting, Lapland; 61, 88-90, 96, 192, 288, 380
Bunting, Little; 96, 118, 120, 172-173, 288, 380
Bunting, Ortolan; 100, 118, 120, 288, 349, 380
Bunting, Reed; 224

Bunting, Rustic; 96, 118, 120, 274, 288

Bunting, Snow; 192

Buzzard; 38-40, 44, 47-48, 98-99, 126, 136, 178
Buzzard, Honey (See Honey-buzzard)

Buzzard, Rough-legged; 39, 99, 108, 119-120, 190, 283, 375

Capercaillie; 17, 225, 332

Chaffinch; 67, 185-186, 223-225, 228
Chiffchaff; 136, 192

Chiffchaff, Iberian; 28

Chough; 132, 249, 254

Coot; 132, 259

Coot, American; 92

Cormorant; 52, 61, 299

Cormorant, Continental; 24, 99, 104, 119-120, 283
Corncrake; 58-59, 61, 133, 181, 332
Crake, Spotted; 92, 283, 351, 375
Crane; 163, 190, 283, 343, 375

Crane, Sandhill; 25, 162

Crossbill: 184-187, 254

33:4 (2013)

Crossbill, Parrot; 120, 380

Crossbill, Scottish; 120, 225

Crossbill, Two-barred; 288, 364, 374, 380
Crow, Carrion; 222

Crow, Hooded; 222

Guckoo#6i, 152-157, 161 225

Cuckoo, Yellow-billed; 27

Curlew; 108, 120, 132, 134, 259, 270, 284
Curlew, Eskimo; 18

Dipper; 156, 225, 254

Dipper, Black-bellied; 95

Diver, Blackthroated; 264-265

Diver, Great Northern; 179, 254

Diver, Pacific; 264-266, 282

Diver, Red-throated; 179, 254, 337

Diver, White-billed: 2, 102-103, 119-120, 178-180, 189, 231,
261-263, 281—283, 350

Dotterel: 195-205, 284

Dove, Collared; 61, 155, 247, 351

Dove, Mourning: 162

Dove, Rock; 61

Dove, Turtle; 93, 285, 377

Dowitcher, Long-billed; 93, 284

Duck, Black; 91, 189, 281

Duck, Ferruginous; 24, 120

Duck, Harlequin; 181-183, 189, 282

Duck, Long-tailed; FC (issue 1), 254, 337

Duck, Ring-necked; 91, 189, 282, 374

Duck, Ruddy; 85

Duck, Tufted; 235

Dunlin; 19, 74, 224

Dunnock; 60, 225

Eagle, Golden; 31-33, 34-36, 38-45, 46-48, 58, 62, 132, 254
Eagle, White-tailed; 38-39, 43, 47, 58, 62, 161, 248

Egret, Cattle; 24, 92, 105, 120

Egret, Great White; 98-99, 105-106, 120, 283

Egret, Little; 92, 98, 153, 190, 283, 350, 375

Eider; 3, 6-7, 64-65, 139, 142-143, 299, 327, 332, 360

Eider, King; 92, 189, 249, 282, 323, 374

Eider, Steller's; 249

Falcon, Eleonora’s; 39, 250

Falcon, Gyr; 18, 39, 92, 190, 283, 297, 345
Falcon, Red-footed; 39, 108, 120

Falcon, Saker; 18

Fieldfare; 168, 174-175, 178, 224

Firecrest; 93, 350

Flycatcher, Asian Brown; 162

Flycatcher, Collared; 29, 287

Flycatcher, Pied; 136

Flycatcher, Red-breasted; 75, 95, 166, 287, 379
Flycatcher, Spotted; 225, 254

Frigatebird, Ascension; 24, 352-355, 374-375
Frigatebird, Magnificent; 355

Fulmar; 3, 7, 13, 146-149, 317-322, BC (issue 1)

Gannet; 52, 140, 146, 248, 308-316
Garganey; 281, 374
Godwit, Blacktailed; 120, 254, 257

381

382

Goldcrest; 186, 211, 224-225

Goldfinch; 61, 247

Goose, Bean; 2, 257, 350

Goose, Brent; 254 (see also Brant, Black)

Goose, Canada; 91, 133, 188, 281, 374

Goose, Egyptian; 23, 99, 102, 119-120, 188

Goose, Greylag; 52, 60, 126

Goose, Pink-footed; 242

Goose, Red-breasted; 23, 91, 188, 281

Goose, Ross's; 91

Goose, Snow; 91, 188, 281, 374

Goose, White-fronted; 133

Goshawk; 38-40, 42, 47, 154, 222, 328, 346

Grebe, Little; 351

Grebe, Black-necked; 190, 235

Grebe, Pied-billed; 25, 92

Grebe, Red-necked; 190

Grebe, Slavonian; 235

Greenfinch; 22, 225

Greenshank; 225, 254

Grosbeak, Pine; FC (issue 2), 184-187, 192, 350

Grosbeak, Rose-breasted; 29

Grouse, Black; 17, 52, 254

Grouse, Red: 17, 31, 41, 45-46, 204-205, 224-225, 291,
294-297

Guillemot; 3, 11-14, 52, 146, 148-149, 157, 230

Guillemot, Black; 3, 11, 144, 146-147, 179, 182, 254, 332

Guillemot, Brunnich’s; 229-232, 284

Gull, Black-headed; 225, 338

Gull, Bonaparte's; 93, 190, 284

Gull, Caspian; 27, 100, 120-121

Gull, Common; 72, 170, 225

Gull, Franklin's; 26

Gull, Glaucous; 30, 93, 191, 284, 377

Gull, Great Black-backed; 9-10, 61, 146, 298-307

Gull, Herring; 3, 9, 71, 142, 146-147, 175, 298-307

Gull, Iceland; 2, 93, 181, 190-191, 247, 377

Gull, Ivory; 247

Gull, Kumlien’s; 191, 284

Gull, Laughing; 93, 170-171, 249, 377

Gull, Lesser Black-backed; 3, 9, 71, 171, 298-307

Gull, Little; 190

Gull, Mediterranean; 93, 170, 190, 194, 326, 330, 377

Gull, Ring-billed; 93, 99, 110, 190-191, 284, 377

Gull, Sabine's; 376

Gull, Yellow-legged; 26, 110, 119-120, 190, 284, 377

Gyrfalcon (see Falcon, Gyr)

Harrier, Hen; 38-39, 41, 45-47, 52, 63, 107, 185, 254, 351
Harrier, Marsh; 38-39, 43, 190

Harrier, Montagu's; 39, 107, 119-120

Harrier, Northern; 190

Harrier, Pallid; 25, 39, 107, 128, 170, 283, 375

Hawfinch; 96, 174, 192, 288

Heron, Night; 104, 332

Heron, Purple; 98, 106, 120

Heron, Squacco; 24

Hobby; 38-39, 44, 92, 137, 283, 375

Honey-buzzard; 38-39, 43, 51, 98, 283, 290, 327-328, 375

Hoopoe; 93, 249, 285, 377

Scottish Birds

Ibis, Glossy; 99, 119-120, 283, 375
Jackdaw; 61, 225

Kestrel; 38-40, 178, 209, 214, 249

Kestrel, American; 39

Kestrel, Lesser; 25, 39

Killdeer; 25

Kite, Black; 39, 107, 120, 283, 375

Kite, Red: 38-39, 42, 44-48 107, 122-124
Kittiwake; 3, 9, 12-14, 144, 146-151, 331, 359
Knot; 19

Knot, Great; 19

Lapwing; 61, 132, 160, 225

Lark, Calandra; 128

Lark, Crested; 128

Lark, Short-toed; 111, 120, 286, 378
Linnet; 132

Magpie; 133, 175, 256, 286

Mandarin; 91, 256

Martin, House; 132-133, 225

Martin, Sand; 132, 136, 224-225, 267
Merganser, Red-breasted; 179

Merlin; 38-40, 44, 61, 178, 218-228, 254, 328 -

Needletail, White-throated; 267-272, 285
Nightingale; 116, 119-121, 249, 287, 349
Nightingale, Thrush; 287, 323, 379
Nightjar; 247, 254, 285, 377

Nuthatch; 60-61, 95, 136-137, 192, 286

Oriole, Baltimore; 380

Oriole, Golden; 93, 285, 377

Osprey; 38-39, 42, 47, 52, 74, 156, 190, 254, 345, BC (issue 4)
Ouzel, Ring; 20, 132-133, 160, 192, 218, 224-225
Ovenbird; 22, 29

Owl, Barn; 163

Owl, Long-eared; 178, 348

Owl, Short-eared; 47, 61, 136, 254

Owl, Snowy; 165, 192, 285, 345-346, 377

Owl, Tawny; 141, 350

Oystercatcher; 136, 224-225

Partridge, Grey; 17, 136
Partridge, Red-legged; 17
Parula, Northern; 22-23

Peregrine; 38-45, 46-48, 52, 125-126, 222, 227-228, 254-255,

32]
Petrel, Bulwer's; 370
Petrel, Fea's; 24, 374
Petrel, Leach's; 3-15, 362, 364, 366-368
Petrel, Storm; 3-15, 17, 362, 365
Petrel, Swinhoe's; 362-370, 374
Petrel, Wilson's; 71, 120
Phalarope, Grey; 190, 284, 376
Phalarope, Red-necked; 284
Phalarope, Wilson's; 55-56, 376
Pheasant; 17, 44, 48, 161
Pheasant, Golden; 17

33:4 (2013)

Pipit, Blyth’s; 165

Pipit, Buff-bellied; 29, 96

Pipit, Meadow; 224-226

Pipit, Olive-backed; 78, 95, 185, 380

Pipit, Pechora; 96, 128, 380

Pipit, Red-throated; 116, 120, 350

Pipit, Richard's; 95, 192, 380

Pipit, Tawny; 116, 120, 287

Pipit, Tree; 224

Pipit, Water; 96, 99-100, 117, 119-120, 192, 287
Plover, American Golden; 92, 99, 108-110, 284, 375
Plover, Golden; 61, 137, 258

Plover, Greater Sand; 26

Plover, Grey; 254

Plover, Kentish; 25, 109, 120

Plover, Lesser Sand; 356-357, 375

Plover, Little Ringed; 284

Plover, Mongolian (see Plover, Lesser Sand)
Plover, Pacific Golden; 249, 375

Plover, Ringed; 156, 357

Pochard; 133

Ptarmigan; FC (issue 3), 17, 195-198, 200-205, 291-297
Puffin; 11-15, 139, 152, 157-159, 257, 331

Quail; 17

Rail, Water; 52, 254, 338-339

Raven; 60-61, 129

Razorbill; 3, 11-13, 52

Redhead; 22, 189

Redpoll, Arctic; 91, 96, 101, 117, 120, 192, 288, 380
Redpoll, Common (including Mealy); 22
Redpoll, Coues's (see Redpoll, Arctic)
Redpoll, Hornemann’s (see Redpoll, Arctic)
Redpoll, Lesser; 211, 225, 238, 254, 371
Redpoll, North-western; 16

Redshank; 69, 133, 190, 225

Redshank, Spotted; 190

Redstart; 67, 139, 168, 225, 371

Redstart, American; 22

Redstart, Black; 192

Redwing; 61, 168, 178, 186, 225

Robin; 36, 124-125, 165-166, 211, 223, 225
Robin, Rufous-tailed; 21, 29

Robin, Siberian Blue; 21, 29, 231

Roller; 40, 61, 285, 377

Rook; 175

Rosefinch, Common; 61, 96, 288, 380
Rubythroat, Siberian; 21, 29, 95

Ruff; 18-19

Sanderling; 19, 356-357

Sandgrouse, Pallas's; 163

Sandpiper, Baird's; 19, 92, 375

Sandpiper, Broad-billed; 18-19

Sandpiper, Buff-breasted; 18-19, 92, 284, 375
Sandpiper, Common; 224-225

Sandpiper, Curlew; 19

Sandpiper, Least; 19, 26

Sandpiper, Pectoral; 19, 92, 284, 375

33:4 (2013)

Sandpiper, Purple; 19, 254

Sandpiper, Semipalmated; 19, 26, 170, 323, 376
Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed; 19

Sandpiper, Spotted; 93

Sandpiper, Stilt; 19

Sandpiper, Upland; 26, 376

Sandpiper, Western; 19

Sandpiper, White-rumped; 19, 92, 109, 120, 284, 375
Sandpiper, Wood; 133

Scaup, Lesser; 91, 189, 282, 323

Scoter, Black; 24, 82-87

Scoter, Common; 82-87

Scoter, Surf; 86-87, 92, 181, 189, 282, 374
Scoter, White-winged; 23, 82, 87

Serin; 120

Shag; 3, 9, 13, 70, 146-147, 149, 151, 181, 243, 299
Shearwater, Balearic; 374

Shearwater, Cory's; 17, 103, 119-120, 374
Shearwater, Great; 103, 120, 374

Shearwater, Manx; 52, 58, 62, 189, 254
Shearwater, Sooty; 374

Shelduck; 254

Shorelark; 286

Shoveler; 52, 254

Shrike, Brown; 27, 378

Shrike, Great Grey; 93, 192, 206-217, 285
Shrike, Isabelline; 27, 93, 349

Shrike, Red-backed; 93, 285, 377

Shrike, Southern Grey; 27

Shrike, Woodchat; 111, 120, 273-274, 286, 349-351
Siskin; 78, 174, 211, 224-225, 238

Skua, Arctic; 65, 146-147, 149

Skua, Great; 6-7, 9, 13-15, 19, 60, 152

Skua, Long-tailed; 24, 181, 275-280, 284, 359, 376
Skua, Pomarine; 181, 194, 284, 376

Skylark; 60, 67, 224-225

Smew,; 189

Snipe; 133, 160, 224-225

Snipe, Jack; 72, 251-253, 254

Snipe, Wilson's; 55-56

Sparrow, House; 225

Sparrow, Savannah; 162

Sparrow, White-throated; 29

Sparrowhawk; 38-40, 46, 61, 74, 153-154, 169, 218-228, 237
Spoonbill; 283, 375

Starling: 224-225, 324, 372

Starling, Rose-coloured; 287, 379

Stilt, Black-winged; 350

Stint, Little; 19

Stint, Red-necked; 19

Stint, Temminck’s; 19, 284, 375

Stonechat; 21, 60, 132, 327

Stonechat, Siberian; 21, 95, 231, 349
Stone-curlew; 108, 120, 284

Stork, Black; 24, 283

Stork, White; 283

Swallow; 98, 224-225, 267, 337

Swallow, Red-rumped; 93, 99, 112, 119-120, 286
Swan, Bewick's; 281

Swan, Mute; 135, 351

Swan, Whooper; 254

383

384

Swift; 41, 81, 194, 225, 340-342

Swift, Alpine; 111, 119-120, 267

Swift, Needle-tailed (see Needletail, White-throated)
Swift, Pacific; 270

Teal; 125, 225

Teal, Blue-winged; 91, 189, 282, 374
Teal, Green-winged; 91, 189, 281, 323
Tern, Arctic; 3, 11, 145-147, 149, 336, BC (issue 2)
Tern, Black; 110, 120, 267, 284, 360, 377
Tern, Bridled; 350, 358-361, 374, 377
Tern, Common; 146-147, 149, 359

Tern, Gull-billed; 26, 377

Tern, Roseate; 194, 298-300

Tern, Sandwich; 19, 52, 146-147, 149, 191, 254
Tern, Sooty; 358

Tern, Whiskered; 26

Tern, White-winged Black; 110, 120, 284
Thrush, Black-throated; 95, 174-177, 192
Thrush, Eyebrowed; 95

Thrush, Grey-cheeked; 28

Thrush, Hermit; 28, 167

Thrush, Mistle; 168, 224-225, 238, 351
Thrush, Red-throated; 177

Thrush, Rock; 194, 371-374, 379
Thrush, Siberian; 20, 95, 349

Thrush, Song; 165, 168, 225

Thrush, Swainson’s; 28, 95, 164-167

Thrush, White's; 20, 95, 161, 168-169, 287, 350, 379

Tit, Blue; 81, 91, 93, 135, 225, 351
Tit, Coal; 91, 209, 211, 224-225, 351
Tit, Crested; 60, 225, BC (issue 3)
Tit, Great; 93, 225, 233, 240

Tit, Long-tailed; 91, 93-94, 334
Treecreeper; 81, 225, 246
Turnstone; 74

Twite; 132, 178, 211, 224, 254 371

Veery;20, 29, 55,162
Vireo, Red-eyed; 27, 165

Wagtail, Blue-headed; 21

Wagtail, ‘Channel’; 287

Wagtail, Citrine; 95, 287, 380

Wagtail, Eastern Blue-headed; 21

Wagtail, Grey; 225

Wagtail, Pied; 224-225

Wagtail, Yellow; 21, 30, 231, 287, 380
Warbler, Aquatic; 100, 120

Warbler, Arctic; 19, 94, 185, 286, 351, 378
Warbler, Barred: 94, 378

Warbler, Black-and-white; 22, 380
Warbler, Blackburnian; 22

Warbler, Blackpoll; 22

Warbler, Blyth’s Reed; 94, 165, 170, 286, 350, 379
Warbler, Booted; 20, 77, 379

Warbler, Canada; 56

Warbler, Cape May; 22

Warbler, Cetti's; 120

Warbler, Chestnut-sided; 22

Warbler, Dartford; 120

Scottish Birds

Warbler, Dusky; 94, 100, 113-114, 120
Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous; 20, 28, 75-77, 94
Warbler, Grasshopper; 133, 254

Warbler, Great Reed: 94, 286

Warbler, Greenish; 94, 113, 120, 286, 378
Warbler, Hooded; 22, 56

Warbler, Hume's; 28, 94

Warbler, Icterine; 286, 379

Warbler, Lanceolated; 94, 379

Warbler, Magnolia; 23

Warbler, Marmora’s; 19

Warbler, Marsh; 94, 100, 115, 120, 286, 379
Warbler, Melodious; 114-115, 120, 286, 349-350
Warbler, Olive-tree; 20

Warbler, Paddyfield; 94, 128, 286

Warbler, Pallas's Grasshopper, 94, 379
Warbler, Pallas’s; 61, 94, 331

Warbler, Radde's; 94, 113, 120, 350
Warbler, Reed; 94

Warbler, River; 286, 379

Warbler, Sardinian; 286, 378-379

Warbler, Savi's; 20, 28

Warbler, Sedge; 133, 225

Warbler, Subalpine; 101, 114, 120-121, 286, 378
Warbler, Sykes's; 20, 28, 77, 165, 379
Warbler, Tennessee; 22, 162

Warbler, Thick-billed; 20, 162

Warbler, Western Bonelli's; 28, 378

Warbler, Willow; 60, 224-225

Warbler, Wilson's; 55-56

Warbler, Wood; 136, 254

Warbler, Yellow; 22

Warbler, Yellow-browed; 75, 94, 378
Warbler, Yellow-rumped; 22

Waxwing; 63, 70, 73, 95, 174, 192, 225, 257, 260, 286

Waxwing, Cedar; 379

Wheatear; 67, 192, 224-225

Wheatear, Black; 233-235

Wheatear, Desert; 95, 192

Wheatear, Pied; 29, 95, 349

Whimbrel; 18, 254

Whimbrel, Hudsonian; 18, 376

Whinchat; 21, 224-225

Wigeon; 125

Wigeon, American; 91, 189, 281

Woodcock; 60, 128, 178, 225, 234
Woodlark; 93-94, 112, 120, 192
Woodpecker, Black; 153-154

Woodpecker, Great Spotted; 78, 81, 133, 225
Woodpecker, Green; 156

Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted; 23, 78-81, 93
Woodpigeon; 125-126, 223-225

Wren; 209, 211, 224-225, 334

Wryneck; 61, 81, 93, 247, 285, 371, 377

Yellowhammer; 132, 135-136, 174, 351
Yellowlegs, Greater; 26

Yellowlegs, Lesser; 93, 284, 323, 376
Yellowthroat, Common; 22

33:4 (2013)

Advice to contributors

There is a basic division in Scottish Birds between papers and short notes that are peer-reviewed and articles,
news and Club items that are not. This split in content is differentiated by fonts used and paper colour.

The first part accepts manuscripts on the status, distribution and populations of birds in Scotland and, partic-
ularly, changes in these over time. Write-ups of census work find a natural home in this section, as do the
culmination of research topics and updates to information in The Birds of Scotland (Forrester et al. 2007).
Original work and observations are encouraged, but summary papers will be considered and key-note papers of
a more general nature may occasionally be commissioned. Papers should be fully referenced as in any scientific
work, and our house style should be followed. Articles of less than 700 words are generally considered as Short
Notes, but are otherwise in the same format.

Authors should bear in mind that only a small proportion of the Scottish Birds readership are scientists and
should aim to present their material concisely, interestingly and clearly. Unfamiliar technical terms and symbols
should be avoided wherever possible and, if deemed essential, should be explained. Supporting statistics should
be kept to a minimum. All papers and short notes are accepted on the understanding that they have not been
offered for publication elsewhere and that they will be subject to editing. Papers will be acknowledged on receipt
and are normally reviewed by at least two members of the editorial panel and, in most cases also by an
independent referee. They will normally be published in order of acceptance of fully revised manuscripts.

Scottish Birds publishes obituaries of Club members and others who have contributed to Scottish ornithology.
These are organised through Waterston House, where the Cities Manager will liaise with contributors. Book
reviews are organised through the Club Librarian.

The second part of Scottish Birds welcomes informal as well as more serious contributions about any aspect of
birds and their habitats in Scotland. It is not peer-reviewed, has minimal editing and contributions can be
descriptive, anecdotal, controversial, humorous or quirky. They can report on surveys, express opinions, describe
birds and places, look back into history, speculate as to the future and can represent organisations or be the work
of private individuals. The documentation of rare and scarce birds in Scotland, plus a wide range of identification,
site and species related information is lavishly illustrated by high quality colour photographs. We welcome
photographs, maps, cartoons, and will accept basic graphs and tables when relevant. Meeting reports or field trip
accounts are all welcome, but our main aim is to focus on Scottish birds in Scotland or abroad. We will
occasionally include articles from other parts of the world and sometimes about other wildlife. In terms of length,
we accept anything from short notes up to articles of c. 2,000 words. There are no strict guidelines as to format,
but we would encourage contributors to follow our house style shown in the excerpts from a recent issue
available on the SOC publications web page.

Please submit articles! We very much wish to encourage unsolicited contributions to this part of Scottish Birds.
The editors spend much time requesting articles - a task that would be far less onerous if they are submitted freely
from members and other readers. We wish to make it as easy as possible for contributors to send us material that
reflects the enormous range of news, work and opinion relevant to Scotland's birds.

Text, image and graphics formats

Contributions should preferably be submitted in electronic format either on disk or by email to mail@the-
soc.org.uk, stating the type of word processing package used if not Microsoft Word or a generic ‘rich text format:
Only short articles and letters can be accepted in printed or hand written form. No fees are paid.

Tables, maps and diagrams should be designed to fit either a single column or the full page width. Table and
photograph captions should be self explanatory and should be able to stand alone from the text. Please include
all captions after the text. For photographs please supply the locality and month/year taken, together with the
name of the photographer.

Maps and other graphics should preferably be provided in eps (Encapsulated PostScript) format, or as a high
resolution jpg/tiff file, good quality computer print-out or drawn in black ink. Other formats can be accepted;
please liaise with the Office Manager. Photographs should be supplied as high resolution jpg/tiff files with
minimal or no cropping or enhancement.

Reference should be made to The Birds of Scotland (Forrester et al. 2007) for guidance on style of presentation,
use of capitals, form of references, etc. Detailed instructions for contributors with respect to house style
conventions can be found on the SOC website’s publication page.

Please send all correspondence to the SOC Office Manager at Waterston
House, Aberlady, East Lothian EH32 OPY or e-mail mail@the-soc.org.uk.
Telephone 01875 871330 or e-mail for further advice and assistance.

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a ee Be
Plate 355. In August, 1 finally managed to book the rion hide from Rothiemurchus Estates; booking the
_ hide is ‘something | have been wanting to do for a few years and have always been too busy. The first
Osprey flew in about 06.10 while it was still quite dark, so | had to = the ISO to 3200 and still only got
1/160 sec. The picture was obviously blurred which emphas
and eyes were sharp - which | thought made the ‘In the spray behind the Osprey was an adult
female Mallard, which appeared to be biting and hanging on to the upper back of the Osprey. After that |

looked for the Mallard and saw one of the female Mallards around the pool had three well grown

__ ducklings, so | presumed that was the Mallard that had attacked the Osprey. There were not that many ~

ae _ Osprey dives that morning, a local ose had —- to call the pool his own territory, often sitting in a

ut

_ just goes to emphasise the sheer ad and skill of the Osprey in a successful capture of a fish.

Equipment used: Canon 1D Mk 4 with Canon 300 f2.8 lens on a tripod, shutter speed 1/1600 sec at f5
and ISO 2500.

David Devonport, Elgin, Moray. Email: dave.forbirds @btinternet.com

\

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