no 51 - spring 2014€¦ · honorary solicitor: greg adams 2 wendron street, helston tr13 8ps...

No 51 - Spring 2014

CONTENTS Chairman’s Chat p3 Bird recording p4 Bird report p6 Day for Nature p9 Reserves report p10 My Local Patch p12 Wildlife cruise p14 Mull p15 Nest boxes p16 Field Meetings p18 Get to know… p20

is typical of late winter when most of the auks in our waters will be birds from western colonies slowly heading back north after a winter in the Bay of Biscay. Unusually, very few young birds were found, with most of the auks being over 10 years old and the oldest being 25 years of age. This may be explained by the timing of the storms, as re-search following oil spills seems to indicate that younger birds return to colonies much later than adult birds, so most young birds will still be much further south. Adults presumably arrive earlier to secure a good nesting site on a ledge. The oldest birds found in Cornwall were ringed in the following locations: Shag: Ynys Gwillan Islands, Gwynedd, in June 1995 Razorbill: Treshnish Isles,

Inner Hebrides, in June 1998

Razorbill: Great Saltee Island, Co Wexford, in June 1999

Guillemots: Skomer Is-land, Pembrokeshire, in June 1995 an July 1989

Guillemot: Puffin Island, Anglesey, in June 1998

We won’t know the impact of the winter’s extreme weather until later in the breeding season, but with so many Puffins being af-fected it might be bad news for the very small numbers breeding in Cornwall. Map of ringing locations of birds found in Cornwall during the recent wreck: Guillemot (blue), Razorbill (purple), Shag (green), Puffin (grey) and Great Black-backed Gull (yellow).

In amongst the hundreds of stranded birds found on Cornish beaches in recent months have been numerous ringed birds, giving us a clue as to where some of these birds are from. By mid-March, 25 ringed birds had been reported found on beaches: 11 Guillemot, nine Razorbill, three Shag, one Puffin and one Great Black-backed Gull. These birds were ringed at a variety of seabird sites along the west coast of Wales and Scotland and also southern Ireland. This

‘Lanyon’, the female Woodcock first tagged by the Game and Wild-life Conservation Trust in Cornwall in March 2013, was last recorded in November in Po-land. Now Lanyon has started transmit-ting again presumably as her solar-powered tag is being boosted by the brighter condi-tions. She is currently in south Cornwall but it is hoped that her spring migration will be monitored as it was last year. Look at her amazing journey on the map below.

Wandering Woodcock

CONTENTS Chairman’s Chat p3 BTO news p4 Winter storms p5 Bird report p6 Conference p9 Reserves report p10 Millbrook Lake p12 Optics p13 GN Divers p14 Field Meetings p16 Serins p19 Angie Tonry p20

A few weeks ago, the editor of the ac-claimed Bird Watching magazine, Matt Merritt, visited Walmsley Sanctuary in the company of warden Adrian Langdon. He was sent a copy of Palores after his visit and commented: “Really enjoyed reading that - one of the best county bird club magazines I've seen. It's got a really good balance of technical stuff and more newsy items.” Thank you Matt - come again!

Praise for Palores

Razorbill M91165 was ringed as a chick on Sanda Island in 1997. It was one of 40 birds found at Watergate Bay on Valentine’s Day. © Newquay Beach Care

Sam Williams captured this Eider about to enjoy a crab at Penzance on 9th March

Unfortunately, there is no Stithians report in this issue due to unavoidable circumstances. We hope to publish a fuller round-up of birds and work at the reserve in the July issue of Palores.

Stithians

The CBWPS is to launch an award and prize for final year and masters students for origi-nal research into birds in Cornwall. The award and £100 prize will go to the best student dissertation and the paper will be published in Birds in Cornwall with a summary in Palores. All details of how to enter will be posted on the website.

Student award announced

The CBWPS was founded in 1931 to encourage the study and preservation of birds in Cornwall. The Society has over 1000 mem-bers in total. It owns 4 reserves and manages jointly several others. The Society organises weekly bird watching field trips (some jointly with the RSPB local members group). Palores (its colour newsletter for members) is published quarterly.

2014 Subscriptions: Adult £17 Family £21 Senior Citizen £14 Senior Family £16 Subscriptions are due by 31st January. Cheques made out to ‘CBWPS’ please. Please pay by Gift Aid if you can - it saves the Soci-ety £1900 a year. For all payments, membership applications and enquiries please contact: Angela Tonry, Membership Secretary, 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell PL25 3EU

The Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society

Palores is published in January, April, July & October. Design and typesetting by the Editor. To advertise contact the editor. Full page ad £100. Half page £50. Small ads and notices free to members. Printed by R. Booth Ltd, Penryn. Distribution by Envelope Supplies.

CBWPS Directors and Officers

President: Steve Madge Seawinds, Lower Trerive, Downderry, Torpoint,

PL11 3LZ (01503 250432)

Chairman: Mark Grantham 17 Croft Parc, The Lizard, Helston, TR12 7PN

(01326 291133) [email protected]

Vice Chairman: Lesley Mitchell 23 Cotswold Avenue, Sticker, St. Austell, Cornwall PL26 7ER

(07817 281 352) [email protected]

Honorary Secretary: Cait Hutchings 24 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 8NT

(01326 375593 Mob: 07896353601)

Honorary Treasurer: John Stanlake 12 Deacon Drive, Saltash PL12 4SL.

(01752 848541)

Conservation Officer: Tony Blunden Pencairn, Penmenner Road, The Lizard, Helston,

TR12 7NR. (01326 291064) [email protected]

County Recorder: Dave Parker

2 Boslevan, Green Lane, Marazion Cornwall TR17 0HQ

Honorary Solicitor: Greg Adams 2 Wendron Street, Helston TR13 8PS

Minutes Secretary: Phil McVey

Bruce Taggart,

Peter Kent

Membership Secretary: Angela Tonry 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell PL25 3EU (07944 988599) [email protected]

Editor, Palores: Simon Marquis

St Breock Place, Wadebridge, PL27 7JS (07711 883876) [email protected]

Website administrator: Nigel Climpson

[email protected]

Field Meetings Officer: Gordon Mills 11 Commercial Street, Cambourne, TR14 8JZ (01209 718144) [email protected]

Reserve Wardens: [email protected] Adrian Langdon

[email protected] Graham Sutton [email protected] Dougy Wright

[email protected] Dave Parker Loveny - Dave Conway Stithians - Simon Taylor

Independent Examiner: Mr S.G. Hawkey ACA

Whitakers, Bryndon House, 5 Berry Road, Newquay TR7 1AD (01637-873838)

O n my way to a meeting in Penzance recently, I stopped off at Marazion Marsh as I had half an hour to spare. I was pleased to see plenty of Grey Herons and

to hear a Cetti’s Warbler’s unmistakable voice. But could that fleeting brown-ish glimpse have been the wintering Bittern? A holidaying couple came up to me and asked if I’d seen anything interesting. Just then, the Bittern obligingly glided across the tops of the reeds before disappearing into them. A thrill for all three of us. Sights like these are only possible because of habitat like the RSPB’s won-derful reedy wilderness. But it must be important that humankind doesn’t just con-sign wildlife to a series of reserves and parks. Even in predominantly rural Corn-wall, we must be careful not to inadvertently wreck the natural environment—even

with good intentions in mind such as creating sustainable power sources. North Cornwall is becom-ing a veritable ‘Tellytubby’ land of wind turbines and solar farms, but when does it stop? At what point does the council say “that’s enough: beyond this point the in-dustrialisation of our countryside is unacceptable?” There is no sign of it yet. We should of course all be strongly in favour of renewable energy alternatives to the finite resources man has plundered for

the last few centuries, but we must be equally careful not to entirely downgrade our landscapes and natural places in the process. In this issue, sadly we have to report on the dire consequences for birds of last winter’s weather. And the Met Office is warning we may see many more of these extreme winters. What the storms also washed up on our beaches was tons of human rubbish injurious to birds and other wildlife. If our world is to continue to be the home of myriad species, its No. 1 animal had better learn to mend its ways fast and to treat its precious home with a little more respect. Simon Marquis

Palores – April 2014

Registered Charity No 1144724

Bittern at Marazion Marsh by Brian Mellows

Chairman’s Chat

A fter one of the stormiest winters we’ve seen for a very long time, it’s a pleasure to finally

see a bit of sun out of the window, bringing with it the first hints of spring migration. Singing Chiffchaffs seem to be every-where now, bizarrely alongside winter left-overs such as Siberian Chiffchaff and Yellow-browed Warbler at my sewage works ringing sites. But Sand Martins and Wheatears are also back in numbers now and it won’t be long before the first

flush of Swallows come through. It’s then down to the serious matter of breeding, obviously a key time for all species and one that it’s essential for us as birdwatchers to help monitor. We can all do this through better recording (keep those BirdTrack lists coming in!) or taking part in one of the standard breeding season surveys. With a county-wide Heronries re-Survey and a national Peregrine Survey both happening this summer it’ll be a busy time. There are also a few new Breeding Bird Survey squares in need of a surveyor, so if you think this might be for you then get in touch with the BTO Regional Rep, Peter Kent. You don’t need to be an expert to join in BBS, so why not have a trial year before (hopefully) deciding to take on a square permanently?

The stormy weather was extremely bad news for more than just home-owners and rail commuters, and inside this issue Niki Clear from CWT gives us an update on the late winter seabird wreck. With almost 30,000 birds found dead and dying on the shores of the N.E. Atlantic, this will surely have an impact on our seabird populations already reeling from last year’s PIB pollution incident. Perhaps tentative plans for a 2015 national seabird census will be very well timed. On a much more positive note, the joint marine birds con-ference in February was a big highlight for me - also reported on inside by Peter Crispin. Seeing 180 delegates, including almost 70 students, listening intently to a wide variety of talks on seabird research in the southwest was very encouraging for the future. This was also one of the largest regional conferences the BTO has been involved with and is a credit to the organising committee who pulled it off so smoothly. Lastly, but far from least, the Board would like to say a public thank you for the very generous donation of £500 we re-cently received towards ongoing work at Drift Reservoir. Out-of-the-blue donations such as this are a great help to us at sites where we don’t receive conservation funding through environmental stewardship, and this particular donation will allow us to greatly improve access at this premier migration site.

Mark Grantham

Photos: Spoonbill at Walmsley by Bob Mitchell; Red-breasted Merganser at Mylor Churchtown by John St Ledger; Little Gull at Wherrytown by Andy Pay; Little Egrets at Walmsley by Adrian Langdon

The CBWPS was founded in 1931 to encourage the study and preservation of birds in Cornwall. The Society has over 1000 mem-bers in total. It owns 4 reserves and manages jointly several others. The Society organises weekly bird watching field trips (some jointly with the RSPB local members group). Palores (its colour newsletter for members) is published quarterly.

2014 Subscriptions: Adult £17 Family £21 Senior Citizen £14 Senior Family £16 Subscriptions are due by 31st January. Cheques made out to ‘CBWPS’ please. Please pay by Gift Aid if you can - it saves the Soci-ety £1900 a year. For all payments, membership applications and enquiries please contact: Angela Tonry, Membership Secretary, 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell PL25 3EU

The Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society

Palores is published in January, April, July & October. Design and typesetting by the Editor. To advertise contact the editor. Full page ad £100. Half page £50. Small ads and notices free to members. Printed by R. Booth Ltd, Penryn. Distribution by Envelope Supplies.

CBWPS Directors and Officers

President: Steve Madge Seawinds, Lower Trerive, Downderry, Torpoint,

PL11 3LZ (01503 250432)

Chairman: Mark Grantham 17 Croft Parc, The Lizard, Helston, TR12 7PN

Vice Chairman: Lesley Mitchell 23 Cotswold Avenue, Sticker, St. Austell, Cornwall PL26 7ER

(07817 281 352) [email protected]

Honorary Secretary: Cait Hutchings 24 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 8NT

(01326 375593 Mob: 07896353601)

Honorary Treasurer: John Stanlake 12 Deacon Drive, Saltash PL12 4SL.

(01752 848541)

Conservation Officer: Tony Blunden Pencairn, Penmenner Road, The Lizard, Helston,

TR12 7NR. (01326 291064) [email protected]

County Recorder: Dave Parker

2 Boslevan, Green Lane, Marazion Cornwall TR17 0HQ

Honorary Solicitor: Greg Adams 2 Wendron Street, Helston TR13 8PS

Minutes Secretary: Phil McVey

Bruce Taggart,

Peter Kent

Membership Secretary: Angela Tonry 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell PL25 3EU (07944 988599) [email protected]

Editor, Palores: Simon Marquis

St Breock Place, Wadebridge, PL27 7JS (07711 883876) [email protected]

Website administrator: Nigel Climpson

[email protected]

Field Meetings Officer: Gordon Mills 11 Commercial Street, Cambourne, TR14 8JZ (01209 718144) [email protected]

Reserve Wardens: [email protected] Adrian Langdon

[email protected] Graham Sutton [email protected] Dougy Wright

[email protected] Dave Parker Loveny - Dave Conway Stithians - Simon Taylor

Independent Examiner: Mr S.G. Hawkey ACA

Whitakers, Bryndon House, 5 Berry Road, Newquay TR7 1AD (01637-873838)

O n my way to a meeting in Penzance recently, I stopped off at Marazion Marsh as I had half an hour to spare. I was pleased to see plenty of Grey Herons and

to hear a Cetti’s Warbler’s unmistakable voice. But could that fleeting brown-ish glimpse have been the wintering Bittern? A holidaying couple came up to me and asked if I’d seen anything interesting. Just then, the Bittern obligingly glided across the tops of the reeds before disappearing into them. A thrill for all three of us. Sights like these are only possible because of habitat like the RSPB’s won-derful reedy wilderness. But it must be important that humankind doesn’t just con-sign wildlife to a series of reserves and parks. Even in predominantly rural Corn-wall, we must be careful not to inadvertently wreck the natural environment—even

with good intentions in mind such as creating sustainable power sources. North Cornwall is becom-ing a veritable ‘Tellytubby’ land of wind turbines and solar farms, but when does it stop? At what point does the council say “that’s enough: beyond this point the in-dustrialisation of our countryside is unacceptable?” There is no sign of it yet. We should of course all be strongly in favour of renewable energy alternatives to the finite resources man has plundered for

the last few centuries, but we must be equally careful not to entirely downgrade our landscapes and natural places in the process. In this issue, sadly we have to report on the dire consequences for birds of last winter’s weather. And the Met Office is warning we may see many more of these extreme winters. What the storms also washed up on our beaches was tons of human rubbish injurious to birds and other wildlife. If our world is to continue to be the home of myriad species, its No. 1 animal had better learn to mend its ways fast and to treat its precious home with a little more respect. Simon Marquis

Palores – April 2014

Registered Charity No 1144724

Bittern at Marazion Marsh by Brian Mellows

Chairman’s Chat

A fter one of the stormiest winters we’ve seen for a very long time, it’s a pleasure to finally

see a bit of sun out of the window, bringing with it the first hints of spring migration. Singing Chiffchaffs seem to be every-where now, bizarrely alongside winter left-overs such as Siberian Chiffchaff and Yellow-browed Warbler at my sewage works ringing sites. But Sand Martins and Wheatears are also back in numbers now and it won’t be long before the first

flush of Swallows come through. It’s then down to the serious matter of breeding, obviously a key time for all species and one that it’s essential for us as birdwatchers to help monitor. We can all do this through better recording (keep those BirdTrack lists coming in!) or taking part in one of the standard breeding season surveys. With a county-wide Heronries re-Survey and a national Peregrine Survey both happening this summer it’ll be a busy time. There are also a few new Breeding Bird Survey squares in need of a surveyor, so if you think this might be for you then get in touch with the BTO Regional Rep, Peter Kent. You don’t need to be an expert to join in BBS, so why not have a trial year before (hopefully) deciding to take on a square permanently?

The stormy weather was extremely bad news for more than just home-owners and rail commuters, and inside this issue Niki Clear from CWT gives us an update on the late winter seabird wreck. With almost 30,000 birds found dead and dying on the shores of the N.E. Atlantic, this will surely have an impact on our seabird populations already reeling from last year’s PIB pollution incident. Perhaps tentative plans for a 2015 national seabird census will be very well timed. On a much more positive note, the joint marine birds con-ference in February was a big highlight for me - also reported on inside by Peter Crispin. Seeing 180 delegates, including almost 70 students, listening intently to a wide variety of talks on seabird research in the southwest was very encouraging for the future. This was also one of the largest regional conferences the BTO has been involved with and is a credit to the organising committee who pulled it off so smoothly. Lastly, but far from least, the Board would like to say a public thank you for the very generous donation of £500 we re-cently received towards ongoing work at Drift Reservoir. Out-of-the-blue donations such as this are a great help to us at sites where we don’t receive conservation funding through environmental stewardship, and this particular donation will allow us to greatly improve access at this premier migration site.

Mark Grantham

Photos: Spoonbill at Walmsley by Bob Mitchell; Red-breasted Merganser at Mylor Churchtown by John St Ledger; Little Gull at Wherrytown by Andy Pay; Little Egrets at Walmsley by Adrian Langdon

Birds in the Marine Environment Research from the South West and Beyond. I hope all of you who attended the conference will agree that it was a fantastic event. With over 180 delegates, great talks and work-shops, a busy exhibition space and a super lunch, it was a packed and highly enjoyable day. Feedback has been very positive with calls for this to become a regular event so hopefully we may be able to organise some-thing similar in the next couple of years.

Breeding Bird Survey The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), our main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s com-mon breeding birds, starts on the 1st April. We still have a number of squares available in Cornwall. If you're interested in taking part and would like a list of sites that need surveyors please email me. There are some exciting changes to the scheme this year. For the first time you will be able to record online how you first detected a bird during your survey, by sight, song or call. This will help ana-lysts work out actual numbers of birds present, as there are differ-ences in detectability between singing males, birds detected by call and birds seen. Peregrine Survey This spring we are launching a Peregrine survey to record the number of occupied territories in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. We will compare our findings with surveys from 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2002 to determine change and to in-form the future of this once almost extinct species. In Cornwall the survey is being undertaken by BTO volunteers alongside members of local raptor study groups. The survey is a combination of checks of random 5km squares in known Peregrine habitat along-side complete surveys of established study areas, the coast from Bude down to the Lizard in the case of Cornwall. The survey squares have all been allocated but you can still contribute by sub-mitting your records for Peregrine observed from March to July 2014, together with evidence of breeding, to BirdTrack. New bird ID video - Grouse Grouse are classic birds of upland and wild habitats. Males are relatively easy to separate but females and distant birds can be much more difficult. Although we won't see these birds in the county, if you are travelling up-country a Grouse ID video at http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-grouse will help you confidently tell Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, Black Grouse and Capercaillie apart. New appeal - research using Bird Atlas data We're launching an ambitious two year programme of scientific research using the unique data collected by over 40,000 volunteers for Bird Atlas 2007–11. The research programme called Beyond the Maps will use this data to understand the driving forces behind our changing bird populations to inform conservation action. You can support the programme by making a donation at http://www.bto.org/support-us/current-appeals/beyond-maps.

News from the BTO By Peter Kent ([email protected]) BTO Regional Representative S omehow Bruce Taggart managed to pick a day when it wasn’t

lashing with rain and blowing a gale for this well-attended birdwatching cruise on the Tamar and Lynher on 15th February. Although the wintering Spoonbills were not in evidence, a large number of Avocets were seen, along with Peregrine, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Wigeon, Shelduck, Greenshank, Redshank, Common Sandpiper and many more. Bruce will lead more Tamar birdwatching cruises starting in November 2014 and running through the winter months. Photos by Simon Marquis. Heading upstream from Saltash; on the Lynher; Bruce Taggart explaining wader feeding habits.

Tamarvellous!

Exhibition at the recent conference

O ur coastline has taken an incredible battering from the severe weather and huge storm waves this winter. The destruction of

sea defences, coastal towns and villages has been well document-ed, but animals living around our coasts have suffered greatly too. The dedicated volunteers of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Strandings Network (MSN) have been responding to an unprece-dented number of reports of dead seabirds and marine mammals over the last three months. Over 29,000 birds have been found stranded along the coasts of the UK, France and Spain, (the vast majority being Puf-fins) with 2,500 of these in the south west of England. Here in Cornwall 1,561 birds have been reported to the Marine Strandings Network, with 1,481 of these in February alone. The vast majority of these were Guillemot and Razorbills, but 17 species have been affected including Puffin, Shag, Great Northern Diver and Gannet. These are staggering numbers, but there are many more birds dy-ing or in distress which haven’t been reported. Some of these birds have also been collected for post mortem examination, which will help confirm what has been happening to them.

The table above shows a breakdown for the birds reported to the MSN so far during 2014. Seals have also struggled to cope with the severe weather, many of this year’s new pups being found stranded, injured, weak and often dead on our shores. A record breaking 60 seals, both juveniles and adults, were reported to the hotline between Novem-ber 2013 and January 2014 and 100 more were rescued by British

Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and the Cornwall Seal Sanctuary. Many of the young seals, almost a quarter of those recorded by MSN, had evidence of broken jaws or skulls. "Many of the autumn pups have been separated from their mothers by the huge seas and of those that have weaned, many that are exploring the seas and learning to feed are suffering injuries such as broken jaws from being thrown against the rocks. The high tides and stormy conditions have meant that many of the beaches the seals use to rest and recoup are covered with water, and there have been reports from around the county of young seals being washed into ridiculous places: up cliffs, into harbours and even into people’s gardens!" - Sue Sayer, Cornwall Seal Group. "Since December we have had over 100 rescue callouts, the vast majority of these have been to seal pups. In a typical year we would expect approximately 150 call outs in a whole year!" - David Jarvis, British Divers Marine Life Rescue There have also been huge volumes of litter and debris washed ashore by the storms and there have been numerous re-ports of fuel oil and rancid palm oil amongst the debris. Plastics can entangle and kill marine animals and oil sticks to the coats of seals and feathers of birds sometimes causing serious harm and death. Thankfully many Cornish communities have been organis-ing beach cleans around the county and have removed hundreds of bags of litter from our beaches. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network works hard to encourage everyone to look out for wildlife and to report what they find. It is vital that people report all stranded ma-rine life to our 24 hour Strandings hotline 0345 201 2626 or email us at [email protected] Tell us the species and how many you’ve found, as well as when and where you saw them. It is particularly useful if you can photograph what you find and look out for clues to the cause of death, including pollution (such as oil), entanglement in plastic litter or other injuries.

Seabirds and seals badly hit by relentless winter storms

Niki Clear of the CWT Marine Strandings Network reports on the effects of the terrible weather on Cornwall’s bird and wildlife...

Species Jan Feb Total Guillemot 26 675 701 Razorbill 1 322 323 Puffin 1 295 296 Unidentified auk 7 87 94 Species unknown 1 60 61 Shag 33 14 47 Herring Gull 4 3 7 Kittiwake 1 5 6 Cormorant 2 4 6 Cormorant/Shag 1 3 4 Gannet 0 4 4 Black-throated Diver 0 3 3 Common Gull 2 1 3 Great Northern Diver 1 2 3 Black-headed gull 0 1 1 Fulmar 0 1 1 Lesser Black-backed gull 0 1 1

Total 80 1481 1561

Dead Puffin

Birds in the Marine Environment Research from the South West and Beyond. I hope all of you who attended the conference will agree that it was a fantastic event. With over 180 delegates, great talks and work-shops, a busy exhibition space and a super lunch, it was a packed and highly enjoyable day. Feedback has been very positive with calls for this to become a regular event so hopefully we may be able to organise some-thing similar in the next couple of years.

Breeding Bird Survey The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), our main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s com-mon breeding birds, starts on the 1st April. We still have a number of squares available in Cornwall. If you're interested in taking part and would like a list of sites that need surveyors please email me. There are some exciting changes to the scheme this year. For the first time you will be able to record online how you first detected a bird during your survey, by sight, song or call. This will help ana-lysts work out actual numbers of birds present, as there are differ-ences in detectability between singing males, birds detected by call and birds seen. Peregrine Survey This spring we are launching a Peregrine survey to record the number of occupied territories in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. We will compare our findings with surveys from 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2002 to determine change and to in-form the future of this once almost extinct species. In Cornwall the survey is being undertaken by BTO volunteers alongside members of local raptor study groups. The survey is a combination of checks of random 5km squares in known Peregrine habitat along-side complete surveys of established study areas, the coast from Bude down to the Lizard in the case of Cornwall. The survey squares have all been allocated but you can still contribute by sub-mitting your records for Peregrine observed from March to July 2014, together with evidence of breeding, to BirdTrack. New bird ID video - Grouse Grouse are classic birds of upland and wild habitats. Males are relatively easy to separate but females and distant birds can be much more difficult. Although we won't see these birds in the county, if you are travelling up-country a Grouse ID video at http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-grouse will help you confidently tell Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, Black Grouse and Capercaillie apart. New appeal - research using Bird Atlas data We're launching an ambitious two year programme of scientific research using the unique data collected by over 40,000 volunteers for Bird Atlas 2007–11. The research programme called Beyond the Maps will use this data to understand the driving forces behind our changing bird populations to inform conservation action. You can support the programme by making a donation at http://www.bto.org/support-us/current-appeals/beyond-maps.

News from the BTO By Peter Kent ([email protected]) BTO Regional Representative S omehow Bruce Taggart managed to pick a day when it wasn’t

lashing with rain and blowing a gale for this well-attended birdwatching cruise on the Tamar and Lynher on 15th February. Although the wintering Spoonbills were not in evidence, a large number of Avocets were seen, along with Peregrine, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Wigeon, Shelduck, Greenshank, Redshank, Common Sandpiper and many more. Bruce will lead more Tamar birdwatching cruises starting in November 2014 and running through the winter months. Photos by Simon Marquis. Heading upstream from Saltash; on the Lynher; Bruce Taggart explaining wader feeding habits.

Tamarvellous!

Exhibition at the recent conference

O ur coastline has taken an incredible battering from the severe weather and huge storm waves this winter. The destruction of

sea defences, coastal towns and villages has been well document-ed, but animals living around our coasts have suffered greatly too. The dedicated volunteers of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Marine Strandings Network (MSN) have been responding to an unprece-dented number of reports of dead seabirds and marine mammals over the last three months. Over 29,000 birds have been found stranded along the coasts of the UK, France and Spain, (the vast majority being Puf-fins) with 2,500 of these in the south west of England. Here in Cornwall 1,561 birds have been reported to the Marine Strandings Network, with 1,481 of these in February alone. The vast majority of these were Guillemot and Razorbills, but 17 species have been affected including Puffin, Shag, Great Northern Diver and Gannet. These are staggering numbers, but there are many more birds dy-ing or in distress which haven’t been reported. Some of these birds have also been collected for post mortem examination, which will help confirm what has been happening to them.

The table above shows a breakdown for the birds reported to the MSN so far during 2014. Seals have also struggled to cope with the severe weather, many of this year’s new pups being found stranded, injured, weak and often dead on our shores. A record breaking 60 seals, both juveniles and adults, were reported to the hotline between Novem-ber 2013 and January 2014 and 100 more were rescued by British

Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and the Cornwall Seal Sanctuary. Many of the young seals, almost a quarter of those recorded by MSN, had evidence of broken jaws or skulls. "Many of the autumn pups have been separated from their mothers by the huge seas and of those that have weaned, many that are exploring the seas and learning to feed are suffering injuries such as broken jaws from being thrown against the rocks. The high tides and stormy conditions have meant that many of the beaches the seals use to rest and recoup are covered with water, and there have been reports from around the county of young seals being washed into ridiculous places: up cliffs, into harbours and even into people’s gardens!" - Sue Sayer, Cornwall Seal Group. "Since December we have had over 100 rescue callouts, the vast majority of these have been to seal pups. In a typical year we would expect approximately 150 call outs in a whole year!" - David Jarvis, British Divers Marine Life Rescue There have also been huge volumes of litter and debris washed ashore by the storms and there have been numerous re-ports of fuel oil and rancid palm oil amongst the debris. Plastics can entangle and kill marine animals and oil sticks to the coats of seals and feathers of birds sometimes causing serious harm and death. Thankfully many Cornish communities have been organis-ing beach cleans around the county and have removed hundreds of bags of litter from our beaches. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network works hard to encourage everyone to look out for wildlife and to report what they find. It is vital that people report all stranded ma-rine life to our 24 hour Strandings hotline 0345 201 2626 or email us at [email protected] Tell us the species and how many you’ve found, as well as when and where you saw them. It is particularly useful if you can photograph what you find and look out for clues to the cause of death, including pollution (such as oil), entanglement in plastic litter or other injuries.

Seabirds and seals badly hit by relentless winter storms

Niki Clear of the CWT Marine Strandings Network reports on the effects of the terrible weather on Cornwall’s bird and wildlife...

Species Jan Feb Total Guillemot 26 675 701 Razorbill 1 322 323 Puffin 1 295 296 Unidentified auk 7 87 94 Species unknown 1 60 61 Shag 33 14 47 Herring Gull 4 3 7 Kittiwake 1 5 6 Cormorant 2 4 6 Cormorant/Shag 1 3 4 Gannet 0 4 4 Black-throated Diver 0 3 3 Common Gull 2 1 3 Great Northern Diver 1 2 3 Black-headed gull 0 1 1 Fulmar 0 1 1 Lesser Black-backed gull 0 1 1

Total 80 1481 1561

Dead Puffin

NB These are all unchecked and unauthenticated records. Publica-tion here does not constitute acceptance. If you were lucky enough to see or find a rarity please submit a description to the county recorder, [email protected]. County and national rarity de-scription forms can be downloaded from the daily bird news sec-tion of the website, www.cbwps.org.uk. After a period of 10-15 years of relatively benign winters, the weather played a rapid catchup from mid December till early March. A strong west to east jet stream at the UK's latitude was established by mid December. The pattern continued to strengthen through January with 71mph gusts on the 3rd. On thirteen days during February winds gusted over 60mph peaking at 87mph on the 4th. Although the period saw heavy rain at times, Cornwall, particularly the west, was only just above its Jan/Feb average. The succession of depressions were all on a very similar track with centres passing up the west coast of Ireland, so winds over Corn-wall were almost exclusively from the SW'ly quadrant, with the noted exception of 4th Feb when much damage was done along the South Coast from the SSE direction. Temperatures were mild and above average throughout the period. by John Chappell (landsendweather.info) Below is a summary of notable records for the period, I have adopted the official BOU classification order. Whooper Swan: Apart from our resident individual at Helston Boating Lake, there were 3 at Hayle Kimbo on 28th December and 1 on Dinham Flats, first reported on 16th January and still there to 4th February at least. Barnacle Goose: 1 of unknown or igin was seen on Helston Loe, (1st Dec). Brent Goose: A few repor ts of small numbers notably 9 drop-ping to 7 on the Tamar (Wacker Quay to Torpoint) and 6 past Hannafore Point, Looe (1st Jan), 2 on Loe Pool (12th Jan) and 1 at Marazion, (21st Feb) Egyptian Goose: The long staying individual on the Tamar (Millbrook) was last reported 11th February. Mandarin Duck: the male or iginally found in October contin-ued its residency at Tresemple Pool into December, but then disap-peared to be seen again further up the Tresillian River once again (24th Feb). Green-winged Teal: A male of the Nor th American species was found with Common Teal on the Bude Marshes, 12th Jan, and was last reported on 23rd Jan. Ring-necked Duck: a single unconfir med repor t of a female on Dozmary Pool, 2nd Feb. Scaup: Repor ts from two locations of long staying individuals, College Reservoir, (3rd Dec - 15th Feb) and Par Beach Pool (24th Dec - 26th Jan). Lesser Scaup: Our regular ly returning male was first seen this winter at Dozmary Pool on 29th Dec and continued there through the Quarter into March at least.

Eider: a few repor ts of small numbers, but most notable was the male off Penzance harbour that seems to have taken a fancy to one of our Great Black-backed Gulls. Long-tailed Duck: 1 was on Drift Reservoir , 1st - 5th Dec when another was seen at Trenow Cove, Marazion, 3rd Dec, and then 2 were seen regularly offshore between Trenow and Penzance throughout the period. Common Scoter: Most repor ts were of small numbers or indi-viduals except 50 off Marazion (1st Dec). Surf Scoter: A 1st winter male, fir st repor ted 9th Feb off Pen-zance harbour and still present into March. Red-breasted Merganser: Some notable large gather ings were reported, 31 at Loe beach, (16th Dec); 28 on the Carrick Roads, (4th Jan) and later 40 at the same site (16th Feb). Goosander: As with the previous species there are some nota-ble numbers with 5 on Helston Loe, (12th Dec), and then on the Lower Tamar Lake, reports of 13 on 15th Dec, rising to 20 on 18th Dec, 33 on 25th Dec, 40 on 4th Feb and 41 on 16th Feb. Grey Partridge: one seen on Old Lizard Head (11th Jan). Red-throated Diver: Whilst there were notable large numbers of the other two diver species reported there were only low numbers of this species. Black-throated Diver: The Fal Estuary, Falmouth Bay and the close by Gerrans Bay are the favoured sites for large rafts of this species with 47 in Gerrans Bay 7th Dec, 38 off Swanpool 31st Dec with a similar number remaining there throughout the rest of the winter quarter. Pacific Diver: The November sighting of the r eturning individ-ual was not repeated through the winter at all. Great Northern Diver: There was an ear ly repor t of 23 in Car-bis Bay (19th Dec), but then the storms through January and Feb-ruary led to an increase in sightings and numbers close to shore, peak counts of 44 in Falmouth Bay with even 11 inside Newlyn Harbour. Sooty Shearwater: One was seen off St Ives dur ing a heavy passage on shearwaters, auks, and Kittiwakes (22nd Dec). Bittern: Presumably the mild winter up-country lead to the reduced numbers and sightings in Cornwall. Marazion Marsh RSPB, a favoured wintering site held a maximum of 3 this winter and that only being reported once, (29th Dec). Cattle Egret: one individual was repor ted at Walmsley Sanctu-ary on 3rd Jan. Glossy Ibis: Many repor ts dur ing the winter , some of tour ing individuals whilst others had taken up residency. 4 over Lelant (7th Dec), an individual (the same?) at St Merryn, Helston and Marazion Marsh on the 8th Dec, with 3 on Ryans Field the same day, 2 still present the next day. 1 at Drift Reservoir (14th Dec) after which individuals settled down with one each remaining at Tregony Bridge, 18th Dec - 19th Jan; Kingsmill Lake, 24th Dec - 9th Jan; and 1 or 2 on The Lizard, 29th Dec - 4th Jan. Spoonbill: The 3 Spoonbills that ar r ived on the River Lynher in October continued in that area throughout the winter being last reported 30th January. Red-necked Grebe: A small number of individuals were re-ported, notably in Falmouth Bay area; 2 in Gerrans Bay (3rd Dec); 3 in Falmouth Bay (26th Dec). Slavonian Grebe: Small numbers were repor ted throughout the winter but a notable record of 12 in Gerrans Bay (17th Dec) stands out. Black-necked Grebe: Carr ick Roads, up to Mylor Church-town, is the favoured locale with 21 (4th Dec), 35 (13th Dec), 42 (30th Dec and 57 (14th Jan). Elsewhere there was a group of 17 off Loe beach (16th Dec). Red Kite: Just one winter record of an individual over St Er th, (19th Dec). Marsh Harrier: Only county records this quar ter have come from The Lizard Penisula, with a wandering male (1st and 29th Dec and 16th Feb) and a female reported at Coverack (7th Feb). Hen Harrier: Just a scatter ing of records over The Lizard and Penwith which may represent fewer than a handful of birds over-wintering this year. Avocet: Not repor ted outside of the normal winter ing site of the Tamar Estuary, but here numbers peaked at 323 (29th Jan) with still 200+ (15th Feb). Dotterel: 1 repor ted Hayle Estuary RSPB, (11th Dec).

By Tony Mills

bird report

December 2013 - February 2014

American Golden Plover: The moulting adult present dur ing November continued at Sennen and was last reported on 5th De-cember. Purple Sandpiper: A few notable numbers from around our coast, peak counts of 56 at Penzance (3rd Feb), 32 Sennen Cove (12th Jan), 20 Cape Cornwall (5th Jan), 7 at St Ives (3rd Jan) and 3 at Pendennis Point (21st Dec). Ruff: Just one r epor t of a single bird at Cremyll, Lower Tamar Estuary, (15th Feb). Jack Snipe: Only four r ecords, Zennor Moors and Marazion Marsh RSPB, (both 13th Dec), Windmill Farm (28th Dec) and St Gothian LNR (18th Jan). Green Sandpiper: Present at Nanquidno Pool, (16th Dec + 22nd Jan), Ponsanooth Sewage Works (17th Dec), 2 at Gwennap Sewage Works (2nd + 18th Jan) Clapper Marshes (3rd - 4th Jan). Spotted Redshank: Single birds repor ted from 6 different loca-tions across the county during the winter, probably reflecting over-wintering individuals. Grey Phalarope: An individual graced Falmouth Bay over Christmas and the New Year, (25th Dec - 4th Jan) Great Skua: Eleven r epor ts dur ing the winter from 25th Dec onwards. Gulls: The roost on St Clement’s Isle, off Mousehole, produced some interesting gulls, the first of this winter’s Kumlein’s was seen there, but also an American Herring Gull and a probable 2w Azorean Yellow-legged Gull there (27th + 28th Feb). Fur ther-more the recurrent storms throughout January and February brought many gulls close to shore including Kittiwakes, Little Gulls and most notable were the ‘white-winged’ gulls, the num-bers of which it will be difficult to quantify. Little Gull: Repor ts from 9 locations, usually individuals and usually ‘fly-bys’, but there was a lingering adult off Tolcarne Beach (7th - 9th Feb) and 3 reported off Mt Edgcumbe (15th Feb). Laughing Gull: A 1st winter individual was seen br iefly off Marazion beach, (17th Feb), it was a day when there were hun-dreds of storm-driven gulls along the Mounts Bay coast. There were unconfirmed reports of it being seen once each on the next two days. Mediterranean Gull: High counts came from Men-Aver Beach, 44 on 30th Dec and 90 the next day. Ring-billed Gull: A 1st winter was seem br iefly at Padstow, (11th Feb). Yellow-legged Gull: Apart from the probable Azorean subspe-cies mentioned above, several nominate individuals were also seen, both 1w and adult birds. Siblyback Reservoir (1st Dec), Marazion (7th Dec), Mousehole (7th Jan + 25th Feb), Hayle (adult on 27th Jan + 28th Feb and 1w on 3rd + 16th Feb) and Drift Reser-voir (adult, 30th Jan). Iceland Gull: Sightings got off to a slow star t, juvenile on Hayle Estuary (14th Dec) was the first, but into January sightings from around the county increased. Of especial interest was the Kumlein’s subspecies of Iceland Gull. Adults have grey tips in the primaries and juveniles have a pale grey wash to the primaries and tail feathers. Adults of this subspecies had not been recorded in the county before this winter. The first was on St Clement’s Isle (27th Jan) and another was not seen until 6th Feb at Marazion, but then it was seen regularly for the rest of the month and into March. There was the suggestion that there may have been 2 adults. Glaucous Gull: The fir st of this winter , a juvenile, was seen at Hayle (20th Dec), but not another reported until 5th Jan from Praa Sands. The numbers increased dramatically. On 7th Feb at Mara-zion the were at least 4 (1 adult + 3 Juveniles) in a large feeding flock of mixed gulls. Another high count of 5 was reported going to roost on St Clement’s Isle, (13th Feb). The number of reports from around the county remained high into March. Sandwich Tern: The fir st returning birds appeared very ear ly, Carnsew Basin (9th Jan), Mylor (13th Jan) and Restronguet (16th Jan). These last two, coupled with reports from Gorrangorras (8th - 19th Feb), may represent an individual overwintering on the Fal Estuary area. Black Guillemot: An individual seen in Falmouth Bay, (23rd Jan). Little Auk: Individuals were seen in Falmouth Bay (17th Dec - 2nd Jan and 16th Feb), Hannafore Point (1st Jan), The Lizard (2 on 18th Jan) and Cape Cornwall (10th Feb)

NB These are all unchecked and unauthenticated records. Publica-tion here does not constitute acceptance. If you were lucky enough to see or find a rarity please submit a description to the county recorder, [email protected]. County and national rarity de-scription forms can be downloaded from the daily bird news sec-tion of the website, www.cbwps.org.uk. After a period of 10-15 years of relatively benign winters, the weather played a rapid catchup from mid December till early March. A strong west to east jet stream at the UK's latitude was established by mid December. The pattern continued to strengthen through January with 71mph gusts on the 3rd. On thirteen days during February winds gusted over 60mph peaking at 87mph on the 4th. Although the period saw heavy rain at times, Cornwall, particularly the west, was only just above its Jan/Feb average. The succession of depressions were all on a very similar track with centres passing up the west coast of Ireland, so winds over Corn-wall were almost exclusively from the SW'ly quadrant, with the noted exception of 4th Feb when much damage was done along the South Coast from the SSE direction. Temperatures were mild and above average throughout the period. by John Chappell (landsendweather.info) Below is a summary of notable records for the period, I have adopted the official BOU classification order. Whooper Swan: Apart from our resident individual at Helston Boating Lake, there were 3 at Hayle Kimbo on 28th December and 1 on Dinham Flats, first reported on 16th January and still there to 4th February at least. Barnacle Goose: 1 of unknown or igin was seen on Helston Loe, (1st Dec). Brent Goose: A few repor ts of small numbers notably 9 drop-ping to 7 on the Tamar (Wacker Quay to Torpoint) and 6 past Hannafore Point, Looe (1st Jan), 2 on Loe Pool (12th Jan) and 1 at Marazion, (21st Feb) Egyptian Goose: The long staying individual on the Tamar (Millbrook) was last reported 11th February. Mandarin Duck: the male or iginally found in October contin-ued its residency at Tresemple Pool into December, but then disap-peared to be seen again further up the Tresillian River once again (24th Feb). Green-winged Teal: A male of the Nor th American species was found with Common Teal on the Bude Marshes, 12th Jan, and was last reported on 23rd Jan. Ring-necked Duck: a single unconfir med repor t of a female on Dozmary Pool, 2nd Feb. Scaup: Repor ts from two locations of long staying individuals, College Reservoir, (3rd Dec - 15th Feb) and Par Beach Pool (24th Dec - 26th Jan). Lesser Scaup: Our regular ly returning male was first seen this winter at Dozmary Pool on 29th Dec and continued there through the Quarter into March at least.

Eider: a few repor ts of small numbers, but most notable was the male off Penzance harbour that seems to have taken a fancy to one of our Great Black-backed Gulls. Long-tailed Duck: 1 was on Drift Reservoir , 1st - 5th Dec when another was seen at Trenow Cove, Marazion, 3rd Dec, and then 2 were seen regularly offshore between Trenow and Penzance throughout the period. Common Scoter: Most repor ts were of small numbers or indi-viduals except 50 off Marazion (1st Dec). Surf Scoter: A 1st winter male, fir st repor ted 9th Feb off Pen-zance harbour and still present into March. Red-breasted Merganser: Some notable large gather ings were reported, 31 at Loe beach, (16th Dec); 28 on the Carrick Roads, (4th Jan) and later 40 at the same site (16th Feb). Goosander: As with the previous species there are some nota-ble numbers with 5 on Helston Loe, (12th Dec), and then on the Lower Tamar Lake, reports of 13 on 15th Dec, rising to 20 on 18th Dec, 33 on 25th Dec, 40 on 4th Feb and 41 on 16th Feb. Grey Partridge: one seen on Old Lizard Head (11th Jan). Red-throated Diver: Whilst there were notable large numbers of the other two diver species reported there were only low numbers of this species. Black-throated Diver: The Fal Estuary, Falmouth Bay and the close by Gerrans Bay are the favoured sites for large rafts of this species with 47 in Gerrans Bay 7th Dec, 38 off Swanpool 31st Dec with a similar number remaining there throughout the rest of the winter quarter. Pacific Diver: The November sighting of the r eturning individ-ual was not repeated through the winter at all. Great Northern Diver: There was an ear ly repor t of 23 in Car-bis Bay (19th Dec), but then the storms through January and Feb-ruary led to an increase in sightings and numbers close to shore, peak counts of 44 in Falmouth Bay with even 11 inside Newlyn Harbour. Sooty Shearwater: One was seen off St Ives dur ing a heavy passage on shearwaters, auks, and Kittiwakes (22nd Dec). Bittern: Presumably the mild winter up-country lead to the reduced numbers and sightings in Cornwall. Marazion Marsh RSPB, a favoured wintering site held a maximum of 3 this winter and that only being reported once, (29th Dec). Cattle Egret: one individual was repor ted at Walmsley Sanctu-ary on 3rd Jan. Glossy Ibis: Many repor ts dur ing the winter , some of tour ing individuals whilst others had taken up residency. 4 over Lelant (7th Dec), an individual (the same?) at St Merryn, Helston and Marazion Marsh on the 8th Dec, with 3 on Ryans Field the same day, 2 still present the next day. 1 at Drift Reservoir (14th Dec) after which individuals settled down with one each remaining at Tregony Bridge, 18th Dec - 19th Jan; Kingsmill Lake, 24th Dec - 9th Jan; and 1 or 2 on The Lizard, 29th Dec - 4th Jan. Spoonbill: The 3 Spoonbills that ar r ived on the River Lynher in October continued in that area throughout the winter being last reported 30th January. Red-necked Grebe: A small number of individuals were re-ported, notably in Falmouth Bay area; 2 in Gerrans Bay (3rd Dec); 3 in Falmouth Bay (26th Dec). Slavonian Grebe: Small numbers were repor ted throughout the winter but a notable record of 12 in Gerrans Bay (17th Dec) stands out. Black-necked Grebe: Carr ick Roads, up to Mylor Church-town, is the favoured locale with 21 (4th Dec), 35 (13th Dec), 42 (30th Dec and 57 (14th Jan). Elsewhere there was a group of 17 off Loe beach (16th Dec). Red Kite: Just one winter record of an individual over St Er th, (19th Dec). Marsh Harrier: Only county records this quar ter have come from The Lizard Penisula, with a wandering male (1st and 29th Dec and 16th Feb) and a female reported at Coverack (7th Feb). Hen Harrier: Just a scatter ing of records over The Lizard and Penwith which may represent fewer than a handful of birds over-wintering this year. Avocet: Not repor ted outside of the normal winter ing site of the Tamar Estuary, but here numbers peaked at 323 (29th Jan) with still 200+ (15th Feb). Dotterel: 1 repor ted Hayle Estuary RSPB, (11th Dec).

By Tony Mills

bird report

December 2013 - February 2014

American Golden Plover: The moulting adult present dur ing November continued at Sennen and was last reported on 5th De-cember. Purple Sandpiper: A few notable numbers from around our coast, peak counts of 56 at Penzance (3rd Feb), 32 Sennen Cove (12th Jan), 20 Cape Cornwall (5th Jan), 7 at St Ives (3rd Jan) and 3 at Pendennis Point (21st Dec). Ruff: Just one r epor t of a single bird at Cremyll, Lower Tamar Estuary, (15th Feb). Jack Snipe: Only four r ecords, Zennor Moors and Marazion Marsh RSPB, (both 13th Dec), Windmill Farm (28th Dec) and St Gothian LNR (18th Jan). Green Sandpiper: Present at Nanquidno Pool, (16th Dec + 22nd Jan), Ponsanooth Sewage Works (17th Dec), 2 at Gwennap Sewage Works (2nd + 18th Jan) Clapper Marshes (3rd - 4th Jan). Spotted Redshank: Single birds repor ted from 6 different loca-tions across the county during the winter, probably reflecting over-wintering individuals. Grey Phalarope: An individual graced Falmouth Bay over Christmas and the New Year, (25th Dec - 4th Jan) Great Skua: Eleven r epor ts dur ing the winter from 25th Dec onwards. Gulls: The roost on St Clement’s Isle, off Mousehole, produced some interesting gulls, the first of this winter’s Kumlein’s was seen there, but also an American Herring Gull and a probable 2w Azorean Yellow-legged Gull there (27th + 28th Feb). Fur ther-more the recurrent storms throughout January and February brought many gulls close to shore including Kittiwakes, Little Gulls and most notable were the ‘white-winged’ gulls, the num-bers of which it will be difficult to quantify. Little Gull: Repor ts from 9 locations, usually individuals and usually ‘fly-bys’, but there was a lingering adult off Tolcarne Beach (7th - 9th Feb) and 3 reported off Mt Edgcumbe (15th Feb). Laughing Gull: A 1st winter individual was seen br iefly off Marazion beach, (17th Feb), it was a day when there were hun-dreds of storm-driven gulls along the Mounts Bay coast. There were unconfirmed reports of it being seen once each on the next two days. Mediterranean Gull: High counts came from Men-Aver Beach, 44 on 30th Dec and 90 the next day. Ring-billed Gull: A 1st winter was seem br iefly at Padstow, (11th Feb). Yellow-legged Gull: Apart from the probable Azorean subspe-cies mentioned above, several nominate individuals were also seen, both 1w and adult birds. Siblyback Reservoir (1st Dec), Marazion (7th Dec), Mousehole (7th Jan + 25th Feb), Hayle (adult on 27th Jan + 28th Feb and 1w on 3rd + 16th Feb) and Drift Reser-voir (adult, 30th Jan). Iceland Gull: Sightings got off to a slow star t, juvenile on Hayle Estuary (14th Dec) was the first, but into January sightings from around the county increased. Of especial interest was the Kumlein’s subspecies of Iceland Gull. Adults have grey tips in the primaries and juveniles have a pale grey wash to the primaries and tail feathers. Adults of this subspecies had not been recorded in the county before this winter. The first was on St Clement’s Isle (27th Jan) and another was not seen until 6th Feb at Marazion, but then it was seen regularly for the rest of the month and into March. There was the suggestion that there may have been 2 adults. Glaucous Gull: The fir st of this winter , a juvenile, was seen at Hayle (20th Dec), but not another reported until 5th Jan from Praa Sands. The numbers increased dramatically. On 7th Feb at Mara-zion the were at least 4 (1 adult + 3 Juveniles) in a large feeding flock of mixed gulls. Another high count of 5 was reported going to roost on St Clement’s Isle, (13th Feb). The number of reports from around the county remained high into March. Sandwich Tern: The fir st returning birds appeared very ear ly, Carnsew Basin (9th Jan), Mylor (13th Jan) and Restronguet (16th Jan). These last two, coupled with reports from Gorrangorras (8th - 19th Feb), may represent an individual overwintering on the Fal Estuary area. Black Guillemot: An individual seen in Falmouth Bay, (23rd Jan). Little Auk: Individuals were seen in Falmouth Bay (17th Dec - 2nd Jan and 16th Feb), Hannafore Point (1st Jan), The Lizard (2 on 18th Jan) and Cape Cornwall (10th Feb)

Puffin: Only two records repor ted this winter , 4 off Pendeen (9th Feb) and 1 off St Ives on the same day. Snowy Owl: One was seen br iefly at St Buryan (7th Dec) and the remains of a dead individual was washed up on Marazion beach in late December. Short-eared Owl: Just one repor t this winter , maybe too mild up-country, 1 at Cubert Common (12th Jan). Chough: It appears that there has been better than average survival of first year birds this winter, and they are continuing to spread along our coasts. Hooded Crow: An individual that is suspected to be a hybr id was at Gwenver Beach (16th Dec, 8th + 29th Jan). Skylark: A high count of 120+ at Watergate Bay, Newquay, (31st Dec). Swallow: Two winter repor ts, St Just/Pendeen (11th Dec) and Par Beach LNR (31st Dec). Yellow-browed Warbler: We’ve had several reports of overwin-tering birds, 2 at Torpoint, 2 at Ponsanooth Sewage Works, and singles reported from Gunwalloe, Gwennap Sewage Works, Car-minowe Creek and one sighting at Penrose Estate (26th Jan). Chiffchaff: As usual, many overwinter ing of the nominate r ace and a scattering of Siberian Chiffchaffs too. Lesser Whitethroat: 1 seen in a Heamoor garden (15th Jan). Starling: A notable roost estimated at 1 million + at Crowdy Reservoir, (24th Dec).

Rose-coloured Starling: The long-staying Longrock juvenile continued to be seen in the area up to 20th December. Fieldfare: The very few submitted records this winter may well reflect the mild winter again. The only notable counts were at Windmill Farm, 22 on 2nd Feb and 20 on 9th Feb. Redwing: As with the previous species, fewer records and numbers than usual. Argal Reservoir, 30 on 30th Jan and 30 at Sancreed on 1st and 8th Feb. Tree Sparrow: One on feeder s at the Lower Tamar Lake, (30th Jan). Richard’s Pipit: One seen on a couple of occasions on Old Liz-ard Head (11th + 18th Jan). Water Pipit: Just one this year at the favoured winter ing site of Copperhouse Creek, being reported 11th Dec - 10th Feb. Other individuals were at The Lizard (7th Dec) and Clapper Marshes (3rd January). Bullfinch: a high count of 10 at Trewornan Br idge, Wadebridge, (14th Dec). Snow Bunting: Repor ts from just one location, Tregiffian, 1 there on 16th Dec, became 2 (22nd - 29th Jan) and then 1 again, up to 9th Feb. Lapland Bunting: 7 on Trevose Head (16th + 19th Feb). Corn Bunting: 13 at Watergate Bay, Newquay, (31st Dec)

Photos from the top of this report: Blue Tit by Adrian Langdon; Scaup by Nigel Climpson; Surf Scoter by Alex McKecknie, Green-winged Teal by Ron Mudge; Grey Phalarope by Adrian Langdon; Kumlein’s Gull by Tony Mills; Little Gull by Tony Mills; Black Guillemot by Billy Heaney; Whooper Swan by Adrian Langdon

A joint CBWPS/BTO/UoE conference was held at the Univer-sity of Exeter’s impressive Cornwall Campus near Penryn on

Saturday 22nd February. Over 180 delegates, mainly drawn from Cornwall and the southwest, attended the conference entitled ‘Birds in the Ma-rine Environment: Research from the South West and beyond’. Many were members of CBWPS and/or BTO, but it was also very encouraging to see so many young people, mainly students, attend-ing. Some of these students were actively involved in the organisa-tion and presentation of the conference, and did so with great con-fidence and enthusiasm. The venue was ideal for such an event, with a large split concourse available for refreshments and exhibitors’ space. A good range of exhibitors was in attendance, representing not only local natural history societies but also national organisations and suppliers. The ample space available provided plenty of opportuni-ty not only to browse information and products but also to discuss issues. It also enabled delegates to catch up with birding friends and acquaintances during the registration period and the refresh-ment breaks, an important aspect of any conference! The day’s programme was split into four sessions, each containing two presentations on recent research into different sea-bird species. At first sight, this programme may have seemed ra-ther daunting, particularly to those whose birding interests are not centred on seabirds. However this was certainly not the case. The presentations were varied in style and content and revealed fasci-nating insights into recent and ongoing research. The overwhelm-ing sense that I came away with at the end of the day was of the huge impact that the rapid development of miniaturised technology is having on ornithological research and the consequent reappraisal of much of the established knowledge about seabirds, their move-ments and habits.

‘Birds in the Marine Environment’ Peter Crispin went to the conference and was impressed with what he saw and heard...

Following a welcome and introduction from Mark Gran-tham, Chair of CBWPS, Dr Stephen Votier from the University of Exeter outlined how tracking devices have provided new infor-mation about the feeding patterns of Gannets. This was followed by a very balanced presentation from Dr Lucy Wright of BTO outlining the challenges posed by large-scale marine renewable energy schemes. In the second morning session, Holly Kirk from the Ox-ford Navigation Group at Oxford University shared her research using data loggers to study bird movements and behaviour on foraging trips and migration, mostly carried out on Manx Shear-waters. Paul St Pierre (RSPB) concluded the morning session by outlining the success of the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Pro-ject. Although rats have been eradicated from St Agnes and Gugh in a very short space of time, he stressed the importance of ongo-ing monitoring and the involvement of the local community in the project. An extensive lunch break gave ample time for delegates to enjoy the excellent catering provided and to revisit the exhibi-tions, puzzle over the clues in the conference quiz and purchase raffle tickets. We reconvened for a presentation by Dr Aonghais Cook (BTO) on the potential of standardised seawatching data, followed by Bruce Taggart who updated us on the findings from the colour-ringing of Great Black-backed Gulls on Looe Island. After a mid-afternoon drinks break (and if still hungry, a cream tea!) Alex Banks from Natural England described the pro-posed Falmouth Bay to St Austell Bay Special Protection Area and finally, Dr Russell Wynn from the National Oceanography Centre shared research that has radically increased knowledge of the fly-ways and foraging hotspots off the South West. Thanks and con-gratulations to the organisers on an excellent and stimulating con-ference. We look forward to the next one!

Holly Kirk speaking at the conference (photo by Laura Richardson)