Scottish bird report

142 Pages·2001·11.2 MB·English

by  Scottish Ornithologists' Club

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THE NATURAL
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Bird Report
2001
Published by The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club
Compiled and Edited by Ray Murray
2001 Scottish Bird Report
Number34, July2004
Contents
Editorial 1
Introduction 2
Scottish Recording Areas 3
Scottish Local RecorderNetwork 4
&
Acknowledgements Abbreviations 6
Scottish Birds Records Committee 7
Species List for2001 15
Compiled & Editedby Ray Murray, 4 Bellfield Crescent, Eddleston, Peebles EH45 8RQ
Publishedby Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, Harbour Point, Newhailes Road, Musselburgh EH21 6SJ
Printedby Meigle Colour Printers Ltd, Tweedbank Industrial Estate, Galashiels TD1 3RS
2001 Scottish Bird Report & ' -
1
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Editorial ^
There were 334 species of birds recorded in Scotland in 2001, seven more than in 2000.
This total included three new additions to the Scottish List, the peripatetic Snowy Egret in Argyll and
several other areas, the Siberian Blue Robin on North Ronaldsay and the Black-faced Bunting
on Fair Isle. There were also three second Scottish reports of Thick-billed Warbler and Siberian
Rubythroat on Shetland and a Whiskered Tern in North-east Scotland. Another landmark event
was the first ever successful breeding of Red-necked Grebe in Borders.
Unfortunately it will not be for those events that 2001 will linger in the memory, rather it will be as
the year of Foot and Mouth Disease. Although diseased animals were only found in Dumfries &
Galloway and in Borders, almost every part of Scotland felt the impact in terms of the access
restrictions that prevented birdwatching in the general countryside. This disrupted many surveys and
still had an impact on the countryside well into the autumn as overzealous landowners tried to
maintain the restrictions long after the countryside had been declared free of the disease. Accordingly
the usual sets of data reported in the SBR, especially on breeding reports and on WeBS counts in March
and April, are subject to a general caveat about how Foot and Mouth Disease (F&MD) prevented
access and thus reporting.
As part of a review of the publications of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club I have been asked by the
SOC Editorial Committee to gradually alter the style of the Scottish Bird Report. In effect this will
hopefully make the species accounts more of a narrative and less terse and packed full of records.
More of the records will be summarised and interpreted rather than simply presenting the bald data.
While I support this concept, it does mean more work for me as complier as the accounts have to be
written in the old style first and then altered. Accordingly, the 2001 SBR is a bit of both, most
accounts have received some reworking, some have received a lot. I would appreciate some help on
this, either with the compiling of the records from the local bird report accounts in the first place, or
with the rewrite into a more cursive style. Please volunteer.
Another change is with the use of vignettes. I’m afraid that many of the local bird reports have
stopped using artwork as the main tool for illustrating their reports and breaking up the text. As editor
of the Borders Bird Report, I am as guilty as others. The reason for this is the use of digital photos.
These have revolutionised the production of local bird reports. They can be inserted into texts at no
extra cost from the printers and there are lots of pictures available as digiscoping catches on. Birders
seem just as likely to discuss the merits of their digital cameras nowadays as they are to say how good
their latest Zeiss, Swarovski or Leica binoculars or telescopes are. In future SBRs we will be able to use
some of the many photos of rarities sent into the SOC website, as we have been requesting permission
to use these wonderful pictures when the photos are submitted. However this permission routine was
not in place in 2001. Delays in working the texts of the 2001 SBR meant that I did not leave enough
time to seek photos from the many that submit them to the website. Only Jim Duncan responded at
the last moment with some excellent pictures. As a result I have filled out the report with some of my
My
own. apologies for this.
With the various delays that occurred in 1999 & 2000, the SBR is now a year behind schedule. The
report being published at this time should really be that for 2002 rather than 2001. Some of the delays
were engendered by the non-appearance of local reports from some areas and others that were simply
late. Some of these difficulties have been sorted out, most particularly in Highland, where there has
been the publication of the magnificent 2002 Highland Bird Report. We hope to eventually catch up
but that will require help and assistance, as well as prompt appearance of local bird reports. Everyone
can help, by promptly sending in reports, by using the SOC spreadsheet to submit data (available on
the SOC website or from SOC HQ) and by offering assistance in the production ofthe local reports and
the SBR. Please help and make all Scottish bird reports, local and national, more topical !
Ray Murray, July 2004.
2 2001 Scottish Bird Report
Introduction
This is the 34th Scottish Bird Report to be published since 1968 by the Scottish Ornithologists Club.
The SBR is mostly based on the local area bird reports published by SOC branches and local bird clubs
throughout Scotland. The local areas are mapped on the page opposite and a list of Local Recorders
and their contact details is on the following pages. Full details for contacting the local recorders and
obtaining copies of the local bird reports are included. As Recorder contact details do change from
time to time, the most up-to-date contact details are held on the Club website at www.the-soc.org.uk.
For the first time in many years there are records from all of Scotland, all Scottish recording areas
having made some contribution. Details from Highland and Caithness are mostly of the highlights,
rather than full reports, but this difficulty has been resolved with the publication of the Highland Bird
Report for 2002 and the establishment of a database for records from Caithness. The appearance of
the Sutherland Bird Review has helped to fill the gap, particularly for 2001.
It should be emphasised that local bird reports can only contain information on what has actually been
observed in an area in any year. They do not seek to summarise a species’ status in the area. That is
the place of a “The Birds of Moray & Naim” not the 2001 Moray & Nairn Bird Report. They are in
effect annual samples of the local bird populations, some being better samples than others. Paradoxi-
cally we are likely to know much more about our rarer species than those that are more common. The
job of the SBR is to present a comprehensible summary of the huge amount of data that is contained
in twenty-odd Scottish local bird reports. This task is by no means easy as different bird reports can
place a different emphasis on different species. They can also present their data in a bewildering
number of ways, all of which are not necessarily compatible. In order to present as much data as
possible in the SBR I feel it appropriate to abbreviate the area names as much as possible, allowing for
full comprehension. Accordingly many local recording area names are referred to by just single letters
(in bold) or the simplest abbreviation. Sites are now reported more fully but all site names are followed
by the abbreviation for the recording area the first time they appear in any species account, but not
subsequently.
Only selected records are provided. Precedence is given to details concerning breeding populations,
peak counts and migration patterns. This issue also includes observations of the first sightings of
young away from the nest, a feature that I would like to encourage observers to forward to their
recorders. Just as changes in arrival dates might tell us something of climatic change, so might the first
sighting of young, if recorded over long periods of time. All national rarities and semi-rarities are
included only where the BBRC, SBRC or the local areas committees have vetted the descriptions. Any
records pending at the time of publication will be included in future reports, if accepted. Ifmore details
are required for any record, the first source should always be the local area report and then the local
recorder. Minor mistakes have occurred in the past in the details of dates and numbers and in the
spelling of place names. While every effort is made to ensure that these do not occur, minor mistakes
do creep in noticed. They will not be corrected in future editions of the SBR. The precise corrobora-
tion of any record should always be with the local bird report concerned.
The sequence of the birds names has been changed in accordance with changes in the British Omi-
thologists’s Union’s British List. This involves bringing the waterfowl and gamebirds to the front of
the list with the diver and grebes following on. There have also been minor changes in the sequence of
Sylvia warblers. Similarly the bird names are those used in the British List, the older, more familiar,
names appearing in brackets.
Two conventions are used to denote breeding success: MBS - mean brood size is used when the data
,
comprises counts of broods, MBS being calculated by dividing the number of young by the number of
broods; VIBP - mean breeding production is used when the size of the population attempting to breed
,
is known, the number of young being divided by the number of breeding attempts or territorial pairs.
MBP
necessarily includes unsuccessful attempts
2001 Scottish Bird Report 3
RecordingAreas
1 Shetland 12 IsleofMay
2 FairIsle 13 Forth
3 Orkney 14 Argyll
4 Outer Hebrides 15 Clyde Islands
5 Caithness 16 Clyde
6 Highland 17 Ayrshire
7 Moray&Naim 18 Lothian
8 North-east Scotland 19 Borders
9 Angus & Dundee 20 Dumfries&Galloway
&
10 Perth Kinross 21 AtSea
11 Fife
RecordingArea Abbreviations
used in the Scottish Bird Report
Shet Shetland Is.
Fair Is FairIsle IMslaenof
Ork Orkney Is.
OHorOHeb Outer Hebrides
Caith Caithness
H
orHigh Highland
M&N Moray&Naim
NE
North-east Scotland Abbreviations used in tables:
A&D Angus & Dundee Recordingareas are combined as follows intables and charts
P&K &
Perth Kinross
ForFife Fife N Isles Shetland, Fair Isle & Orkney
IsofMay IsleofMay OHeb Outer Hebrides
N &
Forth Forth Scot Caithness Highland
LorLoth Lothian NEScot Moray & Naim & North-east Scotland
B or Bord Borders E/C Scot Angus &Dundee, Perth &Kinross, Fife, IsleofMay& Forth
Arg Argyll SEScot Lothian & Borders
W
Clyde Is Clyde Islands Scot Argyll & Clyde Islands & Clyde
Clyde Clyde SWScot Ayrshire& Dumfries & Galloway
Ayr Ayrshire
D&G & N&W
Dumfries Galloway Isles Shetland, Fair Isle, Orkney and Outer Hebrides
4 2001 Scottish Bird Report
SHETLAND MickMaher Shetland Bird Report
(except FairIsle) Hamarsgarth, Haroldswick, Unst Martin Heubeck
Shetland ZE2 9ED Shetland Bird Club
01957 711677 Sumburgh Lighthouse
[email protected] Shetland ZE3 9JN
FAIR ISLE DerykShaw Fair Isle Bird Observatory Report
Bird Observatory, Fair Isle. Fair Isle Bird Observatory
Shetland ZE2 9JU
01595 760 258
[email protected]
ORKNEY Jim Williams Orkney Bird Report
Fairholm, Finstown from Recorder
Orkney KW17 2EQ
01856 761317
[email protected]
OUTERHEBRIDES AndrewStevenson Outer Hebrides Bird Report
Mill House, Snishival, from Recorder
South Uist HS8 5SG
01870 620317
[email protected]
CAITHNESS StanLaybourne Caithness Bird Report
Old Schoolhouse, Harpsdale Julian Smith
Halkirk, Caithness KW12 6UN St.John, Broch, Dunnet
[email protected] Caithness
HIGHLAND AlastairFMcNee Highland Bird Report
Sutherland, Ross-shire Liathach, 4 Blanafettack Place from Recorder
Inverness, Inverness IV3 8TQ
Badenoch & Strathspey [email protected]
MORAY&NAIRN Martin Cook Moray & Nairn Bird Report
Rowanbrae, Clochan from Recorder
Buckie, BanffshireAB56 5EQ
[email protected]
NORTH-EASTSCOTLAND AndyThorpe North-east Scotland Bird Report
Aberdeenshire & Aberdeen 30 Moneam Gardens, Milltimber Dave Gill
Aberdeen AB13 oEA DrakemyreCroft,Caimorrie
01224 733296 Methlick, Aberdeenshire AB41 OJN
[email protected]
ANGUS& DUNDEE Dan Carmichael Angus & Dundee Bird Report
2A Reres Road, Broughty Ferry from Recorder
Dundee DD5 2QA
[email protected]
PERTH & KINROSS Ron Youngman Perth & Kinross Bird Report
Blairchroisk Cottage, Ballinluig MicrosoftWord file
Pitlochry, Perthshire PH9 ONE e-mail LocalRecorder
01796 482324
[email protected]
FIFE Rab Shand Fife Bird Report
(except IsleofMay) Willie Mcbay at
[email protected]
[email protected]
2001 Scottish Bird Report 5
ISLEOFMAY Iain English Isle ofMayBird Report
19Nethan Gate, fromRecorder
Chantinghall Road, Hamilton,
South Lanarkshire ML3 8NH
[email protected]
FORTH Dr CliffHenty Forth Birds
Clackmannanshire 7 Coneyhill Road, Bridge ofAllan in Forth Naturalist & Historian
Falkirk & Stirling Stirling FK9 4EL L.Corbett, University Lubrary
University ofStirling
LOTHIAN DavidKelly Lothian Bird Report
20MarketView,Tranent John Hamilton
East Lothian EH33 IGA 30 Swanston Gardens
01875 614072 REdinburgh EH10 7DL
[email protected]
BORDERS RayMurray Borders Bird Report
4 Bellfield Crescent Malcolm Ross
Eddleston, Peebles, EH45 8RQ The Tub, Dingleton Road,
01721 730677 Melrose, Borders
[email protected]
ARGYLL Paul Daw Argyll Bird Report
Tigh na Tulloch, Minard Bob Furness
Inverary, Argyll PA32 8YQ TheCnoc.Tabret
01546 886260 Argyll G83 7DG
[email protected]
CLYDE ISLANDS Dr Bernard Zonfrillo Clyde Island Bird Report
Arran,Bute,Cumbraes 28 Brodie Road, Glasgow (in Clyde Birds)
G21 3SB
[email protected]
CLYDE Iain Gibson Clyde Birds
E&WRenfrewshire, Inverclyde, 8 KenmureView, Howwood, Jognstone Jim&ValWilson
E&W Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire PA9 DR 76 Laigh Road, Newton Meams
1
old Dunbartoneshire area ofArgyll 01505 705874 Glasgow G77 5EQ
Clyde drainage of Stirlingshire c/o [email protected] 0141 639 2516
AYRSHIRE Angus Hogg Ayrshire Bird Report
11 Kirkmichael Road, Crosshill Dick Vernon
Maybole, Ayrshire KA19 7 RJ 29 Knoll Park, Ayr KA7 4RH
01655 740317
[email protected]
DUMFRIES &GALLOWAY Paul Collin Dumfries & Galloway Bird Report
Gairland, Old Edinburgh Road PeterNorman
Minnigaf, Newton Stewart DG8 6PL Low Boreland, Tongland Road
[email protected] Kirkcudbright DG6 4UU
AT SEA AndyThorpe North Sea Bird Club
30 Moneam Gardens, Milltimber OceanLabratory&Centrefor
Aberdeen ABO oEA Ecology
01224 733296 University ofAberdeen
[email protected] Newburgh AB41 6AA
6 2001 Scottish Bird Report
Acknowledgements
The major thanks however must go to all of the Scottish local area recorders and their editors for the
compilation and production of the area reports on which the SBR is based. I particularly thanks those
that managed to send me both copies of their Bird Reports and the Word files from which the reports
were published, the computer files to some extent make the task of compiling the SBR simpler.
I would like to thank those Local Recorders and Local Report Editors who proof read and replied to
the draft versions of SBR that were circulated in May and June 2004. The inevitable errors that creep
into any production like this will have hopefully been banished, although I have no doubt that during
my first read of the SBR when it comes back from the printers that I see several typos immediately.
My thanks to Iain Gibson, Jim & Val Wilson, Dan Carmichael, Cliff Henty, Ron Youngman,
Mike Pennington, Angus Hogg, Bernie Zonfrillo, Paul Collin, Deryk Shaw and Martin
Cook. I would also like to thanks Roy Dennis for permission to use the Honey Buzzard website
photos and maps, and to Dave Thorne and especially Jim Duncan for e-mailing photos to me at
very short notice to help relieve the text of the SBR. The remainder of the photos are my respon-
sibility.
My thanks also to various people who have spotted gaps in the data published and sent me local
reports to help fill these holes in the archive. Alan Vittery kindly sent me a copy of the Sutherland
Bird Review, Ken Shaw & Paul Brooks sent WeBS data on Loch Leven as well as their annual report,
and thank you to those with on the staff of RSPB and SNH who forward the annual reports of the
conservation projects associated with Red Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Corncrake and other species.
JNCC also send a copy of the invaluable ‘Seabirds Numbers and Breeding Success’ report annually.
would be grateful to receive any other source documents out there that deserve further exposure and
I
will help to complete the annual picture of Scotland’s birds.
Abbreviations used in the Scottish Bird Report
Despite a policy of reducing the abbreviations used in the text, there is still the need for a few.
m/mm male(s) MBP mean breeding production
f/ff female (s) imm immature
pr(s) pair(s) lst-w age - first-winter etc.
terr territory 2nd-s age - second summer etc.
AOT apparenly occupied territory N - SE flight direction
AON
apparently occupied nest /hr hourly passage rate
(34) equivalent figure for previous yeaRSG Raptor Study Group
c/2 clutch of 2 eggs etc. km2 square kilometre
br2 brood of 2 young etc. BBS Breeding Bird Survey
2brl6 2 broods with 16 young WeBS Wetland Bird Survey
MCS mean clutch size WBS Waterways Bird Survey
MBS mean brood size CES Constant Effort Site
Pied Wagtail
Dunoon
Argyll