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NATURAL HISTORY
MUSEUM LIBRARY

2 0 SEP 2016

Scottish Birds 8 0

published by the

SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 36(3) September 2016

2016

Natural History Museum Library

Scottish

Birds

Established in 1958.

Published quarterly by:

The Scottish Ornithologists' Club,
Waterston House, Aberlady,

East Lothian EH32 OPY.

Email: maiI@the-soc.org.uk
Phone: 01875 871330
www.the-soc.org.uk

www.facebook.com/ScotlandsBirdClub

twitter.com/ScottishBirding

Editors:

Co-ordinating editor

Ian Andrews

Peer-reviewed papers

Dr Stan da Prato
Assisted by:

Dr I. Bainbridge
Dr M. Marquiss
Dr C.R. McKay
Dr W.T.S. Miles
R. Swann

Articles , news and views

Jimmy Maxwell
Dr Stuart L. Rivers
Harry Scott

Editorial correspondence:

c/o SOC, Waterston House,
Aberlady, East Lothian EH32 OPY.
Email: mail@the-soc.org.uk

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Front Cover:

'Mac' the Mandarin, Walker Dam,
Aberdeen, North-east Scotland,
28 February 2016. © Harry Scott

ISSN 0036-9144

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
Bird Report online.

More about the SOC...

On the one hand, a birdwatching club. Established in 1936, the
Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) is Scotland’s bird club with 15
branches around the country and a growing membership of over
3,000. 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 reserved 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.

Join us...

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
their subscription by direct debit.

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details of how to join, please visit www.the-soc.org.uk or
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Scottish Birds 36:3

194 President's Foreword J. Main

NATURAL HISTORY
MUSEUMdsJiBRARY

2 0 SEP 2016

PAPERS

195 Diet of Snowy Owl on the Cairngorm plateau in 2013 and 2014 M. Marquiss, R. Ince & I. Perks

199 Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies R.W. Forrester on behalf of the Scottish
Birds Records Committee

203 Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland S. Busuttil, M. Cook, R. Duncan, M. Oksien & R.M. Sellers

SHORT NOTES

208 A Curlew foraging on a cobble shore R. Summers

210 Kingfisher apparently taking berries H.E.M. Dott

211 Ring-necked Parakeets potentially nesting in Scotland for the first time C.J. Mclnerny

213 Possible Scandinavian Rock Pipit nesting in Lothian in 2016 I.J. Andrews

214 The breeding of a mixed pair of Roseate and Common Terns in Lothian in 2016 I.J. Andrews
& K. Gillon

LETTER

216 Do adult Golden Eagles teach their offspring to hunt? D. Walker

OBITUARIES

218 Joe Potter (1933-2015) T. Youd

219 Klaus Dietrich Fiuczynski (1938-2014) R. Downing

ARTICLES, NEWS & VIEWS

Scotland's Big Nature Festival 2016, Levenhall Links, Musselburgh, 21-22 May J. Cleaver
222 NEWS AND NOTICES

224 Inspiring the next generation of young naturalists - 'A Focus on Nature' mentoring scheme

J. Cleaver

226 ARTIST PROFILES Chris Rose & Lisa Hooper

230 A magical day with Ray I. Young

231 BOOK REVIEWS
234 RINGERS' ROUNDUP

237 The mind-boggling movements of 'Mac' the Mandarin H.l. Scott
242 Spring records of Black-tailed Godwits in Scotland G.F. Appleton

246 Breeding Little Gulls at RSPB Scotland Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve, North-east Scotland
in 2016 R. Humpidge

249 Scottish flava fest I.J. Andrews & S. Gillies

253 Black-headed Bunting, Isle of Skye, Highland, June 2016 S. Robson

256 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, West Burra, 3-4 May 2016 - the first Shetland record L. Goodlad

260 White-crowned Sparrow, Isle of Lewis, 3-31 May 2016 - the first Outer Hebrides record

J. MacFarlane & B.A.E. Marr

264 Green Warbler at Baltasound, Shetland, 12-15 May 2016 - first record for Scotland M. Pennington
269 Black-billed Cuckoo, Bayhead, North Uist, 22-31 May 2016 - first Outer Hebrides record R. Levett
273 Gull-billed Tern, Belhaven, 28 May 2016 - the first Lothian record M. Hannam
277 Aspects of spring migration in 2016 C.R. McKay

SIGHTINGS

282 Scottish Bird Sightings 1 April to 30 June 2016 S.L. Rivers

PHOTOSPOT

BC Snipe family E. Duthie

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

193

President's Foreword

It will probably come as a surprise to many of you
that Ian Thomson has resigned as President of the
Club. Ian has had several ongoing health
problems within his family, which have meant
that he felt unable to spend as much time as he
would have liked on SOC business. Given all the
circumstances, he thought that the best way
forward was to tender his resignation at our last
meeting of Council. I was not due to become
President until October 2017, but I will fill in as
Acting President until this year’s Annual General
Meeting. I should like to thank Ian for all he has
done for the Club, both at a local level over many
years and during his two years as Vice President
and his short time as President. We would all like
to give our best wishes to Ian and his family.

June of this year saw the third successful Young
Birdwatchers’ Training Course on the Isle of May,
organised by the Club in conjunction with the Isle
of May Bird Observatory. As in previous years, six keen youngsters stayed on the island for a
week learning ringing, recording and other skills. The course was led by Stuart Rivers and Mark
Oksien and assisted by Alison Creamer with support from CEH and SNH.

Once again the Club had a stand at the Big Nature Festival at Levenhall Links in Musselburgh in
May. The Fair was well attended and the weather was relatively kind. It is always a good
opportunity to meet up with friends and other like-minded organisations. After some years’
representation at the British Bird Fair at Rutland it was decided that the Club should not be
represented there this year. It is expensive and a big commitment for those attending - we will
review this each year.

As I write this, the organisation of our Annual Conference, from 23 to 25 September, is well under
way. I am delighted that the venue will once again be the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry, which
provided us with outstanding facilities last autumn. The theme this year is Scotland’s Seas and
we are fortunate to have a number of excellent speakers on a variety of related topics. Detailed
information is available on the Club’s website. I should especially like to thank the staff at
Waterston House for all their hard work, not only in organising the Conference, but also in
running the Club so efficiently.

Over the past couple of months I have had great support from Council and various past Presidents
have given me advice and encouragement since I took over as Acting President. I am most
grateful to them and to Paul Taylor who agreed to be Acting Vice President until the Annual
General Meeting. Dave Heeley and Alan Fox have been exemplary in their respective roles and in
providing sage advice.

With the migratory season coming up, I hope you all have a good autumn’s birding and I look
forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Annual Conference.

James Main, Acting SOC President

Plate 156. James Main, Waterston House, Aberlady,
Lothian, August 2016. © James Main

194

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

Plate 157. Snowy Owl, Cairngorm plateau, September 2014. © Robert Ince

Diet of Snowy Owl
on the Cairngorm plateau
in 2013 and 2014

M. MARQUISS, R. INCE & I. PERKS

Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus is a scarce but virtually annual migrant to Scotland, individuals
sometimes staying for protracted periods of months to years (Cook 2014). The habitats occupied
by long-staying birds resemble the open terrain of their northern provenance and include ‘arctic
alpine’, heather moorland, maritime heath and coastal sand dunes (M. Pennington, in Forrester et
al. 2007). Snowy Owl has bred in Scotland on maritime heath in Shetland (Tulloch 1968). Watson
(1966) pointed out that Snowy Owls occurred in the Cairngorms (Highland/North-east
Scotland/Moray ft Nairn) in years of Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus abundance and suggested that
breeding might be possible in a year of high Ptarmigan numbers.

Owls consume their food in large pieces with little plucking, so their oral pellets include
undigested bones, fur and feather that give a very good index of diet. The diet of Snowy Owl in
Scotland is thus well documented with results from seven studies involving six different places:
Fetlar, Shetland (Robinson ft Becker 1986), Eday, Orkney (Balfour 1964), Lewis, Outer Hebrides
(Marquiss ft Cunningham 1980), St Kilda, also Outer Hebrides (Miles ft Money 2008), Lower
Speyside moorland, Highland (Nethersole-Thompson ft Watson 1981) and in the high Cairngorm
mountains (Tewnion 1954, D.N. Weir cited in Nethersole-Thompson ft Watson 1981, Marquiss et

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds: 195-198

195

Diet of Snowy Owl on the Cairngorm plateau in 2013 and 2014

al. 1989). As in the breeding range, the documented diets for Scotland comprise few species, but
differ markedly in the lack of large rodents because Scotland does not have lemmings. Instead the
main species consumed are young lagomorphs or large birds, Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus or
Ptarmigan inland and seabirds or waders on the coast. Small mammals are consumed e.g. mice
on St Kilda and voles in the Cairngorms, but provide relatively little sustenance compared to other
items. The lagomorphs taken are principally juvenile Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus up to half
grown and leverets of Mountain Hare Lepus timidus up to a third grown.

The differences in diet between studies largely reflects the different habitats occupied but with the
exception of the study of five owls on St Kilda (Miles ft Money 2008) each study involved the
diet of a single owl. The present note documents the diet of the most recent Snowy Owl(s) living
on the Cairngorms plateau. In both 2013 and 2014, a male owl occupied the same range as
previous individuals, using the same roosts and perches, so there was the opportunity to directly
compare the contents of pellets cast by the 2013/14 owl(s) with those of pellets cast by two other
individuals, a male in 1980, and a female in 1987. More pellets were collected from the recent
owl than previously, and over a longer period, so there was additionally the opportunity to search
for variation in diet with season.

The records of Snowy Owl on the Cairngorms plateau suggested that a male bird was present in
2013 from at least 17 February to 4 March and in 2014 from 19 May to 17 October (Cook 2014).
It is unknown whether the same bird was involved throughout, but comparison of digital images
showed plumage similarities suggesting it could have been the same bird and this was the
conclusion of the BBRC (Nigel Hudson in lit.). Thirty-five pellets were collected from owl perches
from June to October 2014. Nineteen were recently cast, but 16 others were eroded and had lain
for some time, some since the previous winter. Four further pellets collected in June 2015 were
similarly eroded and had probably been cast in late autumn 2014.

Plate 158. A Snowy Owl pellet with a Ptarmigan tarsus clearly visible (centre), Cairngorm plateau, September 2014.
© Robert Ince

196

Scottish Birds: 195-198

36:3 (2016)

Diet of Snowy Owl on the Cairngorm plateau in 2013 and 2014

Plate 159. A Snowy Owl pellet below a perching boulder, Cairngorm plateau, September 2014. © Robert Ince

Overall, the 39 pellets contained the undigested remains of at least 50 food items; predominantly 36
Ptarmigan (72% of items), but additionally eight Mountain Hare leverets (16%), five Short-tailed
Field Voles Microtus agrestis and one Water Vole Arvicola terrestris. The main difference from the
previous samples was that in 2013/14, the pellets contained predominantly adult Ptarmigan. Unlike
the samples from the 1980s, there were relatively fewer Ptarmigan chicks and no waders (Table 1).

Of those pellets collected in 2014, the content of 19 fresh pellets differed from that of 16 eroded
pellets in that the latter contained only full grown Ptarmigan (Table 2). Mountain Hare leverets,
Ptarmigan chicks and voles were only present in pellets cast in summer and autumn.

Table l.The food items recorded in 39 pellets from 2013/14 compared with those from six pellets in 1980 and 24 in 1987.

Food species

Minimum number of items in

sample

1980

1987

2013/14

Ptarmigan (full grown)

Red Grouse (full grown)

gamebird chicks*

wader chicks**

Mountain Hare leveret

Short-tailed Field Vole

Water Vole

Total items

* most (probably all) were Ptarmigan

** at least 3 (probably all) were Dotterel

Table 2. The food items in 19 recently cast pellets from summer and autumn 2014, compared with those in 16 eroded
pellets that had lain long; some since winter 2013/14.

Food item

Ptarmigan (full grown)
Ptarmigan (chicks)
Mountain Hare leveret
Short-tailed Field Vole
Water Vole
Total items

Recent pellets

Eroded pellets

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds: 195-198

197

Diet of Snowy Owl on the Cairngorm plateau in 2013 and 2014

Plate 160. Snowy Owl, Cairngorm plateau, August 2014. © Robert Ince

The difference in the contents of fresh as opposed to eroded pellets was consistent with the idea
that the main food of Cairngorms Snowy Owl was full grown Ptarmigan in winter and spring,
shifting to include leverets, voles and young birds as they became available in summer. Such a
seasonal shift in diet is sufficient explanation for the difference in the contents of pellet samples
from the three years (Table 1). The preponderance of adult Ptarmigan in the 2014 sample might
simply reflect the high proportion of pellets from winter and early spring. The results of the
present pellet analysis endorse previous studies and enhance the prevailing view that Snowy Owls
living in the high Cairngorms are sustained by Ptarmigan, and by analogy with circumstance in
Iceland might perhaps breed, but only in a year of high Ptarmigan abundance.

References

Balfour, E. 1964. Snowy Owls in Aberdeenshire, Banff, Shetland and Orkney. Scottish Birds 3: 34.
Cook, M. 2014. Snowy Owls - recent sightings in Scotland. Scottish Birds 34: 357-361.

Forrester, R.W., Andrews, I.J., Mclnerny, C.J., Murray, R.D., McGowan, R.Y., Zonfrillo, B., Betts,
M.W., Jardine, D.C. 8t Grundy, D.S. (eds) 2007. The Birds of Scotland. Scottish Ornithologists’
Club. Aberlady.

Marquiss, M. ft Cunningham, W. A. J. 1980. Food of Snowy Owls in Outer Hebrides. Scottish Birds
11: 56-57.

Marquiss, M., Smith, R. £t Galbraith, H. 1989. Diet of Snowy Owl on Cairn Gorm Plateau in 1980
and 1987. Scottish Birds 15: 180-181.

Miles, W.T.S. £t Money, S. 2008. Behaviour and diet of non breeding Snowy Owls on St Kilda.
Scottish Birds 28: 11-18.

Nethersole-Thompson, D. 8t Watson, A. 1981. The Cairngorms: their natural history and scenery.
2nd Edition. The Melvin Press, Perth.

Robinson, M. £t Becker, C.D. 1986. Snowy Owls on Fetlar. British Birds 79: 228-242.

Tewnion, A. 1954. The snowy owl: an arctic bird in the Cairngorms. Cairngorm Club Journal 17:
25-27.

Tulloch, RJ. 1968. Snowy Owls breeding in Shetland in 1967. British Birds 61: 119-132.

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

Mick Marquiss, Saughtrees, South Bandodle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire AB51 7NN.

Email: m.marquiss@btinternet.com

Robert Ince, Lower Chanie, Boharm, Craigellachie, Banffshire AB38 9RL.

Ian Perks, RSPB, Forest Lodge, Nethybridge, Inverness-shire PH25 3EF.

Revised ms accepted June 2016

198

Scottish Birds: 195-198

36:3 (2016)

Plate 161. Moltoni's Subalpine Warbler, Fair Isle, 17 May 2015. © Lee Gregory

Amendments to the Scottish
List: species and subspecies

THE SCOTTISH BIRDS RECORDS COMMITTEE

In 1993, the Council of The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) delegated to the Scottish Birds
Records Committee (SBRC) responsibility for producing a Scottish List and publishing regular
amendments. The list was first published in 1994 and SBRC appointed a Subcommittee to
maintain it; the current members are Dave Clugston, Ron Forrester, Angus Hogg, Bob McGowan,
Chris Mclnerny and Roger Riddington.

SBRC established several principles for the original version of the Scottish List , which are still
followed. The British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) has maintained the official British List since
1883 and SBRC adopts its taxonomy, sequence, scientific and English names for the Scottish List.
Similarly, species categorization follows BOU.

The BOU Records Committee (BOURC) normally only adjudicates on the first British record for
any taxon. The responsibility then lies with the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) for
acceptance of all subsequent records of rare species and subspecies in Britain. Similarly, SBRC
is responsible for acceptance of records of species and subspecies which fall outside the remit
of BBRC, but which remain rare in a Scottish context. Decisions by BOURC, BBRC and SBRC
automatically apply to the Scottish List.

The Scottish List was most recently published in full in 2011, with updates in 2013, 2014 and 2015
(Forrester 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015). Since then, there have been several publications that affect
the Scottish List. BOURC has published its 45th Report (BOU 2016) and the Taxonomic Sub-
Committee of BOURC (BOURC-TSC) has published its 11th report (Sangster ct al. 2016). Also, BBRC
and SBRC have produced reports for 2014 (Hudson ct al. 2015, McGowan ft Mclnerny 2016).

Taxonomy and the Scottish List

The Scottish List has followed the taxonomy used for the British List for which BOU has respon¬
sibility, with SBRC reports including information published in BOURC Taxonomic Subcommittee’s
reports since 2002.

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds: 199-202

199

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies

For many years BOU has been seeking to establish a unified European-wide taxonomic model.
However, limited progress has been made, with five separate national taxonomic groups
(including the BOU’s own) unable to reach a consensus through the Association of European
Records and Rarities Committees (AERC) since its establishment in 1991.

With no resolution in sight, and with each country under obligation to retain control of the
taxonomy used for their own national lists, BOU Council felt that the continued existence of
national groups was not in the best interests of ornithology, and was a barrier preventing the
establishment of a unified European taxonomy.

With a view to resolving this issue, BOU has therefore disbanded its own Taxonomic
Subcommittee and is now reviewing the available global taxonomies with a view to adopting one
system for all BOU activities, including the British List. This decision is a reflection of the
importance that BOU Council places on establishing a unified ^European avian taxonomy.

BOURC decisions which affect the Scottish List

Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus

There have been many claims of Isabelline Shrike showing characteristics of the nominate
subspecies L. i. isabellinus. However, because identification criteria for first-year birds and
females are not definitive, the adult male recorded on Fetlar, Shetland, 14-17 September 2002
(. British Birds 96: 600-601) is now accepted as the first British record of L. i. isabellinus. All
prior records are instead classified as ‘subspecies undetermined’ (BOU 2016).

Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler Sylvia subalpina

Although Sylvia subalpina was previously given the English name Moltoni’s Warbler (BOU 2014),
BOURC now use Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler (BOU 2015), which consequently is also used for the
Scottish List.

BOURC Taxonomic Sub-committee decisions which affect the Scottish List

Recommendations in the BOURC Taxonomic Sub-committee 11th Report [ibis 158: 206-212)
are followed.

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus

Based on a recent study which uncovered substantial genetic divergence between cyaneus and
hudsonius Hen Harrier is now treated as two species:

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus (monotypic)

Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius (monotypic)

Add Northern Harrier to Category A of the Scottish List.

Crakes in the genus Porzana

Little Crake and Baillon’s Crake are transferred from Porzana to the genus Zapornia and their
scientific names become as follows:

Little Crake Zapornia parva
Baillon’s Crake Zapornia pusilla

Charadriidae

A recent study indicated that some species previously placed in the genus Charadrius are best
moved to Anarhynchus. As a result, scientific names for Kentish, Lesser Sand, Greater Sand and
Caspian Plovers become as follows:

Kentish Plover Anarhynchus alcxandrinus
Lesser Sand Plover Anarhynchus mongolus
Greater Sand Plover Anarhynchus Icschcnaultii
Caspian Plover Anarhynchus asiaticus

200

Scottish Birds: 199-202

36:3 (2016)

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies

Following another study, the taxonomic sequence of Charadriidae species on the Scottish List
becomes as follows:

Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria
American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
Dotterel Charadrius morinellus
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Sociable Plover Vancllus gregarius
White-tailed Plover Vancllus Icucurus
Lapwing Vancllus vancllus
Caspian Plover Anarhynchus asiaticus
Greater Sand Plover Anarhynchus Icschcnaultii
Lesser Sand Plover Anarhynchus mongolus
Kentish Plover Anarhynchus alcxandrinus

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is transferred from the genus Dendrocopos to Dryobates and its
name becomes:

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor
Taxonomic sequence of Sylvia warblers

Whilst a recent study has suggested that relationships among species within the Sylvia genus are
best expressed by the use of two subgenera, this approach is not currently being introduced to the
Scottish List. Following this same study, the sequence of species within the genus Sylvia has been
altered. The order in which they appear on the Scottish List is now:

Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla
Garden Warbler Sylvia borin
Barred Warbler Sylvia nisoria
Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca
Rtippell’s Warbler Sylvia rucppclli
Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanoccphala
Moltoni’s Subalpine Warbler Sylvia subalpina
Subalpine Warbler Sylvia cantillans
Whitethroat Sylvia communis
Marmora’s Warbler Sylvia sarda
Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata

Taxonomic sequence of Emberiza buntings

Whilst recent studies have suggested that relationships among species within the Emberiza genus
are best expressed by the use of three subgenera, this approach is not currently being introduced
to the Scottish List. Following the same studies, the sequence of species within the genus Emberiza
has been altered. The order in which they appear on the Scottish List is now:

Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala
Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra
Chestnut-eared Bunting Emberiza fucata
Cretzschmar’s Bunting Emberiza caesia
Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana
Cirl Bunting Emberiza eirlus

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds: 199-202

201

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies

Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella
Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos
Pallas’s Reed Bunting Emberiza pallasi
Reed Bunting Emberiza schoenielus
Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola
Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys
Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla
Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica
Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodoeephala

Scottish List category totals

As a result of the above changes the Scottish List, category totals are now:

Category A 510

Category B 6

Category C 8

Total 524 x

Category D 10

Records of species and subspecies recorded in Scotland on up to 20 occasions

Comprehensive lists of all records of species and subspecies recorded in Scotland on up to 20
occasions now appear on the SOC’s website in tabulated form (www.the-soc.org.uk/up-to-20-
occasions). The lists are updated annually.

Acknowledgements

I thank Chris Mclnerny and Bob McGowan for commenting on a first draft of this paper.

References

British Ornithologists’ Union. 2013. The British List: A Checklist of Birds of Britain (8th edition).

Ibis 155: 635-676. Compiled by Harrop, A.H.J., Collinson, J.M., Dudley, S.P., Kehoe, C and the BOURC.
British Ornithologists’ Union. 2015. Records Committee: 44th Report (January 2015). Ibis 157: 413.
British Ornithologists’ Union. 2016. Records Committee: 45th Report (October 2015). Ibis 158:
202-205.

Forrester, R.W. on behalf of Scottish List Subcommittee, Scottish Birds Records Committee. 2011.

The Scottish List. The official list of birds recorded in Scotland. Scottish Birds 31: Supplement 1.
Forrester, R.W. on behalf of Scottish List Subcommittee, Scottish Birds Records Committee. 2013.

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies. Scottish Birds 33: 16-30.

Forrester, R.W. on behalf of Scottish List Subcommittee, Scottish Birds Records Committee. 2014.

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies. Scottish Birds 34: 211-217.

Forrester, R.W. on behalf of Scottish List Subcommittee, Scottish Birds Records Committee. 2015.

Amendments to the Scottish List: species and subspecies. Scottish Birds 35: 195-198.

Hudson, N. and the Rarities Committee. 2015. Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 2014. British
Birds 108: 565-633.

McGowan, R.Y. 8t Mclnerny, C.J. on behalf of the Scottish Birds Records Committee. 2016.

Scottish Birds Records Committee report on rare birds in Scotland, 2014. Scottish Birds 36: 99-120.
Sangster, G., Collinson, J.M., Crochet, P-A., Kirwan, G.M., Knox, A.G., Parkin, D.T. 8t Votier, S.C.
2016. Taxonomic recommendations for Western Palaearctic birds: 11th report. Ibis 158: 206-212.

Ronald W Forrester, Scottish List Subcommittee, Scottish Birds Records Committee,
East Bank, Eastlands Road, Rothesay, Isle of Bute PA20 9JZ.

Email: ronandedith@btinternet.com

Revised ms accepted July 2016

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Plate 162. Common Terns nesting on sloping roof, Wick, Caithness, 25 May 2014; nests associated with patches of
grass, moss and stonecrop. © R.M. Sellers

Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland

S. BUSUTTIL, M. COOK, R. DUNCAN, M. OKSIEN & R.M. SELLERS

Roof-nesting by terns Sternidae is a comparatively recent phenomenon and in Europe remains one
that is very unusual. Some nine sites have been identified in Scotland at which nesting on roofs
has taken place and this report summarises what is known about these; all were on the east coast
of Scotland between Caithness and the Isle of May, the earliest having taken place in Montrose in
1996. The sites selected were mainly the roofs of factories or commercial premises, but included
also a farm building and a newly constructed visitor centre with a green roof. Individual colonies
have varied in size from a single breeding pair up to a maximum of 160 breeding pairs. The larger
colonies typically held both Common and Arctic Terns, the smaller ones just the former. One
instance of a breeding attempt on a roof by a Roseate Tern is also noted. Reasons for the adoption
of this new breeding habitat and its consequences in terms of conflict with man are discussed.

Introduction

Over the past half century or so, seabirds have taken to nesting on roofs in urban areas in many parts
of the world. Such behaviour is most familiar amongst gulls Laridae and globally at least 14 species
have been recorded nesting on roofs or other man-made structures (Sellers 2016). Terns Sternidae have
also taken to nesting on roofs, but the practice is by no means as common or widespread in this family
as it is in the Laridae. In the United States, where it is most firmly established, five species (Gull-billed
Tern Gelochelidon nilotica, Royal Tern Sterna maxima, Common Tern S. hirundo, Roseate Tern S.
dougallii and Least Tern Stemula albifrons) are on record as having nested on roofs, and from South
Africa there is a record of Greater Crested Terns (Swift Terns) Thalasseus bergii breeding on roofs
(further details in Sellers 2016). There have been occasional reports of similar behaviour in Europe, for
instance by Common Terns in Finland (Hakala ft Jokinen 1971), England (Axell ft Hosking 1977,
Skinner 1998), the Netherlands (Bouwmeester ft van Dijk 1991, Groen et al. 1995, Stienen 2002) and
Latvia (Strazds 2002, ‘Live Riga’ website 2010) and by Arctic Terns S. paradisaea in Finland (‘Nature
Vaasa’ website). This remains, nevertheless, a relatively unusual occurrence in Europe and in view of
this we summarise here the first records of roof-nesting by terns in Scotland.

36:3 (2016)

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Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland

Methods

Details of the sites identified and numbers of birds breeding were provided as follows (listed north to
south): Thurso and Wick (RMS), Aberlour (MC), Dyce and Westhill (RD), Montrose (SB) and- Isle of
May (MO). To ensure that no others had been overlooked we also sought information on roof-nesting
terns from the Seabird Colony Register (JNCC 2010), bird reports for all parts of Scotland published
between 1995 and 2015, and circulated a request for information to all Bird Recorders in Scotland,
but these failed to unearth any further records.

As with gulls, roof-nesting terns can be difficult to census accurately when there are no suitable vantage
points from which nests can be viewed. In such cases (and this applies particularly to the colonies in
North-east Scotland and at Montrose in what follows) a combination of counts of nests, chicks and the
total number of adult birds present have been used to obtain the best estimate possible. Even so,
substantial uncertainties remain and in several instances the figures quoted are minimum estimates.

Results

This survey identified nine locations at which terns have bred mi roofs in Scotland at least once in
the past 20 years. They are dealt with below in the order in which the principal sites were colonised.

Montrose, Angus 8t Dundee. Terns were first recorded nesting on roofs in the Forties Road
Industrial Estate in the north of Montrose in 1996 and in the following year there were 28 breeding
pairs (bp) of Arctic Terns together with 4 bp of Common Terns here. In 1998 this original site on a
sloping corrugated roof was abandoned in favour of a nearby flat roof covered with stone chippings,
and other buildings in the industrial estate. Following complaints about the fouling of ears and the
noise made by the birds, late in 1998 some nylon cord was strung across selected roofs in an effort
to discourage the birds. The cord on two roofs which had previously held good numbers of birds
broke, however, and the site was used again the following year. Some wires were erected during the
winter of 2001/02 and resulted in a substantial part of the colony moving in 2002 to new, high and
inaccessible roofs, making it impracticable to obtain even rough estimates of the number of birds
present. Common and Arctic Terns continued to nest on roofs in the Forties Road Industrial Estate
throughout the period 2004-10, but no counts were made; numbers subsequently have been variable
with a maximum of 40 bp in 2014 and again in 2016. In 2012, the Arctic Terns moved to a new site
at the GSK works, c.3 km to the south, some nesting on a roof, others on the ground nearby, and this
new roof was used by both Common and Arctic Terns in 2014. Breeding success at both sites has been
very variable, good in some years (e.g. 2011), very poor in others (2012/13/14/16), almost certainly a
result of natural processes, rather than human interference. A third site on the roof of a disused
building some 750 m from the Forties Road Industrial Estate was used in 2016 and held c.20 bp
Common Terns. Table 1 summarises the counts made at the three Montrose colonies.

Table 1. Counts of terns breeding on roofs in Montrose, Angus & Dundee, 1997-2016.

Year

No. breeding pairs
Common Tern Roseate Tern

Arctic Tern

a No counts made but birds present.

1997

b Initially at Forties Road Industrial Estate, but site

1998

80-85

abandoned and birds moved to new site on roof at

1999

29+

69+

the GSK works, where they also failed.

2000

111

c 60 Common Terns and 35 Arctic Terns present, but

2001

little serious attempt at breeding and site

2002

c.251

20+

abandoned early.

2003

150+

1 +

d 40 bp on roofs in Forties Industrial Estate and 50

2004-

-10 a

bp on roof at the GSK works.

2011

113

e All in Forties Road Industrial Estate; mixed flock of

2012

160

50 b

180 Common and Arctic Terns present at GSK works

2013

on 25 May; some eggs laid but heavy predation by a

2014

90 d

c.8

single Herring Gull and site abandoned by 9 June.

2015

35 e

f c.40 bp of Common Terns at Forties Road Industrial

2016

60 f

Estate and c.20 pb at a third site c.750 m away.

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Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland

In 2000, a pair of Roseate Terns was present at the
Forties Road Industrial Estate colony. Three eggs
were laid, but the female disappeared a few days
later and the breeding attempt was unsuccessful.

Dyce, North-east Scotland. Common Terns
have nested with Common Gulls Larus canus and
other larids in the Kirkhill Industrial Estate at Dyce,
on the western outskirts of Aberdeen, since 1996.

Initially they bred on the ground in a disused pipe
yard, but in 2002 the terns moved to a nearby
sloping roof made of corrugated asbestos sheets,
and bred here annually until 2009. Table 2
summarises the counts made.

Westhill, North-east Scotland. In 2005, a second colony was discovered in North-east Scotland
on a sloping asbestos roof at Westhill Industrial Estate, some 8 km SSW of the colony at Dyce (Table
2). At least 9 pb of Common Terns bred in 2005, including a pair of adult birds that had been ringed
at Dyce. No checks were made in 2006, but by 2007 the original nest site at Westhill had been fitted
with deterrent wires in a roughly 25 cm grid and the birds had moved to another roof nearby. About
20 bp of Common Terns nested at this new site, with 2 bp Common Gulls. In 2009, five Common
Terns were noted over the former netted-off roof, but no evidence of breeding was obtained.

Wick, Caithness. Small numbers of terns have nested in the Wick area for many years, on rocks
etc in or near the harbour. In May 2014, a small colony of Common Terns was discovered on the
sloping roof of an engineering workshop in the town (Plate 162). Several counts were made over
the ensuing weeks with a maximum of 8 bp being found, producing at least eight chicks. The roof,
weathered corrugated sheets with some patches of moss, grass and stonecrop Sedum sp., measured
just 5 m x 25 m and faced north. The terns were confined to the western two-thirds of the roof,
whilst in the south-eastern comer was the nest of a Herring Gull Larus argentatus. There was a
second such nest on a chimney stack immediately to the west and above the terns, and several others
on the roof of a building on the opposite side of the road, 15-20 m away. None of the terns here
showed any aggression to passers-by in the street below (though this is a quiet street with little
activity), but they did chase any Herring Gulls that flew too close to the nest site. The site was
occupied again in 2015 when there were 6 bp, which between them fledged eight chicks, and in 2016
when 8 bp produced at least eight chicks. We understand from staff in the workshop below the
colony that the terns first bred on this roof in 2013.

A second ‘colony’ comprising a single pair of Arctic Terns was found in 2014 on the north-facing,
corrugated roof of another building about 80 m from the Common Tern colony referred to in the
previous paragraph (Plate 163). The off-duty bird was extremely aggressive to passers-by in the
street below. The outcome of this nest is not known; the site was not used in 2015 and by the
2016 breeding season the building had been demolished.

Thurso, Caithness. A small mixed colony of Common Gulls and Common Terns was discovered in
May 2014 on a large farm building a short distance from Thurso. The colony consisted of 24 bp
Common Gulls and 3 bp Common Terns, the terns nesting on the west side of the valley formed by
two pairs of pitched roofs. There were a few pairs of gulls on this same part of the roof, but the majority
of them were on the eastern side. This colony appears to have been newly established in 2014, the
Common Gulls probably having been displaced from a colony a few kilometres away that had been
subject to much disturbance at the beginning of the 2014 breeding season (Sellers 2015). Birds of both
species were again present in 2015, with 3 bp Common Terns and 30 bp Common Gulls; there were at
least 20 bp Common Gulls here in 2016 together with 1 bp Common Tern.

Table 2. Counts of Common Terns breeding on roofs in
Dyce and Westhill, North-east Scotland, 2002-2009.

Year

No. Common Terns breeding (bp)

Dyce

Westhill

2002

c.7-8

2003

2004

18+

2005

c.50-60

2006

50+

2007

-100 a

c.20

2008

10+

2009

a Also three Arctic Terns at bathing area nearby,
b Five Common Terns in flight over colony, but no evidence of
breeding.

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Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland

Aberlour, Moray 8t Nairn. A few Common Terns have been recorded along the River Spey around
Aberlour almost annually since at least the early 1990s. Although breeding may have taken place this
was not confirmed until 2010 when an adult and a juvenile were seen at the river in early July. In
2014, a pair nested on one of the roofs of the Walkers Shortbread factory in Aberlour, c.300 m from
the River Spey, and raised two young. This is believed to have been the first time they bred here as
their presence was very obvious. In 2015, 2 bp were present on different roofs at Walkers, with 3 bp
in 2016, but limited visibility meant that it was not possible to determine the outcomes.

Isle of May. A new information centre was erected at Kirk Haven on the Isle of May in the early
months of 2014. The building has a flat roof with a granular covering impregnated with various
plant species. Arctic Terns have nested on the ground close by for several years and 6 bp nested
on the new roof in 2014, increasing to 28 bp in 2015, but following heavy predation early in the
season the site was unoccupied in 2016. .

Discussion

The past 20-30 years have seen Arctic and Common Terns adept built-up areas for nesting in a
number of places in Scotland. Often these have been on the ground in industrial sites, docks etc.
to which ground predators such as Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes do not have ready access. Human
activities on such sites may still cause some disturbance, however, and the move to nesting on
roofs can be seen as a way of combining the benefits of inaccessibility to ground predators with
minimal interference by man, just as it has been in gulls. This, however, almost certainly does not
apply in the case of the Isle of May colony, where the use of a roof appears to be simply a case
of utilising a new vacant area in a colony in which space is at a premium. Experience in the USA
is that terns prefer to nest on flat, gravel-covered roofs (e.g. Fisk 1978), and this has been used
to advantage in encouraging birds to use roofs where they can breed successfully but without
undue impact on human activities. The experience in Scotland is that birds will use sloping roofs
if they have areas of vegetation or accumulations of dead moss where they can lay their eggs.

Urban gulls do not make good neighbours as a result of the noise and mess they make and their
aggressiveness towards people (e.g. Goode 2014), and on the basis of the observations described

Plate 163. ArcticTern on nest on sloping roof, Wick, Caithness, 22 June 2014; the nest site is an accumulation of bits
of dead moss. © R.M. Sellers

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Roof-nesting by terns in Scotland

here the same appears to be true of terns. Certainly, their incessant screeching was cited by people
working close to the Wick colony as ‘unbearable’, and the aggressiveness of Arctic Terns is
probably even more daunting than that of Herring Gulls or Lesser Black-backed Gulls L. fuscus.
Terns are much less messy birds than large gulls, even so in large numbers they too can cause
fouling of property, especially motor vehicles. This has been a significant issue as regards the
Montrose colonies. Some fouling of vehicles was evident in the Wick Common Tern colony,
though how much was due to Herring Gulls and how much to terns is difficult to say.

Whether the move into towns will persist in terns as it has in gulls remains to be seen. If it does,
then the problems posed by urban gulls are likely to be replicated to a greater or lesser extent by
terns. Perhaps the only saving grace is that terns may be more likely than gulls to shift their
breeding sites if discouraged, and hence may be more able to find places to nest in urban areas
that allow them to coexist peacefully with man.

Acknowledgements

We thank bird recorders throughout Scotland for answering our questionnaire, the SOC for access
to the library in Waterston House, Aberlady and a referee for some helpful comments.

References

Axell, H.E. Ft Hosking, E. 1977. Minsmere: Portrait of a Bird Reserve. Hutchinson, London.
Bouwmeester, J. Ft van Dijk, J. 1991. Broedende Visdieven Sterna hirundo op het dak ven de
bloemenveiling Aalsmeer. Limosa 64: 25-26.

Fisk, E.J. 1978. Roof-nesting terns, skimmers and plovers in Florida. Florida Field Naturalist 6: 1-8.
Goode, D. 2014. Nature in Towns and Cities. HarperCollins, London. (Pages 211-222)

Groen, N.M., Frieswijk, J.J. Ft Bouwmeester, J. 1995. Waarom broeden Visdieven Sterna hirundo op
daken? Limosa 68: 65-71.

Hakala, T. Ft Jokinen, M. 1971. A population of Common Terns nesting on the roof of a factory.
Omis Fenniea 48: 136.

JNCC 2010. Seabird Colony Register, version dated 20 October 2010.

‘Live Riga’ website, 2010. Europe’s largest roof colony of Common Terns is in Riga. (www.
liveriga.com/en/1451; posted 20 April 2010).

‘Nature Vaasa’ website. Nesting avifauna of Vaasa (www.luonto.vaasa.fi, accessed 28 February 2015).
Sellers, R.M. 2015. Common Gulls nesting in built-up areas in the Highlands. Scottish Birds
35: 291-299.

Sellers, R.M. 2016. Roof-nesting by gulls and other birds - a bibliography , Report No. 0RN-012-3
(unpublished report).

Skinner, N. 1998. Common Terns nesting on roofs in Suffolk. British Birds 91: 140-141.

Stienen, E.W.M. 2002. Visdief Sterna hirundo. In: SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland (ed.), Atlas van
de Nederlandse Broedvogels 1 998-2002-Nederlandse Fauna 5, pp.248-9. Nationaal Natuurhistorisch
Museum Naturalis, KNNV Uitgeverij Ft European Invertebrate Survey-Nederland, Leiden.

Strazds, M. 2002. Zirini zu jumta. Fragmenti no kada stasta. Putni daba 11: 20-22.

Simon Busuttil, RSPB East Scotland Regional Office, 10 Albyn Terrace, Aberdeen AB10 1YP.

Martin Cook, Rowanbrae, Clochan, Buckie, Banffshire AB56 5EQ.

Raymond Duncan, Email: raymond@waxwing.fsnet.co.uk

Mark Oksien, 32 Struan Drive, Inverkeithing, Fife KY11 1AR.

Robin M. Sellers, Crag House, Ellerslie Park, Gosforth, Cumbria CA20 1 BL.

Email: sellers@craghouse7.freeserve.co.uk

Revised ms accepted August 2016

36:3 (2016)

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207

Short Notes

Plate 164. The Curlew inspecting one of the larger stones on the beach. © Ron Summers

A Curlew foraging on a cobble shore

Away from the breeding grounds, Curlews
Numenius arquata are generally found on
estuarine shores where they use their long
bills to probe for Ragworms Hediste
diversicolor and bivalve clams in the mudflats
(Cramp ft Simmons 1983). Other items of diet
include Shore Crabs Carcinus maenas, which
they search for amongst clumps of seaweed.
At high tide, they may move onto grass and
stubble fields where earthworms comprise
much of the diet (Townshend 1981). Curlews
also occur on rocky shores where a long bill
may seem to be a disadvantage.

The following observations were made on a
cobble shore in the Beauly Firth (Ross-shire) on
19 November 2015. Although the tide was low
and soft substrates were available for typical
foraging behaviour, an adult Curlew was seen
foraging high on the shore amongst cobbles. The
bird was particularly attracted to larger stones
where, after preliminary inspection, it would
slide its bill under the stone and, by turning its
head, aligned the bill horizontally (Plates 164

and 165). Every few seconds, it retracted its bill
and gulped back a small food item. Later, when
I investigated what was under the stones, there
was a mass of wriggling Gammarus sp.
(amphipod crustaceans) (Plate 166). Their size
was consistent with the small items being eaten.

The bird had been previously captured, ringed
and measured, and classed as a male from its bill
length (Summers et al. 2013). Males have
markedly shorter bills than females so are
probably more adept at this type of foraging
than long-billed females. The bird was the owner
of the territory on which it occurred, so the other
more usual foraging habitats (mudflats and
clumps of Knotted Wrack Ascophyllum nodosum
growing on stones and boulders) were available
to it. It had been seen at low tide on seven
previous occasions; foraging amongst Knotted
Wrack five times and twice on mud. This
suggests that the bird had chosen the cobble
beach to search for food rather than being forced
to forage on a less usual habitat through
competition with other Curlews.

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Plate 165. By twisting its head, the Curlew could slide its bill under large stones. © Ron Summers

36:3 (2016)

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209

Short Notes

Plate 166. A mass of Gamma rus sp. under one of the
stones on the beach. © Ron Summers

References

Cramp, S. ft Simmons, K.E.L. (eds) 1983. The
Birds of the Western Palearctic, Vol. HI.
Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Summers, R.W., Palsson, S., Etheridge, B., Foster,
S. £t Swann, R.L. 2013. Using biometrics to sex
adult Eurasian Curlews Numenius a. arquata.
Wader Study Group Bulletin 120: 71-74.
Townshend, DJ. 1981. The importance of field
feeding to the survival of wintering male and
female Curlews Numenius arquata on the Tees
estuary. In, Feeding and Survival Strategies of
Estuarine Organisms. (Eds. N.V. Jones ft W.J.
Wolff). Pages 261-273. Plenum Press, New York.

Ron Summers, Lismore, Mill Crescent,
North Kessock, Ross-shire IV1 3XY.

Revised ms accepted December 2015

Kingfisher apparently taking berries

On 6 December 2015, I watched a Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis apparently taking berries from
a Sea Buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides
bush. This occurred at Aberlady Bay Tocal
Nature Reserve in East Lothian at a pond
known as the Marl Loch. This has emergent
reeds around its margins, and dense mature
Sea Buckthorn thickets bordering the pond
on two sides, all situated in a wide open
estuary with saltmarsh.

The Kingfisher landed about 3m up in the
outer branches of a Sea Buckthorn bush, and
after a few moments, started vigorously
tugging items off the twigs. It was twisting
its head and now and then flicking one or
both wings open to above shoulder level to
control its balance. At the distance of
viewing across the pond, and as the bird was
mainly side-on or back-on to me, I could not
definitely see berries going into the throat,
but as the berries were so contiguous as to be
virtually covering each twig, there seems to
be no other conclusion but that the
Kingfisher was consuming berries. Also there
were no movements of the foliage below that
might have indicated discarded or falling
items from the feeding bird.

I watched this action for about five minutes,
and for a further five minutes the bird
remained sitting and fidgeting slightly on the
branch. It then dropped and splash-dived just
through the surface of the water below,
emerged, and flew out of sight into the dense
lower parts of the bushes. The recent weather
had been windy and wet at times, but without
freezing or harsh conditions.

There is no mention of Common Kingfishers
taking berries in British Birds journals, nor in
Cramp (1985) or BWP Update (1997-2004).
However, the Belted Kingfisher Megaeeryle alcyon
is stated to take berries in winter (Fry et al. 1992).

References

Cramp, S. (ed.) 1985. The Birds of the Western
Palearctic , Volume IV. Oxford University
Press, Oxford.

Fry, C.H., Fry, K. ft Harris, A. 1992. Kingfishers,
Bee-eaters 8t Rollers, a handbook. Christopher
Helm, London.

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

Revised ms accepted April 2016

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Short Notes

Plate 167. Ring-necked Parakeet prospecting for a nest hole, Victoria Park, Glasgow, Clyde, April 2016. © Chris Mclnerny

Ring-necked Parakeets potentially nesting in Scotland for the first time

Ring-necked Parakeet Psittacula krameri is a
beautiful and exotic species, whose natural
range includes northern sub-Saharan Africa and
the Indian sub-continent (Del Hoyo et al. 1997).
Four subspecies are recognised, with two in
Africa, P.k. krameri and P.k. parvirostris, and
two in India, P.k. manillensis and P.k. borealis.

Ring-necked Parakeets of various subspecies are
popular pets throughout the world, and are bred
extensively in captivity (Morgan 1993). In a
number of countries, including Europe and
North America, captive birds have escaped and
established feral breeding populations,
sometimes of mixed subspecies (Butler 2005,
Strubbe ft Matthysen 2007). This occurred in
southern England first in the 19th century, but
more extensively in the late 20th century, with
increasing and large numbers of birds of African
and Indian origin present in the early 21st
century, mostly in parks and urban areas in the
London area; at some sites roosts of 1000s of
birds have been counted (Pithon ft Dytham
1999, Pithon ft Dytham 2002, Brown ft Grice
2005). This increase coincided with the species’
presence and breeding further north in England.
It was first seen in Scotland in Lothian in April
1976, with subsequent records from Caithness to
Borders (da Prato 1981). Since then there have
been sporadic sightings, mostly in the south of
the country, though the species is under¬

recorded; this in part due to it being placed in
Categoiy E of the Scottish List , as birds are
thought to be escaped pets (Forrester et al. 2007).

In early 2016, up to three birds appeared in
Victoria Park, Glasgow (Clyde). These remained
and were seen to prospect and inhabit a nest
hole in a Beech ( Fagus spp.) tree in late March
and early April (Plates 167-169). At least two
birds attended the hole to mid-May, behaving
latterly as if they were feeding young on the
nest. It appears that this is the first recorded
example of attempted breeding by Ring-necked
Parakeets in Scotland. It will be interesting to
see if breeding is successful. Lower
reproduction success of the species has been
observed in non-native countries with colder
temperate climates because of higher egg
infertility (Shwartz et al. 2009), so breeding
may not be successful in Scotland.

It is possible that the Victoria Park birds derive
from the large and expanding English
population and, as such, this observation
represents the first attempted colonisation of
Scotland by the species. It will be interesting to
see whether more birds and other breeding
attempts have been recorded elsewhere. To
build a more complete Scottish picture I would
appreciate it if other observations could be sent
to me through my email address, listed below.

36:3 (2016)

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Short Notes

References

Brown, A. ft Grice, P. 2005. Birds in England.
T. ft A.D. Poyser, London.

Butler, C.J. 2005. Feral parrots in the continental
United States and United Kingdom: past,
present, and future. Journal of Avian Medicine
and Surgery 19: 142-149.

da Prato, S.R.D. 1981. Status of Ring-necked
Parakeet in Scotland. Scottish Birds 11: 201.

Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. Ft Sargatal, J. (eds).
1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World.
Volume 4 - Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx
Edicions, Barcelona.

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

Morgan, D.H.W. 1993. Feral Rose-ringed
Parakeets in Britain. British Birds 86: 561-564.

Pithon, J.A. Ft Dytham, C. 1999. Census of the
British Ring-necked Parakeet Psittacula
krameri population by simultaneous counts of
roosts. Bird Study 46: 112-115.

Pithon, J.A. Ft Dytham, C. 2002. Distribution
and population development of introduced
Ring-necked Parakeets Psittacula krameri in
Britain between 1983 and 1998. Bird Study 49:
110-117.

Strubbe, D. Ft Matthysen, E. 2007. Invasive
ring-necked parakeets Psittacula krameri in
Belgium: habitat selection and impact on
native birds. Ecography 30: 578-588.

Shwartz, A., Strubbe, D., Butler, C.J, Matthysen,
E. Ft Kark, S. 2009. The effect of enemy-
release and climate conditions on invasive
birds: a regional test using the rose-ringed
parakeet ( Psittacula krameri ) as a case study.
Diversity and Distributions 15: 310-318.

Christopher J. Mclnerny, 10 Athole
Gardens Glasgow G12 9AZ.

Email: Chris.Mclnerny@glasgow.ac.uk

Revised ms accepted July 2016

Plates 168-169. Ring-necked Parakeets prospecting
for a nest hole, Victoria Park, Glasgow, Clyde, April
2016. © Chris Mclnerny

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36:3 (2016)

Short Notes

Plate 170. Rock Pipit showing characteristics of Scandinavian Rock Pipit, Barns Ness, Lothian, May 2016. © IJ. Andrews

Possible Scandinavian Rock Pipit nesting in Lothian in 2016

On 31 May 2016, I located a pair of Rock Pipits
Anthus petrosus feeding young in a nest beside
Barns Ness lighthouse, East Lothian. The nest
was in long tussock grass beside a low wooden
fence line and the young were being fed by
both parents on a regular basis. From inside a
car, the close views obtained of both adults
lead me to believe that one bird showed the
characteristics of the race littoralis
(Scandinavian Rock Pipit).

The bird had a greyish wash to the crown, ear-
coverts, nape and mantle, a clear white
supercilium behind the eye, a pinkish/creamy
flush to the lower breast and a pale
background colour to the breast and belly. The
bird it was paired to was probably within the
range of the nominate race petrosus, but it
also lacked the typical olive tones and dull
base colour to the underparts.

It is appreciated that some breeding Rock Pipits
in Scotland have a tendency towards a blue-
grey head, pale supercilium and paler
underparts, especially when the plumage
becomes worn or bleached (C.R. McKay pers.
comm.), but this is usually later in the season
than this individual was observed and this
bird’s plumage was particularly distinctive.

I had previously identified a Scandinavian
Rock Pipit at this exact site on 11 May 2013.

Scandinavian Rock Pipits have occasionally
been recorded in the UK in summer, but the
only reference I can find to them having been
previously involved in a breeding attempt was
on Fair Isle in 2015 where a pair was presumed
to have bred successfully ( Fair Isle Annual
Report for 2015, in press).

IJ. Andrews, 39 Clayknowes Drive,
Musselburgh EH21 6UW.

Email: ijandrews@live.com

Revised ms accepted July 2016

Plate 171. Rock Pipit paired with the putative
Scandinavian Rock Pipit, Barns Ness, Lothian, May
2016. © IJ. Andrews

36:3 (2016)

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213

Short Notes

The breeding of a mixed pair of Roseate and Common Terns in
Lothian in 2016

The Common Tern Sterna hirundo colony in
Leith Docks, Lothian, holds c.800 breeding pairs
and is one of the largest in Scotland (Jennings
2012). It is located on a disused lock wall that
now forms an island at the entrance to Imperial
Dock within the secure part of the Leith Docks
complex. The site was declared a Special
Protection Area in 2004, and can be viewed
from a vantage point at a range of 225 m..

On 30 May 2016, KG located an adult Roseate
Tern Sterna dougallii in the Common Tern
colony. It was ringed with both BTO and
‘Roseate special’ rings. It was incubating and
appeared to be paired with a Common Tern. This
was confirmed that evening when a change-over
at the nest was observed. A visit to the adjacent
quayside on 18 June with the Lothian Ringing
Group confirmed the presence of the mixed pair
and that a chick (Plate 172), thought to be about
five days old, was present in the nest (giving a
hatch date of c.13 June). At 11 and 20 days-old,
the chick was essentially indistinguishable from
the nearby Common Tern chicks, but from 25
days-old it could be separated by its darker fore¬
crown and darker bill (Plate 173). By 15 July, at
c.33 days old, the hybrid chick was able to make
several short flights.

Plate 172. Roseate Tern paired with a Common Tern (the

chick is in the nest behind them), Leith Docks, Lothian, 18

June 2016. © Ian Andrews

The nest was within the Common Tern colony
on the edge of a concrete area tucked into an
area of tall tussocky grass.

While the juvenile hybrid closely resembled a
juvenile Common Tern, it was most easily
separated by its darker, finely streaked fore¬
crown and virtually all-dark bill (Plate 174).
Although the mantle and scapulars were more
heavily marked than nearby Common Terns, it
lacked the black-and-white, Sandwich Tern-
like patterning characteristic of a juvenile
Roseate Tern. Also, the hybrid's legs were pink
as in Common Tern, rather than the black of a
juvenile Roseate Tern. The Leith hybrid thus
was more Common Tern like than a similar
individual photographed in Merseyside (Cabot
8t Nisbet 2013).

Previous sightings of Roseate Terns at this site
are as follows:

2008: a pair laid a clutch of three eggs;

fledging success unknown (per RBBP).
2009: a pair laid a clutch of two eggs; fledging
success unknown (per RBBP).

2013: an adult was seen on 28-29 July.

2014: an adult was seen feeding a juvenile in
mid- July, but only one adult was ever seen.
2015: an unpaired adult was seen on 24, 29
May and 10, 17 July.

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Short Notes

Plate 173. Juvenile hybrid Roseate x Common Tern
(centre) with adult Roseate Tern (right) and adult
Common Tern (left), Leith Docks, Lothian, 16 July
2016. © Ian Andrews

Plate 174. Juvenile hybrid Roseate x Common Tern
(back left) with adult Roseate Tern (with adult and
juvenile Common Tern in front), Leith Docks, Lothian,
16 July 2016. © Ian Andrews

Hybrids among terns are rare (Mailing Olsen ft
Larson 1995). However, mixed Roseate -
Common Terns pairs and hybrid Roseate x
Common Terns have been reported rarely in
Europe and more frequently in North America
(McCarthy 2006), where they constitute 0.2% of
Roseate Tern breeders (Gochfeld et al. 1998).
Ratcliffe et al. (2004) and Cabot 8t Nisbet (2013)
reported that it is most frequently male Common
Terns that pair with female Roseate Terns and
that this may be the result of a surplus of
females in the latter’s population; and that such
pairs are possibly stable over several seasons. In
the UK, hybrid pairings are known from Coquet
Island, Northumberland (Robbins 1974), Wales

in 1992, Anglesey in 2009-13 and Lancashire ft
North Merseyside 2009-11 (RBBP website:
www.rbbp.org.uk/rbbp-reports.htm).

An apparent mixed Roseate - Arctic Tern
Sterna paradisaea pairing was noted in
Shetland in 1984 (Ewins et al. 1987), but this
Leith record would appear to be the first
instance of a mixed Roseate - Common Tern
pairing to be recorded in Scotland.

Acknowledgements

Two visits to the quayside were made with the
Lothian Ringing Group which monitors the
colony on behalf of SNH with the kind
permission of Forth Ports.

References

Cabot, D. 8t Nisbet, I. 2013. Terns. New
Naturalist, HarperCollins, London.

Ewins P.J., Okill, J.D. 8t Ellis, P.M. 1987.
Probable interbreeding of Roseate and Arctic
Terns. Scottish Birds 14: 215-216.

Gochfeld, M., Burger, J. ft Nisbet, I.C.T. 1998.
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii. The Birds of
North America No. 370. The Birds of North
America 8t A.O.U. Smith-Edwards-Dunlap
Company, Philadelphia, PA.

Jennings, G. 2012. The ecology of an urban
colony of common terns Sterna hirundo in
Leith Docks, Scotland. PhD thesis, University
of Glasgow, http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3910/
Mailing Olsen, K. ft Larson, H. 1995. Terns of
Europe and North America. Princeton
University Press.

McCarthy, E.M. 2006. Handbook of Avian
Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press.
Ratcliffe N., Nisbet, I. 8t Newton, S. 2004.
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii. BWP Update
6(1-2): 77-90.

Robbins, C.S. 1974. Probable interbreeding of
Common and Roseate Terns. British Birds 67:
168-170.

IJ. Andrews, 39 Clayknowes Drive,
Musselburgh EH21 6UW.

Email: ijandrews@live.com

K. Gillon, 40 Stoneyhill Road, Musselburgh,
Lothian EH21 6TW.

Revised ms accepted July 2016

36:3 (2016)

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215

Letter

Plate 175. Golden Eagle, undisclosed site, Highland, February 2016. © RdJert Ince

Letter to the Editors

Do adult Golden Eagles teach their
offspring to hunt?

Sir, “Do adult Golden Eagles teach their
offspring to hunt?” is an interesting question
and Peter Cosgrove’s note ( Scottish Birds 36
(1): 10-11) helps to illustrate the difficulty in
finding a reliable answer to such questions: the
general lack of detailed comparative
information means that correctly interpreting
Golden Eagle behaviour is not always straight¬
forward, and this is especially true of the
interpretation of isolated observations. In the
quoted paper (Walker 1987), but more fully in
my book Call of the Eagle, I describe adult
eagles leading and leaving their juvenile where
it would be attacked by Peregrines and an adult
ignoring the plight of its juvenile tussling with
a Red Fox. Both incidents may be part of the
learning process and the second might even be
interpreted as supervised hunting. While the
interaction with a Kestrel, as described by Peter
Cosgrove, may be similar to these it may also
have been defensive activity in which the
juvenile became embroiled. This also helps to
illustrate the problem of correctly interpreting
eagle behaviour: a Golden Eagle’s response to
almost any situation can be disproportionate to
its apparent importance: an eagle intruding
close to an active nest might be almost ignored
by the resident pair while a Kestrel might be
relentlessly pursued even though it poses no

threat. In fact, it is not at all unusual for eagles
to aggressively chase, as if hunting, a prey
species inside the nesting area but to do so
seemingly without an intent to kill, only to
drive the animal away. If a juvenile eagle
becomes involved it may look more like
hunting and teaching than is actually the case.
Teaching the young to hunt would require
distinctive behaviour but, having made detailed
observations throughout sixteen post-fledging
periods, I have never witnessed an incident that
could be unambiguously interpreted as adults
teaching a juvenile to hunt. There may still be
an element of learning by example but this is
as likely to begin before fledging (the nestling
watching the adult) as it is to occur after
fledging. In spite of its relevance and
importance (and the number of free-flying
eagles to be watched), the post-fledging period
has always been a much under-studied part of
the Golden Eagle’s year.

References

Walker, D.G. 1987. Observations on the post-
fledging period of the Golden Eagle Aquila
chrysaetos in England. Ibis 129: 92-96
Walker, D. 2009. Call of the Eagle. Whittles
Publishing, Dunbeath.

David Walker, 5 Naddlegate, Burnbanks,
Penrith CA10 2RL.

Email: dglaisterwalker@aol.com

216

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

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Obituaries

Joe Potter (1933-2015)

Plate 176. Joe Potter, Loch Hourn, Highland. © Tommy Youd

week birdwatching holiday from the pit. Despite
much friendly ribbing from their peers about
what was an unusual hobby back then, there
was a whip round for them. So off they went
with a pocket full of 10 shilling notes to
augment their holiday savings. This was long
before the outdoor activity clothing stores of
today. They had ex-army rucksacks, work boots
and blankets; no down sleeping bags then. They
travelled northwards in search of Crested Tit,
Capercaillie, Black-throated Diver and many
other firsts for them both. Much of their journey
was on foot and they stretched their absence
from work to a month when the money ran out
and they had reached the top of Liathach. A
journalist from the Dundee Courier came across
the two lads and, on hearing about their
adventures, wrote a short article on them with a
photograph which was duly published. I was
lucky enough to hear this story in full and many
other anecdotes of Joe’s outdoor life, unfortu¬
nately too many to incorporate in this obituary.

If you were enthusiastic about getting out and
enjoying nature, Joe would be only too glad to
encourage you. He taught me to stop and just
listen. ‘You’ll see a lot more if you listen and
can identify the songs and calls’ he told me at
the very beginning. He saw many rarities, but
didn’t often lay claim to them; he was satisfied
so long as someone put the record in. He and
his old friend George Dick identified Scotland’s
third record of Wilson’s Phalarope at
Peppermill Dam in Kincardine, an extra special
sighting for him as it was on his patch.

Not long after the miners’ strike, Joe lost his job
as the pits shut down. He and his wife Margaret
then became summer caretakers of the
farmhouse at Kinloch Hourn for the Gordon
family. There Margaret ran a small tearoom and
Joe did odd jobs on the estate, helped during the
deer stalking and managing the car park, taking
note of people going into the rough bounds of
Knoydart and ensuring they returned safely to
their cars. These were happy years for them both

My first birdwatching outing with Joe was in
1973 when I was 11 years old and he would
have been 40. 1 asked his son Stephen if I could
come along with them and after that day we
became lifelong friends, despite our age gap,
bonded by our common interest in birds.

Joe didn’t drive, which was one of the reasons
he knew his local patches of Devilla forest in
Kincardine and the upper Forth shoreline so
well. He was a familiar sight to be seen making
his way across the Kincardine Bridge towards
Skinflats with binoculars and walking stick to
catch the high tide. He was, however, never
short of a lift from birding friends who were
glad of his experience and good company. We
all had many enjoyable days out to various
places like Fife Ness, Flanders Moss and
Aberlady Bay with an annual weekend away to
Grannies Heilan Hame at Embo.

Joe was a miner brought up in a large family
from Valleyfield. A hard worker with firm
socialist values, he took great pride in his work
and the camaraderie of his fellow workers. When
not underground at the coalface where he
worked, he took immense pleasure from the
great outdoors and nature. When he was 21 he
and his friend Alex Douglas set off on a two-

218

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36:3 (2016)

Obituaries

and for me and many others, strangers and
friends alike, who always received a warm
welcome when visiting. Joe and I would go out
on the hills looking for birds including Red-
throated Divers and Golden Eagles up until his
late sixties. We would also fish the hill lochs as
he was an expert fisherman too.

Joe leaves behind a close loving family, his
wife Margaret, his children Stephen, Ruth,
Elizabeth and Amanda and eight
grandchildren. He also leaves behind many
friends, from the birding fraternity and beyond,
who will all miss him greatly.

Tommy Youd

Klaus Dietrich Fiuczynski (1938-2014)

With the death of Dr. Klaus Dietrich Fiuczynski
in Berlin on 23 June 2014, raptor enthusiasts lost
an inspirational colleague and an outstanding
expert on the Hobby. He gave the Derek Ratcliffe
Memorial Lecture on his research on the Hobby
at the Scottish Raptor Conference in 2005.
Through this, I developed a close friendship with
him, visiting Berlin to work with him on Hobbies
and welcoming him back to Scotland to help
with Merlin studies. He also contributed to
Raptors, a field guide to survey and monitoring as
a principal advisor on the Hobby.

Dieter, as he liked to be known, was born in
1938 in Berlin. He studied at the Freie
Universitat Berlin, where he obtained a PhD
and then became a teacher in Berlin. In 1990,
Dieter was a headmaster in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, before returning to Berlin in 1996.

Dieter’s first ornithological studies were of the
Kestrel, but in 1954 he encountered Hobbies in
the heavily used forests of Berlin. This
population was to become his life-long project,
leading to a flow of data on Hobbies in West
Berlin and also, later on, for Red and Black
Kites. His research and contacts enabled him to
work freely in East Berlin, something very rare
at the time, and of which he was immensely
proud. His fieldwork was carried out very early
in the morning before going to work in school.
He provided the first artificial nesting sites for
Hobbies near Berlin in 1983, which have
continued to be used extensively.

He had a long-lasting friendship and intensive
correspondence with Desmond Nethersole-
Thompson, who had studied Hobbies in England.
In 1980, they published a joint, comparative

paper on Hobbies in Germany and England
(. British Birds 73: 275-295). Tree climbing was a
passion of his. Soon after retiring he had hip
surgery, but within six months he was climbing
trees again. For his birthday, he was given a
state-of-the-art climbing harness, but he never
used it, instead trusting the old one.

Dieter wrote many ornithological papers. The
first edition of his monograph Der Baumfalke
[The Hobby] was published in 1987. In 2011, a
comprehensively revised edition was published,
and he had begun work, with myself, on an
English language edition, shortly before his
death. It is understood that VerlagsKG Wolf will
publish this English version.

An inspirational teacher, gifted biologist and
versatile linguist, it was as the doyen of Hobby
studies in Berlin and Brandenburg that raptor
enthusiasts remember him.

Ron Downing

Plate 177. Dietrich Fiuczynski, 2008. © Ron Downing

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

219

Articles, News & Views

Plate 178. Participants gather to depart on one of the Club's 'Waders and Seabirds' walks, Musselburgh, May
2016. © Stan da Prato

Scotland’s Big Nature Festival 2016,
Levenhall Links, Musselburgh,

21-22 May

J. CLEAVER

With five years of Scotland's Big Nature Festival
(previously The Scottish Bi rdf air) under the
Club's belt, members are likely to be well versed
on SOC's preparation and set-up for this
enjoyable annual event. As ever, much consid¬
eration went in to planning what the Club's
contribution would include this year, and thanks
to the fantastic support and generosity of
speakers, volunteers, colleagues, walk and
workshop leaders, the SOC's contribution, once
again, did not disappoint...

Z Attendees visiting the sea wall and/or bird
hides this year may have had the pleasure of
speaking to a BTO/SOC volunteer birder
guide! Individuals were in place throughout
the weekend to inform visitors about recent
and latest sightings, as well as offering hints
and tips to help improve festival-goers' bird
identification skills - a real bonus to those
birding the site!

220

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

Articles, News & Views

■ The Club had arranged three broad-ranging,
appealing talks over the weekend, delivered
by speakers each with an incredible thirty or
more years of dedication to their study
species/subjects! Peter Mawby talked about
the much-loved Dipper and some possible
causes for the observed species' decline. Ian
Poxton shifted the focus to our uplands,
posing the question "Are Merlins and other
upland birds under threat on grouse moors?",
in which he discussed the results of a 30-
year study of breeding Merlins in the
Lammermuirs Hills. Gordon Riddle, aka 'Mr
Kestrel', shared an insight into his epic,
43 year-long study of a population of Kestrels
on the Ayrshire/Dumfries & Galloway border.

We're delighted to have Peter, Gordon and Ian
each scheduled in to visit some of the Club's
local branches this winter talks' season! Take a
look at the programme to find out when and
where - we've a fantastic line-up of speakers in
store for members again this year!

B By popular demand, Ian Thomson was back
to run another raptor identification workshop,
as well as leading a wader identification
session. Attendees got help in deciphering the
identification of some of the more challenging
species, thanks to Ian's expert hints and tips.

■ Over the weekend the Club ran four 'Waders
and Seabirds' walks led by festival stalwart,
Stan da Prato. The Club is very grateful to
Stan who is unfailingly available to help out at
the event, year upon year, juggling his many
horticultural commitments to do so. Extra
support this year was provided in the form of
his Citroen car, which ferried the bulk of the
Club's display materials and resources to and
from the showground.

■ The team were delighted to make eight new
memberships for the Club over the
weekend and several more attendees
joined up after the event. Sales on the stand
(of second-hand books, bird feeders and
pin badges) amounted to just over £500 at
close of play on Sunday.

Alongside Stan, many other HQ-based volunteers
took care of often time-consuming, nitty-gritty
preparation required for such an event, including
folding literature, labelling sample issues and
making up Club information packs. This was
invaluable in freeing up staff time to focus on the
key tasks involved in co-ordinating the Club's
high-profile involvement in the biggest event of
the year for nature lovers in Scotland.

Jane Cleaver ; SOC Development Officer

Plate 179. Visitors at Scotland's Big Nature Festival, Musselburgh, May 2016. © RSPB Scotland

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

221

Articles , News & Views

NEWS AND NOTICES

New members

Borders: Miss K. Anderson, Miss L. Preston, Mr

I. C. Somerville, Central Scotland: Ms G. Brown,
Mr & Mrs A. McPhee, Mr N. McWilliam, Clyde: Mr

B. Cox, Miss H. Lemon, Mr D. McLean, Mrs N.
Ritchie, Mrs C. Thompson, Mr B. Thurston, Miss D.
Weldon & Mr G. Hannah, England, Wales & Nl:
Mr & Mrs N. Arrowsmith, Mr & Mrs N. Dempsey,
MrJ. Dobinson, Mr D.H. Howey, MrS. Rose, Mr P
Slater, Mrs A. Whittaker, Fife: Miss C. Chislett-
McDonald, Mr R. Redman, Mr B. Temby,
Highland: Ms C. MacGillivray & Ms R. Wolfe, Ms

C. Pearson, MrJ. Poyner, Mr L. Schofield, . Mr & Mrs
R. Turner, Lothian: Mr K. Bealby, Mr & Mrs G.
Bone, Ms J. Campbell, Ms G. Cook, Mr G.
Cousquer, Mr L. Cuthill & Ms L. Drummond, Ms
K. Davidson, Mr R. Dunn, Mr R. Galloway, Ms M.
Gilvray, Miss A. Gray, Dr D. Hill, MrJ. Hutchison,
MrT. Janhonen, MrH. Mathias, MrS. McBeth, Mrs
A. McCulloch, Ms M. McDonagh, Mrs J. Mcneil,
Mr C. Mirza, Ms C. Page, Mr D. Perpinan & Mrs T.
Costa, MsJ. Reynolds, MrG. Rooney, Ms P. Royle,
Ms J. Schonveld, Miss W. Thomson, Mr & Mrs R.
Todd, Mr S. Williams, Moray: Ms H. Dawson, Mr
& Mrs B. Purcell, North-East Scotland: Mrs S.
Turnbull, Overseas: Mr K. Mullarney, Tayside:
Mrs C. Chapman, Rev & Mrs P. Thomson, West
Galloway: Mr R. Conn.

200 Club

The latest prize winners are: May: 1st £50 Miss

J. Howie, 2nd £30 S.F. Jackson, 3rd £20 Dr A.
Brown, 4th £10 Mrs Betts. June: 1st £30 Bruce
Lynch, 2nd £20 Stewart Nelson, 3rd £10 Dr
Poxton. July: 1st £30 R.G. Davenport, 2nd £20
R.S. Craig, 3rd £10 A.K. McDiarmid.

Details on how to join can be obtained by
writing to Daphne Peirse-Duncombe at
Rosebank, Gattonside, Melrose TD6 9NH.

SOC President

It was with much regret that Ian Thomson had
to step down from his role as President in June
this year, owing to personal circumstances.
Council is grateful to Ian for his drive and
leadership over the past year and wishes him
well. As a long-standing and avid supporter of
the SOC, Ian will of course still be very much

involved with the Club as a member. James
Main (Vice President) has agreed to assume the
role of President, pending members' approval at
the forthcoming AGM.

Conferences

SOC Annual Conference & AGM, 23-25
September 2016, Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry.
For up-to-date programme details, AGM agenda
and to book, visit the SOC website.

Scottish Birdwatchers' Conference, Saturday 18
March 2017, Carnegie Conference Centre,
Dunfermline

Waterston House
Art exhibitions

Jo Ruth: Saturday 23 July to Wednesday 14
September

Lisa Hooper: Saturday 17 September to
Wednesday 16 November
Chris Rose: Saturday 19 November to
Wednesday 17 January

Optics Demo Day

Sunday 16 October, 10 am-4 pm, free event
A wide range of binoculars and telescopes to try
out in field conditions. Or pop in for some free,
friendly expert advice. If there are any models
that you are particularly interested in looking at,
please let us know and we will do our best to
have these available for you to try at the event.

Aberlady evening goose talk & watch

Thursday 29 September & Tuesday 4 October,
5.30 pm, £4.00 SOC members/child (£6.00
non-members). An entertaining illustrated talk by
John Harrison, East Lothian Council countryside
ranger, on the migrating geese that descend on
the county in their thousands each autumn. The
talk is followed by the opportunity to watch the
Pink-footed Geese fly in to roost on nearby
Aberlady Bay. Places are limited so advance
booking is essential. Refreshments served.

Aberlady morning goose walk

Saturday 8 October, 7.00 am, £4.00 SOC
members/children (£6.00 non-members). A
guided walk led by countryside ranger John

222

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

Articles, News & Views

Harrison. A gentle stroll from Waterston House to
Aberlady Bay and back is a great opportunity to
learn all about the geese as you go to catch the
spectacle of the birds taking off for the day to
feed in the surrounding countryside. Price
includes tea/coffee and a breakfast roll back at
Waterston House. Advance booking essential.

Branch updates

Perth & Kinross: Scott Paterson (Recorder),
change of email: pkrecorder@the-soc.org.uk
Central Scotland: Niel Bielby (as Secretary),
change of email: central. secretary@the-
soc.org.uk

Upper Forth: Assistant Recorder, new email
address upperforthrecorder@the-soc.org.uk

Unwanted back issues of Scottish Birds ?

HQ can use them! The journal is a key
promotional tool for attracting new members, so
we always welcome any donations of spare back
issues (from volume 30 onwards), which we can
give out to visiting birdwatchers at Waterston
House or at events. If you are in a position where
you no longer wish to store your old SBs, but don't
live near Waterston House, you could take them
along to a local branch meeting (for them to pass
on to HQ via a Council meeting, for example) or
staff could take delivery at an 50C conference. To

discuss how we can help you to recycle your
unwanted journals in this way, please call Wendy
on 01875 871330.

Scottish Bird News

The archive of Scottish Bird News (SBN), the
SOC's quarterly magazine that ran from 1986 to
2009, has now been digitised and is available
online at the Biodiversity Heritage library
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/creator/8745
7#/titles

Colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls

One hundred Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks
were colour-ringed on Inchcolm, an island in
the Forth of Forth, on 5 July 2016. Each Lesser
Black-backed Gull chick was ringed with a metal
BTO ring on the right leg and an orange alpha¬
numeric colour-ring on the left leg. This is initially
a three-year project, funded by an SOC research
grant, to find out whether Lesser Black-backed
Gulls breeding on the Forth islands are still
migrating and wintering in south-west Iberia and
Morocco or are now wintering in Britain. I would
be very grateful for details of any sightings of
these birds, whether in Scotland or aboard!

John C. Davies

Email: johncdavies @blueyonder.co.uk

Plate 180. Lesser Black-backed Gull, the first re-sighting, Baron's Haugh, Clyde, 6 August 2016. © Davie Abraham

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Inspiring the next generation
of young naturalists -
‘A Focus on Nature’
mentoring scheme

J. CLEAVER

SOC is in the privileged position of having a
membership composed of skilled ornithol¬
ogists, scientists, educators and creatives,
working within a wide range of industries and
fields. In recent years particularly, the Club has
sought to explore ways in which this wealth of
knowledge and expertise can be passed on to
ensure that there will be a future generation of
naturalists recording, conserving and speaking
up for our country's birds.

Plate 181 . Encouraging a future generation of bird and
nature-lovers, Isle of May. © Lang Stewart

Encouraged by the success of the Young
Birders' Training Course, a joint initiative with
Isle of May-Bird Observatory, the SOC is looking
to build on the training and support the Club
offers young naturalists.

A Focus On Nature (AFON, www.afocuson-
nature.org) is a voluntary organisation run by a
voluntary committee of nature conservationists
and enthusiasts. The organisation's aims
complement the educational remit of the SOC
and include: ensuring a transfer of skills and
knowledge between generations, working with
other youth networks and environmental organi¬
sations to create a youth conservation movement
in the UK and promoting nature conservation and
natural history to young people.

AFON runs and manage a successful
mentoring scheme which matches volunteer
mentors operating within a broad range of
disciplines (including Practical Conservation,
Nature Writing & Journalism, Art & Design,
Policy & Campaigns, Filmmaking & Television,
Science, Ecology & Surveying, and Academia &
Research) with mentees: budding conserva¬
tionists/writers/ scientists and similar, eager to
network with, and learn from, experienced
professionals.

AFON is looking to grow their mentoring
programme in order to build on the support and
expertise on offer to young conservationists.

How can you help?

In order to expand the SOC's reach and offer
help and support to naturalists at the beginning
of their career, the Club is hoping to sign a
number of 'SOC Mentors' up to the scheme.

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Plate 182. Participants on the 2016 Young Birders' Training Course learning to ring gulls under supervision of
Bex Outram (SNH), Isle of May. © Stuart Rivers

Prospective mentors complete a two-page form
providing more information about themselves
and their specific expertise, alongside a head
shot, which is added to AFON's Mentors directory,
as hosted on the organisation's website.

Mentees complete an application form and
shortlist three potential mentors they feel are
the best suited to their individual career needs.
AFON distributes its application to each
prospective mentor, who will then have the
opportunity to comment and either approve or
reject applications at its discretion and for
whatever reason - no explanation is required.

Mentoring can take many different formats: from a
distance, e.g. via the internet, over the telephone,
via social media, or on a much more personal
basis, offering work experience, meetings, talks or
lectures. Mentors are encouraged to give advice
tailored to the individual mentee, appropriate to
their circumstances (the scheme is open to
mentees aged 18 and above).

As a minimum, AFON expects mentors to:

1. Send an introductory email explaining
background and current career, thus entering
into correspondence with the mentee

2. Answer all emails fully

3. Give advice on careers

4. Assist in the construction of CVs

5. Where appropriate provide references and
recommend jobs and prospects, etc.

6. Highlight any upcoming opportunities to
mentees

Any additional support (including any financial costs
incurred) is given at the discretion of the mentor.

Mentoring is expected to continue for a
minimum of six months, providing the recipient
keeps up the correspondence, however, AFON
would like mentors to support talented
individuals for as long as possible, following and
influencing the careers of promising individuals.

If you would like to find out more about possibly
becoming a mentor, please drop Jane a line:
jane.cleaver@the-soc.org.uk or contact 01875
871 330 for more information. To view a list of
current mentors signed up to the scheme, visit
www.afocusonnature.org/mentors. Think you
could benefit from working with a mentor? Visit
www.afocusonnature.org/entrants/mentoring
for more information.

Jane Cleaver ■ SOC Development Officer

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Artist Profile: Chris Rose

Plate 183. Detail from Short-eared Owl, Musselburgh, Lothian. © Chris Rose

In recent years I've been drawn to the coast for
inspiration so to be invited to exhibit at Aberlady
gave me the perfect excuse to spend more time
at the seaside!

Much of the work in this show will feature
paintings around Aberlady Bay itself, although I
couldn't resist hopping up the coast to
Musselburgh to paint the Short-eared Owls that
invaded the lagoons last winter in great numbers.
Seemingly unphased by the continual stream of
passing human traffic, the owls were a daily
delight to very many people; both birders and
'normal' people. One morning I watched an owl
repeatedly quartering the narrow strip of rough
grassland between the lagoons and the sea wall.
The sun shining through its wings gave it an
almost angelic quality.

And on the subject of owls; one could hardly
ignore the Long-eared Owl roost at Aberlady. One
particular owl could be seen regularly on the
same branch, part-hidden behind branches and
twigs. I liked the way your eye was distracted by
the orange berries of Sea Buckthorn, sprinkled
like so many Christmas tree lights over the
latticework of branches. The dead reeds that
fringe the loch provided a bold counterpoint to
the dark secrecy of the buckthorn thicket.

The mud flats and salt-marsh pools of Aberlady
Bay provide a wealth of material and I've
completed a couple of paintings just from the
car park. The light over the bay is ever-changing
and in Aberlady Bay' the sun briefly interrupts
heavy showers passing through on a stiff north¬
westerly, ruffling the water on the brackish

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pools. The usual collection of gulls, waders and
wildfowl dot the landscape - barely recognisable
from this distance although a group of Wigeon
can be detected grazing on the marsh.

Wigeon are always present at Aberlady during
the winter months. Returning to the car park,
after a day sketching Long-eared Owls, I
discovered a small flock of Wigeon feeding close
by, lit by the afterglow of the setting sun. The
winter sky reflected brightly in yellows, oranges
and purples in the brackish pools, contrasting in
the fading light with the increasingly darkening
marsh. Details become lost in the gathering
gloom and the abstract shapes of the pools
come to dominate the scene.

In addition to sketches and paintings, the
exhibition will include many of the original
illustration plates for the newly published book
Robins & Chats (published by Bloomsbury in
2015). The book features 62 full-colour plates
illustrating the 175 species that make up this
diverse and attractive family. From the bluebirds
of North America to the cliff-chats of East Africa
the family includes many familiar groups, such
as wheatears, stonechats and redstarts, together
with less well-known species such as the
secretive shortwings of Asia and the rare and
localised akalats of central Africa.

The exhibition at Waterston House starts on 19
November 2016 and will run to January 2017.

Plate 184. Detail from Long-eared Owl, Aberlady Bay, Lothian. © Chris Rose

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Plate 185. Barnacle Geese, Islay. © Lisa Hooper

Artist Profile: Lisa Hooper

This September sees printmaker Lisa Hooper
returning to the Donald Watson Gallery for her
third solo exhibition. Lisa, whose bold and
colourful prints are inspired by birdlife from her
home in Galloway to the Orkneys and the
Inner Hebrides will be showing approximately
50 new pieces of work and launching her latest
book, Printing Wildlife. Lisa exhibits throughout
the UK and has won a number of national
prizes for her work.

Lisa has been a printmaker since the early
1990s and during this time she has developed
a range of techniques with which to capture
her bird and wildlife subjects. Although she
was initially attracted to printing when she
learnt to etch, she now uses woodcut and
linocut as well as a number of more unusual
types of printing such as monotype, collagraph
and Japanese woodblock. It is the variety of
techniques that Lisa uses that typifies her work.
"To me, it's really important to have a varied

toolbox of approaches to a subject," says Lisa,
"then I can choose the right look and feel for
the image I have in mind."

Because of her restless interest in new ways of
working, Lisa's work is always moving on. In this
exhibition, for instance, you will see examples
of tessellated linocuts which Lisa first started to
make in response to seeing Barnacle Geese in
their tens of thousands on Islay two years ago.
"As I printmaker I was thinking that I ought to be
able to find a way of capturing the seemingly
infinite number of geese on Gruinart Flats
without drawing every bird. So I developed the
idea of a tiled segment of several geese, which
I could print as a repeat across the page. This
method is quite a logical way of capturing
pattern in bird multitudes of several kinds from
seabird colonies to murmurations."

A second development has been led by the
purchase of a new press which now shares

228

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Lisa's studio in Port William with the etching
press she has owned since 1998. The new
acquisition is actually an old relief printing
press made in approximately 1850. Whereas
the etching press is good for printing in a single
pass, the relief printing press is really designed
for printing multiple passes. So it's perfect for
printing multicloured linocuts. Lisa is enjoying
the freedom and versatility this gives to her
work. You'll be able to see several examples of
these in the exhibition.

Because of Lisa's unusually comprehensive
understanding of printmaking and her
experience as a full-time wildlife artist, she was
approached earlier this year by the Langford
Press (who published her book First
Impressions in 2014), to write the second in a
separate series of books on Wildlife Art
Techniques. It is that book, Printing Wildlife,
which will be launched at the Private View on
16 September where
Lisa will be available
to sign copies and
discuss her work.

PRjNTINc

"'akin

aPProachei ^

Wildlife

^PHru*

Plate 186.

Razorbill, Isle
of May. ©
Lisa Hooper

Usaff,

° °Per

Plate 187. Grey Seal. © Lisa Hooper

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Articles, News & Views

Plate 188. Snipe, Dewar, Borders, May 2016. © Ray Murray

Attendees at the Peebles BTO/SOC bird
conference in March 2016 were faced with a
rare opportunity - the possibility of 'buying' Ray
Murray, one of the prime birders in the Lothian
and Borders region, for a day. The two highest
bidders in the silent auction would win him.

I was one of the lucky two and on 22 May myself
and Heather Beaton, both ecologists from HED
Ltd in the Highlands, travelled down to meet Ray
at Dalkeith Tesco's car park at 05.30 hrs.

We weren't quite sure what to expect never
having bought a man before, but we weren't
disappointed. Ray acted as tour guide and drove
us to all the hot spots. Knowing the area
intimately, he targeted the places to locate Ring
Ouzels, Peregrine, Velvet and Common Scoters,

Plate 189. Ray Murray offers his birding services for a
day in aid of South-east Scotland Atlas funds, Peebles,
March 2016. © SOC

terns and many more; he even had a Grey
Wagtail precisely on cue.

We visited a range of habitats including coast -
impressive cliffs stacked with sea birds,
moorland, a stunning bluebell woodland and
even visited England-shire where we managed
to look back across the borders to see a heron
in Scotland (tickable!).

Ray's knowledge of birds and birdsong in his
local area, his endless enthusiasm for his subject
and his easy-going nature made for a magical
day out. We spotted 99 species in 14 hours and
increased our knowledge of bird song and bird
habits and identification. Highlights included a
wonderful sighting of a Snipe calling on a fence
post just 5 metres from us, a pair of Gadwall at
Musselburgh Lagoons, a Wood Sandpiper at
Foulden, a Little Tern on the beach at West Barns
and a Peregrine in the middle of Galashiels.

I would highly recommend buying Ray for the
day; he's great value in so many ways.

Imogen Young , Black Isle , Highland.

Ray has added: / had two great days out with
both Imogen Young and Pauline Crerar (the
other winner). We managed 103 on Pauline's
outing in early May - so it was a little
disappointing to only get 99 on the second trip
in mid-May (both c 13 hours in field). Everyone
finished up happy the ladies for the trip and the
bank account for the South-east Scotland Atlas,
which will help with publication cost. For
branches looking for a good way of raising
funds - this is a winner!

230

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BOOK REVIEWS

The book reviews published in Scottish Birds reflect the views of the named reviewers and not those of the SOC.

The Birds of Ullapool and
Lochbroom Parish, an
annotated checklist. Richard
Rate, 2015. Published on
behalf of the Lochbroom Field
Club by Avon Court Press, ISBN
978-0-9553810-1-0. Available
from Brenda Rafe, Lochbroom
Field Club Treasurer, Ardcraig
Braes, Ullapool, IV26 2SZ.
Paperback, 30 pages, £4.00
plus 80p p&p.

The author readily
admits in the book that
he is a recent incomer
to this area and is
looking for feedback to
make the checklist
more accurate. Flaving
said this, it is great to
have a list for such a large and
remote area as this, possibly the
largest (in terms of land area)
parish in the UK. It is encouraging
to find someone prepared to put in
the time and effort to compile the
collective knowledge of the local
field club. Hopefully he will be
around long enough to prepare an
enlarged second edition.

The list follows the standard format,
beginning with 'swan' and ending
with 'Reed Bunting'. Each entry
gives a brief summary of the bird's
nesting, migration and residency
details as well as a measure of its
rarity in the parish. A simple sketch
map of the parish giving general
viewpoints would enhance the
usefulness of the booklet for first
time visitors. Also, as the booklet is
basically a list, can the author find a
local artist or, failing that, obtain
small sketches for margins or page
top illustrations? A little computer
juggling with bird outlines or
recognizable local scene sketches
would break up the list.
Presentation on a shop shelf is
everything these days.

A useful field check list of the
right size. I look forward to the
next edition.

Roger Gooch

Bird Families of the World.

David W. Winkler, Shawn M.
Billerman & Irby J. Lovette,
2015. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona,
ISBN: 9788494189203,

hardback, 599 pages, £69.99.

The study of bird diversity is a life-
enriching experience and this book
allows the reader to marvel at avian
diversity throughout its wonderfully
illustrated pages. The book has
been designed to serve both as a
text for ornithology courses and as
a resource for serious bird
enthusiasts of all levels. Technical
terminology is much reduced, and
all scientific terms used are defined
in a glossary. Introductory material
describes the scope and concepts
behind the classification used.

The bulk of the book is a family-by-
family account of the birds of the
world. Each family is represented
by at least a two-page spread,
including a distributional map with
the breeding, non-breeding and
year-round ranges of each family, a
short text inviting the reader to
learn more, standardized
descriptions of the appearance,
relationships and similar species to
each member in the family, their
life history and conservation status.
Each account includes a review of
recent ideas about the relationships
of the family to other families and
relationships within it. The work is
liberally illustrated by photographs
from bird enthusiasts around the
globe as well as paintings of one
species from each of the genera.

The classification of birds is in a
state of flux and new molecular
research has changed our

understanding of
evolutionary
relationships. For
example, falcons
were traditionally
grouped with other
diurnal birds of prey,
however, I was surprised to learn
that the latest classification splits
falcons from other birds of prey
and places them closer to parrots,
owls and cuckoos.

This book provides a good
overview of the world's bird
families; however, some readers
may be frustrated by the lack of
detail on species. The authors stress
that families provide us with a more
manageable framework for
understanding bird diversity and
evolutionary relationships. If you are
looking for a book which celebrates
bird diversity and do not wish to
fork out on all 16 volumes of the
Handbook of the Birds of the World
this book certainly provides a
worthy alternative.

Mike Thornton

Field Guide to the Birds of
Britain & Ireland. Mark Golley,

2016. Bloomsbury, London,

ISBN: 978-1-4729-1746-1,

softback, 208 pages, £14.99.

This is an updated % ^

version of the Wildlife F,_^ j

Trusts' 4 Field Guide to
the Birds of Britain and OFMitain‘»d1»eu((0

Ireland by Habitat
published in 2004.

The book includes an
introduction,
description of different
habitats, then 182 pages devoted to
the 285 species covered, followed
by 13 comprising a tick list, glossary,
further reading, useful websites and
the index. Aimed at the novice and
improving beginner, this book has a
good succinct text covering the

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main identification points, vocali¬
sations, habitat and when and
where to see each species. Page
layout is well designed.

The strength of a field guide usually
lies with the quality of the
illustrations (over 1,000). These are
generally very good and in lifelike
poses rather than all side-on
standardized paintings. A number
suffer from overly dark or rich
colour reproduction and a few are
rather pale, but the great majority
are excellent and convey the jizz of
the species well. Strange then that
the only mention of the artist
(Dave Daly) is second place in the
acknowledgements. Overall a
decent addition to the marketplace.

Stuart L. Rivers

Howes and Knowes: an
introduction to Berwickshire
place-names. Michael E.
Braithwaite, 2016. The
Berwickshire Naturalists' Club,
Hawick, ISBN 978-0-9516434-
2-6, paperback, 40 pages, free
to BNC members with
suggestion of £4 donation to
M.E. Braithwaite, Clarilaw
Farmhouse, Hawick, TD9 8PT,
tel: 01450 372129, otherwise
no price given.

When you play with maps you
may discover wildlife extinct or
extant - think of all those Highland
Creagan na h-lolaire. Scotland has
indeed a great many noble wild
prospects, as Dr Johnson
memorably agreed, but much is
"improved" or degraded, and
persecution of predators persists.

Using chiefly 1:25,000 and some
six-inch to one mile OS maps and
the online Dictionary of the Scots
Language, our author, a published
botanist, discusses with nice
illustrations names of nearly 300
sites - landforms, habitats, species;
some obvious, others obscure.
Bogs, mires or mosses may recall
wetlands now drained; Cat Cleugh

and Wolfen Burn
reveal missing
mammals (the
Scottish
Ga mekeepers
Association
supplies the
Wild Cat photo
here, but would those gentry
admit the beast itself to its old
haunts?). Berwickshire still boasts
seabird cities - Foul Carr is a mingin
high-rise block at St Abb's Head.
Ravens now return to
Ravensheugh; enigmatically
eponymous gleds attempt to
enjoy their own again; Earns
Cleugh awaits the return of the
king of birds; but is Gowkscroft
doomed to silent springs?

Deans, heughs, cleughs, hopes
and rigs are mapped, but not
species. Admitting to just scratching
the surface, the author credits The
Birds of Berwickshire (1889), but
omits many gems from Muirhead's
treasure-trove. Some species are
overlooked. Nevertheless,

naturalists with hinterland will value
this inspirational offering on a
neglected topic. We hope Mr
Braithwaite will howk deeper for an
expanded edition - Barn's Fieugh
to Wolf Cleugh: a natural history...
might make a more enticing title.

D.J. Bates

Lines from Nature. John
Busby, 2016. Langford Press,
London, ISBN:

9781904078616, hardback,
191 pages, £37.99.

John Busby was widely recognised
as a master of art, within profes¬
sional art circles and among
birdwatchers and naturalists.
Among the birding world, he was
probably most famous for his
beautifully evocative line drawings
and watercolours that spoke of
intense field observation, but John
himself used to say he was most
comfortable with his oil paintings.
This magnificent book, the content

of which John delivered to the
publisher only weeks before he
died, shows his accomplishments
in both arenas. To think of Busby as
a bird artist alone would belittle
him and his art, but not to
acknowledge the way his wildlife
drawings spoke to naturalists
would also be a mistake.

Busby's curiosity
about and delight in
the natural world
jump from every
page of this book.

Each picture
captures an
energy so much
more vivid than
many photographs. His
pictures are realistic in that they distil
the essence of the creature or
scene, emphasising energetic
tensions, colour relations and
compositions in ways that not only
tell of his rigorous academic training,
but of his love for the subject. Busby
was less concerned about depicting
the intricate details of the birds he
drew, than of how the inclusion or
exclusion of those details affected
the picture and the viewer's
enjoyment. In other words, his art
was a response to the environment
- and therefore each drawing
included something of John Busby
himself - rather than a slavish
record. All that shines through in this
great book, and I think goes a long
way towards explaining his
popularity among ornithologists as
well as art lovers.

Lines from Nature is John Busby's
final book. It contains many
previously unpublished wonderful
drawings and paintings. The text
may be secondary to the pictures,
but it reflects the gentility of the
man himself. It speaks directly from
him. He was generous, polite,
subtle and infectiously enthusiastic
about art in general and drawing
and painting wildlife in particular. In
this book, you can see how his
personality infused his art
throughout his long life, whether
that was in his distillation of a

Howes and knowes:

M tantxfcKti** »

Berkshire place-name*

John Busby Lines

Nature

232

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Articles, News & Views

living, breathing bird into a few
perfect charcoal lines, or his bold
rock pool paintings and energetic
oils of dancing cranes. There is a
vitality and a vibrancy to his work
that this book captures perfectly. In
the introduction, John Busby
writes: "A drawing that gets to the
heart of things should, perhaps by
its economy of means, or
sometimes by its complexity, but
mostly by how it is composed,
communicate the artist's sense of
the occasion, and hopefully bring
the moment alive.'' That sums up
the book. It is all about capturing
those special moments that all
naturalists love. It is more than a
worthy legacy. It's a total delight.

Mark Boyd

Wild Island: A Year in the
Hebrides. Jane Smith, 2016.
Birlinn, Edinburgh, ISBN 978-1-
78027-269-6, hardback, 160
pages, £20.

I first saw Jane
Smith's wildlife
artwork in a gallery
on Colonsay two
years ago and was
immediately
struck by its
vibrancy and her
ability to capture her subjects' jizz
convincingly with economic use of
line and colour. I admired it again in
her exhibition at Waterston House
earlier this year, which coincided
with the launch of this lovely book
and where many of its illustrations
were for sale. It portrays very

skilfully, in paintings, sketches, prints

and words, a year in the life of the
small island of Oronsay, accessible
at low tide from Colonsay, and
which is farmed by the RSPBforthe
benefit of wildlife.

Jane lives not far away in Argyll and
her book is the result of sporadic
visits to Oronsay over a number of
years, when she was hosted by
RSPB reserve managers Mike and
Val Peacock. Written as a series of

monthly diary-style entries, it
describes the island, its history, the
people who live and work there,
the livestock and the rich variety of
flora and fauna that are found
there. Machair, Choughs and
Corncrakes are among its star
attractions and the Paps of Jura
provide a rugged backdrop. The text
is both lyrical and informative and,
together with delightful illustrations
on just about every page, it
certainly makes me want to go
back to Oronsay for a closer look.

John Savory

RSPB Handbook of Scottish
Birds (second edition). Peter
Holden & Stuart Housden,
2016. Bloomsbury, London,
ISBN 978-1-4729-2728-6,
softback, 256 pages, £12.99.

This is the second
edition of the book
with the same
name which was
first published in
2009. It follows the
same format and
covers 252 species
of regular occurrence. Now
fully updated, it is richer and more
comprehensive with newly added
Gaelic names, updated distribution
maps, conservation status and over
1,000 colour illustrations.

Acknowledgment has been made
to our own Birds of Scotland
(2007) and it is aimed at the
birdwatcher in Scotland, although it
is not intended to be a field guide
as such, but more of a key to
discovering more about each
species. A few additional rarities
have been added, such as Pectoral
Sandpiper, Mandarin and Glossy
Ibis, but Crane and Little Egret are
now acknowledged as being
regular visitors and have been
moved to the main text.

The illustrations are good and are
aimed particularly for those who are
not as confident of their identifi¬

Rs pb

HANDBOxtr OF

^ornsH

birds

cation skills as some. It is not an
advanced bird guide, but aims to
help as many people as possible
develop a greater understanding of
birds and their habitats that make
up the rich mosaic of Scotland.

Karen Bidgood

Nightingales in November: a
year in the lives of twelve
British birds. Mike Dilger, 2016.
Bloomsbury, London, ISBN
978-1-4729-1535-1, hardback,
368 pages, £16.99.

Nightingales
*_In November

U»c Li

British Birds

Mike Dilger

As birders, we go by
the seasons, ticking
off when birds
arrive and leave,
when territories
are disputed and
breeding starts.

However, when
the birds aren't visible do
we give any thought to what they
are up to? Mike Dilger has picked
12 British species, some resident
some migrant, and highlights a
year in their lives. What really
stands out for me in this book is
how recent scientific research,
primarily by the British Trust for
Ornithology, is showcased. Satellite
tagging has allowed us to get a
clearer understanding of what
certain species are up to when not
on our shores and this information
is shared along with the
information gleaned by the
devoted studies of many
individuals over the years. Our
knowledge of different species' life
histories has dramatically increased
and Mike's informal style of
narrative puts this across in an
easily understandable format. Each
month of the year is split into three
sections and the lives of the 12
birds are discussed in each.

Hayley Anne Douglas

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RINGERS’ ROUNDUP

If you have any interesting ringing recoveries , articles, project updates or requests for
information which you would like to be included in the next issue, please email to
Raymond Duncan at Raymond@waxwing.fsnet.co.uk. Thank you very much to the
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the many ringers, ringing groups and birders who
provided the information for this latest round up. Thanks also to the many bird watchers
who take the time and trouble to read rings in the field or find dead ringed birds and
report them. For lots more exciting facts, figures, numbers and movements log on to
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/publications/online-ringing-reports

Plate 190. 'Super Ouzel', Glen Clunie, North-east Scotland, May 2015. © Innes Sim

Super Ouzel

A Ring Ouzel colour-ringed as a chick in Glen
Clunie, near Braemar in 2008 which has
returned to breed in the glen this summer for his
eighth season is now, at eight years and one
month, the oldest Ring Ouzel on BTO records.
Not only that, but thanks to Innes Sim and
Graham Rebecca's long-term study in the glen,
we also know that this 'Super Ouzel' is on his
fifth wife, has successfully raised 50 chicks in 14
breeding attempts without any failures and in
2016 was presiding over a clan of five
sons/daughters, three grandsons/daughters, one
great-granddaughter and one great-great-great
granddaughter all nesting around him in the
glen! He has also managed to avoid being shot

on 16 migrations through France and Spain, and
has probably travelled at least 35,000 miles
during his lifetime (so far) - amazing!

Juvenile Swallows in May

The September 2015 Roundup included a bit
about Swallows possibly migrating together in
clans after Carmen Azahara caught two
Scottish-ringed birds together on spring
passage in northern Spain. Carmen and
boyfriend Euan Ferguson had another
interesting Swallow catch this spring on North
Ronaldsay. Euan mentioned Bluethroat and
Nightingale were a few of the highlights in early
May, but that, "the most interesting bird so far
has been a juvenile Swallow!"

234

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36:3 (2016)

Arti

<ru*S,

Jewri

f r '

Swallow chicks aren't usually on the wing ir
Scotland until well into June. Carmen
mentioned that Swallows can breec in the south
of Spain and northern Africa from February,
anc when she was working in northern Spain
she would occasionally catch freshly
fledged juveniles at this time of year that have
followed the acults migrating north.

By coincidence, we had also come across
juvenile Swallows a few .ears easier or 29 Apn
2007 at Meikle Loch, near Aberdeen. Two were
observed anc photographed sitting on a fence
_ater that year in an autumr roost two juveniles
caught for ringing were recorcec in active wing
mo^lt Swa ows norma1 y moult n the:' wintering
quarters r Africa. See Grampian Ringing Group
Report No. 11, 2002-2006 for further reading.

Changing Chiffchaffs

In describing the autumn migration of the
Ch iff cfiaff in the UK, The BTO Migrator Atlas
(2002; states "seemingly random short
distance dispersive movements commence ir
Ju / anc continue into September. These merge
nto a more definite rn gratory movement that
commences in late August and peaks in the
seconc naif o; September. Having reaches
northern France anc trie Low Countries birds
head south west warn to reach south west France
by late September anc the Atlantic coast o4
Spain, Portuga arc Morocco from earn October
onwards. Many birds cross the Sahara in
October anc ear/ November to occupy
wintering grounds that extenc from '/a wta' a
south to G j nea-Bissa -

Plate '9 h._ven e Swa on eft with second- .ear :;c hem Ronaldsa;. Owne. F7ia\ 2S'€ & Euan Fergusof:

36:3 (2016j

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235

Articles, News & Views

Similarly, in The Birds of Scotland (2007)
"Autumn passage starts with the departure of
local birds from late July and early August...
They change to a south-west heading to reach
western Iberia and Morocco by October".

Below is a list of ringing movements of Chiffchaffs
on autumn passage where birds have been
confirmed (or highly likely to be) born or breeding
in Scotland by date of ringing or recapture.

BKY015 Juvenile

01/10/05

Walton in Gordano, Avon

Retrapped Ad male

23/04/07

Bridge of Don, Aberdeen

639kmNE

CKE239 Juvenile

01/10/09

Leighton Moss, Lancashire

Retrapped Adult

16/05/10

River Almond, Edinburgh Airport

200kmN

CBB049 Juvenile

05/10/07

Pett Level, East Sussex

Retrapped Adult

11/07/08

Near Mill Farm, Aberdour, Fife

630kmNNW

HAE277 Unknown

09/10/15

Icklesham, East Sussex

Retrapped Ad male

17/04/16

Bridge of Don, Aberdeen

722kmNNW

DYN263 Juvenile

05/08/14

Connon Island, Maryburgh, Highland
Retrapped Juvenile

11/10/14

New Laithe Farm, Newton, Lancashire

422kmSSE

RH7298 Adult

14/10/12

Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais, France
Retrapped Adult

04/05/14

Lionthorn Community Woods, Falkirk

680kmNNW

AJ0676 Juvenile

15/10/07

Ingooigem, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Retrapped Adult

27/06/08

Yellow Craig Wood, Stirling

766kmNW

JHT715 Juvenile

20/10/15

Greenstraight, Hallsands, Devon

Retrapped Ad male

01/07/16

Bridge of Don, Aberdeen

779 km N

HNA763 Unknown

22/10/15

Aldridge Lodge Farm, West Midlands
Retrapped Ad male

24/04/16

Torrieston, Moray, Highland

566kmN

EBL800 Ad male

28/10/11

Beachy Head, East Sussex

Retrapped Ad male

08/07/12

Strathclyde Country Park, Motherwell

629kmNNW

AEH611 Juvenile

15/07/15

Near Kildray, Highland

Retrapped Juvenile

.01/11/15

Nanijzal, Lands End, Cornwall

836kmS

EXY220 Adult

01/11/14

Skokholm Island, Pembrokeshire
Retrapped Adult

18/06/15

Connon Island, Maryburgh, Highland

655 km N

AER528 Adult

12/07/14

Cathcart, Glasgow, Strathclyde
Retrapped Adult

07/11/14

Paul Do Taipal, Coimbra, Portugal

1760kmSSW

The dates when the birds have been caught on
passage have been highlighted in red. Bearing in
mind the ^literature describes main passage
through the UK during August and September
and into southern Europe and even Africa during
October, it is most surprising to find there are no
pre-October records of Scottish birds in England.

The BTO Migration Atlas is based on more
English-ringed birds where Chiffchaffs have
historically been more common and hence
more ringed, but as they continue to expand
and increase northwards it would appear their
departure timings are becoming considerably
later than those further south.

Is there a sliding scale of passage timings through
the country with the 'ToffChaffs' heading off first
and the 'MacChaffs' following on later? How
might this affect their wintering strategy/range?
What about the UK wintering population? Will it
increase as increasing 'MacChaffs' loiter longer in
the milder winters and more join up with lingering
'ToffChaffs' and the incoming 'ThorChaffs'
(Scandanavian and Siberian)?

So, keep the CES ringing going and why not
target a few breeding Chiffchaffs in your local
patches too so more birds of known origin are
ringed. The males react well to tape lure and
where females are vocal nests are easy to find.

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Plate 192. 'Mac' the Mandarin, Walker Dam, Aberdeen, North-east Scotland, 28 February 2016. © Harry Scott

The mind-boggling movements
of ‘Mac’ the Mandarin

H.l. SCOTT

On 8 February 2016 the following message from
Brian Battensby appeared on our local 'NE
Scotland Wildlife' Facebook page "I've seen a
photo of the Mandarin drake in Johnston Gardens
and it has a ring on its left leg. I can't remember
it being ringed and certainly not on its left leg".

To put this observation into context, an often
obliging drake Mandarin has been seen and
photographed during the winter months since
about 2010 (he's even appeared on TV!) in
Johnston Gardens, a small ornamental garden
just west of Aberdeen City Centre. Until Brian's
post there had never been any mention of
him being ringed.

So, I thought I'd head into Aberdeen to take a look
and investigate the Mandarin's origins. I was
curious to find out whether our returning
wintering bird had recently been caught and
ringed, or was it a different bird altogether? Surely
it would be very odd to have different drake birds
frequenting the same inner city pond?

Mandarin are present in North-east Scotland in
very small numbers and have been recorded
breeding here in mid-Deeside. I've ringed six
breeding females on nests between 2005-07
(It's very difficult to catch the drakes, and young
ducklings cannot be ringed since it takes several
weeks for their feet to fully develop) so I was very
curious to know more about this ringed bird.

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237

Articles, News & Views

When visiting Johnston Gardens on 28 February,
I chatted with several folk, including the park
keeper, who suggested 'Mac' was originally from
the nearby Hazelhead Park bird collection and
that's where he was ringed etc. That appeared to
make sense; he summers in Hazelhead Park
then spends his winters nearby in Johnston
Gardens. Anyway, I finally located 'Mac' at
nearby Walker Dam and managed to get some
snaps of his ring - Now this is where the story
of 'Mac' takes a dramatic twist!

The ring on his left leg implies he'd been ringed
overseas. Generally UK ringers are encouraged
to ring birds on their right legs. The left leg ring
intrigued me, but then lots of exotic wildfowl
originating from captive collections can have
rings on either leg, so my initial thoughts were
that he was most likely from the Hazelhead Park
collection or similar.

Well... when I checked the ring in my photos,
and read what was inscribed on it, I was utterly
gob-smacked! The minute I read the digits I
knew he was definitely not one of my Deeside
birds and more importantly... he was NOT an
escapee from Hazelhead Park!

His ring was inscribed with the words "Stavanger
Museum" and as he moved about, I was also
able to get pretty much all the inscribed digits
on his ring... "427439..." (Plate 193). As soon
as I got home I entered the details on the
Stavanger Museum web site and within 24hrs
received a detailed report of his history. His full
ring number is 4274391 and he was ringed as
an adult male on the 9 April 2015 at
Bestumkilen near Akershus, Oslo in Norway!
Then just four days later, on the 13 April 2015,

he was re-sighted at Minneparken,
Porsgrunnselva, which is about 150km SW of
Oslo. He wasn't sighted again till he turned up
in Johnston Gardens and was first re-sighted
here on 6 September 2015 by Les Andrew.

Havard Husebe from the Norwegian Ringing
Scheme at Stavanger Museum very kindly
emailed me the following information about
the status of Mandarin in Norway; "The
Mandarin Duck is a relatively scarce bird in
Norway. It is of course being kept as a
domestic park bird, but there are also annually
about 20-30 records of free living individuals.
With a peak of records in April and early May,
which indicates that these do in fact migrate,
possibly following other ducks on their route.

I'm not aware of any breeding of the species in
Norway at the moment, although there were a
few records back in the early 90s.

There are in total 21 ringed Mandarins in
Norway. Your finding is actually our second
recovery in UK. The first one was also ringed
near Oslo and shot just north of Newcastle on 9
November 1962. We also have one which was
recovered way down in eastern Germany."

In response to Havard's email, I checked the
British Trust of Ornithology's (BTO) national
ringing data to gauge this movement from a UK
perspective. From what I've managed to find
out, only seven Mandarins have previously been
recorded travelling between the UK and other
countries or vice-versa; one ringed in France
turned up in the UK and another ringed here
went to France; same story with the
Netherlands, as we recovered one of theirs and

Plate 193. Ring detail, Walker Dam, Aberdeen, North-east Scotland, 28 February 2016. © Harry Scott

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wmm

they recovered one of ours; and lastly the above
Norwegian ringed bird shot in NE England and
two UK ringed Mandarins recovered in the
Russian Federation. So 'Mac' is just the fourth
UK recovery of a foreign-ringed Mandarin.

How amazing is that?

However, a few questions still needed
answering, was he new to Johnston Gardens last
winter or, is he the same bird wintering here
over the last four to five years? If the latter, has
he been travelling backwards and forwards
between Aberdeen and Oslo all those years? Or,
have we been seeing more than one individual
at Johnston Gardens? If that was the case, surely
someone would have spotted two together on
at least one occasion?

To get a clearer picture, I put some requests on
local FaceBook groups for sightings past and
present of 'Mac'. Firstly to establish just how many
years a Mandarin has frequented the gardens and
secondly, whether there was any possibility that
two birds have ever visited the area.

Plate 194. 'Mac' the Mandarin, Walker Dam, Aberdeen,
North-east Scotland, 14 April 2016. © Vicky Hall

It was at this point, on 20 April 2016, the story of
'Mac' ventured into mind-boggling new territory; I
received an email which potentially confirmed
something quite extraordinary! I promptly put out
yet another local FaceBook request for very recent
sightings of 'Mac' in the Johnston Gardens area
and amazingly, within 24 hrs, Vicky Hall got in
touch and was able to confirm with the aid of her
photo (Plate 194) that 'Mac' was present at
Walker Dam, Aberdeen till at least 18.30 hrs on
Thursday 14 April.

Well that really made my day as the email I
received the day before was now even more
astounding as a result of Vicky's sighting. It had
alerted me that our very own 'Mac' had again
been photographed only 110 hrs (4.5 days)
afterVicky's photo was taken, but this time it was
at 09.00 hrs on the morning of 19 April by
Morten Lie (Plate 195). Have you guessed
what's coming next?

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239

Plate 195 a-b. 'Mac' the Mandarin, Krokstadelva near Drammen, Norway, 19 April 2016. © Morten Lie

Yep, 'Mac' had indeed flown back over the North
Sea and was snapped by Morten at Krokstadelva
near Drammen, just south-west of Oslo!!! What
are the chances of that? A potentially 'plastic' park
duck being photographed well enough to read
its ring within hours of it leaving/arriving at two
locations on opposite sides of the North Sea.
Remember it had taken six months for hundreds
of local followers in Aberdeen to actually
photograph/read his ring after he was first
sighted wearing it.

These new sightings were truly amazing. It had
already been major news in the bird ringing
world to learn of his initial journey over here last
September after being ringed near Oslo last
Spring, but for him to return there this spring,
makes this record truly unprecedented!

It now appears that 'Mac' has been traversing
the North Sea annually, spending his winters
here in Aberdeen and summering over near
Oslo since approximately 2011. We'd have
known nothing of his amazing adventures and
assumed he just moved away from Aberdeen
each summer to find a mate locally, had he not
been ringed last spring near Oslo.

"So, I wonder what will happen next?" was my
last post to our local FaceBook groups back in
April 2016... then BOOM!!! Never a dull moment
when our wee 'Mac' is concerned. Yep, it all
kicked off yet again!

On 26 June 2016, Tessa Holland reported
"Mandarin is back in Aberdeen. Just saw him land
at Walker Dam... did not have camera on me..."

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Articles, News & Views

Could this be 'Mac' back in Aberdeen so soon? He
usually doesn't reappear till August/September. I
promptly broadcast a request for anyone passing
that way to drop by and confirm, with a photo
hopefully, that 'Mac' was in fact back in Johnston
Gardens for his winter holidays.

Acknowledgements

A great many people, from both sides of the
North Sea, have been involved in this story to
date, so many thanks to everyone involved.
Every little bit of information has been a huge
help in keeping an accurate record of this hyper-
mobile wee dazzler.

Well, with such a large and enthusiastic group of
followers in Aberdeen it didn't take long at all.
On 28 June 2016, Ian Talboys posted the
following "Mac the Mandarin duck is back at
Walker Dam this morning. I was passing and
saw a scruffy looking Mandarin duck on the
edge of Walker Dam. On close inspection of the
photos, he has a ring from Stavanger Museum
number 27439..." (Plate 196).

So that's the story so far at the time of writing.
'Mac' is most definitely back in residence in
Aberdeen a lot earlier than usual, and he's made
it back in one piece at least.

To be continued?

Plate 196 a-b. 'Mac' the Mandarin, Walker Dam,
Aberdeen, North-east Scotland, 28 June 2016.
© Ian Talboys

Harry Scott , Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.

Email: picades@ifb.co.uk

Plate 197. Black-tailed Godwits, Tiree, Argyll, April 2015. ©John Bowler

Spring records of Black- tailed
Godwits in Scotland

G.F. APPLETON

On 24 February this year, on the Samouco
saltpans on the Tagus estuary in Portugal, we
saw an Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit wearing
four colour-rings: red & lime on the left, green &
green flag (RL-GGf) on the right. It had been
ringed there on 10 August 2010 by Dr Jose
Alves so it's not a surprise that it was in the
same spot five and a half years later. In between
times, on 29 April 2013, RL-GGf was one of
1,520 Icelandic godwits counted on Tiree by
John Bowler and Graham Todd (Bowler 2014),
having encountered strong northerlies that
forced it to delay the Atlantic crossing. If you
think back to the cold spring of 2013, it is not
surprising that strange things happened that
year. Northerlies delayed spring arrivals of
African migrants but they also blocked the
departure of wintering birds that were trying to
fly to Iceland, Greenland and northern Canada.

RL-GGf is one of our favourite Black-tailed
Godwits. It happens to like a small estuary called
Grafarvogur in Reykjavik, which Professor Jenny
Gill (University of East Anglia) and I monitor
daily in the second half of April each year. We've
seen this bird here in the springs of 2012, 2014,
2015 and 2016, on a total of 13 occasions. We

have an arrival date for 2011 too, when he was
spotted in Southern Iceland by Professor Tomas
Gunnarsson, our Icelandic collaborator, but
there's a gap in 2013, when we left Iceland
while he was still on Tiree. There are a couple of
early spring records of this bird in the
Netherlands, so this is where he probably
spends March and early April every year, having
left Portugal in February. In the last six years he
has set off for Iceland in spring and only in 2013
was he seen in Scotland. He and other godwits
that are forced to suspend migration are starting
to give us insights into the hurdles that weather
patterns can put in the way when birds are
trying to travel north (Gill 2015).

Plate 198. Black-tailed Godwits, Tiree, Argyll, May
2016. © John Bowler

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Articles, News & Views

Table 1. The dates of first spring sightings of RL-GGf
(Red over Lime on left tibia, Green over Green flag on
right tibia) in Iceland between 2011 and 2016. The
only spring sighting in 2013 was in Tiree.

Arrival point

Arrival date

2011

Southern Lowlands

20 April

2012

Reykjavik

25 April

2013

(Tiree)

(29 April)

2014

Reykjavik

24 April

2015

Reykjavik

18 April

2016

Reykjavik

22 April

Migration in a changing climate

We've been monitoring the spring arrival of Black¬
tailed Godwits in Iceland since 2000, and we've
shown that colour-ringed birds have their own
individual schedules: early birds always arrive
early and late birds always arrive late. Differences
in the exact date on which each individual arrives
may be associated with the weather patterns
each year, but individuals are remarkably
consistent despite annually variable weather
conditions. It therefore appears that individual
godwits, like RL-GGf, have a preferred window in
which to undertake the Atlantic crossing.

Interestingly, although there is no evidence that
individual birds have changed their arrival times
in Iceland over the last 15 years, the arrival dates
of the population are getting earlier
(Gunnarsson et al. 2006). We've shown that
this advance in migration is being driven by
young birds recruiting into the breeding

population on schedules which are earlier than
those of previous generations (Gill et al. 2015).
Ultimately, this is likely to be being driven by
warmer springs and earlier nesting seasons.
There's a blog about this paper at
wa d e rta I es. word press. com/2 01 5/11 /16/wh
y-is-spring-migration-getting-earlier.

Black-tailed Godwits on Tiree
Over the years, the Isle of Tiree in the Inner
Hebrides has proved to be a great place to pick
up colour-ring sightings of Black-tailed Godwits.
John Bowler, the local RSPB Officer, really enjoys
watching out for their spring return when, as he
comments, "hundreds can drop in on the loch-
sides in full breeding dress". The very first birds
appear at the end of March and numbers
increase into April, with very large flocks often
occurring at the peak of passage in the last week
of April and the first week of May. Birds are
usually found on the grazed edges of machair
lochs, with numbers declining through May and
odd birds lingering to the middle of June. Given
that between 1 °/o and 2% of the Icelandic Black¬
tailed Godwit population wear colour-rings there
is a good chance of finding a marked bird. With
migration getting earlier, John's godwit-watching
season will probably get longer.

Godwits also appear on Tiree in the autumn but in
smaller numbers. The first failed breeders appear
in late June, followed by more adults in July and

Plate 199. Black-tailed Godwits, Tiree, Argyll, May 2016. ©John Bowler

36:3 (2016)

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243

Number of birds

Articles , News & Views

Plate 200. Black-tailed Godwit, Tiree, Argyll, April
2015. © David Mason. This French-ringed bird (OfL-
LB) was present on Tiree on 29 April 2013

early August and then juveniles in late August
through to October, with occasional stragglers in
November and December. Young birds often use
freshly-cut silage/hay fields on Tiree for foraging, in
the same way that many will have done in Iceland
as they prepared for the journey south.

35 1 Eastern England scheme

■ Portuguese scheme

■ Icelandic schemes

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Figure 1. Annual variation in the number of colour-ringed birds
from three of the main schemes reported in Scotland in mid-
March to mid-June (excluding birds that spend the whole or
part of the winter period in Scotland).

Disrupted migration

Black-tailed Godwits are very site-faithful in
every season of the year. However, although '63
different colour-ringed birds have been seen in
spring by John Bowler and his colleagues, only
one bird has been seen in more than one
spring. This low number of repeat between-year
sightings on Tiree, where looking for colour-
ringed birds is part of the daily routine, very
much suggests that birds seen here are
dropping in out of necessity, rather than using
the site as an annual staging post. The journey
from south England or The Netherlands to
Iceland is only just over 1,000 miles, which is
well within the capabilities for migrating waders
in non-stop "flight - as long as they do not
encounter adverse weather conditions (Alves et
al. 2012, Alves et al. 2013).

Scottish flocks of migrating Black-tailed Godwits
do not only occur on Tiree, of course. On the
peak day of 29 April 2013, when 1,520 birds
were counted on Tiree, 891 birds were also
reported at Loch Gruinart on Islay. The 2,411
birds in these two flocks constituted about 5%
of the Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit population
(Gunnarsson et al. 2005). Given that there
were other colour-ringed godwits reported in
Motherwell and on Benbecula, just how many
Icelandic godwits were in Scotland on that day?

The lack of predictability, when it comes to the
potential locations of these spring flocks, makes
it difficult to monitor patterns across different
years. There are simply not enough places at
which there are regular counts of birds each
spring and too many places where flocks could
choose to stop. Fortunately, reports of colour-
ringed birds provide a surrogate for flock counts.
A quick analysis of the number of colour-ringed
Godwits from Icelandic, Portuguese and E
England schemes, seen in Scotland between
the springs of 2011 and 2016 shows that there
were records in every year but with a larger
number in 2015, and by far the most records in
2013. None of the birds was seen in more than
one spring, emphasising the random nature of
these arrivals.

The colour-ring information provided by
birdwatchers is making a huge contribution to
the migration studies of Black-tailed Godwits.

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Articles, News & Views

There are now Black-tailed Godwits in Scotland
in every month of the year but sightings of
colour-marked individuals in April and May are
particularly helpful in helping us to identify the
influence of weather conditions on spring
migration and the migratory routes used by
birds from across the winter range. Please report
any of these observations to j.gill@uea.ac.uk
who will pass on records to other colour-ring
administrators. Details of the godwit work and
the publications to which colour-ring
observations have contributed can be found
h ere : wadertales. word press, com/201 6/02/0 1/
godwits-and-godwiteers.

References

Alves, J.A., Gunnarsson, T.G., Potts, P.M.,
Gelinaud, G., Sutherland, WJ. & Gill, J.A. 2012.
Overtaking on migration: does longer distance
migration always incur a penalty? Oikos 121:
464-470. DOI: 1 0.1 111 /j. 1600-

0706.2011.19678.x

Alves, J.A., Gunnarsson, T.G., Hayhow, D.B.,
Potts, P.M., Sutherland, WJ. & Gill, J.A. 2013.
Costs, benefits and fitness consequences of
different migratory strategies. Ecology 94: 11-17.
DOI: 10.1890/12-0737.1

Bowler, J. 2014. Ringers' Roundup: record Black¬
tailed Godwit influx on Tiree in April 2013.
Scottish Birds 33(3): 257-258

Gill, J.A., Alves, J.A., Sutherland, W.J., Appleton,
G.F., Potts, P.M. & Gunnarsson, T.G. 2014. Why
is timing of bird migration advancing when
individuals are not? Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London B 281: 20132161. DOI:
1 0.1 098/ rspb.2013.21 61

Gill, J.A. 2015. Encountering extreme weather
during migration: individual strategies and their
consequences. Journal of Animal Ecology 84:
1141-1143. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12412

Gunnarsson, T.G., Gill, J.A., Potts, P.M.,
Atkinson, P.W., Croger, R.E., Gelinaud, G.,
Gardarsson, A. & Sutherland, WJ. 2005.
Estimating population size in Icelandic Black¬
tailed Godwits Limosa limosa islandica by
colour-marking. Bird Study 52: 153-158. DOI:
1 0.1 080/00063650509461 385

Gunnarsson, T.G., Gill, J.A., Atkinson, P.W.,
Gelinaud, G., Potts, P.M., Croger, R.E.,
Gudmundsson, G.A., Appleton, G.F. &
Sutherland, WJ. 2006. Population-scale drivers
of individual arrival times in migratory birds.
Journal of Animal Ecology 75 : 11 1 9- 1 1 27. DOI :
1 0.1 1 1 1 /j. 1365-2656. 2006.01 131.x

Graham Appleton, 19 Style Loke,
Barford, Norfolk NR9 4BE.

Email: grahamfappleton @g mail. com
Twitter: @grahamfappleton

Plate 201. Black-tailed Godwits with Whooper Swan, Tiree, Argyll, May 2016. ©John Bowler

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Plate 202. Starnafin Pools, Loch of Strathbeg, North-east Scotland, July 2016. © RSPB

Breeding Little Gulls at RSPB
Scotland Loch of Strathbeg nature
reserve, North-east Scotland in 2016

R. HUMPIDGE

The Loch of Strathbeg covers over 900 ha of land
in the north-east of Scotland, right on the coast
half way between Peterhead and Fraserburgh.
The reserve consists of the loch itself (the largest
freshwater dune loch in the UK), the surrounding
wetlands and some drier grass fields. The reserve
is designated SSSI, SPA and Ramsar. Primarily
known as a winter wildfowl site, with over
50,000 Pink-footed Geese here during the
winter as well as thousands of ducks and swans,
it is of international importance. The reserve is
also very well known as one of the best
birdwatching sites on mainland Scotland, with
over 270 species of bird recorded here and 78
species breeding in the last decade.

The Little Gull is usually a passage migrant to
the coasts around the UK, with most birds being
recorded between September and March. The
closest breeding grounds are the best part of a
thousand miles away in Finland.

This is not the case at the RSPB Scotland nature
reserve, the Loch of Strathbeg. Little Gulls have
been seen here every year going back at least as
far as 1974, when the RSPB first started managing
the reserve. But unlike the national picture most
of our records are in the summer months. In fact,
over the last 20 years only 6% of all records have
been during the more 'normal' recording window
of September to March.

Until now there have been only five confirmed
breeding attempts in the UK, all of them in
eastern England. There have been two probable
breeding records in eastern Scotland, but these
were based on the sightings of young fledged
birds and no nest was found. The last attempt
was in 2007 in Norfolk, also on an RSPB nature
reserve (Titchwell Marsh) where eggs were laid,
but predated before hatching.

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In 2014, at least six individual Little Gulls were
seen at the Loch of Strathbeg, with three adult
birds seen in mid-May. Two of these were seen
displaying and loafing on the Starnafin Pools in
front of the visitor centre. We got really excited
when they were also seen copulating, but this
came to nothing with no nest building or further
signs of breeding. The birds were recorded
almost daily until early July, and only occasional
records into August and September.

2015 saw one bird coming back even earlier on 4
April, this was joined by a few immature birds and
then another adult arrived on 1 May. Two adults
were seen almost daily until early July, when
records became more sporadic and then stopped
at the end of the month. Again, two adult birds
were seen displaying and copulating, but more
than the previous year. They also started landing
and loafing on the tern nesting island right in front
of the visitor centre. They were seen carrying
nesting material on several occasions, but couldn't
settle. They ended up building three different
nests in different places around the perimeter of
the island, but did not lay any eggs.

In 2016 things progressed even further. Two
adults birds were seen from mid-April, joined
shortly after by a third bird. This bird was not
quite as dark underwing and no rosy tint on the
breast (and may have been a younger bird).

Plate 203. Little Gull, Loch of Strathbeg, North-east
Scotland, June 2016. © RSPB

Plate 204. Visitor centre and Tern Island, Loch of Strathbeg, North-east Scotland, February 2016 © RSPB

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Plate 206. Little Gull nest with chicks, R5PB Scotland
Loch of Strathbeg, North-east Scotland, July 2016. ©
RSPB. This photograph was taken under licence.

Given an incubation period of 23-25 days the
first egg was due to hatch on 1 July, but it wasn't
until 4 July that we could actually fly overhead
and see what was happening. Not just one, but
two chicks were seen.

This is the first time that Little Gull eggs were
confirmed to hatch in the UK - ever!

Little Gulls feed mainly on insects, many
collected from the surface of. the water, but also
vegetation. We have seen the adults all over the
reserve, feeding in front of our hides overlooking
the main loch, as well as in the Savoch reedbed
area in front of Tower Pool Hide.

The nest was monitored over the next three
weeks as the chicks grew, with the young birds
spending much of their time around the nest in
deep vegetation. Then on 25 July, the wait was
over and a chick was seen as it took its first
flight. The second juvenile was seen to fledge
on 27 July. This made the parent birds Britain's
first-ever successfully breeding Little Gulls.

Richard Humpidge, RSPB North East
Scotland Reserves Manager

Email: Richard. Humpidge @rspb. org.uk

Unlike previous years the birds moved very
quickly to occupy space on the tern island, they
changed location several times before settling
on a spot on the north east corner. On 8 June
their behaviour changed, being much more
attentive to the site and very keen to get back
when disturbed by the nearby terns. We
suspected that they had laid and this was
confirmed by overflying the nest site with a
small drone. We could not actually see into the
nest from anywhere at ground level. This was
the first time that Little Gulls had ever been
confirmed laying in Scotland, and only the sixth
definite time for the UK.

Little Gulls are protected under Schedule 1 of
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and so
anyone going anywhere near them (either in
person or with a drone) needs a special licence
to do so. The Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve
is, largely, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and
anyone wishing to fly a drone over here needs
another licence from Scottish Natural Heritage
to do so. The RSPB staff at the reserve have all
the necessary licences, so please don't bring
your own drone - you will be breaking the law.

Plate 205. Little Gull nest with one egg, RSPB Scotland Loch
of Strathbeg, North-east Scotland, June 2016. © RSPB. This
photograph was taken under licence.

Whilst the island was within a pool surrounded
by a predator-proof fence, we also wanted to
make sure there was no human disturbance, so
we mounted a 24-hour guard with staff and
volunteers. And for the next three weeks we sat
and waited... and waited.

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Scottish flava fest

IJ. ANDREWS & S. GILLIES

Plate 207. Male Blue-headed Wagtail, East Lothian, 30 May 2016. © Stuart Gillies

There has been a small breeding population of
Yellow Wagtails in fields along the North Sea coast
of East Lothian since the 1980s. Numbers have
always been small, and a population of 10-15
pairs has been estimated during the past five
years (Marc Eden pers. comm.). The wagtails
favour the winter wheat and potato crops in the
coastal strip from Dunbar south to Torness.
Migrants are also seen at sites like Seafield Pond
at West Barns and on the beach at Barns Ness.

pale grey, not really bluish at all, heads and broad
white supercillia which have a distinct 'posterior
flare' (if that's a valid term!). At close range, they
often show pale centres to the ear coverts
('hollow' ear coverts) and some have isolated
greenish feathers on the crown. The throat can be
white or yellow. On the other hand, Blue-headed
Wagtails, which have also been photographed,
have darker, bluish-grey crowns with a finer white
supercilium without that flair.

In the last few years (since 2013), birds of the
typical, British race of Yellow Wagtail Motacilla
flava flavissima have been accompanied by a
somewhat bewildering array of males with pale,
greyish and bluish heads. Very few appear to get
close to looking like classic ashy-grey headed
Blue-headed Wagtails (nominate flava). All of
these types have been seen on territory and
would appear to be paired and to be breeding.

Close-up photographs of these birds allow details
to be assessed like never before, and it is now
clear that a number of different individuals are
involved. The key features of these birds are their

One plausible theory for the presence of these
birds, is that one or more Blue-headed birds has
hybridised with British Yellow Wagtails to
produce a variety of hybrid forms that fall into
the general category of 'Channel Wagtail'. Such
Blue-headed x Yellow Wagtail intergrades have
been know for some time, notably on the coast
of the English Channel in northern France and it
is from this population that the term 'Channel
Wagtail' derives (Dubois 2001, 2007).

These 'Channel Wagtails' are broadly similar in
appearance to true nominate-race birds and
their apparent increase in Lothian (indeed the

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249

Articles , News & Views

Plate 208 a-b. Male 'Channel Wagtail', East Lothian, 30 May 2016. © Stuart Gillies

Plate 209 a-b. Male 'Channel Wagtail', East Lothian, 16 May 2016. © Stuart Gillies

Plate 210 a-b. Male 'Channel Wagtail', probably the same bird as 209 a-b, East Lothian, 6 June 2016. © Stuart Gillies

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Articles , News & Views

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Plate 211. Male 'Channel Wagtail', East Lothian, 13
June 2016. © Stuart allies

Plate 213. British Yellow Wagtail, East Lothian, 9 May
2016. © Stuart Gillies

Plate 212. Male 'Channel Wagtail' or possibly a first-
summer Blue-headed Wagtail, East Lothian, 20 June
2016. © Stuart Gillies

Plate 214. British Yellow Wagtail, East Lothian, 13 June
2016. © Stuart Gillies

Plate 215. British Yellow Wagtail, East Lothian, 30 May 2016. © Stuart Gillies

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Articles, News & Views

Plate 216 a-b. Male intergrade Yellow Wagtail, Musselburgh, Lothian, 9 May 2016. This bird was variously
accredited to superciliaris, dombrowskii or a feldegg x flava hybrid. © Stuart allies

UK) is no doubt partly due to our increased
awareness to their existence. One wonders how
many have been passed off as Blue-headed
Wagtails in the past. Also, there may have
previously been an assumption that these birds
were migrants from their restricted zone along
the English Channel. I think our knowledge now
shows that such birds can appear locally, well
within the range of flavissima, and even in
Lothian! And there is also one further question
as to what happens as these hybrids interbreed
further with other forms?

In a Scottish context, there has only been one
previous record of 'Channel Wagtail', on Fair Isle
in May 2006 (Baxter 2010). [Unfortunately, a
photograph of the same individual was
incorrectly labelled as a Blue-headed Wagtail in
The Birds of Scotland (Forrester et al. 2007).]

Plate 217. Male intergrade Yellow Wagtail,
Musselburgh, Lothian, 10 May 2013. Probably a
thunbergi x flava hybrid. © Ian Andrews

Photographs are two other intergrades (Plates
216 & 217) illustrate some of the other non¬
standard birds that have turned up in Lothian.
Neither is easy to put a definitive name to!

References

Baxter, P.A.A. 2010. 'Channel' and Sykes's
Wagtails in Scotland: a review of identification
criteria and status. Scottish Birds 30(3):
266-272.

Dubois, PJ. 2001. Les formes nicheuses de la
Bergeronnette printaniere Motacilla flava en
France. Ornithos 8 : 44-73.

Dubois P. 2007. Yellow, Blue-headed, 'Channel'
and extra-limital Wagtails: from myth to reality.
Birding World 20(3): 104-112.

Ian Andrews , Musselburgh
and Stuart Gillies , Edinburgh.

Email : ijandrews@live.com

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Plate 218. Black-headed Bunting, Isle of Skye, Highland, June 2016. © Martin Benson

Black-headed Bunting, Isle of Skye,
Highland, June 2016

S. ROBSON

Early summer 201 6 - after at least 1 8 months of
continual, torrential rain, cold weather and
strong winds, the Isle of Skye was enjoying a
period of dry and gloriously hot weather with a
gentle and welcome breeze predominantly from
the north-east. From the end of May we began
to experience soaring temperatures with wall-to-
wall sunshine. Maybe our resident birds would
have a successful breeding season after the
washout they endured in 2015. We were still
waiting for the Swallows to arrive but all of the
birds seemed to be busy nest building and the
Dunnocks in particular, were putting on an
enchanting mating display.

Friday 10 June was a midgy, overcast day. It was
calm, and after a week of 25°C temperatures and
higher, we had some very welcome rain following
a fairly long dry spell which had dried up our
pond, and turned the burn, which runs by the
house and down through the croft, into a mere
trickle. Our croft, which is situated in the shadow

of the highest cliff in Skye, and below Dunvegan
Head at the mouth of Loch Dunvegan, slopes
down to the cliff edge, looking out across the loch
to the island of Isay and the Waternish peninsula
beyond. We have a small flock of Hebridean
sheep and we grow vegetables and soft fruit both
in polytunnels and in outside beds. The house is
at the top of the croft near the road, and it is very
well sheltered by mature trees and shrubs. We
have planted bird-friendly, edible hedges about
the croft and are nurturing a small woodland of
about half an acre. I think it is fair to say that we
have a good habitat for birds here, with a variety
of garden birds in the vicinity of the house, and
on and around the croft-land in the summer
months we have Wheatears, Meadow Pipits and
Skylarks. We also enjoy occasional sightings of
both Golden and White-tailed Eagles, and several
years ago were witness to a wonderful clash of
the titans as five of these birds had a stushie in
the skies above us which lasted at least half a day.

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Plate 219. Black-headed Bunting (with House Sparrow above),
Isle of Skye, Highland, June 2016. © Susanna Robson

We have two sets of bird feeders, one at the
back of the house and one at the front. Each has
a seed feeder, a fat ball and half a coconut, most
of which had been eaten. I came into the
kitchen on this particular day and out of the
corner of my eye registered a black head at the
fat ball feeder. My first thought was Bullfinch,
but it seemed odd. We get one pair of
Bullfinches through each year, but they have
never visited the feeders, preferring the flowers
of the Rowan. I also registered an intense
golden-yellow - Bullfinches are not yellow.
Although the feeders are no more than about
three metres from the house, I ran to get the

binoculars. A yellow bird which was not a Siskin,
or a Yellowhammer - here was something that
could possibly be a little unusual. He had a
black head, a golden-yellow collar, the most
deeply golden breast and the colouring of his
feathers was opulent and gorgeous - deep rose-
coloured shoulders which gradually gradated
down in colour to brown as my eye reached his
tail. I could not find him in my books of British
birds, but I did find him in the Collins Bird Guide
- he was a Black-headed Bunting!

I entered him into my records for Birdtrack,
utterly delighted that at last I had something
unusual to put there, and a message came back
that it was a National Rarity. Wow! He was a
hungry bird and he stayed attached to the fat-
ball feeders, both at the front and at the back of
the house. At first our resident House Sparrows
were a little aggressive towards him, but he was
so hungry he was not to be put off. It was
noticeable that he was not fazed by our Border
Collie and he was obviously used to gardens
and feeders. Nights at this time of year, partic¬
ularly when the weather is fine, do not really get
dark and he was still feeding when we went to
bed and he was back feeding by 05:00 hrs the
next morning. Because of the drought
conditions, I had been crumbling some little bird
fat-pellets onto the doorstep in the early
mornings for the Blackbirds, who were unable to
get worms from the hardened ground, and the
bunting had no hesitation in joining all the other
birds on the doorstep for the extra snack.

He stayed with us over the weekend for three
days, and was very visible to the visiting ornithol¬
ogists of Skye; it was the first time the Black¬
headed Bunting had been recorded on the
island. We also had birders from elsewhere in
the Highlands, from the Scottish Borders and as
far afield as the English Midlands. Everyone who
came was very appreciative and very polite and
respectful of us. I also got great support from
Bob McMillan, the former area representative of
the BTO and host of the excellent website
www.skye-birds.com.

We think probably, that this wee bird had probably
followed the good weather and had just kept on
coming, finally ending up on Skye. At one point
during his stay with us, he sat on some recently

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cut grass and collected in his bill, a bunch of long
dried grass stalks, as if to say, "if only". He was last
seen late on the Sunday night, and by Monday 13
June he was gone. It is really something to know
that such a wee creature can provide a huge
amount of pleasure for a great many people.

Since then, all our regular birds (Blackbirds,
Chaffinches, House Sparrows, Dunnocks
(despite the visiting Cuckoos), Great, Blue and
Coal Tits, Song Thrush, Robins, Hoodie Crows,
Rock Doves, Willow Warbler, Wheatear and
Stonechat) have had a fantastic breeding
season. We have young and still-fledging birds
everywhere we look. A Greenfinch family has
bred here for the first time in at least five years
and the Starlings, who breed in the old stone
walls of the ruined blackhouses, have now
fledged their young and these youngsters are
currently being taught to fly together.

Susanna Robson , Dunvegan, Isle of Skye.

E-mail: robson.susanna @btinternet.com

Status of Black-headed Bunting in Scotland

This species breeds from central Italy and SE
Europe, south to Israel and eastwards through
Turkey, SW Russia, and the Caucasus to Iran and
Turkmenistan. The population is entirely migratory
and winters in eastern Pakistan and A/I/1/ India.

There were 78 accepted records of Black-headed
Buntings in Scotland out of a total of 178 in Britain
to the end of 2004. There have now been 214
accepted records (individuals) in Britain to the
end of 2014, with 98 of those in Scotland. The
ratio of new Scottish to new British records
remains virtually identical in the last decade
compared to the period up to the end of 2004.

Previously (to end 2004) there was a main peak
of find dates from the end of May to early July (42
birds), a smaller peak in August (15 birds) and a
similar peak from mid-September to early
October (14 birds). The 2016 Skye bird fits into the
highest part of the spring peak of records, which
probably comprises a mix of hormone-fuelled
overshoots of the breeding areas and wandering
failed breeders caught up in weather systems
heading north from the eastern Mediterranean.

The 20 Scottish records since 2004 include the
first records for North-east Scotland - a male at
Loch of Strath beg RSPB Reserve on 13-18
October 2005, and for Dumfries & Galloway - a
male at Mainsriddle on 22 June 2013. There were
also two more in Argyll (now nine), three more in
Highland (now 13), two more in the Outer
Hebrides (now six), one more in Orkney (now
12), two more on Fair Isle (now 25) and eight
more in Shetland (now 26).

The relative proportion of records from Shetland
has increased notably compared to the period
up to the end of 2004, and with six of the eight
finds in autumn this is probably due, in part at
least, to the greater number of observers now
heading there in September/October. This
proportional increase in autumn finds is seen in
the spread of find dates in the 20 records since
2004, with two in May, six in June, three in July,
one in August, seven in September and two in
October. Away from Shetland the find dates of
the birds are virtually all within the main spring
peak and the August peak observed previously,
suggesting little or no change to the vagrancy
patterns ( and/or observer coverage ?) to these
parts of Scotland, at least.

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak, West Burra,
3-4 May 2016 - the first Shetland
(fifth Scottish) record

L. GOODLAD

I often glance out of our kitchen window to see
what birds are in the garden; usually it's
Blackbirds, Starlings and sparrows. However, on
the morning of Tuesday 3 May I got such a
shock when I looked out and saw a brightly
coloured bird-like 'thing' in the trees near the
empty coconut feeder. I thought it was a stuffed
cuddly toy put there by my husband, or one of
my friends as a practical joke. Then it moved! It
was real. It was real and I didn't recognise it. I'm
not all that good at recognising some birds like
little warblers and little greenish-brown birds,
but this was so different from anything I'd ever
seen and it really stood out. It was black and
brown on its back and white below with a lovely
red heart-shaped mark on its breast. I knew it

wasn't a woodpecker or Bullfinch but when I
saw its strong beak I did wonder if it was a
'finchy-thing'. (Here's how amateur I am at
birdwatchingp a big bird of prey soaring
overhead is an 'eagley-thing').

Anyway, I grabbed my camera and quickly put
Peppa Pig on the TV. Putting cartoons on the TV
might seem an odd thing to do at this point, but
it was essential. Earlier in the year our toddler had
screamed to be picked up when I tried to take
photos of a female Sparrowhawk which regularly
visited our garden; and of course she scared it
away before I got a good photo. I knew that to get
a chance of getting a clear photo, or two, I had to
distract our toddler - and I managed it!

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I then raced through the house to find the bird
in my Collins Bird Guide. I really started shaking
when it wasn't there. It wasn't on the RSPB 'bird
identifier' either. Next stop was Facebook and I
put this message out there: "Never thought that
birds would have this effect on me, but I'm
quivering with excitement! I don't even know
what it is, yet. Saw it out the kitchen window just
a few moments ago". Moments later Alan
Adamson suggested a grosbeak, so I did a quick
google image search which brought up photos
that matched what I was seeing outside our
house. It was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak!

I have to say, I am absolutely amazed at the
connectivity of the birding world. Not long after
putting my post on Facebook the phone was
ringing and Hugh Harrop’ was asking for
directions to our house, visitors and keen birders
were arriving to view the grosbeak and by lunch
time the local online newspaper was phoning to
cover the story. I got to watch as the interest and
the numbers of people arriving grew. It was a
goose-bump moment when I realised the
magnitude of what I had reported and that it

was a first for Shetland and that it had only been
seen a handful of times in Scotland. Jim
Nicholson was asked by the Shetland Times
newspaper to get a photo of me standing by the
bird feeder, when it wasn't in use, and I
eventually agreed (although I think the bird
would have looked less cheesy).

On the first day local birders got great views as
we invited everyone who came to see it into our
garden. There were beautiful moments when the
grosbeak fluttered and flapped around the
feeder and we saw gorgeous red flashes from
under its wings. Sometimes it landed on the
ground below the feeder to eat what had fallen
down. I remember thinking that we were all so
close to the bird and yet everyone had all these
huge cameras and tripods positioned all around
the garden. It interested me that one of the
birders, whom I didn't know, said that he'd found
our house by simply asking my brother-in-law to
drop a Google pin on a map to show where we
lived - what did all you birders do before
mobiles, Google, Facebook and Rare Bird Alerts?

Articles, News & Views

Nearer lunchtime the number of people arriving
grew, as did the requests for info on my
Facebook page: "Is it still in your garden?" "Is it
ok if I come along in my lunch hour?" My friend
Jon Dunn was one of those able to do so and it
was great to share his excitement and chat over
a cuppa about the morning's events. Bear in
mind, I had been inside all morning with our
toddler and it was all happening so fast around
me so it was great to see a friendly face who
could stop the blur for a few moments.

I began to panic a little when I remembered that
soon my son and his playmate would be
returning from Playgroup. How was it going to
work having three under-5s and a mega rarity in
the garden? What if they didn't keep quiet enough
and scared the bird away? What if they ran about
and knocked over a tripod? So we had to leave
the paparazzi and we headed to a nearby
playpark. A little later, as we returned to our
house, I had to explain to a passing neighbour
that no, there wasn't a funeral on in the chapel up
the road and that all the many, many cars parked

here and there along the road sides was because
of what was currently in our garden. So, happily
she came to view and share in the excitement.
On the second day (Wednesday 4 May) the
grosbeak sang and I managed to capture it on
video! Some birders from the first day returned
and there were some new faces. Hugh informed
me that two friends would be arriving off the
Northlink boat that morning so we were now
receiving visitors from the Scottish Mainland.

Apart from venturing occasionally into next-
door's garden the grosbeak stayed close to the
bird feeder, resting occasionally in the corner of
our garden among small trees and honeysuckle.
It visited our garden for two days and was
present until 20:00 hrs both nights. I am glad
that folk young and old, able-bodied and
disabled managed to see the Rose-breasted
Grosbeak when it was here. Of course, there are
those who arrived from England on the
Thursday and just missed it - and I felt gutted for
them, so gutted. This is the first time we've had
such a close encounter with a rarity and the
birding community. Everyone was so
appreciative and polite and it was a super
experience. I was humbled by an elderly gent
who, upon leaving, thanked me and asked if I
had a charity box which he could give money
to? I was astonished and unprepared for this and
in the end we agreed that either RSPB or
Medians Sans Frontieres would be good
choices. I felt that such a lovely, lovely gesture
should be highlighted as, unfortunately for
some, the image of the twitcher can be one of
not respecting property or privacy, but our
experience was the complete opposite.

Our son and daughter loved seeing such a rare
bird and thankfully they both had toy binoculars
so they could join in. Our little boy even
snapped several pics on his own little camera
which he took to Playgroup the next day to
show everyone. Before leaving one evening,
Hugh told me that he had indeed received
invaluable advice from our four-year-old son
which he promised to bear in mind: "just point
the camera at the bird"- cute!

Lynn Goodlad, Sunshine Cottage,
Bridge End, Burra, Shetland Isles ZE2 9LD.

Email: ringaree@hotmail.com

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Status of Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Scotland

This Nearctic species breeds in Canada east of
the Rocky Mountains from southern Northwest
Territories and British Colombia south-
eastwards to the Great Lakes and Kansas and
across to the Atlantic Coast from southern
Newfoundland south to north Virginia and the
Appalachian Mountains. The entire population
is migratory and it winters from central Mexico
to NW South America.

There have been four previous accepted
records of this species in Scotland out of a total
of 26 in Britain to the end of 2015 - all four were
first-winter males:

1985: 7-8 October, Newton Plantation, North
Uist ; Outer Hebrides

2005: 8 October, Aird Mhor Plantation, Barra,
Outer Hebrides

2011: 10 October, Stenaguoy, Eday, Orkney
2012: 51 October, At Sea', Oil Platform East
Brae, sea area Fair Isle (found dead)

There are also two records from the Channel
Isles (Sark 1975: Guernsey 1987) and eight from
Ireland (Co. Cork in 1962, 1979, three in 1983,
1987; Co. Wexford 1985 and Co. Kerry in 2000).

Except for a first-summer male at Holme,
Norfolk on 4-5 May 2006, all of these records
have been in autumn or early winter, with find
dates between 26 September and 20
December. There are two British records in
September, 20 in October, one in early
November and two in mid to late December. Of
those that were aged 17 were first-winter males,
four first-year females and four were females.
The Shetland 2016 bird is the first adult male to
be found and only the second in spring.

As with most Nearctic passerine vagrants the
majority of British records are from SW England
and Wales, with half (13)from the Isles of Scilly
alone, two from Devon, one Hampshire, one
Cwynedd and two Pembrokeshire, plus singles
from Essex, Norfolk and Yorkshire. The Scottish
records are from the Western and Northern
Isles, which is again the usual pattern for
Nearctic vagrants north of the border. The "At
Sea" record in 2012 is one of several instances
where North American vagrants have been
discovered on North Sea oil installations.

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White-crowned Sparrow, Isle of
Lewis, 3—31 May 2016 - the first
Outer Hebrides (third Scottish) record

J. MACFARLANE & B.A.E. MARR

At 16:00 hrs on 31 May 2016, having just
returned from Stornoway, my wife Mary was at
the kitchen window where she could look out at
our bird table and two bird feeders: my wife has
a good eye for different kinds of birds.

On this occasion she informed me about a
strange bird she was watching, it was a sparrow¬
like bird which had a striped head. We noticed
that unlike the House Sparrows, who fed on the
feeders, this bird ate on the ground.

I took a photo of the bird and sent it via Facebook
to Martin Scott, who informed me that it was a
White-crowned Sparrow! He asked me if he could
inform people about it, which we said would be
fine. Soon afterwards a man came to the door
and we invited him in, he told us his name was
Colin Bushell, and from the open dining room
window he along with our friend David Green
were able to take photos of the sparrow. It then
flew to the overhead lines and started singing
where Colin managed to get a good recording.

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At about 19:30 hrs the bird took off and wasn't
seen again, so unfortunately people who
turned up soon after, and the following day,
failed to see it.

After the article appeared in the local paper
Agnes Campbell from Eoropie, about two miles
from our house in South Dell, told me she along
with her sister Mary Thomson had seen the bird
just before we saw it.

John Macfarlane

Email: dodsdell28@gmail.com

Background account by B.A.E. Marr

I was leading a tour on an expedition ship in the
Arctic, about 600 miles from the North Pole,
when (at 18:35 hrs) on 31 May, Martin Scott e-
mailed me: "Sorry Tony, but this is in Dods'
garden at 28 South Dell", with an attached
photograph of a White-crowned Sparrow. There
was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when I
received the e-mail, and I began to try to equate
the worth of such a mega rarity with the number
of Polar Bears we had seen; a completely futile
and very upsetting exercise.

Martin and Dods were aware of my absence, as
before I left on 20 May I had informed my
regular circle of birders who I email with any
birding news from Ness that I would be away
until 9 June. My e-mail included the ominous
words that "It's a dangerous time for a birder to
leave Britain, but less dangerous than in the
Arctic, where our main mission is to find Polar
Bears. I'll be in touch from the ship to find out
what I'm missing!" Unfortunately, I couldn't have
been much further away from the Isle of Lewis.

I even began to suspect a conspiracy; to smell a
rat; to believe that this was a stitch up. How
could I have been so suspicious of my friends?

The answer to that question goes back to 15
May. That afternoon a near-neighbour of mine in
Port of Ness, Molly Melia, told me that she had
seen 'a funny sparrow' on her lawn with House
Sparrows around ten days before. She described
perfectly a White-crowned Sparrow, but couldn't
find it in her bird book (the AA/Reader's Digest
Guide to the Birds of Britain ). She has no
camera. She is not a bird watcher, and describes
herself as a bird lover, but has previously found

and identified a Waxwing, and seen a juvenile
Rose-coloured Starling, in her garden.

She said it attracted her attention with its black-
and-white striped head. It had a broad white
stripe down the centre of the crown, with a
black stripe on each side and a white one below
that. She likened it to a Badger's head pattern. I
asked her if it had a white throat: no, just pale,
but not white. Rest of underparts were 'buffish'
and upperparts 'brown'. She did not note the bill
colour. I later showed her all the plates from the
Collins Bird Guide which include sparrows and
buntings with stripey heads, European and
American. She pointed immediately to the
White-crowned Sparrow picture and said "that's
it". The dates were 3-4 May, during a SW-S gale.
It was seen once in late morning on 3rd, and
once similarly on 4th. There had also been a
Rose-breasted Grosbeak on a bird table in
Shetland on those two days!

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Articles , News & Views

A few days earlier, on 30 April, a White-crowned
Sparrow had been trapped at Woolston Eyes,
Cheshire, and on release it soon vanished. Out
of interest, Port of Ness is c.360 miles north¬
west of Woolston. However, Molly did not notice
any ring on her bird, so it would have to be a
different bird.

I weighed up all the evidence and initially
considered that without a photograph, the
record could only be regarded as a 'probable'.
When I returned to Lewis however, I discussed
with Molly her bird in the new light of Dod's
sighting, and we agreed that this made her one
much more likely to be accepted as a definite
record. In a discussion I then had with Dods, he
mentioned that he had heard that there had
been a further sighting of a stripey-headed
sparrow feeding on the ground with House
Sparrows in a garden in Eoropie a few days
before he and Mary saw their bird.

I visited the owner of the property, Agnes
Campbell, and discussed the sparrow with her
and her sister, Mary Thomson, who saw it
together from the kitchen window. They
remarked on how striking the head pattern was.
I have no doubt that it was a White-crowned
Sparrow. They could not remember the precise
date, but agreed that it was on or around 27 May
- four days before the South Dell sighting.

Port Sgiogarstaigh

Suainebost

BUTT OF LEWIS/
RUBHA ROBHANAIS

Ciadach an Bim

Eoropaidh

GoigPeighinnean

Port of Ness/Port NIs

Traigh Chumail

i.tirmtin < 5

B801

x . . . 2

ann bho Thuath (

Ciadach Chuidl

Figure 1. Map showing the northern tip of Lewis with locations
and dates of White-crowned Sparrow sightings as follows; A.
Port of Ness/Port Nis (3-4 May), B. Eoropie/Eoropaidh (27
May), C. South Dell/Dail bho Dheas (31 May). Contains OS
data © Crown copyright and database right 2016

Thanks to the alertness of Ness residents, and
their concern for the welfare of the local birdlife
by feeding them in their gardens, we have three
sightings of a White-crowned Sparrow in Ness,
the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis, within a
radius of 3.5 miles and a period of 27 days,
which all presumably relate to the same bird.

There is a final irony in my misfortune in not
seeing this bird. My main home is in Cley, Norfolk,
where a long-staying White-crowned Sparrow was
present from 3 January to 11 March 2008 and
became quite famous, attracting a lot of birders
and media attention. A friend wrote to console
me by sayingDhat at least I had the Cley bird on
my list. No chance. I was on an expedition cruise
ship at the other end of the world, in Antarctica,
throughout that period. Will I accept any more
offers to come out of retirement and lead another
tour? Let's wait and see! In the meantime, I'm
going to join the Ness residents and put up a bird
table and feeders in my own garden in Port of
Ness. If you can't beat them. . .

Tony Marr, Port Nis, Isle of Lewis.

Email: baemarr@btinternet.com

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Status of White-crowned Sparrow in Scotland

This Nearctic species breeds from Alaska
eastwards across northern Canada to Northern
Quebec and Labrador, and southwards down
the Rocky Mountains to NE Nevada, Utah and
northernmost New Mexico, and from the Sierra
Nevada to the Pacific Coast from Washington
State to California. The vast majority of the
population is migratory, wintering along the
Pacific Coast from southernmost Alaska and
across the whole southern half of the USA,
south of Chicago, to north and west Mexico.

There have been two accepted records of
White-crowned Sparrow in Scotland out of a
total of five in Britain to the end of 2015:

1977: 15-16 May, one on Fair Isle (trapped 15th)
2008: 17-18 May, one at St. Michael's, near
Leuchars, Fife

The other British records are one at Hornsea
Mere, Yorkshire on 22 May 1977; a first-winter
at Sea forth, Lancashire on 2 October 1995, and
one at Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk on 3 January
to 11 March 2008. There are also two records
from Ireland: one on board SS Nova Scotia
within sight of land in sea area Shannon in
early June 1948, and one at Dursey Sound, Co.
Cork on 20-27 May 2003.

The geographical spread of the British records
is notably wide, which sometimes raises issues
as to whether the birds have arrived here under
their own steam, or that of some transatlantic
cargo ship or passenger vessel. The find date for
the 1995 Seaforth bird is consistent with
displacement during autumn migration
(though close to a container port), while the
2008 Cley individual may have arrived the
previous autumn but just not been found until it
moved into gardens in mid-winter.

It is tempting to speculate that the 2008 St.
Michael's bird was the Cley individual heading
back north but it also fits in the narrow window
of May finds seen with the 1977 birds. The
closely related White-throated Sparrow of North
America also occurs in Britain as a vagrant (48
records to end 2014) and shows a similarly
widespread pattern of occurrence (not favouring
SW England), with a notable peak of find dates
in May (22) and June (12) and another smaller,
broad peak of 10 find dates from October to
January. The White-crowned Sparrow records
mirror this well, lending support to the idea that
this is a natural pattern, where spring birds are
displaced overshoots of the easternmost
breeding areas in Canada/USA.

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Green Warbler at Baltasound,
Shetland, 12-15 May 2016
- first record for Scotland

M. PENNINGTON

I couldn't get out until the evening on 12 May, a
day which had seen a few scarce nnigrants
including Wryneck, Bluethroat and Red-backed
Shrike arriving on Unst, Shetland. I decided to go
and look for the male Bluethroat at Haroldswick
and there I met Unst's newest resident birder,
Dave Cooper (DC). He told me he had just
seen a Red-backed Shrike at Setters Hill Estate
(SHE) in Baltasound, so I decided to go and
have a look for it before it got too late.

Arriving at SHE I found a Phylloscopus warbler
that flew ahead of me and then landed. My first
impression was that it was bright enough to be
a Wood Warbler, but it clearly wasn't although it
was certainly a bright bird. Then I noticed the
prominent wing-bar! Obviously, Arctic and
Greenish Warblers were the first candidates for
consideration, but neither of these seemed
likely; the structure was wrong for Arctic and the

bird looked nothing like the Greenish I had
seen on Unst the previous spring. Yellow-
browed was clearly excluded as the tertials
were plain, but was that just the hint of a
second wing-bar? Two quick, perched views
were all I got. Although I saw it again, I only had
flight views as it flitted between bushes and it
seemed to be intent on going to roost.

I immediately went round to see Brydon
Thomason (BHT) to discuss what I had seen: a
bright Phyllosc with a yellow face and a wing-
bar. It had to be a Willow Warbler with a bold
wing-bar (unlikely, surely?) or a Green Warbler
(even more unlikely?). Greenish Warbler was
only in the back of mind, because it looked so
different to the only spring bird I'd seen, but
something in the back of mind was telling me
that you could get really bright spring Greenish
Warblers; but that is the postscript to the story.

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Four of us met up at SHE at 07:00 hrs the next
morning, 13 May - myself, BHT, DC and Rob
Brookes (RJB). It took a while to relocate the bird,
as it had moved from the main pine plantation
to a small patch of low bushes. It was quite hard
to observe in the dense cover, but BHT obtained
a few photos. At least one of these showed a
pale line above the bill, suggesting that the
supercilia met above the bill. As this was said to
be a character of Greenish Warbler, but not
Green, we decided that the bird must be a very
bright Greenish. Before heading to work, I put the
news out on the local bird information service,
then looked for a few photographs on the
internet. I found photos of the Finnish Green
Warbler from 2012, initially thought to be a very
bright Greenish, and stopped in my tracks. The
resemblance to our bird was striking - and
several photos showed an obvious pale line
above the bill. It would appear that we had
jumped to conclusions too soon. I phoned BHT,
who was going through the same thought
process, had been looking at the very same
photos and was having the same doubts.

The bird then proved elusive and it was after
three in the afternoon before BHT and DC
relocated it, in the sycamore plantation at
Halligarth, a few hundred metres away from
where it had been found. At least one of the
four of us stayed with it until it went dark. As it
was dull and overcast, and the bird was feeding
above our heads most of the time, it was
difficult to assess just how bright it was. In these
conditions, it often looked quite dull, and doubts

set in again. But, every now and again, we
would see it lower down, against a dark
background, and it would suddenly look very
different. The combination of features looked
very good for Green, but we had heard no calls
and had no DNA; and we still had that niggling
doubt about bright Greenish Warbler. We
phoned a few people that evening and
circulated a few photos. Responses were
understandably cautious, but also encouraging.

We obviously needed fresh eyes on the bird.

The next morning the bird was still at Halligarth
at 07:00 hrs, but then it disappeared again. We
widened the search once Roger Riddington (RR)
had arrived from Shetland Mainland, and
relocated the bird back at SHE. With the bird low
down against a dark background, it looked very
bright, and RR's reaction was "Wow, that's
amazing! If I was you, I'd put news out!" This was
all the encouragement we needed.

Soon afterwards, the bird was trapped in a
mistnet erected in one of the existing net rides
at the site. As soon as we saw it in the hand, any
lingering doubts disappeared. The bird was
ringed and processed by myself, RR and Will
Miles, and a DNA sample was obtained in the
form of a faecal sample. After photographs were
taken, microphones were readied in case it
called upon release. It didn't; it remained
stubbornly silent throughout its stay.

About 20 Shetland birders arrived on the
Saturday afternoon and, on the Sunday (15
May), more birders arrived, although only two
charter planes made it in (it was, apparently, a
busy horse-racing weekend with planes booked
to transport jockeys between race courses). On
16 May there was one report of a brief sighting
in the afternoon, but there were others
searching all day without success.

The initial identification of the bird was based on
the brightness of the plumage, with the
resemblance to the colours of Wood Warbler.
The plumage tone varied considerably according
to the light, and sometimes the bird looked
quite dull, but the upperparts and wing-fringes
were brighter green than even the brightest
Willow Warbler. The underparts were all yellow,
especially so in the hand, although in the field it
sometimes only looked as though the face and
throat were yellow. In the hand, it could be seen
that the whitest part was the flanks. This may
have contributed to the impression in the field
that only the face was yellow.

The supercilia obviously caused us some
problems because of the comments in some
field guides, but they were distinctly yellow,
brightest in front of the eyes. In many photos
the supercilia quite clearly stop short of the bill,
but there were pale bristly feathers above the

bill which, at some angles, made it look as
though the supercilia met above the bill. The
problem of defining the exact position of the
supercilia is a pitfall that has been discussed
before in the context of some controversial
records of Greenish and Arctic Warblers and it is
worth noting the Finnish Green Warbler from
2012 seems to have the supercilia meeting
above the bill in some photos. Obviously, the
value of this character is limited.

The wing-bar was very distinct: broad, chunky,
square-ended and more or less white, without
the obvious yellow of the underparts. A very
indistinct second wing-bar was visible at times,
in the field as well as in photos, but it was often
obscured by other feathers.

Biometrics taken in the hand proved nothing as
none are diagnostic, but several measurements
appear to be better for Green, and the bird had
a long wing-length (67 mm) towards the upper
limit for both species. In the field, it looked quite
long-winged and large-billed, but whether or not
these were significant differences is debatable.

Our DNA sample was sent away by Special
Delivery on Monday and Martin Collinson pulled
out all the stops to get the analysis done. It was
maybe no great surprise, but it was certainly a
relief, when the results came through, less than

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a week after the bird was trapped. The
sequence for the Baltasound bird was virtually
identical to two other previously sequenced
Green Warblers, and was 3-5% different from
other taxa in the Greenish Warbler group.

There appear to be eight previous accepted
records in Europe, as well as another three
widely published records that have not been
accepted by the relevant committees. The only
accepted record for Britain was on Scilly in 1983
and, together with the first European record on
Heligoland in 1867, it was in autumn. The
subsequent records in NW Europe have largely
been in spring, with the Baltasound bird the
earliest so far, although only one has been as
late as June.

While this would appear to be the first record for
Scotland, it may not be. That niggle in the back of
my mind about Greenish Warblers looking
extremely bright in spring was there for a reason.
On 31 May 2014, Geoff and Donna Atherton had
found a bright 'Greenish' Warbler on Foula, which

remained until 4 June. They obtained a few
photos and were intrigued enough to send them
to some other Shetland birders for comment.
Green Warbler was seriously considered, but it
was excluded, for the very same reason that the
Baltasound bird was initially put out as Greenish:
the supercilia appeared to meet above the bill
and this was thought to be sufficient to rule out
Green Warbler. The bird was circulated around the
local committee and had been accepted as a
Greenish, based on this feature and despite the
brightness of the plumage; this was where that
niggle in the back of mind had come from! With
the identification of the Baltasound bird, Geoff
and Donna had quite reasonably requested that
the photographs be looked at again, and they do
appear to show a very bright Green Warbler.
Although there is no description, the photos have
been sent to BBRC for consideration. If it were
accepted it would mean that there have been
Green Warblers in NW Europe in four of the last
five springs, so we should be examining every
spring Greenish Warbler closely from now on!

Articles, News & Views

Published European records of Green Warbler
are as follows (records awaiting assessment
are marked published records that may not
be accepted by the national committee are
marked *):

1867: Germany, Heligoland, shot, 11 October
(Gatke 1895)

1983: Britain, Bryher, Scilly, 1 st-winter, photo'd,
26 September to 4 October (Hudson
2010)

1997: Faroe, Nolsoy, trapped and DNA sample
taken, 8 June (Sorensen & Jensen 2001)
1997: Germany, Heligoland, 8 June (Dierschke
et al. 2011)*

1998: Germany, Heligoland, photographed, 1
June (Dierschke et al. 2011)*

1998: Greece, Antikythira, Batoudiana, Ist-year,
trapped, 18 September (Hellenic Rarities
Committee 2006)

2000: Greece, Hania, Neo Horio Kydonias, lst-
year, 27 September (Hellenic Rarities
Committee 2006)

2003: Sweden, Ottenby, Oland, trapped and
DNA sample taken, 29 May (Irwin &
Hellstrom 2007)

2003: France, Audinghen, Pas-de-Calais, 1 st-
winter, 20-21 September (Jiguet et al.
2004)

2012: Finland, Lagskar, aland Islands,
photographed, 20 May (Vaisanen et al.
2015)

2014: Britain, Foula, Shetland, photographed, 31
May to 4 June (recently submitted to
BBRC) f

2015: Denmark, Blavand, trapped and DNA
sample taken, 27 May f
2016: Britain, Baltasound, Unst, Shetland,
trapped and DNA sample taken, 12-15
May t

2016: Germany, Mellum island, 17 June (J.
Dierschke pers. comm.) f

Finally, we can't help but think of Martin Garner
when a bird like this turns up. He would have
loved it and would have been one of the first
we would have turned to for advice. His
"anything can happen, never let it go" attitude
made many birders try just a little bit harder,
ourselves included.

References

Dierschke, J., Dierschke, V., Huppop, K.,
Huppop, O. & Jachmann, K.F. 2011. Die

Vogelwelt der Insel Helgoland. OAG
Helgoland, Helgoland.

Gatke, H. 1895. Heligoland as an Ornithological
Observatory. David Douglas, Edinburgh.

Hellenic Rarities Committee, 2006. Annual
Report - 2005. rarities.ornithologiki.gr/en/eaop/
annual_reports.htm

Hudson, N. 2010. Green Warbler on Scilly: new
to Britain. British Birds 103(2): 93-99.

Irwin, D.E. & Hellstrom, M. 2007. Green
Warbler Phylloscopus (trochiloides) nitidus
recorded at Ottenby, Oland: the first record for
Scandinavia. Ornis Svecica 17: 75-80.

Jiguet, F. & la CAF. 2004. Decisions recentes
prises par la Commission de I'Avifaune
Francaise. Ornithos 11(5): 230-245.

Sorensen, S., & Jensen, J.-K. 2001. [Rare birds
in the Faeroe Islands in 1997-2000]. Dansk
Ornithologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 95: 44-50.
(In Danish, English summary)

Vaisanen, R., Huhtinen, H., Lampila, P.,
Lehikoinen, A., Lehikoinen, P., Normaja, J. &
Velmala, W. 2015. [Rare birds in Finland in
2014]. Linnut-Vuosikirja 2014. (In Finnish)

Mike Pennington, Unst, Shetland.

Email: penningtonunst@btinternet.com

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Black-billed Cuckoo, Bayhead, North
Uist, 22-31 May 2016 - first Outer
Hebrides (fifth Scottish) record

R. LEVETT

Tracey Viney and I were making our third visit to
the Outer Hebrides from our home in Hampshire,
but this was our first in May, the previous two
birding holidays having been in June. We hoped
the earlier timing might improve our chances of
encountering more spring migrants.

On Sunday 22 May, a couple of days in to our
nine day trip, we were on our way to Benbecula
airport to pick up two friends, Richard Carpenter
and Heather Chivers, who were arriving on the
afternoon flight from Southampton via Glasgow.
We left our accommodation in Hougharry on
North Uist early so that we had plenty of time to
stop if we saw anything interesting. A few
minutes into the journey at 14.25 hrs, as we
were passing a garden opposite the north
junction of the Paible circular road, I caught a
glimpse of a bird's head peeping out from the
shrubbery. The bird was sat close to the ground
on a wire fence. I turned to Tracey, who was
driving and said "I've just seen an American
cuckoo! We need to turn around". The
immediate instinct was of course to stop, but the
single track road approaching the brow of a hill

was not a good place to be and we didn't want
to scare the bird off so we carried on and turned
in the first convenient spot. It was only then that
the questions and doubts crept in. These
cuckoos don't turn up very often and certainly
not in the spring. Surely it was the wrong time of
year? What else could it be? So, as we came back
over the brow, we were hugely relieved to see
that the bird was still there. Not only that, it had
moved and was now sitting up on the fence in
full view. It was immediately obvious that my
initial reaction was correct and that this was
indeed a New World cuckoo of a genus that
neither of us had ever seen before.

The excitement grew as we pulled up on the
Paible road and parked. On leaving the car we
could see the bird was on the fence some 30
metres away. Tracey asked what the identifying
features were and I said "To be honest, other
than the fact that one has a predominantly black
bill and the others a predominately yellow bill,
I'm not sure". So we set about noting as many
features as possible through the scope.

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By this time we needed to leave to pick up our
friends from the airport. It was agreed that I
would stay to try and get a photo and wait for
other birders to turn up while Tracey undertook
the taxi duties. By the time I finally managed a
photo it was about 15.30 hrs. In the end, I had
to resort to laying in the ditch on the opposite
side of the road, which must have seemed a
little odd to the passing traffic but at least I had
a record shot in the event that no-one else saw
the bird. After an hour Tracey arrived back with
Richard and Heather. No other birders had
appeared in that time. The cuckoo duly
emerged from the shrubs to resume feeding
and they were able to get good views of it as it
continued to work its way along the fence
dropping to the ground to feed voraciously on
Six-spot Burnet moth caterpillars.

Articles, News & Views

It was obviously a cuckoo, slim and long-tailed.
Most importantly the slender, slightly-decurved
bill was all dark, steel-grey in colour. More striking
was the orbital ring which was bright, crimson-
red and stood out very clearly, especially when
the head was turned in to the light. The
underparts were generally white with some buff
tints under the throat and undertail coverts. The
upperparts were olive-brown with a hint of
bronze but lacking any distinct rufous tones in
the wings. Periodically, as the bird alighted on the
fence, it would cock its tail revealing the grey
underside with narrow pale fringes to the
feathers. Repeatedly, the bird disappeared back
to the garden making short flights between the
fence and the shrubs during which times the
graduated tail with small white tips and the buff
underwings could be clearly seen. Once we had
noted all the plumage details, I tried to move
closerto get a photograph, but the bird was wary,
nervous of any approach and simply responded
by burying itself in a bush.

Happy that we had all the features we checked
through the field guide (which only showed
juvenile plumage), but this was sufficient to
confirm that this must be an adult Black-billed
Cuckoo. We then phoned a friend from
Hampshire, John Faithfull, who was on Skye
having left North Uist the day before after a week
birding on the island. I knew he had a local contact
and could hopefully put the word out. When I
spoke to John there seemed to be a long period
of silence before he responded, I can't think why!

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This was their first visit to the Uists and one that
will surely be hard to beat. How often do you
start a birding holiday with a Black-billed
Cuckoo? At 17.00 hrs we left the site and drove
to the Balranald seawatch point to see if we
could find any birders, but there was no-one
there so we returned to our accommodation
nearby for a cuppa. We know how to celebrate!
At the cottage I located the contact details for
Steve Duffield (Western Isles Wildlife) and
phoned him as I- knew he lived on the island. It
turned out he was in Estonia! Fortunately, he
was still able to spread the news of this most
unexpected avian arrival.

When we stopped at the cuckoo site later that
evening there was already a small gathering of
happy birders present, so the information had
clearly filtered through. Numbers grew steadily
over the next few days once it became clear that
the bird was still alive and kicking.

There were apparently only 15 previously
accepted British and Irish records of Black-billed
Cuckoo and this, the fifth Scottish bird, was the
first ever spring occurrence in Europe.
Interestingly, one local resident even reported that
she had heard it calling in her garden. Above all,
it appeared uncharacteristically healthy and
because of its record-breaking 10-day stay, it
provided a long-awaited opportunity for birders
from all over the UK to finally catch up with a
notoriously difficult bird which many thought they
were destined never to see. One determined
individual even chartered his own plane whilst
the scheduled flights and car ferries were pretty
much booked up such was the demand.

Richard Levett, 18 Trimaran Road , Warsash,
Southampton , Hampshire S031 9BG.

E-mail: richard. Ievett@tiscali. co. uk

Articles, News & Views

Status of Black-billed Cuckoo in Scotland

This Nearctic species breeds east of the Rocky
Mountains from easternmost British Colombia
south to northern Oklahoma and eastwards to
the Atlantic Coast from New Brunswick south to
North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains.
The population is entirely migratory and winters
in A/1/1/ South America.

There have been four previous accepted records
of Black-billed Cuckoo in Scotland out of a total of
14 birds in Britain to the end of 2015:

1950: 8 November, first-winter, near Southend,
Kintyre, Argyll found dead
1953: 7/ October, Foula, Shetland found
exhausted, died next day
1953: JO September, "At Sea", found exhasted
on Oil Platform Maureen, taken in
overnight and released on I October
2014: 25 October, first-winter, North Ronaldsay,
Orkney

The 10 other British records are predominantly
from SW Engand, with five on the Isles of Scilly
(1932; two in 1982; 1985 and 1990), one in
Cornwall (1965) and two in Devon (1967;
1982) plus one at Redcar, Cleveland on 23-24
September 1975 and a first-winter at Red

Rocks, Hoy lake, Cheshire on 30 October 1982.
There is a single Irish record - one killed at
Killead, Co. Antrim on 25 September 1871.

The geographical location of records is similar
to that of other Nearctic near-passerine (and
passerine) records in Scotland/Britain. The
2016 North Uist bird is consistent with that
pattern but is the first ever Nearctic cuckoo
found in spring in Europe. The previous Black¬
billed Cuckoo records are mostly from late
autumn with one on 29 August (Scilly 1982 -
found dead 30th) and the rest between 23
September and 6 November, with two in
September and 10 from 11-30 October.

The longest stay of any of these autumn records
is three days (Scilly 1982). The 2016 North Uist
bird was present for (at least) 10 days making it
easily the longest staying Black-billed record,
doubtless owing much to the local caterpillar
populations. This species and its close relative
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (64 in Britain to end 2015,
13 in Scotland) are notorious for being found
dead, or dying soon after discovery, due to the
extreme stress of the trans-Atlantic displacement
itself and a lack of suitable insect food in autumn,
especially caterpillars for Black-billed, which
normally form the bulk of their diet.

Gull-billed Tern, Belhaven, 28 May
2016 - the first Lothian record

M. HANNAM

Having recently inherited a friend's battered
1996 Ford Fiesta, I spent a fair proportion of
May undertaking spontaneous birding trips
made possible by my 'new' set of wheels. On
28 May, one such outing saw me arriving at the
John Muir Country Park at around 06:30 hrs.

I'd enjoyed a productive couple of hours
exploring the mosaic of saltmarsh, tidal mudflats
and pinewoods. Common, Sandwich and Little
Terns swooped over the bay and flocks of
Ringed Plovers and Dunlins, supplemented by
the odd Little Stint, scampered along the
shoreline. Returning to the car, I'd mulled over
where to go next; it was still early and I didn't
need to return home until lunchtime. The tide
was high, so I decided to make the short drive
round to Belhaven and check out the bay area.

On arrival at the car park at about 09:40 hrs, a
brief scan- revealed a mixed flock of gulls loafing
by the channel, a handful of Redshanks and a
solitary tern on the sandy flats of the inner bay.
I'd initially trained the scope on the gull flock,
but something about the tern drew my
attention. After another look through the bins,
and with adrenalin already rising, I fixed it in the
scope - a neat black cap without any hint of a
crest, black bill and black legs. My first thought
was, I suppose unusually, of the eastern
longlpennls race of Common Tern, having
recently seen one at Blakeney Point in Norfolk.
However, the black legs discounted that
possibility and besides it didn't look much like a
'common'. On the subject of those legs, I noted
they were exceptionally long, 'high-kneed',
giving the bird a gull-like stance (gull-legged tern
anyone?). This impression was reinforced by the

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bird's subsequent feeding behaviour as it
proceeded to stalk across the mud occasionally
probing at the surface much like a feeding gull
or even a wader. By now I was pretty sure I was
looking at a Gull-billed Tern. I have lived in
Lothian for 14 years now and couldn't recall one
putting in an appearance, so I was aware this
represented a significant find. My certainty ^was
diluted by a couple of details. The bill was
definitely on the thick side, but the Lars Jonsson
illustration suggested a pronounced gonydeal
angle which I couldn't for the life of me make
out. Additionally, when the bird took flight I was
able to appreciate the relatively wide wings and
short tail, but couldn't in truth make out the grey
rump. The bird's flight pattern proved intriguing
as it quartered the bay, much like a harrier in its
slow methodical progression.

By happy coincidence I had finally succumbed
to the lure of Twitter and had created an account
the previous day. I took out my iPhone to see I
had only 8% battery remaining! I then glanced
up to see the tern flying strongly towards
Dunbar Golf Course and the coast beyond.
Immediately, I hurried down the lane and onto
the narrow path along the edge of the fairways.
Scanning the rocky shoreline, I picked out a

couple of Common Terns amongst the
Kittiwakes, but no sign of my putative GBT.

I'm sure all birders will be familiar with that
strange mix of elation and despair which
accompanies the one that got away (I must add
at this point that amongst all the subsequent
wonderful photos of the bird, not one belongs
to me. I find bird photography a frustrating
business and haven't as yet invested in the
specialised kit to make it less so. As a result, I
had no pictorial evidence to back up my
sighting). Based on what were, it has to be said,
eye-wateringly good views of the bird I decided
to put it out there as the real deal rather than a
possible. Perhaps someone would pick it up
further along the coast to confirm the sighting.

Consequently, my first ever tweet was a slightly
forlorn: "Gull-billed tern at Belhaven Bay, flew
south towards Dunbar harbour 9.40am." The
message was clear, 'this bird has flown'. I
trudged back to the bay more in hope than
expectation, so imagine my relief when I
returned to see the tern standing in exactly the
same position as I'd first located it. I attempted
to send another tweet, but the iPhone gave up
the ghost before I could spread the word.

Ian Andrews

It's strange how when confronted with a rarity
our identification skills can be overly inundated
with caution; we don't want to risk a mistake,
look foolish or feel that we are wasting people's
time. Over the next half-hour or so, I watched
the tern perform its hawking rituals over the bay
confirming my identification beyond any doubt;
every feature visible with absolute clarity.

Several hours after the event (note to self,
always charge iPhone battery before setting
out), I was able to send my second ever tweet:
"Terrific views of gull-billed tern on inner bay
Belhaven 10.50-11.25 am."

Mike Hannam, Edinburgh

Email: mike. hannam @rediffmail.com

Luckily for local birders, the bird was present in
Belhaven Bay until 18:20 on 28 May. On 29
May, it was present from at least 15:10 to 17:35,
but was not seen on the 30th. It was seen close
by in the inner bay at Tyninghame between
06:45 and 07:10 and at 16:10-16:30 on 3June.
Intriguingly, news broke of a Gull-billed Tern at
Kinneil Lagoon, near Grangemouth (Upper
Forth) in the morning on 3 June, and one (it)
was at Tyninghame at 05:05, but not thereafter,
on the 4th, before being seen at Kinneil again
intermittently from 08:20 to 21:00 on 4th, and

on 5th and 6 June. It was also seen at Skinflats
(Upper Forth) on 8th, at Seton Sands (Lothian)
on 12th and at Musselburgh and off Cockenzie
(both Lothian) on 13 June before re-appearing
at Kinneil again from 14-25 June. Assuming all
sightings are valid and refer to the same bird,
then it could certainly shift! Eds.

Status of Gull-billed Tern in Scotland

This species has a global distribution with
fragmented breeding areas in North, Central
and South America, the Palearctic, SE Asia and
Australia. The Western Palearctic breeding
population is spread across numerous colonies
from southern Spain eastwards through
Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal sites, and
inland sites in central and eastern Turkey, E
Kazakhstan and isolated colonies in SW Russia,
plus several sites along the W/NW coast of
Denmark. These populations are migratory,
wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.

There were nine birds out of 301 accepted
records in Britain to the end of 2004: a male,
found moribund, on Pentland Skerries (Orkney)
on 7 May 1913; one on Fair Isle on 24-29 May
1971; one at Bo' ness (Upper Forth) on 21 May
1977; one at Drimsdale, South Uist (Outer
Hebrides) on 3-6 May 1987; a first-winter at

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Loch Ryan (Dumfries & Galloway) on 12
October 1990; one at North Ronaldsay
(Orkney) on 27 May 1992; one at Pool ofVirkie,
Mainland (Shetland) on 25 June 1995; one at
Loch Bee, South Uist on 14-16 July 2000, and
one at Rubha Ardvule, South Uist on 13-31 July
2003. Previously accepted Lothian records in
1960, 1966 and 1968 were reviewed and are
no longer considered acceptable.

Since 2004 there have been five further
accepted records in Scotland:

2008:29 September to 3 October, adult at
Crossapol, 7/Tee (Argyll)

2010: 25 April, adult at Near Moss, Tiree (Argyll)
2012: 25 July, adult at Loch na Liana Moire,
near Askernish, South Uist (Outer
Hebrides)

2013: 27-31 July, at Scatness/Pool of Virkie,
Mainland (Shetland)

2015: 22 June, adult at Ski pi Geo, Birsay,
Mainland (Orkney)

with about 350 further records elsewhere in
Britain to the end of 2015. There have been 18
accepted records in Ireland in the same period.

The post-2004 Scottish records mostly group
with the previous spring/summer peak of
occurrence from 7 May to 31 July, though the
2010 Tiree bird was 12 days earlier than the
previous earliest find date. The 2008 Tiree bird is

only the second in autumn. Elsewhere in Britain,
the pattern of find dates extends from mid-April
to the end of October, with a notable peak from
mid-April to late May, a smaller, broader peak
from late June to late July, and a third peak from
late August to mid-September. The Scottish
records all fall within this period, all but two in the
spring and mid-summer peaks which almost
certainly comprise hormone-charged overshoots
of the normal (western) breeding areas.

The geographical distribution of the post-2004
Scottish records is virtually identical to the
previous pattern with a notable bias to coastal
sites in the Northern and Western Isles and
western Scotland. By contrast, the 2016
Dunbar/Kinneil bird chose the Firth of Forth for its
stay mirroring the 1977 Bo'ness sighting.
Elsewhere in Britain, there is a strong
geographical bias of sightings towards southern
England, generally taken to indicate that most
individuals originate from breeding areas in Spain
and western Mediterranean rather than the
Danish and eastern populations. This may explain
the records in north and west Scotland, but the
two Firth of Forth records may well originate from
birds displaced in the North Sea on their way to
the Danish breeding areas. The 2016
Dunbar/Kinneil bird had a total length of stay of
29 days (though not seen on all of these), which
surpasses the previous longest stay of 19 days
observed from the 2003 Rubha Ardvule bird.

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Aspects of spring

migration in 2016 C.R. McKAY

The aim of this report is to bring together
sightings from across Scotland to highlight
interesting aspects of spring (March-mid May)
2016. It draws upon records submitted via
BirdTrack, BirdCuides, Trektellen, local birding
grapevines and bird observatory blogs and
focuses on non-rarities. The list of sightings is not
comprehensive, nor is it in date or species order.
The '>' character is used to .indicate direction of
movement e.g. '100 >5'= 100 birds flying south.

Spring is a great time to witness migration in
Scotland. Across the country summer migrants
are returning to their breeding grounds; in the
west there is the 'north-west passage' of Iceland-
bound Whooper Swans, Pink-footed and Barnacle
Geese, ducks, waders such as Black-tailed
Godwit, Whimbrel and Dunlin and passerines
such as Icelandic Redwing and White Wagtail; and
in the east, falls of drift migrants can occur along
the coast as Scandinavian bound migrants are
blown off course by south easterly winds. The
weather that produces the most birds 'on the
ground' is often inclement, forcing birds to drop in
to estuaries, bays and wetlands for a few days
rather than simply passing overhead out of sight.
This was the case on 1-2 May when a small
ridge of high pressure on 1 May encouraged
many Black-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels to
head north, only to be grounded by overnight rain
on 2 May, when almost 450 godwits were seen
at various sites from Clyde to the Outer Hebrides.

Homeward bound

Spring 2016 saw an unusually early influx of
some of our classic summer visitors. By 10 April,
Fair Isle had logged earliest ever dates for no less
than six species - Great Skua, House Martin,
Green Sandpiper, Whitethroat, Redstart and
Tree Pipit, along with joint-earliest for Sand
Martin - a truly remarkable set of records. As
David Parnaby commented on the Fair Isle Bird
Observatory (FIBO) website: "there can surely be

very few occasions when that happens at a site
with such a complete historic data set as Fair Isle."

The start of spring migration on Tiree (Arg) was
heralded by a fall of Redwings on 12 March,
and the first Goldcrest of the year there the
following day. A Magpie on Tiree on 30 March
was only the second record for the island.

An early Swallow passed >N over Barns Ness
(Loth) on 25 March, and there were 30 Sand
Martins at Strathclyde Loch (Clyde) the
following day, quickly building to 200+ there by
1 April. Fair Isle had its earliest-ever House
Martin on 4 April; six had gathered at Gavinton
(Bord) by 14th, when a Cuckoo was calling at
the Braes of Doune (UF). At about the same
time there were many reports of Fieldfares,
Redwings and Bramblings gathering in large
excitable flocks, ready for their departure across
the North Sea. An early Swift was over
Hogganfield Loch (Clyde) on 23 April.

The first Chiffchaffs (three) on Fair Isle
appeared on 29 March. By 8 April, there were
no less than 28 singing along a 1.5 mile stretch
of the River Tyne (Loth). A fall in the Northern
Isles on 11 April brought 45 to North Ronaldsay
(Ork) and 73 to Fair Isle - its highest ever spring
count, beating the previous record of 50 set in
1970; it also included the first ever French-
ringed Chiffchaff to be caught on the Isle. The
record set on 11th was relegated into second
place the next day when 87 were present. On
17th a count of 21 along the old railway line
from Maryculter to Cults (NES) was considered
good for the region, where the species appears
to be on the increase, as in the rest of Scotland.

Carrion Crow passage on Fair Isle peaked at 43
birds on 5 May. An extraordinary Swallow
record came from North Ronaldsay (Ork) where
a juvenile was trapped on 9 May. The North

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Ronaldsay blog notes: "as no Swallows will have
fledged yet in the UK this bird was likely born in
the Mediterranean (where Swallows can start to
nest in February) and has migrated north with
breeding adults".

The north-west passage

Passage of one of our earliest spring migrants,
the Whooper Swan got under way in mid-
March with 50 >N at Anstruther (Fife) on 12th
followed by a marked passage in the Outer
Hebrides over the next few days including 32
>N South Glendale, South Uist and 13 >NW at
Carinish, North Uist on 13th and 89 >N at
Rubha Ardvule, South Uist on 14th followed by
63 >N there on 16th - part of a total of 334
seen passing over the islands during March.
Passage in the east of the country occurred
later in the month, with 50 >NW at St Monans
(Fife) on 26th and a spectacular 80 >N past
the Isle of May on 5 April. Satellite tracking by
WWT of birds marked at English wintering sites
has shown that these birds will most likely
have been heading direct to Iceland. However,
there is a migratory divide between birds from
sites in eastern England such as Welney
(Norfolk) which pass north through eastern
Scotland, and those from western sites such
as Martin Mere and Caerlaverock which pass
through Argyll and the Outer Hebrides.

Most of our spring White Wagtail records
probably relate to birds heading for Iceland
rather than Scandinavia, with numbers at east
coast sites being typically much lower than on
the west. Migrants began to appear from early
April with four on Fair Isle on 4th, seven at
Bishopton (Clyde) on 8th and three at
Strathclyde Loch (Clyde) on 12th. Numbers
increased in the west throughout the month,
with highest counts of 43 at Longhaugh Point
(Clyde) and 35 on Tiree (Arg) on 25th. Ten
were at Airth sewage works (UF) feeding on
chironomids on 29th. In early May, there were
five at Lochwinnoch (Clyde) on 1st, three at
the head of Loch Tay (P&K) on 2nd and seven
near Kirkintilloch (Clyde) on 5th and 10
between Port of Ness and the Butt of Lewis
(OH) on 6th. Sixteen at Barns Ness (Loth) on

9 May was a high count for the east coast, and

10 on Fair Isle on 6th and 12 May were its
highest counts of the spring. In contrast, the

Isle of May recorded only four singles in the
whole spring, and most Shetland records were
of singletons.

Whimbrel passage got underway on the east
side of the country on 16 April with 22 >N over N
Queensferry (Fife) and a single over Powfoulis
(UF) followed by two >N over Fair Isle on 19th. A
small 'fall' of c.35 was noted at Powfoulis on 23
April. Movement in the west was most obvious in
the Outer Hebrides, where birds heading >N or
>NW were regular in small numbers from 1 8 April
onwards, with peak counts of 15 at the Butt of
Lewis on 24th, and 35 at West Gerinish, South
Uist on 30th. However, the main arrival was in
early May, starting with 30 on Barra on 2nd,
followed by 112 on Balranald on 4th and 100 on
the West Gerinish Range, South Uist on 7th.

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Elsewhere on the west side of the country, there
were 21 at Ardmore (Clyde) and 14 at West
Ferry (Clyde) on 25 April and 21 at
Blackwaterfoot, Arran (Clyde Islands) on 30
April. Flocks of 14 >N over Lochwinnoch (Clyde)
on 29 April followed by 20 >S on 1 May were
presumably staging birds commuting to and
from a temporary roost site. On 2 May, North
Ronaldsay (Ork) had its highest count of the
spring - 20 birds, and on 6 May there were still

18 at West Ferry (Clyde), with Fair Isle not
recording its peak count of 17 birds until 18 May.

The first Black-tailed Godwits of the year on Tiree
(Arg) were 19 at Loch an Eilean on 24 April and

19 at Loch a' Phuill on 26 April. A marked passage
in late April and early May started with 102 at three
sites on Tiree (Arg) on 29 April. On 1 May, there
were 54 (most in full summer plumage) at the
head of Loch Tay (P&K), 16 in Ardmore North Bay
(Clyde), 100+ >N Aird at an Runair, North Uist
(OH) and 16 at Loch Stiapabhat, Lewis (OH). An
impressive total of 393 counted on Tiree by John
Bowler on 2nd saw 78 at Loch an Eilean, 180 at
Loch Bhasapol (including a bird leg-flagged in
France) and 135 at Loch a' Phuill. Clearly the
Hebridean machairs and wetlands provide perfect
feeding areas for staging godwits. Inland on the
same day, there were 30 near Carsebreck (P&K),
24 at Baron's Haugh (Clyde) and two at the head
of Loch Tay (P&K). In contrast, the first birds of the
year for Fair Isle didn't appear until 4 May, and only
small numbers were recorded here and on North
Ronaldsay thereafter.

Other Iceland-bound waders included the annual
impressive build-up of Golden Plovers on Tiree
(Arg), with 3,600 on the Reef on 29 April. There
were 220 Ringed Plover on Tiree on 2 May,
followed later in the month by large numbers of
Dunlin. Counts of 1,000+ each of Dunlin and
Ringed Plover at Carsethorn (D&G) on 18 May
evidenced the western bias for these species.

Mysterious Hawfinches

This secretive denizen of mature parkland
woods and policies is surely one of our least
familiar Scottish birds. The most reliable way to
see a Hawfinch in Scotland is to pay a visit to
Scone Palace (P&K) where a small wintering
population takes advantage of the wide variety
of ornamental trees, feeding on the fruits and

buds of species such as Yew and Hornbeam. It
had always been assumed that the Scone birds
were drawn from birds breeding in the vicinity,
and Neil Morrison and John Calladine carried
out a colour-ringing and radio-tracking project in
the hope of learning more about their
movements. Not surprisingly, the birds proved
difficult to track as they moved around
surrounding woodlands, but some at least did
breed in the vicinity. So it came as a big surprise
when an adult female colour-ringed at Scone on
17 February 2004 was found dead three years
later 1,031 km due east in the Halland region of
Sweden (Figure 1). Clearly not all Hawfinches
wintering at Scone have a Scottish origin!

Figure 1. Movement of a ringed Hawfinch between Scone,
Perth & Kinross and southern Sweden (based on an image
from the BTO ringing website).

The Hawfinch's Scottish breeding range has
contracted, and the size of the Scottish breeding
population is estimated at less than 40 pairs, and
these are now restricted to Perth & Kinross ( The
Birds of Scotland 2007). Despite this, the
number of migrants recorded in Scotland has
increased since the mid-1980s. An average of
30-40 spring migrants is now recorded annually,
most occurring in the Northern Isles. The
received wisdom is that these are birds from
continental Europe heading for Scandinavian
breeding grounds and drifted off course.

Early 2016 saw good numbers of wintering birds
at Scone, with 40+ along the main drive on 12
February and up to 20 remaining to at least 7
March. Migrant Hawfinches started to appear

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across the country from late March onwards,
totalling approximately 45 records from 32 sites
spread across Scotland by mid-May.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the great
majority of birds occurred in the Northern Isles,
but the scatter of sightings along the west
coast raises questions about the origins of
these birds. The first spring migrant appeared
at Lional, Ness at the north end of Lewis (OH)
on 28 March. As is often the case, this bird, a
cracking male, was at a garden bird feeder,
where it remained until the 30th.

Figure 2. Distribution of migrant Hawfinch records in
Scotland, spring 2016.

There was a small influx in Orkney on 4 April,
with three on North Ronaldsay and one in a
garden at Evie. A single on Fair Isle on 5th was
followed by a significant 'arrival' in the north on
6th with five at various locations in Shetland,
one on Sanday (Ork) and another garden bird in
Golspie (High). A new bird appeared on Fair Isle
the next day, and there were several
subsequent records from various Shetland
localities, which may or may not have been
previous arrivals moving around the islands
searching for policy woodlands or well-stocked
bird tables (!). On 27 April, a male trapped on

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Plate 246. Hawfinch getting its bearings, Sumburgh,
Shetland, 6 April 2016 [note the gnats sheltering
behind the weather vane - a calm day in Shetland!]
© Rob Fray

Fair Isle was found to be carrying a high fat load,
suggesting that it had been feeding well
previously - as noted in the FIBO website: "a
male at the Obs, which was later caught and
ringed, was found to be carrying plenty of fat
and weighed in at 69.8 g (a whopping 18.3 g
heavier than the previous Hawfinch ringed this
spring), leading to BirdGuides to refer to it as a
'rotund male'!" Perhaps this bird had been
feasting at a bird table in Orkney or Highland?

This north-eastward progression of records could
potentially indicate that these are birds moving
from within the UK rather than migrants drifted
from the continent. This is suggested by a
subsequent run of records at western sites in late
April, with two in a garden at Dunvegan, Skye
(High) on 20th, one in a garden at Pinmill, Arran
(Clyde Islands) on 21 st, two at a bird feeder in
Loch Uisg, Mull (Arg) on 23rd and a single at
South Glendale, South Uist (OH) on 24th. A later
bird was on Vatersay (OH) on 14 May. These
western records seem at odds with the idea that
these are birds from continental wintering areas
heading for Scandinavia. Perhaps there are as yet
unfound wintering populations in, for example,

the hazel and oak woods of Argyll, or perhaps
even in Ireland? Few birdwatchers visit such
habitats in winter which, when added to the
bird's secretive nature, would make such
populations easy to miss. [N.B. Although
extremely rare in Ireland, BirdGuides notes that
up to four Hawfinches were present at
Curraghchase Forest Park, Co. Limerick, SW
Ireland in February-March 2016!].

On the other hand, maybe these records simply
reflect the return migrations form a larger than
usual influx of continental birds in autumn 2015?
The Birds of Scotland reports an exceptional
spring migration having taken place in spring
2000 when 57 birds were recorded between 13
April and 8 May, including 22 in Shetland, three
on Fair Isle, 16 on Orkney and six on the Outer
Hebrides. A comparison of records in 2000 with
those in 2016 shows that this spring's migration
was on a similar scale (Table 1).

Table 1. Comparison of migrant Hawfinch numbers in
Scotland in spring 2000 and 2016.

Recording area Spring 2000

Spring 2016

Shetland

Fair Isle

Orkney

Outer Hebrides

Highland

Moray & Nairn

North-east Scotland

Angus & Dundee

Fife

Argyll

Borders

Lothian

Clyde Islands

Total

Acknowledgements

Fair Isle Bird Observatory

(www.fairislebirdobs.co.

uk/latest_sightings.html),

North

Ronaldsay Bird

Observatory (northronbirdobs.blogspot.co.uk), Isle
of May Bird Observatory (www.isleofmaybirdobs
.org/birds/news), Western Isles Wildlife (www.
western-isles-wildlife.com), BirdGuides, SOC
(www.the-soc.org.uk/bird-recording/summer-
migrants) and local bird newsgroups, and all
photographers for use of their images.

Clive McKay, 28B, High Street,
Dunblane FK15 OAD.

Email: clive.mckay@btinternet. com

36:3 (2016)

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281

Scottish Bird Sightings

1 April to 30 June 2016

S.L. RIVERS

Records in Scottish Bird
Sightings are published for
interest only. All records are
subject to acceptance by the
relevant records committee.

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.

April saw the start of an unprece¬
dented showing of Cranes, but
conversely the west coast skua was
the worst for many years. May
brought one of the best hauls of
spring migrants for several years,
with several gems from southern
and eastern Europe including the
first Green Warbler for Scotland, a
surprise appearance by a Black-
browed Albatross, and the
unexpected discovery of three top¬
flight vagrants from North America.

June was somewhat quieter, but still
brought a second Nearctic sparrow
of the spring and the second ever
American White-winged Scoter.

Ross's Goose: one was near
Bathgate (Loth) on 3-9 April, with it
or a Snow Goose at Skinflats (UF)
on 12 April. Richardson's Cackling
Goose: one was at Port Ellen, Islay
(Arg) on 12 April, and two at Loch
Gruinart, Islay on 19 April.
American Wigeon: single drakes
were at Port Allen (P&K) on 21 April;
at St. John's Loch (Caith) on 13
June, and on the Ythan Estuary
(NES) on 28-30 June. Green¬
winged Teal: single drakes were still
at Balranald RSPB Reserve, North
Uist (OH) to 3 April; at Caerlaverock
(D&G) to 5th; at Loch Stiapabhat,
Lewis (OH) to 7th; at John Muir CP,
Tyninghame (Loth) to 10th, and on
Loch Flemington (High/M&N) to
19 April. Singles were at Loch of
Kinnordy RSPB Reserve (A&D) on
6 April; at Kinneil (UF) on 9— 19th
and 28-30 April and Skinflats
Lagoons RSPB Reserve (UF) on
14th; at Loudoun Hill (Ayr) on 10
April; one at the Inner Bay,

Tyninghame (Loth) again on 23
April to 1 May; one at Lochwinnoch
RSPB Reserve (Clyde) on 28 April;
one at Loch Bhasapol, Tiree (Arg)
on 1 May, and one at Mull Head,
near Kirkwall, Mainland (Ork) on 8
June. Black Duck: the returning
drake (since 2011) was at Strontian
(High) on 17th and 27April and 29
June. Ring-necked Duck: single
drakes remained at Kilconquhar
Loch (Fife) to 6 April and at
Caerlaverock WWT Reserve (D&G)
to 18 April. A drake was at
Leumrabhagh, Lewis (OH) on 4
April; one was at Skinflats Lagoons
RSPB Reserve (UF) on 15-17 April;
a drake at Loch Finlaggan, Islay (Arg)
on 29 April to 14 June; one at Loch
Meodal, Isle of Skye (High) on 8
May, and one at Clumly Quarry,
Mainland (Ork) on 21 June. Lesser
Scaup: a drake (with a Portuguese
nasal-tag) was on Barr Loch (Clyde)
on 30 April to 1 May.

King Eider: the regular female
was off Ruddons Point (Fife) to 21
April; an adult drake was at
Achiltibuie (High) from 14 April to
11 June; the returning drake was

282

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

Plate 248 a-c. American White-winged Scoter, (centre right) with Velvet (centre left) and Common Scoters, Murcar,
North-east Scotland, June 2016. © Nick Littlewood

on the Ythan Estuary (NES) from
18-28 April, 8-12 May and 31
May to 30 June; a drake flew past
Burghead (M&N) on 19 May; a
(the regular) female was off
Musselburgh (Loth) on 9th and
18-28 June. Surf Scoter: single
adult drakes were still at
Musselburgh/Joppa (Loth) to 28
April; off Ruddons Point, Largo Bay
(Fife) to 6 April, and off Easting,
Unst (Shet) to 3 April; in Gosford
Bay (Loth) on 30 April; off Belmont,
Unst (Shet) on 4-30 May; a first-
summer drake was off Musselburgh
on 30 May to 30 June; a first-
summer drake was off Murcar Links
(NES) on 29 June, with two on
30th. American White-winged
Scoter: a drake was off Murcar
Links/Blackdog from 25 June into
July - the second Scottish/British
record of this subspecies.

White-billed Diver: one was off

Burghead (M&N) from March to
23 April; one still at Herston, South
Ronaldsay (Ork) to 30 April, and
one off Eoligarry Jetty, Barra (OH)
to 1 May and again on 18 May and
5 June. Two were off Port Skigersta
on 2 April; one at Lossiemouth
(M&N) on 7 April; one at Loch
Broom, near Ullapool (High) on
11th; one at Poolewe (High) on
13th; one off Port Skigersta, Lewis
on 17 April, with two there on 19th
and one to 23rd, two on 24th, and
one still on 29 April; seven were
off Portsoy (NES) on 21 April, with
one there on 23 April; one off
Hopeman (M&N) on 21 April; one
off Burghead (M&N) on 22-23rd;
one was at Basta Voe, Yell (Shet)
on 22 April to 5 May; one was off
Portsoy on 28th, with five there on
30 April, nine on 1 May, and one

still on 14 May; one off Burghead
again on 28-29 April, and it or
another at Lossiemouth on 1 May,
and one off Burghead again to 12
May; one was at Bornesketaig,
Skye (High) on 30 April; the
returning bird was off St. Margaret's
Hope, South Ronaldsay (Ork) on
28 April to 2 May; one off Buray
(Ork) on 2 May; one at Busta Voe,
Yell (Shet) on 4-5th; singles flew
past Esha Ness, Mainland (Shet)
on 7th and 13th.; one was off
Balranald, North Uist (OH) on
18th; one off North Ronaldsay
(Ork) on 18th; one at Basta Voe,
Yell on 28 May to 6 June; one off
Port Nis, Lewis (OH) on 29 May,
and one flew past Rubha Ardvule,
South Uist (OH) on 30 May. One
was off Brevig, Barra (OH) on 5
June, and one off Urie, Fetlar
(Shet) on 5 June.

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

283

Plate 249 a-d. Keith Pellow chose to leave Fair Isle on the ‘Good Shepherd' rather than the plane at the
end of his stay at FIBO, and everyone was very glad he did! Less than a mile out of the harbour, he found
a Black-browed Albatross on the sea next to a Fulmar! Thanks to some quick phone calls to the Obs,

people were soon able to get distant views of the bird as the Shepherd circled it, but for anyone later
arriving, even better was to follow as the bird took flight and came directly over people as they stood
on Buness. After circling Buness and Landberg a couple of times, it headed out to Sheep Rock,
where it was seen several times in flight until early afternoon before seemingly heading back to
Heligoland (it was there again the following day). An unidentified immature albatross over
Sheep Rock on 14th May 1949 was not accepted to species, so this represents the first record
for Fair Isle and the 387th species for the island list.. © Keith Pellow & Lee Gregory

■ _

Scottish Bird Sightings

Black-browed Albatross: one

was present off Buness/Sheep
Rock, Fair Isle on 28 May - a first
for the island. Little Egret: poorly
reported from the usual SW and
central Scotland haunts; notable
records elsewhere were one at
Grein Head, Barra (OH) on 1 May,
and one touring individual could
account for sightings at Loch of
Hillwell, Mainland (Shet) on 7
May; on Fair Isle on 20 May - the
first for the island, and on Foula
(Shet) on 21 May. Great White
Egret: one remained at Balranald,
North Uist (OH) from March to 15
April; one at Loch of Strathbeg
RSPB Reserve (NES) on 5 April,
one at Cotehill Loch (NES) on
1 -2 May; and then nearby at Sand
Loch, Collieston (NES) on 2-13
May; with presumed same at Loch
of Strathbeg RSPB Reserve (NES)
on 15-18 May; and 6-30 June,
and nearby at the Ythan Estuary
(NES) on 24 June; one was at
Loch of Mey (Caith) on 8 May;
one at Poolewe (High) on 31 May;
one at Loch Mor/ Liniclate,
Benbecula (OH) on 14-17 June,
and one at Loch Hallan, South Uist
(OH) on 16 June. White Stork:
two flew over Opinan, near
Gairloch (High) on 23 May.
Glossy Ibis: two were present at
Montrose Basin (A&D) on 8-9
May - the first county record, with
one still to 19 May; one was at
Loch of Strathbeg RSPB Reserve
(NES) on 16-22 May, with one
nearby at Slains Pool on 20th
(presumably Montrose bird)
which then joined the Strathbeg
bird on 20-26 May, with two seen
near Wick (Caith) on 4 June.
Spoonbill: two were at

Musselburgh, then Aberlady Bay
and at White Sands Quarry,
Dunbar (all Loth) on 14 June; one
flew NW past Dunbar on 28 June,
with presumed same at Montrose
Basin (A&D) on 30 June.

Pied-billed Grebe: one was on

Loch Feorlin, near Minard (Arg) on
6-9 May. Black Kite: one was at
Moniaive (D&G) on 21 April; one
was at Liurbost, near Stornoway,

Lewis (OH) on 25-27 April, and
one at Machrihanish, Kintyre (Arg)
on 11 May. Northern Harrier: the
male present on North Ronaldsay
intermittently to 28 February re¬
appeared there on 2 April. Rough¬
legged Buzzard: one remained
near Lochindorb (High) from
March to 8 April; one was at
Tomatin (High) on 21 April; one at
Langholm (D&G) on 26 April, and
one was on North Ronaldsay (Ork)
on 2 May. Hobby: sightings
included one at Balcomie, Fife
Ness (Fife) on 6 May; two at
Alturlie, near Inverness (High) on
11th; singles at Loch Carnan, South
Uist (OH) on 12 May; at Harperigg
Reservoir (Loth) on 23 May; on
Eigg (High) on 7 June; at Forvie
(NES) on 13 June, and at Arbroath
(A&D) on 26 June. Gyrfalcon: the
immature white-morph female
was still in the Balranald area,
North Uist (OH) to 9 April, and a
white-morph bird was near Barvas,
Lewis (OH) on 24 April.

Crane: in April, one was on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 2nd; one at
Rattray Head/Loch of Strathbeg
RSPB Reserve (NES) on 8th; two
were at Loch na Claise, near Stoer
(High) on 13th; one at
Caerlaverock WWT Reserve (D&G)
on 20-21 st; one at Buckie (M&N)
on 21 st; one over Noss (Shet) and
one at Loch of Kinnordy RSPB
Reserve (A&D) on 22nd; one on
Fair Isle on 23rd; a pair at the .Ythan
Estuary (NES) on 23rd; two flew
over Peat Inn (Fife) on 24th; one
was at Snarravoe, Unst (Shet) on
24-30 April, and on Mainland
Shetland three were nearSandwick
on 27th, at Toab on 28th, and
Bigton on 29th, with one at
Scalloway on 30 April. In May, two
flew over Troup Head (NES) on
7th, with presumed same at
Garmouth (M&N) also on 7th; one
was at The Loons RSPB Reserve,
Mainland (Ork) on 9th; four flew
over Montrose Basin (A&D) on
11th; four were on Benbecula
(OH) on 12th; two at Loch of
Strathbeg RSPB Reserve (NES) on
14th, with one still to 16th, and

nearby at Slains Pool on 15th;
singles on South Ronaldsay (Ork)
on 1 4— 17th; at Hamar, Unst
(Shet), Fair Isle and at Carsebreck
Loch (P&K) all on 15th; at The
Range, South Uist (OH) on
15- 19th, then Benbecula (OH) on
21 May to 28 June; singles at
Westing, Unst and Cullivoe, Yell
(Shet) on 18 May; at Loch of Lythe,
South Ronaldsay (Ork) on 19th;
on Fair Isle on 20-22nd; at Loch of
Hillwell, Mainland (Shet) on 22nd;
and over Ringasta, Unst (Shet) on
23rd; two were near Drumbeg
(High) on 23rd; one was over
Newton Stewart (D&G) on 24th;
one near Wigton (D&G) on 26th;
one at Hermaness, Unst (Shet) on
26th; one at Loch of Spiggie,
Mainland (Shet) on 28 May; one
at Loch of Brow, Mainland (Shet)
on 29th; two near Wick (Caith) on
31 May. In June, one remained on
Benbecula (OH) to 28th; one was
at Loch of Hillwell, Mainland (Shet)
on 1 —6th; one near Drumbeg
(High) on 7th; one over Loch
Nedd, Isle of Skye (High) on 7th;
one near Rerwick, Mainland (Shet)
on 9th, and at Spiggie, Mainland
(Shet) on 17-30 June.

Avocet: one at Tyninghame Bay
(Loth) in March remained to 5
April; two were at Skinflats
Lagoons RSPB Reserve (UF) on
20 April, two at Caerlaverock WWT
Reserve (D&G) on 21 -22nd;
three at Findhorn Bay (M&N) on
22nd; three on the Ythan Estuary
(NES) on 23-30 April, and two
again at Skinflats Lagoons on 25
April. Stone-curlew: one was at
Balnakeil, near Durness (High) on
28-30 May; one on North
Ronaldsay (Ork) on 30 May, and
one near Forres (M&N) on 25
June. Pacific Golden Plover: an
adult summer bird was at Slains
Pool (NES) on 21-22 May.
Temminck's Stint: one was on
Sanday (Ork) on 3 June. White-
rumped Sandpiper: one was at
Loch Bee, South Uist (OH) on 2
June. Pectoral Sandpiper: singles
were on Papa Westray (Ork) on 6
May; at Loch of Hillwell, Mainland

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

285

Scottish Bird Sightings

(Shet) on 22 May, and at
Sorobaidh Bay, Tiree (Arg) on 27
May. Stilt Sandpiper: an adult was
reported at Carsebreck Loch (P&K)
on 24-25 June. Buff-breasted
Sandpiper: one was at Europie,
Lewis (OH) on 29 May. Spotted
Sandpiper: one was at Mosset
Burn, Findhorn Bay (M&N) on 16
May. Lesser Yellowlegs: one was
at Loch Gruinart RSPB Reserve,
Islay (Arg) on 2-7 May; one was at
Kirkton of Logie Buchan/River
Ythan (NES) on 7-8 May, and one
was on Foula (Shet) on 17-18
May. Red-necked Phalarope:
away from breeding areas, one
was on Papa Westray (Ork) on 23
May; one at Pool of Virkie,
Mainland (Shet) on 28 May; one
on Papa Westray on 3-5 June, and
two on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on
9 June. Grey Phalarope: one was
seen in The Minch (High/OH)
from the Ullapool to Stornoway
Ferry on 12 May.

Pomarine Skua: three were off
Balranald, North Uist (OH) on 6
April, but after a decent start spring
passage fizzled out almost totally -
higher counts were 67 off
Balranald on 2 May, and 400+ off
there on 3rd; but just five from
there on 4th, and best day counts
anywhere of just three thereafter -
all off Balranald on 19th, 20th and
23 May. Long-tailed Skua: a very
disappointing passage - first were
two off Balranald/Aird an Runair,
North Uist (OH) on 1 May, with a
single from there on 2nd, and off
Newbie (D&G) on 3rd; eight off
Balranald on 3rd, five on 4th and
six on 5th; one was seen off a boat
in the Firth of Forth (Fife side) on
14 May; one off Balranald on 17th,
nine on 18th, singles on 19th, 21st
and 23 May; one was off Saltcoats
(Ayr) on 21 st; one off Fishtown of
Usan (A&D) on 29th, and singles
at Balranald, North Uist (OH) and
Duncansby Head (Caith) on 31
May. Two were off Brevig, Barra
(OH) on 2 June and finally one off
Papa Westray (Ork) on 7 June.
Mediterranean Gull: very few
reported away from the Firth of

Forth or Ayrshire, but a second-
summer at Nethy Bridge (High) on
29 June was notable. Ring-billed
Gull: one was reported at Dervaig,
Isleof Mull (Arg) on 16 May, and
one at Kinneil Lagoons (UF) on 6
June. Caspian Gull: a first-winter
was at Drums (NES) on 2 April,
and a first-winter at Skateraw
(Loth) on 5th and 8-9th April.
American Herring Gull: the first-
winter was at Garrygall, Barra (OH)
again on 3-22 April.

Iceland Gull: at least 25 were
present in April, and more
widespread than its larger cousin,
but with no site counts greater than
two. Most in the north and west
but also Lothian, Upper Forth, Fife,
Angus, NE Scotland, Moray &
Nairn, with a juvenile inland near
Kirriemuir (A&D) on 13th partic¬
ularly notable. Numbers about
halved at start of May, again mostly
singles in north and west, but at
least four juveniles along The
Range, South Uist (OH) on 15th,
and east coast sightings from
Lothian, Fife, NE Scotland and
Moray & Nairn. In June just a
handful seen, with a second-winter
on Sanday (Ork) on 1 st; a juvenile
at Rubha Ardvule, South Uist (OH)
on 1st; a second-summer at
Lossiemouth (M&N) on 6th; one
at Vorran Island, South Uist (OH)
on 24 June, and a juvenile at Traigh
Ghrianal, Tiree (Arg) on 27 June.
Kumlien's Gull: a near-adult was
on Papa Westray (Ork) on 8 April,
and a juvenile at Loch an Eilein,
Tiree (Arg) on 11-26 April.
Glaucous Gull: about 15 were still
present into April, with no site
counts above the twos at Kylesku
(High) on 7th, Balranald, North
Uist (OH) on 10th, and Ullapool
(High) on 17th, and virtually all in
north and west except for a
juvenile at Inverbervie (NES) on
2-21 st, and at least one juvenile at
Torness/Skateraw and Dunbar
(Loth) on 5-16 April. About five
lingered into May, though up to a
dozen were noted mid-month,
with the highest count two on
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 20th.

Again all were in the north and
west except for a second-winter at
Hopeman (M&N) on 30th May. At
least four widespread singles were
still present into June, with a
juvenile all month at Ullapool
(High) and east coast sightings
were a juvenile at Tarbat Ness
(High) on 9th, a second-summer
at Lossiemouth (M&N) on 9th,
and a second-winter at Hopeman
(M&N) on 11-19 June.

Gull-billed Tern: one was at

Belhaven Bay (Loth) on 28-29
May, Tyninghame (Loth) on 3 June
and Kinneil (UF) on 3-6 June,
Skinflats (UF) on 8th, Seton Sands
(Loth) on 12th, Musselburgh/
Cockenzie (Loth) on 13th and
Kinneil again on 14-25 June.
Caspian Tern: one was at
Graemeshall Loch, Mainland (Ork)
on 3 June. White-winged Black
Tern: one was at Coot Loch,
Benbecula (OH) on 12-14 May;
one near Westing, Unst (Shet) on
9 June, and one at Loch of
Strathbeg RSPB Reserve (NES) on
22 June. Roseate Tern: one was at
the Ythan Estuary (NES) on 15
May; one on the Isle of May on 19
June, and intermittently into July;
one at Kinneil Lagoons (UF) on 23
June; one in the Sound of Harris
(OH) on 26 June; one at the Ythan
Estuary on 26 June, and one at
Musselburgh (Loth) on 28 June.

Turtle Dove: singles were at
Cardoness (D&G) on 5 May; at
Brevig, Barra (OH) on 18-21 st
and 24 May; on Fair Isle on
22-24th and 26 May; at
Baltasound, Unst (Shet) on 23rd;
at Ferry Den, near Montrose
(A&D) on 27th; at Kinnabus, Islay
(Arg) on 28 May to 15 June; at
Hough, Tiree (Arg) on 6 June and
Balephuil, Tiree on 8 June; on
Foula (Shet) on 9th, and on Fair
Isle on 14 June. Black-billed
Cuckoo: one was at Bayhead,
North Uist (OH) on 22-31 May -
the first Outer Hebrides (5th
Scottish) record. Snowy Owl: one
was found dead at Mangersta,
Lewis (OH) on 27 May. Nightjar:

286

Scottish Birds

36:3 (2016)

one was on Foula (Shet) on 21
May, and one on Sanday (Ork) on
1-3 June. Alpine Swift: one was
at Point of Fethaland, Mainland
(Shet) on 26 June. Hoopoe:
singles were at Balgowan, near
Laggan (High) on 27 April;
reported at Newtyle (A&D) on 28
April; at Sands of Forvie NNR
(NES) on 3 May; atTugnet (M&N)
on 5 May; at Laggan Bridge, near
Dalwhinie (High) on 9- 10th; at
Inverpolly (High) on 11th; at
Kinnaird (P&K) on 15th; at Loch
Duntelchaig (High) on 25th; at
Culloden (High) on 26th; on Fair
Isle on 27 May, and at Westhill,
near Aberdeen (NES) on 28 May.
Wryneck: singles were at Bornish,
South Uist (OH) on 28 April; at
Barns Ness (Loth) on 1-2 May; at
Geosetter, Mainland (Shet) on 8
May; on Out Skerries (Shet) and
on the Isle of May on 9th; on Fair
Isle on 9 May, with it or another on
10-1 1th, and one at Norwick,
Unst (Shet) on 12 May.

Golden Oriole: one was at St

Abbs Head (Bord) on 6 May; a
first-summer male was at
Musselburgh (Loth) on 22-23
May; one at Aberlady Bay (Loth)
on 25 May, and a female on Fair
Isle on 15 June. Red-backed
Shrike: in May there were at least
eight on Shetland from 9-30th; at
least nine on Fair Isle between
1 0— 29th, and at least six on
Orkney between 14th and 30th.
Elsewhere there was a male at
Torness/Thorntonloch (Loth) on
8-9 May; a male at Sands of
Forvie NNR (NES) on 9-10 May;
single females on the Isle of May
on 1 0— 11 th and 13— 14th; one at
Crimond Airfield (NES) on 13th;
one near Cairngorm car park
(High) on 15th; a male at
Collieston (NES) on 15th, and a
female on the Isle of May on 28th.
In June a male was at Timsgarry,
Lewis (OH) on 2-3rd; a male and
female on the Isle of May on
5— 6th, with a second female on
6th; one at Grunitaing, Whalsay
(Shet) on 9th, and single females
on Fair Isle on 10th and 20 June.

Great Grey Shrike: singles were at
Burnmouth (Bord) on 4 April; on
Fair Isle on 6- 10th; near East
Kilbride (Clyde) on 7th; at
Burrafirth, Unst (Shet) on 10th; at
Forvie (NES) on 11 -13th; at
Baltasound, Unst (Shet) at
Clousta, Mainland (Shet) and at
Muddisdale, Mainland (Ork) on
12th; at Levenwick, Mainland
(Shet) and at Crimond (NES) on
15 April; at Killimster, near Wick
(Caith) on 16 April; one again at
Levenwick, Mainland on 22nd; at
Hoswick, Mainland (Shet) on
22-26 April, and on Shapinsay
(Ork) on 29 April. Woodchat
Shrike: a male was on Fair Isle on
1 1 -24 May, and a male at St Abbs
Head (Bord) on 19-23 June.

Firecrest: one was at St Abbs
Head (Bord) on 20 April, and one
on the Isle of May on 4-5 May.
Calandra Lark: one was on Fair
Isle on 10-13 May - a remarkable
6th island record. Short-toed
Lark: one was on Fair Isle on 2-8
May, and one at Hillwell, Mainland
(Shet) on 8 May. Shorelark: two
were at Girdle Ness, Aberdeen
(NES) on 14 April; one at Lamba
Ness, Unst (Shet) on 5-9 May,
and one on Fair Isle on 29 May.
Red-rumped Swallow: one was
on Fair Isle on 5-6 May.

Greenish Warbler: one was at

Skaw, Whalsay (Shet) on 5 June.
Green Warbler: one at
Baltasound, Unst (Shet) on 13-16
May is the first for Scotland
(second British). Barred Warbler:
a splendid adult was at Mid Yell,
Yell (Shet) on 6 June. Subalpine
Warbler sp.: a female was on
Whalsay (Shet) on 8 May; a
female on Fair Isle on 10 May, and
a male at Bayhead, North Uist
(OH) on 27 May. Eastern
Subalpine Warbler: a female was
on Fair Isle on 8 May and a male
on 10th; a male was at Mossbank,
Mainland (Shet) on 9-11 May; a
male was on Foula (Shet) on
17-20 May at least. Western
Subalpine Warbler: a male and a
female were on Fair Isle on 9 May,
with a female still on 10th; a male
was at Loch Kinnabus, Islay (Arg)
on 16 May; a male was at Ristie,
Foula (Shet) on 22 May; a female
was on the Isle of May on 27-31
May (DNA corroborated). Savi's
Warbler: one was at Sumburgh,
Mainland (Shet) on 22 May.
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler: one
was at Scatness, Mainland (Shet)
on 29 May to 6 June. Icterine
Warbler: singles were at Skaw,
Whalsay (Shet) on 11 May; at
Lerwick, Mainland (Shet) on 16
May; on Fair Isle on 18th and

36:3 (2016)

Scottish Birds

287

Scottish Bird Sightings

21-22 May; at Helendale, Lerwick,
Mainland (Shet) on 20-23 May;
at Tresta, Mainland (Shet) on 24
May; at Urafirth, Mainland (Shet)
on 25 May; at Tresta, Fetlar (Shet)
on 26th; a singing bird was at
Laggan, near Dalwhinnie (High)
on 29 May to 23 June; one on Fair
Isle on 30 May; one on the Isle of
May on 8 June; one at The Glebe,
Tiree (Arg) on 9 June, and one at
Kingussie (High) on 15-16 June.
Paddyfield Warbler: one was at
St. Abbs Head (Bord) on 5 June -
the first county record. Marsh
Warbler: singles were at Isbister,
Whalsay (Shet) on 28 May; on
Sanday (Ork) on 30 May; on Fair
Isle on 31 May, 4 June and 10
June; at Skaw, Whalsay on 3 June;
on North Ronaldsay on 6 June,
and one singing at Norwick, Unst
(Shet) on 13-14 and 22-30 June.

Waxwing: last of a very poor winter
showing were one at Braemar
(NES) on 3 April, and one on Fair
Isle on 7 April. Thrush Nightingale:
one on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 9
May, and one on the Isle of May on
10-15 May. Nightingale: one was
on Fair Isle on 11 May, one on Foula
(Shet) on about 22 May, and one at
Still, Fetlar (Shet) on 4 June. Red-
spotted Bluethroat: first was a
female on Fair Isle on 7 May, with
around 18 more there by 30th May.
Elsewhere there were a female on
Noss (Shet) on 9th; one at Pool of
Virkie, Mainland (Shet) on 9th; a
male on North Ronaldsay on 10th;
eight on the Isle of May between
10-28 May; singles at Deerness,
Mainland (Ork) on 11th; at Norwick,
Unst and Haroldswick, Unst (both

Shet) on 12th; at Sumburgh,
Mainland (Shet) on 13th, and a
female on North Ronaldsay (Ork)
on 20th. One was on Fair Isle and a
female on North Ronaldsay on 6
June. Red-breasted Flycatcher:
singles were on the Isle of May on
10-12 May; on Fair Isle on 13th; on
North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 24 May;
at Brevig, Barra (OH) on 29 May,
and on the Isle of May on 31 May.
Collared Flycatcher: a female was
on Fair Isle on 23 May.

Yellow Wagtail races - Blue¬
headed ( flava ): single males were
on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on 3
May; on Fair Isle on 8- 10th, 16th &
18-19 May and 4 June; at Norwick,
Unst (Shet) on 8 May; on Out
Skerries (Shet) and at Girdle Ness,
Aberdeen (NES) on 9-10 May; at
Sandwick, Mainland (Shet) on 12
May; at West Barns (Loth) on 24
May, and a female was on Fair Isle
on 18-19 May. Grey-headed
(i thunbergi ): single males were on
Fair Isle on 9th, 11 -13th, and 18th
May; Papa Westray and Burray
(both Ork) on 10th; at Loch of
Strathbeg RSPB Reserve (NES) on
17-18 May; at Scatness, Mainland
(Shet) on 30-31 May; on Fair Isle
on 20 June, and a female on Fair Isle
on 29 May to 3 June. Black-headed
(; feldegg ): a male was at Skinflats
(UF) on 12-13 May. Citrine
Wagtail: one was on the Isle of May
on 10-11 May. Richard's Pipit:
singles were at Stromness, Mainland
(Ork) on 9 May and on Fair Isle on
4 June. Tawny Pipit: singles were at
Sumburgh, Mainland (Shet) on 8
May, and near Kildonan, South Uist
(OH) on 13 June. Olive-backed

Pipit: one was at Seacliff (Loth) on
24 April. Red-throated Pipit: singles
were at East Denwick, Deerness,
Mainland (Ork) on 13 May and on
Fair Isle on 14th and 22 May. Water
Pipit: singles were noted at
Bilsdean/Dunglass (Loth) from
March to 5 April; at Hunterston
Sands (Ayr) on 3 April, and at Barns
Ness/Skateraw (Loth) on 3-17 April.

Common Rosefinch: one was on

Foula (Shet) on 6-7 May; one at
Skaw, Whalsay (Shet) on 22 May; a
male at Rosemarkie (High) on 5-6
June; one on Papa Westray (Ork)
on 6 June, and one at Helendale,
Lerwick (Shet) on 9 June.
(Hornemann's) Arctic Redpoll:
one was on Fair Isle on 7-17 April.
Snow Bunting: no double-figure
counts, with larger site totals of three
at Easting, Unst (Shet) on 3 April;
three at Butt of Lewis, Lewis (OH)
on 9th; three on Fair Isle on 19th;
four on Papa Westray (Ork) on
20th; six at Lamba Ness, Unst
(Shet) on 22 April; three on Noss
(Shet) on 1 May and three on Fair
Isle on 16th and 20-22 May.
Lapland Bunting: very low
numbers - with singles at Hynish,
Tiree (Arg) on 15 April; at Lamba
Ness; Unst (Shet) on 26th, Norwick,
Unst on 28 April; on Fair Isle on 5
May, another there on 27 May, and
one on North Ronaldsay (Ork) on
10 June. Ortolan Bunting: singles
were on Fair Isle on 11 May and
21-22 May. Rose-breasted
Grosbeak: a first-summer male was
at West Burra, Mainland (Shet) on
3-4 May - the first record for
Shetland (fifth Scottish). White-
crowned Sparrow: one was at
South Dell, Lewis (OH) on 31 May,
though present nearby at
Europie/Port Nis since 3 May - the
third Scottish record. White-
throated Sparrow: one of the tan-
striped morph was at Vaul, Tiree
(Arg) on 10 June. Rustic Bunting: a
male was on Fair Isle on 13 May,
and a female on 27 May, and a
female was on the Isle of May on
18 June. Black-headed Bunting: a
male was at Glendale, Isle of Skye
(High) on 10-12 June.

36:3 (2016)

SOC Branch Secretaries

Ayrshire: Anne Dick

Rowanmyle House, Tarbolton, Mauchline KA5 5LU.

Tel: 01292 541981

Email: a_m_dick@btinternet.com

Borders: Neil Stratton

Heiton Mains, Main Street, Heiton, Kelso TD5 8JR.
Tel: 01573 450695.

Email: neildstratton@btinternet.com

Caithness: Angus McBay
Schoolhouse, W.eydale, Thurso KW14 8YJ.

Tel: 01847 894663

Email: angmcb@btinternet.com

Central: Neil Bielby
56 Ochiltree, Dunblane FK15 ODF.

Tel: 01786 823830
Email: n.bielby@sky.com

Clyd e: Ian Fulton

8 Barrachnie Avenue, BailliestOn, Glasgow G69 6SR.

Tel: 0141 773 4329

Email: soc.clyde@btinternet.com

Dumfries: Pat Abery

East Daylesford, Colvend, Dalbeattie DG5 4QA.

Tel: 01556 630483

Email: eastdaylesford@onetel.com

Fife: Caroline Gordon

25 Mackie Crescent, Markinch, Glenrothes KY7 6BB.

Tel: 01592 750230

Email: sweetbankl01@gmail.com

Highland: Kathy Bonniface
Alt Dubh, North End, Tomatin,

Inverness-shire IV13 7YP.

Tel: 01808 511740

Email: kathybonniface@aol.com

Lothian: Doreen Main
Seatoller, Broadgait, Gullane EH31 2DH.

Tel: 01620 844532

Email: doreen.main@yahoo.com

Moray: Martin Cook
Rowanbrae, Clochan, Buckie AB56 5EQ.

Tel: 01542 850 296

Email: martin.cook99@btinternet.com

North-East Scotland: John Wills
Bilbo, Monymusk, Inverurie AB51 7HA.

Tel: 01467 651 296

Email: grampian.secretary@the-soc.org.uk

Orkney: Post vacant

Stewartry: Joan Howie
The Wilderness, High Street, New Galloway,

Castle Douglas DG7 3RD

Tel: 01644 420 280

Email: joanospreysl@btinternet.com

Tayside: Brian Brocklehurst
146 Balgillo Road, Broughty Ferry, Dundee DD5 3EB.
Tel: 01382 778 348

Email: brian.brocklehurstl @ btinternet.com

West Galloway: Geoff Sheppard
The Roddens, Leswalt, Stranraer DG9 OQR.

Tel: 01776 870 685

Email: geoff.roddens@btinternet.com

SOC Local Recorders _

Angus & Dundee: Jon Cook

01382 738495

1301 midget@tiscali.co.uk

Argyll: Jim Dickson
01546 603967
meg@jdickson5.plus.com

Ayrshire: Fraser Simpson
recorder@ayrshire-birding.org.uk

Assistant recorder: Angus Hogg
dcgos@globalnet.co.uk

Borders: Ray Murray
01721 730677
bordersrecorder@gmail.com

Caithness: Sinclair Manson
01847 892379

sinclairmanson@btinternet.com

Clyd e: lain Gibson
01505 705874

iaingibson.soc@btinternet.com

Clyde Islands: Bernard Zonfrillo
0141 557 0791
b.zonfrillo@bio.gla.ac.uk

Dumfries & Galloway:

Paul N. Collin
01671 402861
pncollin@live.co.uk

Fair Isle: David Parnaby
01595 760258
fibo@btconnect.com

Fife: Malcolm Ware
07733 991030
malcolm.warel2@talktalk.net

Forth (Upper): Chris Pendlebury
07798 711134
chris@upperforthbirds.co.uk

Assistant recorder: Neil Bielby
n.bielby@sky.com

Highland: Peter Gordon
01479 821339
gordon890@btinternet.com

Isle of May: lain English
01698 891788
i.english@talk21.com

Lothian: Stephen Welch
01875 852802

lothianrecorder@the-soc.org.uk

Moray & Nairn: Martin Cook
01542 850296

martin.cook99@btinternet.com

NE Scotland: Nick Littlewood
07748 965920
nesrecorder@yahoo.co.uk

Orkney: Jim Williams
01856 761317

jim@geniefea.freeserve.co.uk

Outer Hebrides: Ian Ricketts
07534 085505

recorder@outerhebridesbirds.org.uk

Perth & Kinross: Scott Paterson
01577 864248

scottpaterson 1 2@yahoo.co.uk

Shetland: Rob Fray
01950 461929

recorder@shetlandbirdclub.co.uk

PhotoSP©T

Plate 252. While sitting in my car looking at some Black Grouse feeding along the edge of a field
on 25 May 2016, a pair of Snipe and their young wandered into view close to the car.

Luckily, because it's such a good stretch of road for seeing Short-eared Owls perched on fence
posts, I had my camera in the seat next to me. The light was poor, but I was fortunate to get some
images as one of the adults fed the chicks. The birds were at ease as I snapped away, then after
ten minutes they eventually moved out of view.

The photograph was taken in an area of moorland, bog and rough pasture where many pairs of
Snipe breed along with Curlew, Lapwings and Oystercatchers which can be seen in good numbers.
This area is also one of Aberdeenshire's few remaining inland sites where Redshank still breed.

Equipment used: Canon ID mk3, 500mm f4 lens with 1.4x extender. Aperture Priority, ISO 400,
shutter 1/125, aperture flO.

Ed Duthie, 162 Faulds Gate, Aberdeen AB12 5RD.

Email: ed.duthie@hotmail.co.uk

Featuring the best images posted on the SOC website each quarter, PhotoSpot will present stunhing
portraits as well as record shots of something interesting, accompanied by th\e story behind the
photograph and the equipment used. Upload your photos now - it's open to all.

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