Db 20(5)1998 by DutchBirding

Dutch Birding

Dutch Birding HOOFDREDACTEUR Arnoud van den Berg (tel 023 -5378024, fax 023-5376749, e-mail Arnoud.vandenBerg@i nter.nl.net) ADJUNG HOOFDREDAGEUR Enno Ebels (tei l fax 030-2961335, e-mail ebels@wxs.n l) UITVOEREND REDACTEUR André va n Loon (te i l fax 020-6997585, e-mail laan@b io.vu.n l) FOTOGRAFISCH REDACTEUR René Pop (tel 0223-690141 , fax 0223-690142, e-mail pop.en.p@wxs.nl) REDACTIERAAD Ferdy Hieselaar, Peter Meininger, George Sa ngster en Roland va n der V li et

Internationaal tijdschrift over Palearctische vogels

REDACTIE-ADVIESRAAD Peter Barthel (Du itsland ), Klaas Eigenhuis (Nederl and), Di ck Forsman (Finland), Ricard Gutiérrez (Spanj e), Ted Hoogendoorn (Nederland), Lars Jonsson (Zweden), Paul Lehman (VS), Anthony McGeehan (Noord- Ierl and), Killian Mullarney (I erland), Gera ld Oreel (Nederland), Kees Roselaar (Nederland), Frank Rozendaa l (Nederland), Hadoram Sh irihai (Israël), Gunter De Smet (België), Lars Svensson (Zweden) en Peter Symens (België) REDACTIEMEDEWERKERS Ruud van Dongen, Gera ld Driessens, N il s va n Duivendijk, Remco Hofland, Graham Holl oway, Diederik Kok, H ans va n der Meu len en Peter de Rouw

REDACTIE

Dutch Birding Postbus 116 2080 AC Santpoort-Zuid Nederland fax 023-5376749 FOTOREDACTIE

Dutch Birding p/a René Pop Postbus 1007 1780 EA Julianadorp ederland ASONNEMENTENADMINISTRATIE

p/a Jeannette Admiraal Iepenlaan 11 1901 ST Castricum Nederland BESTUUR

Dutch Birding Association Postbus 75611 1070 AP Amsterdam Nederland COMMISSIE DWAALGASTEN NEDERLANDSE AVIFAUNA

CD A Postbus 45 2080 AA Santpoort-Zuid Nederland

PRODUCTIE EN LAY-OUT And ré van Loon en René van Rossum ADVERTENTIES Peter Me ij er (tel 0348-43 1905, fax 0348-4302 16, e-ma il meijerpc@worldonline.n l) ABONNEMENTEN De abonnementsprij s voor 1998 bedraagt: N LG 65.00 (Nederland), BEF 1320.00 (België), N LG 72 .50 (overi ge landen binnen Europa) en N LG 77.50 (landen buiten Europa). . U kunt zich abonneren door het overmaken van de abonnementspr ij s op girorekening Ol 50 697 (Nederland), giroreken ing 000 1592468 19 (België) of bankrekening 54 93 30 348 va n ABN+AMRO (Castricum), ovv 'a bonnement Dutch Bird ing'. All e rekeningen zij n ten name van de Dutch Birding Assoc iation. H et abonnement gaat in na ontvangst va n de beta ling. Dutch Birding is een tweemaandelij ks tijd sc hrift met nummers in februari, april , juni , augustus, oktober en december. Het pub li ceert originele artike len en mededelingen over morfologie, systematiek, voorkomen en verspre iding van vogels in de Benelux, Europa en elders in het Palearctische geb ied. H et pub li ceert tevens bijdragen over voge ls in het Aziatisch-Pacifische gebied en andere gebieden. De volgorde van voge ls in Dutch Bi rdin g vo lgt in eerste instanti e een kl ass ieke 'Wetmoreinde ling'. Bi nnen dit raamwerk worden voor taxonomie en naamgev ing de vo lgende overzichten aangehouden: Lijst 98 Nederlandse vogelsoorten door A B va n den Berg & CA WBosma n (1998, Sa ntpoort-Zu id) (taxonom ie en wete nschappelijke en Nederland se namen van Nederla nd se vogels); List of birds of the Western Palearctic door British Birds (1997, Blunham) (Engelse namen va n West-Palearctische voge ls); de door C S Roselaar samengestelde lij st in CeiUustreerde encyclopedie van de vogels door C M Perrins (1991, Weert), met aan pass ingen en aa nvullingen door A J va n Loon in Vogels van de wereld complete checklist door M Wa lters (1997, Baarn) (Nederl andse namen van overi ge vogels van de wereld); en 8irds of the world door C G Sibley (1996, Version 2.0, Cincinn ati) (taxonomie en wetenschappeli jke en Enge lse namen van overige vogels van de wereld). Afw ijkingen van en aa nvullingen op bovenstaande overz ichten z ijn gebaseerd op bes li ssingen van de CSNA (cf Dutch Bird ing 19: 21-28, 1997; 20: 22-32, 1998). Een lijst met tarieven voor de vergoed ing va n auteurs, fotografen en tekenaa rs is verkrijgbaar bij de redactie.

Dutch Birding Association BESTUUR Theo Adm iraa l (penn ingmeester), G ij sbert van der Bent (voorz itter, tel 0714024547), Leon Edelaar, Peter Meijer, Rob O livier, Marc Plomp en Chri s Qu ispe l (secretari s, tel 07 1-5124825); tevens is de redactie van Dutch Bi rding met een zetel vertegenwoord igd BESTUURSMEDEWERKERS Jeannette Adm iraal, Gera ld Driessens, Ron van den Enden, Hans Gebu is, Leo Heemskerk, Remco Hofland, Pau l KnolI e, Sander Lagerveld, Ger Meesters, Arno ld Meijer, André van der Plas en Kees Ti emstra DUTCH BIRDING TRAVEl REPORT SERVICE (DBTRS) Ib Hu ysman, Postbus 737, 9700 AS Gron ingen, Nederland , te l 050-5274993, fax 050-5272668, internet http://www .mebweb.nl/DBTRS

Commissie Dwaalgasten Nederlandse Avifauna (CD NA) TElEFOO LIJNEN

Nederland: 0900-20321 28 (vogellijn, 75 cpm) 010-4281212 (inspreeklijn) België: 03-4880194 (vogel- en inspreeklijn) INTERNET

http://www.xs4all.nl/-elandldutchbirding

LEDEN Max Berlijn, Ruud van Beusekom , Bert de Bruin, Karel Mauer, Jan van der Laan (voorz itter, tel 072-5203091), Kees Roselaar, Je ll e Sc harrin ga (secretaris, tel 030-2523801) en Wi m Wiegant (a rchivaris) De CDNA is een comm iss ie van de Dutch Birding Assoc iation en de Nederlandse Orn ithologische Uni e. De Commissie Systematiek Nederl andse Avifau na (CSNA) is de subcommi ssie van de CDNA betreffende taxonomie, nomenclatu ur en status van Nederl andse (onder)soorten en bestaat uit Arnoud van den Berg, Cornelis Hazevoet, Kees Roselaar, George Sangster (secretaris, tei l fax 071-5143790, e-mail sangster@oplbio. leidenuniv.nl) en Ronaid Sluys.

© 1998 Sti chting Dutch Birding Associati on. Het copyri ght van de foto's en teken ingen bl ijft bij de fotografen en tekenaars. ISSN 0167-2878. Drukkerij Rob Stolk bv, Mauritskade 55, 1092 AD Amsterdam, Nederl and

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Utsira Geir Mobakken

Ithough Utsira is o ne of few bird loca lit ies in Norway w ith an intern ationa l rep utati on, it is still quite unknown. Few non-Scandi nav ian bird ers are awa re of the island 's hi gh b irding potenti a!. However, w h en it comes to rarities and fasc inatin g bird ing, Uts ira is un su rpassed in Sca ndin av ia. As w ill be revea led be low, Utsira has the same q uality as su eh fa mous Eu ropean rarity hot spots li ke Fair Isle in Scotland, Helgo land in Germany, the Isles of Sc ill y in England, O uessa nt in France and Texe l in the Neth erl ands.

The island Situated c 17 km off th e main coast of southwestern Norway, th e island outpost of Uts ira is a worl d in itse lf in the North Sea. It is ad mini stra tive ly part of Roga land and it has the d istincti o n of be ing the sma ll est muni cipality in Norway. The main c iti es cl osest to th e island are Haugesun d and Stava nger, the fo rm er be in g co nsidered th e home tow n fo r the c 220 inh abitants of Utsira. The island is fairl y rou nd in shape, w ith a

d iameter of c 3 km, coverin g c 6 km 2 The grey, barren, mounta ino us rock that you see fro m th e fe rry is a sign of the rugged natu re of Uts ira. Vet, as you enter th e no rth o r south harbo ur, you w ill d iscover o ne of the is land's secrets: a beautiful green va ll ey that cuts ac ross th e di ameter. In both harbou rs, o ld boat houses and w harf bui ldings line the shore w hil st alo ng the lanes jo ining north to south and up the short va ll eys many houses ex hi b it a bew il der in g variety of colo urs. The hi gher areas bevo nd the va ll ey, w hi ch make up most of th e eastern and western pa rts of the island , offer little but barren rock and sparse low vegetation. Th ese moorl and s, w here th e o nl y suitabl e food sourees and restin g pl aces for bird s are heath er and some spru ce pl antati o ns, are not very good fo r birds and onl y host breeding Meadow Pi p its Anthus pratensis and Northern W heatea rs Oenanthe oenanthe. A few pond s are someti mes frequented by co mmon dabb lin g ducks and th e ro ugh coastlin e can ho ld a few of th e most common sho rebirds. Thu s, th e main va ll ey, Sirada len, and its nea r surroundings, is

159 Utsira in b ird's eye v iew (Airspot)

[Ou/eh 8irding 20: 797-205, 7998[

197

Uts ira th e place for birds and birding, due to its diversity of hab itats. Siradalen has numerous fields w hic h, espec iall y w hen ploughed, act as powerful magnets for newly arrived mi grants. A long the narrow roads and fences criss-cross i ng the ferti Ie plain other attractive hab itats can be found. Almost every garden has trees and th ere is about a dozen evergreen plantations in or nea r Siradalen - all featurin g sitk a spruce Picea citchensis. Regrettably, deciduous trees are rare and just a few are scattered around the island , often thanks to some gardener's interest. Utsira's o nl y major freshwater lake, Makeskittmyr, named unkindl y for its gull mu ck, is a small lake situ ated in th e north of th e island. The main attraction for th e birds being the trees, bu shes and other shrubs connected with th e gard ens, this spec ial scene results in a unique way of birding for Norway, namely 'gard en birding' . Conveni entl y, you ca n do nea rl y all the birding from th e network of country lanes, check ing th e ga rden s w hil e you wand er around and still keeping a close watc h at th e nea rby fields and plantations. Th e northernmost tip of Utsira, Perl eneset, provides a fine seawatch point where mu ch activ ity occurs in late summer and early autumn. It is an exce ll ent place to watch pelagic species and, cons iderin g th e obsession of many Scandinavians for seabirds, its popularity is readily understood. Geography Th e geographi ca l posItIon of Utsira is the main factor w hy it is such a good local ity for fi nd i ng migratory birds. It is strategically situ ated o n the main mi grati o n route of birds travelling from Scandinavia to Britain or Iberi a, espec iall y with regard to autumn migrants. Another, eq uall y important factor is Utsira's role as a major, natural stopover po int fo r reverse-migrating eastern rarities head in g north -west and west each autumn . Being off the western most point of Rogaland, it is also strateg ica ll y placed for observ ing th e migrati on of seabirds in the northeastern Atlantic. A lot of birds w ill see Utsira as the first pi ece of land if forced to return to Norway due to a weather fro nt out in the North Sea, or th ey use it as a place to recuperate before crossing the North Sea in autumn . Since the small mai n va ll ey and the ad jacent south-eastern part of the island ho ld nea rl y all the bi rd s, at least the passerines and near-passer ines, bi rd ers can easi ly ga in co ntro l of the scene. Th e relativeIy spa rse vegetation and sma ll areas involved suggest that a large proportion of the bi rds actually present will be di scovered . Migrant birds

198

<J,O~

9'\

Shetland

FIGURE 1 Geographica l position of Uts ira

have few pi aces to hide and, when newly arri ved, they tend to stay for a w hil e. Th erefore, the chances of discovering birds on Utsira are reasonab ly hi gh. History Utsira's ornithological hi story started before World War I. Th e first ornithol og ica l exped itio n to the island was in 1927, led by aB riton, J L Chaworth Musters, w ho regu larly retu rn ed to the island until 1937. Hi s observations formed the first major contribu tion to the know ledge of the birds of Utsira . He predicted six species new to Utsira: Richard's Pipit A richardi, Yellow-browed Warbier Phy/loscopus inornatus, Red-breasted Fl ycatc her Ficedu/a parva, Co mmon Rosefinch Ca rpodacus erythrinus, Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica and Little Buntin g E pusilla. Hi s theory was that since th ese spec ies had to pass Norway and the North Sea on their autumn migration, as th ey already had occ urred o n Fai r Isle, Scotland, then they mu st also pass over Uts ira. Hi s prediction was a success. In the next decades, orn itholog ists appea red o n an irregular basis, mainly under the gu id ance of Norwegian birders, a com munity of enthusiasts w hi ch was slowly grow in g.

Utsira

160 Myrtle Wa rbier ! Mirtezanger Oendroica coronata, Utsira , Roga land, Norway, 8 October 1996 (Hakon Heggland) 161 Black-throated Thrush ! Zwartkee ll ijster Turdus ruficollis atrogularis, Utsira , Roga land, Norway, 1 October 1991 (H akon Heggland) 162 Swainson 's Thrush ! Dwe rg l ijster Catharus ustulatus, Utsira, Rogaland , Norway, 20 September 1974 (Viggo Ree)

199

Utsira

163 Eyebrowed Thrush / Va le Lij ste r Turdus obscurus, Utsira, Rogaland, Norway, October 1981 (Ove Bryne) 164 Rose-breasted Grosbeak / Roodborstkardinaal Pheucticus ludovicianus, Utsira, Rogaland , Norway, October 1977 (Ove Bryne) 165 Little Buntin g / Dwerggors Emberiza pusilla and Ye ll ow-breasted Bunting / W il gengors E aureola, Utsira, Rogaland , Norway, September 1985 (Ove Bryne)

200

Uts ira It was not until 1972 that observations were carried out systematica ll y. From th at year on, there was nearly full coverage in eac h autumn, led by the same faithful observers, although on ly few spr ings were covered. In th e autumns of 197275, the work was organ ized by Viggo Ree. During this im portant period - wh en nearly 70 new spec ies for Utsira were recorded - a lot more was learned about the loca l bird movements, both from studies of numbers and species migrating, and by looking at phenological aspects of th e migration. The results formed the basis for the first major pub li cation on the birds of Utsira - an analys is of bird movements during the autum ns of 1972-76 (Sterna 16: 113-202, 1977). Ove Bryne was responsible for the period from 1976 onwa rd s for c 10 years. He thereby also formed a picture of the spr in gs whic h, until then , had bee n ve ry much neglected. Those years saw many unri va ll ed records. The last decade had its ups and downs regardi ng manning although both sp rin g and autumn were still covered for a few weeks each year. When Utsira Bird Observatory (Utsira Fuglestasjon) was establi shed in 1992, a ge nera l upsurge in coverage occurred. Indeed, from 1995 to the present, there has been full coverage, w ith material being co llected in a consta nt surve ill ance every day of the yea r.

Birding year A norma l year has a quiet w inter period w ith few w interin g species . However, most w inters are en li vened by w ildfowl, w ith certa in geese usualIy dominating. In connection with w inter storm s, certai n unusual sight ings have been noted w hi ch exc ite loca l interest. In March, occas iona ll y in late February, sma l/ numbers of sprin g migrants arrive, among them Black Redstarts Phoenicurus ochruros, European Stonechats Saxico /a rubica/a and M istie Thrush es Turdus viscivarus, al/ 'good birds' in Norway. Apr il is the first sprin g month w ith obvious ly larger numbers and involving a larger range of species. In ear ly and mid April , numbers of short-d ista nce migrants acc umul ate. Late Apr i I usua l/ y sees the year's fi rst heavy migration with long-d istance migrants occurring in two-fi gure numbers. This per iod is fu rther characterized by the f irst rarities of the year. May is the classic time for migrants but onl y if the aI/important weather imp roves! Good numbers of common migrants and some scarce species can be seen if co nditi ons are right. An important fac tor for the arr iva l of birds on Utsira in these last few weeks of spring is the presence of anti-

cyclonic systems over central Europe, combined w ith moderate souther ly or south-easterly w inds. Local/ y, there should be overcast conditions and it does no harm if northerly or north-westerl y w in ds prevail for a day or two. In recent years, weather conditions have been favourab le in May and the subseq uent bird ava lanches were impressive and fascinating. For example, th e highly memorabie spr ing of 1992 in western Europe cu lmin ated on Uts ira on 25 May, w ith th e fol/owing hi gh lights recorded: one Osprey Pandian haliaetus, Uts ira's first European Beeeater Merops apiaster, one G rey Wagtail Mataci//a cinerea, three Red-spotted Bluethroats Luscinia svecica svecica, 35 Whinchats 5 rubetra, one European Stonec hat, 15 Icterine Warblers Hippa/ais icterina, 10 Wood Warb lers P sibi/atrix, 100 Spotted Flycatchers Muscicapa striata, one Go lden Or io le Oria /us aria /u s, five Red-backed Shrikes Lanius col/uria and one Rustic Bunting. A lso, the ve ry good weath er cond iti ons for migrants in the North Sea area o n 18-1 9 May 1996 - featured in the birding press for loca lities such as Fair Isle and Helgoland - produced on Utsira in the aftern oon of 19 May six Common Cuckoos Cucu /us canarus, one Black Redstart, 90 Common Redstarts P phoenicurus, 55 Whinchats, one European Stonec hat, 20 Ring O uze ls T tarquata, two Icterin e Warb lers, 55 Garden Warblers Sy/via barin and two O rto lan Buntin gs E hartu /ana. Apart from these and other memorab ie sightin gs over th e yea rs - too many to mention in detail - there have been many more outsta nding days to remember. Some have in c lu ded day tota ls of up to 10 Turtle Doves Streptapelia turtur, 20 Red-spotted Bluethroats, seven Black Redstarts, 125 Common Redstarts, four European Stonechats, 125 Ring Ouze ls, 22 Mistie Thrushes, 130 Spotted Flycatchers, 125 Pied Flycatchers F hypa/euca, 30 Red-backed Shrikes, 30 Common Rosefjnches and seve n Orto lan Bunt in gs . For the fore ign vis itor, the w ho le month of May is an optim al birding period as it prod uces suc h sought-after species as Wryneck lynx tarq uil/a, Thrush N ightinga le L /u scinia, Red-spotted Blu ethroat, Icterine Warb ier, Red-backed Shrike, Common Rosefinch, Orto lan Bunting and Rustic Bunting, w ith 12 records of the latter in the springs of 1992-98. M id to late May is the prime time to find a Suba lpine Warb ier 5 cantil/ans; Utsira has amassed no fewer than 28 records of this littl e Med iterranean gem over the years (near ly as many as the 3 1 recorded for th e Netherlands during 1800-1996). The first part of June is pretty much like late May but ca n be 20 1

Uts ira even better. Species like Tree Pipit A trivia/is, Sy/via warblers and Common Chiffchaff P collybita can still occur in their 105. This is the period to look for more irregular warm-climate spec ies such as Marsh Warb ier Acrocepha/us pa/ustris and Go lden Oriole. M id summer on Utsira is probably the worst period for a birder. The stabie weather - anticyclonic systems generating hot sunny days under c lear blue skies - is quite uncomfortable for both the b irds and their admirers. Utsira's bird life during the breed ing season is in strong contrast with the range of visitors in spring and autumn. About 52 species have been shown to breed although just 30 do 50 on a regular basis (a lmost as many passerines as non-passerines). Among the regular breeders are cliff birds such as Common Gui ll emot Uria aa /ge, Razorbill A /ca torda, Black Gui ll emot Cepphus grylle and Atlantic Puffin Fratercu/a arctica. The incidental breeding b irds include spec ies like Marsh Warbi er (once) and Common Rosefinch; their respective breeding records on Utsira constituted also the first for Rogaland. The odd mid summer rar ity has been surprising ly infrequent although a few Arctic Warb lers Pborealis deserve mention-

ing. This is the period to catch up w ith European Storm-petre ls Hydrobates pe/agicus, for w hi ch Uts ira has proved to be an exce ll ent trapping ground. As many as 322 have been either trapped or seen at night in a single season. Equa ll y im pressive are totals of up to eight Leach's Storm-petrels Oceanodroma /eucorhoa in a season, bearing in mind the rarity of th e spec ies as a breeding bird in Norweg ian waters. In a European context, the target species at Perleneset, the sea-watch po int at the northernmost tip of Utsira, do not make the head lines but to Scandinav ians at least their numbers can be im pressive. Among certain dav tallies can be mentioned 35 000 Fulmars Fu/marus g /a cia lis, 109 Sooty Shea rwaters Puffinus griseus, 206 Manx Shearwaters P puffinus, 1000 Northern Gannets Morus bassanus, 106 Great Skuas Stercorarius skua and 1500 Littl e Auks A lle alle. However, dayl ight records of the sto rm-petrels and any records of the rarer skuas and Sabi ne's Gu ll Larus sabin i, much taken fo r granted at other major sea-watch points in north-western Europe, have remained surpr isi ngly scarce. In early August, the first autumn migrants are seen head in g south. The first wave in vo lves com-

166 Suba lpine Warbier / Baardgrasmus Sy/via cantillans, Uts ira, Roga land , No rway, May 1994 (H채kon Hegg/and)

202

Utsira

167 Grey-cheeked Thrush / Grijswangdwerglijster Catharus minimus, Utsira, Rogaland, Norway, 28 October 1973 (Viggo Ree)

168 Pallid Swift/ Vale Gierzwaluw Apus pallidus, Utsira, Rogaland, Norway, 3 June 1995 (HJkon Heggland)

mon species in small numbers. Later in the month , the numbers of species, like yellow wagtails Motacilla, Whinchat, various warblers and flycatchers, are increasing and the odd Barred Warbier 5 nisoria and Red-backed Shrike appear. It is not until September though that the numbers of common migrants rea lly pick up. This is also the time for the annual arrival of ' Utsira special ities ' like Richard's Pipit, Yellow-browed Warbier, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Littl e Bunting. Utsira is the only locality in Norway where these species occur annually in some numbers. In a European perspective, some of the autumn totals are impressive with, for example, 22 Richard 's Pipits in 1994, 40 Yellow-browed Warblers in 1985 and 13 Little Buntings in 1994. The last 10 days of September and the first 10 days of October see the culmination of the autumn migration . For many years, a trip to Utsira during this th ree-week period has been a ' must' for Norwegian birders . Except during northerly winds, Utsira never fails to produce good birds at this time of year. Among the many gems sought after by birders in this period are Short-toed Lark Ca/andrella brachydacty/a, Olive-backed Pipit A hodgsoni (there have been 18 records since the first for Europe on 8 October 1937), Citrine Wagtail M citreo/a, Siberian Stonechat 5 maura and Pallas's Leaf Warbier P proregu/us whilst species like Gyr Falcon Fa/co rustico/us, Great Snipe Gallinago media and the occasional Greyheaded Woodpecker Picus canus all favour this period for a visit. Early October also features the annual appearance of long-distance migrants, like Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, Common

Redstart, Willow Warbier P trochi/us and flycatchers, many of which can be seen in double figures. Some species even culminate like, for example, Blackcap 5 atricapilla with dav totals of up to 400 in mid October 1973 and 300 in early October 1991 . The emphasis on some of the more spectacular birding days in Utsira's history is not intended to downplay normal days. Some examples will show Utsira's potential in autumn, the golden season of the island. Take as an example 18 September 1995, which produced one Osprey, one Great Snipe, one Yellow-browed Warbier, one Wood Warbier, two Red-breasted Flycatchers and one Yellowbreasted Bunting E aureo/a. This by itself would be enough to give Utsira the status of a birders ' paradise but the record is even more impressive when taking into account that there were only two observers on the isl and that dav. It tells also much about Utsira's balance between common and rare birds since, that dav, only a few common species were recorded. Another date, 28 September 1996, stands out in Utsira's autumn annals of fame, producing four Sooty Shearwaters, one Pomarine Skua 5 pomarinus, 15 Great Skuas, one Richard 's Pipit, one Barred Warbier, one Arctic Warbier and five Yellowbrowed Warblers, with a Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustu/atus to round things off in the even ing. For the record, some of the more outstanding autumn dav totals included 400 Wrens Trog/odytes trog/odytes, seven Black Redstarts, 100 Common Redstarts, 100 Ring Ouzels, 50 000 Fieldfares T pi/aris, 50 000 Redwings T i/iacus, eight Barred Warblers, 100 Garden 203

Utsira Warblers, 10 Yellow-browed Warblers, 2000 Go ld crests Regu/us regu/us, seven Red-breasted Fl ycatc hers and 16 O rto lan Buntings. The autumn s of 1995 and 1996 produced six Rosy Sta rI i ngs Sturnus roseus. The last two months of the yea r are a quiet period for migrating birds. Vet, November still has th e 'fee l' of October, w ith mild weather prevailing and quite a few days of visible migration. Vigils can be en li vened during thi s period by the occasional Littl e Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis and H en H arri er Circus cyaneus, same movements of Littl e A uks, I in gering Black Redstarts and the odd eastern Cam man Chiffchaff. In most yea rs, one o r two Glaucous Gulls L h yperboreus appear at the end of th e year.

Rarities Much of Utsira's reputatio n as a birding hot-spot, bath in Norway and intern ationall y, na doubt stems from the unparall eled sightings of rariti es. Over the years, Utsira has amassed a long and intri gu ing rarity li st. Nationally, it ranks as the premier location for 'firsts', havi ng added na less than 19 new species to the Norwegian list (a ll listed on the Intern et at: http://ho me.so l.no/ -bhoeylan/ utsira/index. html l. The saga of rariti es on Utsira ca n be sa id to begin on 6 October 193 4 w hen Norway's first Rustic Bunting was record ed. Two yea rs later, a remarkabl e four Short-toed Larks turned up in September and October 1936. In th e next year, three new Norwegian species were added in a single month from 7 September to 8 October 1937: European Reed Warbier A scirpaceus, Yellow-browed Warbier and Olive-backed Pipit. Impress ive as th ese resu lts in the 19305 were, they were pa raIleled in the 19705. Utsira was also the fi rst place in Scandinavia to record Nearctic passerines. While the appeara nce of passerines from th e North American conti nent over the years ca n be described as the ic in g on the cake, it is the annual return of Siberian vagra nts th at maintains Utsira's name as a place to see rarities. Each autumn, a mult itude of rariti es is fou nd among the more common Scandinavian migrants and same eastern European vagrants occurr in g on Utsira. Nearctic species included one Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites subruficollis on 26-28 September 1978; th e first Norwegian ' mainland ' record of Spotted Sandpiper Actitis ma cu/aria on 28 May 1997; one Ring-billed Gull L de/awarensis from 22 May to 22 Jul y 1992; th e only three Norwegian reco rd s of Swainson 's Thrush on 20 204

September 1974, 28 September 1996 and fro m 30 September to 6 October 1997; the onl y Norweg ian record of G rey-cheeked Thru sh C minimus on 28 and 30 October 1973 al thou gh, at the time of w ritin g, th e ve ry similar Bicknell's Thru sh C bicknelli ca nnot be elimin ated; the on ly Scandinavian record of Myrtle Warbier Oendroica coronata o n 8 October 1996; th e on ly No rwegia n records of Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus /udovician us on 13-1 9 May 1977 and 1 October 1977, th e farmer constituting th e only spring record in Europe of an assumed w ild bird; and, finally, a Baltimore Oriole Icterus ga /bu/a on 13 May 1986, also the o nl y record for Norway. From the Eastern Palearctic reg ion, high -qu ality rarities included one Pacific Golden Plover P/uvia/is fu/va on 10 October 1986; th e first Norweg ian Pechora Pipit A gustavi on 29 September 1976; o ne White's Thru sh Zoo th era aurea on 28 September 1978; three Siberian Thru shes Z sibirica on 11 October 1980, 30 September 1984 and 4 September 1986; one Eyebrowed Thrush T obscurus on 3 October 1981 wh ic h was trapped in a mistnet and thus one of the extremely few rariti es not found in the field on Utsira; four Black-throated Thrushes T ruficollis atrogu/aris on 23 October 1986, 10-1 2 November 1990, 19 October 1991 and 23 April 199 7; th e first Norwegian Pall as's Grasshopper Warbier Locustella certhio /a on 28 September 1986, followed by singles on 7-8 October 1988 and 9 October 1995; two Lanceolated Warblers L /anceo /ata o n 6 Octobe r 199 1 and 27-30 September 1997; two Radde's Warblers P schwarzi on 6 October 1991 and 5 October 1996; the first Norwegian Dusky Warbier P fuscatus on 10-13 October 1974, followed by singles on 20 October 1984, 30-31 October 1984 and 10-1 2 October 1996; the onl y Norwegian Chestnut Bunting E ruti/a on 13-15 October 1974 w hi ch at the time was only th e second reco rd for Europe of an assumed w ild bird; and, lastl y, 11 Yellow-breasted Buntings since the first on 15 September 1972, all occurring from late A ugust to late September except one, a fema le on 24 June 1980. Among rarities w ith a southern European or central Asiatic ori gi n recorded on Uts ira were one Littl e Bittern Ixobrychus minutus o n 21 May 1976; one N ight Heron Nycticorax nycticorax on the earl y date of 16 April 1989; one Great W hite Egret Casmerodius a/bus on 22 May 1996; one Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus on 29 April 1997, the ea rli est record for Norway; one Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator g /andarius on 25 April

Uts ira 1993, aga in Norway's ear li est; one Pallid Swift Apus pa/lidus on 3 June 1995; one Ca landra Lark Me/anocorypha ca /andra on 25 -2 7 May 1985; Norway's only Isabe lline Wheatear 0 isabellina from 29 September to 18 October 1977; the second Norwegian Pied Wheatear 0 p/eschanka on 7-9 October 1977; one Western Black-eared Wheatear 0 hispanica on 24 September 1982 and one black-eared w heatear 0 hispanica/me/ano /e uca on 4 October 1983; o ne Desert Wheatear 0 deserti o n 3 October 1992; the first Norwegian Blyth's Reed Warbier A dumetorum from 27 September to 9 October 1975, followed by singles on 7 October 1992 and 8 June 1993; the first Norwegian Booted Warbier A ca ligatus on 6 October 1978, with further indi v idu als on 22 October 1996 and 29-3 1 August 1997; the second Norwegian Melodious Warbier H po/yg/otta on 7 and 11 June 1993; two Western Bonelli's Warblers P bone//i from 30 September to 1 October 1987 and 12 May 1988; th e first Norwegian Turkestan Shrike L phoenicuroides on 30 September to 1 October 1974, followed by one isabe lline shrike L isabe/linus/p hoenic uroides/speculigerus on 7 October 1991; two Lesser Grey Shrikes L minor on 20-27 August 1993 and 6 June 1997; Europe's first Steppe Grey Shrike L pa//idirostris on 5 September 195 3, w ith another on 16-25 October 19 76; and one Balearic W oodc hat Shrike L senator badius on 26-29 September 1972, co nstitutin g the only record for Norway. Oceanic stragglers have been surprisingly few and far between. Countl ess hours of observation at Perleneset have produced one Black-browed Albatross Oiomedea me/anophris on 10 May 1989; four Great Shearwaters P gravis since the first on 9 August 1982 ; and o ne Balearic Shearwater P mauretanicus on 11 October 1984 . Currently, the Utsira list stands at 30 1 spec ies. The total includes two spec ies only reco rd ed as corpse: Spotted Crake Porza na porzana on 24 September 1996 (k ill ed by a ca r of all things!) and Pal e Barn Owl Tyto a/ba a/b a o n 4 October 1992, but excludes a tid eline co rpse of Ivory Gull Pagophi/a eburnea (found on 28 June 1978) and four spec ies rega rd ed as escapes: Lesser Fl amin go Phoenicopterus minor (22-26 April

1986), Orienta l Greenfinch e h/oris sinica (21 April 1996), Red-headed Bunting E bruniceps (7 September 1937, 30 August to 5 September 1973, 20-3 1 May 1979 and 8-14 May 1997) and Lazuli Bunting Passerina amoena (29 May 1980). Transportation There are several option s to get to Norway; of these, by air is the most co nveni ent nowadays. After arri va l at Os lo you ca n continue by inland service to Haugesund ai rport where a bus or tax i w ill brin g you to the town centre. If you arri ve at Stavanger, a lo ng-d istance coach or catama ran ferry w ill brin g you to Haugesund in a coupl e of hours. From Haugesu nd, the loca l ferry, MS Uts ira, departs for Utsira three tim es a day. The ferry has room for c 18 cars but there is I ittl e adva ntage in hav ing a car. The island is sosma il and compact that birding spots and essenti al buildings, like the post office, general store and local pub, are w ithin wa lking distance. A car is nice if you have a lot of eq uipment; a ti cket costs c NOK 120 (c GBP 10). Island lodgings have improved greatly in recent yea rs and a room with modern co nvenien ces w ill set you back from NOK 50 to 200 a ni ght. Norway has a reputation as an expe nsive country to live and Utsira is no exception in this regard. Th e store accepts credit ca rds and ca n issu e cash. The visiting foreign birder w ill get th e most out of a trip to Utsira by com ing here from mid or late May to ea rl y June or, altern ative ly, from mid September to mid October. As a ge nera l rul e, it is important to remember that the onset of sprin g is heavi ly dependent on the weath er which in turn determines birding results. If you are interested in Utsira and its birdlife, please contact Utsira Bird Observatory, PO Box 23, 5515 Utsira, Norway, telephone 00-47-52749204. More info rm ation , including a detailed map and several rar ity photographs, is ava il ab le at th e following Intern et website: http ://home.so l.no/-bhoey lan/ utsira/. Let me end by express in g my lastin g gratitud e to th e loca l people of Utsira, man y of whom have a deep interest in birds, and my own deep apprec iation to The Residents for their musical inspiration w hi ch keeps me o n my toes phys ica lIy and mentally.

Geir Mobakken, PO Box 23, 55 75 Utsira, No rway

205

Invasie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 1995/96 in (inter)nationaal perspectief Fred Hustings, Paul KnolIe, Peter de Knijff & Erik van Winden

estvoge ls Bombycilla garru lus wo rd en jaarlijks in Nederland waargenomen, voora l in de noordelijke delen en doorgaans in bescheiden aantall en. Eens in de zovee l j aar heeft hun voorkomen een irruptief karakter, zoa ls in 1995/96. Deze invas ie word t hi er gedoc umenteerd, vergeleken met vroegere invasies en in een internationaal perspectief gep laatst. De nadruk li gt op aantalsverloop, aanta ll en en verspreidin g. Gegevens over leeftijdsverhoudin g binnen groepen, voedse lkeus en precieze aa nwez ighe idsduur va n individuen z ijn te fragmentarisch verzameld om verder bewerkt te word en.

Methode Bronnen 7995/96 Het overgrote deel van de waa rn em ingen stamt uit twee bronnen: de Dutch Birding-vogellijn en het Bijzondere Soorten Project (BSP) voor Nietbroedvogels va n SOVON. In beide geva ll en worden losse waarnemingen van bijzondere soorten centraa l ingezame ld onder verm elding van datum , aa ntal voge ls, ged rag (overv liegend/ pl eisterend), waa rn emer en waarneem plaats (DBA: exacte locatie, SOVON: kilometerhok of kwartblok 2.5 x 2.5 km). Aanvullende waa rn em in gen zijn ontvangen na oproepen in SOVON-Nieuws en Dutch Birding. A ll e waarnem ingen zi jn samengevoegd tot één computerbesta nd , waarbi j ev ident dubbele waarn em ingen er zovee l mogelijk uitgefilterd z ijn . Hierb ij bleek dat de overl ap tu ssen de be ide hoofdbronnen van informati e ger in g was. Buitenlandse informatie werd verkregen uit artikelen in voge ltijdsc hriften en door correspondenti e op Intern et. Bewerking Pestvogels kunnen lange t ijd op een locatie blijven hangen, maar z ijn uitermate mobiel. Op plaatsen waar met grote regelmaat gete ld wordt, kunnen de aanta ll en van dag tot dag en soms van uur tot uur w isse len. Bij vervo lgwaa rn emingen in de omgeving is het vaak niet duidelijk of het om dezelfde voge ls gaat of een (deels) nieu206

we groep. In het door voge laars dichtbevolkte Nederland, waar soms 10-tallen meldingen va n Pestvogels binnen een geb ied van enkele vierkante kilometers zijn binnengekomen, vormt de interpretatie va n deze waarnemingen een serieus probleem. Om het effect van 'verborgen' dubbelteli ingen zovee l moge lijk te minimaliseren, is gewerkt met een 'clusterprogramma' dat waarnem in gen en locaties verge lijkt. Vogels die gemeld zijn binnen een straal van 1.5 km van een locatie waa r al eerd er Pestvoge ls werd en waargenomen, worden daarbij gerekend tot hetze lfde c lu ster. Afhankelijk van het doel word t hi erb ij een tijdslimiet gebruikt. Zo wo rdt voo r het vaststellen va n het se izoenspatroon gewerkt met decadeclusters (aa ntall en per cluster per decade). Voor het maken van een aa ntalssc hatting over de hele periode wordt gewerkt met een seizoenscluster (aa ntall en per cluster per se izoen; wanneer op een locati e langer dan een week geen Pestvogels geme ld zijn , wordt bij vervo lgwaa rn emingen erva n uitgegaa n dat het o m nieuwe voge ls gaat). De methode leidt tot een betere schatting va n werke lijk aa nwez ige aa ntall en dan, bijvoorbeeld, het simpelweg opte ll en van decadetotalen va n all e locaties waar voge ls gez ien zijn , maar kent natuurlijk zijn beperkingen. Het voord ee l van de methode ligt voora l in de mogelijkheid te werken met een geautomatiseerde interpretatie va n waarnemingen die bij toekomstige verge lijkingen (met andere invas ies of andere soorten) reproduceerbaar is. Om verschill en in aa ntalsve rl oop binnen Nederland duidelijk te maken is het land opgesp li tst in vier reg io's: Noord-Nederland (Gron ingen, Friesland, Drenthe, Noordwest-Overijssel ), West-Nederland (Noord- en Zu id-Holl and , Zeeland), Midden-Nederland (Fl evo land, Utrecht, Gelderland, Twente) en Zuid-N ederl and (NoordBrabant, Limburg). Historische bronnen De beschrijving van het voorkomen eerd er deze [Outeh Birding 20: 206·216, 1998[

In vas ie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief

169 Pestvogel ! Bohemian Waxwin g Bombycilla garrulus, eerste-wi nter, Enschede, Overijsse l, 16 maart 1996 (Paul KnolIe)

170 Pestvogel! Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus, adu lt, Katwijk aan Zee, Zuid-Holland, 29 januari 1996 (RenĂŠ van Rossum)

eeuw is in hoge mate gebaseerd op een door Frans Rijnja bijeengebracht en aa n Peter de Knijff overgedragen archi ef waar in vr ijwel alle gepubliceerd e Pestvogelwaarnemingen in 1900-77 zijn opgenomen. Hoewel dit arc hi ef niet vo ll ed ig is, betreft het hier de meest complete toegankelijke bron va n hi storisc he informatie . Aanvullingen over het optreden van in vas ies (ook buiten Nederland) z ijn ontleend aa n met name Eykman et al (1937), G lutz van Blotzheim (1966), Haffer (1985) en Cramp (1988). De waarnem in gen uit de periode 1978-83 z ijn afkomstig uit de database va n het Atlasproject voor w inter- en trekvoge ls van SOVON en deels gepubliceerd in SOVON (1987) . Omdat deze waarnemin ge n per maa nd werden in geza meld en exacte aanta lsopgaven niet verp licht wa ren, sluiten ze ni et gehee l aan bij die uit eerde re tijden. Voor de globa le schets van het voorkomen zij n ze echter vo ldoende gedeta ill eerd. Informatie omtrent het voorkomen in 1984-88 is in hoofdzaak ontl ee nd aa n de waarnem ingenrubri eken in Dutch Birding en Vogeljaar en aa n Eggenhuizen (1989). Informatie van na 1989 stamt uit de database van het BSP Niet-broedvogels . Gebruikmakend va n all e informatie en reke-

ning ho udend met het in de loop der j aren sterk gestegen aa ntal vogel waarnemers is getrac ht om het voorkomen van Pestvogels vanaf 1940 te karakteriseren. Hierbi j is het voorkom en per winter ingedee ld in klassen: 1 = zeer kleine aanta llen (amper waa rgenomen); 2 = bescheiden aantallen ('10-ta ll en'); 3 = kleine invasie (' 100-en'); 4 = omva ngrijke invas ie (meer dan 1000); 5 = zeer grote in vas ie (ve le 1OOOen); cf figuur 5.

Invasie 1995/96 in Nederland Aanta Isverloop Aanvankelijk leek ni ets te wi jzen op een aa nstaa nde in vas ie van Pestvogels. Nadat de eerste voge ls op 4 (Lopik, Utrecht) en 19 november (O udemo len, Drenthe) waren ges ignaleerd, werden er tot en met ei nd december maar enkele 10-tall en gez ien. In de eerste dagen van j anu ar i begonnen de waarnemingen zic h op te stape len en in het midden va n die maand werd duidelijk dat er sprake was van een invas ie. Eind j anuari en begin februari kwamen grote aa nta ll en aa n. Veel va n deze voge ls bleven enige tijd hangen en medio februari wa ren de aa ntall en max imaa l (figuur 1). Hoewel ze daarn a ge leidelijk afnamen , bleven er tot begin apr il nog vrij hoge aan207

Invasie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief tallen aanwezig. Eind apri l waren de voge ls vrijwe l overa l verdwenen . De laatste waarnemingen werden gedaan op 30 apri l (Tersche lling, Friesland) en 3 mei (Oostvoornse Meer, Zuid-Holland). Het aanta lsverl oop per regio is versc hill end (figuur 2). In Noord- en West-Nederland werden piekaantallen vastgeste ld op de overgang van januari en februari. In Midden- en ZuidNeder land viel de piek iets late r, in de eerste twee, respectievel ijk laatste twee decaden van februari. Opva ll end genoeg bleven de aanta ll en in Midden-Nederland gedu rende een lange periode op een hoog peil. Ze namen hier na de piek in februari maar langzaam af, in tegenstelling tot West- en Noord-Nederland . Dit w ij st erop dat vee l vogels die West- en NoordNederland aandeden verder getrokken z ijn , terwijl in Midden-Nederland aanzien lijke aantallen z ijn blijven hangen. In het oog springend is voorts dat de aantall en in Zuid-Nederland, vergeleken met de overige regio's, laag zijn geweest.

700 ,------------------------------, 600 500 400 300 200 100 5

Aanta lsver loop van Pestvogel Bombycil/a garrulus in 1995/96 in Nederland (dagsom van waargenomen indi v idu en ) / seasona l pattern of Bohemian Waxwin g Bombycilla ga rru lus in 1995/ 96 in the Netherlands (daily total of individuals) FIGUUR

Verspreiding De verspreid ingskaart (figuu r 3) toont een nad ruk op het noorden en midden van het land , en dan met name op midd elgrote tot grote stede n; Groningen, Assen, Almere, Enschede, Arnhem,

West

Noord

900 ,------------------------------,

900 ,---------------------- --------,

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

o +-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~-,-~r_T"_._L,a)..,..,.,..,._,.,.1I,_';_r~_,__j

Zuid

Midden

900 ,------------------------------,

900 -----------------------

800

700

600

500

400

400 -

300

200 100 O ~~~~_F~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ ~

____ 11

~=J~_'_i..L.__.L_L:.Liu.1-lI-L1'----___i

FIGUUR 2 Aanta lsve rl oop van Pestvogel Bombycilla garrulus in 1995/ 96 per regio in Nederland (decadesom; voor indelin g regio's zie Methode) / seasona l pattern of Bohem ian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus in 1995/ 96 in different regions (west, north , south, centre) of the Netherlands (num bers per 1O-day period )

208

.. . .... •.., "'1...

In vas ie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)natio naa l perspectief N ijmege n, Utrec ht en Haar lem z ijn herkenbare acce nten binnen het ve rspreid ingspatroon. H et voo rko men in enkele grote steden in het westen va n het land (Am sterd am, Rotterd am, Den H aag) va lt in dit opz icht tegen. Opva ll end is voorts dat de westel ijke helft va n Overij sse l amper Pestvoge ls opl eve rd e. De verspreid ing ten zuiden va n de grote ri v ieren is aa nmerkelijk ijl er dan ten noord en erva n. Grote tot m iddelgrote steden (Ein dhove n, Den Bosch, Tilburg, Breda, M aastri cht) en sterk verstedelij kte gebi eden (O ostelijke Mijn streek) leveren we l iswaa r de nodige waa rn emingen op, maa r de aa ntall en z ijn er v rij we l steeds laag geweest. Het verspreid ingspatroon wordt natuurlijk beïn v loed door de aa nwez igheid va n lokaa l acti eve waa rn emers en hun bereidheid om waa rnemin gen in te sturen. Het is echter ni et aa nnemelijk dat d it een groot effect heeft op de ve rhouding tuss en reg io's . Zo is de schaa rste in Zuid-Limburg reëe l, gez ien de aa nwez igheid va n ee n d icht w aa rn emersnet en een goed draa iend reg ionaal waa rn emingenarchief. Ook op klein ere schaa l z ijn lokaa l opva llende versc hi llen in het voo rkomen van Pestvoge ls geco nstateerd. In en nabij A rnh em z ijn vee l Pestvoge ls gez ien, maa r in de dorpen Rh eden en D ieren we rd en ze, ond anks de aa nwez igheid van gesc hikte habitat en alerte waa rn emers, niet opgemerkt (Kw int 1997). Aantallen Het is du idelijk dat er aan z ienlijke aantall en Pestvoge ls in Nederland hebben vertoefd. Tijd ens de piek in febru ari werd en imm ers per dag meer dan 600 indi viduen geteld (fi guur 1). Een optelling va n de binnen de hele peri ode vastgestelde max ima per locat ie komt uit op TABEL 1 Verdelin g va n aa nta l Pestvogels Bom bycil/a garru/us per groep in 1995/96 in Nederl and / d istri but ion of numbers of Bohemi an Waxw in g Bombycilla garru/us per group in 1995/96 in th e Netherl ands G roepsg rootte G roup size 1 2-3 4-7 8-20 21- 50 51-1 00 101-200 Tota l

Groepen G roups

Ind ividuen Indi vidu als

176 164 174 252 226 44 8

176 399 895 3145 6797 2967 988

1.2 2.6 5.8 20 .5 44. 2 19.3 6.4

1044

15367

100 .0

... •

200

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100

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:--

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. .

&: e· . ~:." ' .-!. ,; •.• ,

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••

FI GUUR 3 Ve rspreidin g va n Pestvogel Bombycilla ga rru/us in 1995/96 in Nederl and (so m va n aantal nieuw waa rgenomen voge ls pe r cl uster) / di stribution of Bohemi an Waxw ing Bombycilla garru/us in 1995/96 in the Neth erl and s (tota l of first birds reco rd ed per c lu ster

15 36 7 indiv idu en, maa r hierb ij is geen rekening gehouden met verp laatsin ge n van voge ls over ko rte afstand . Indien w ordt gewerkt met de clu sterin gsmeth ode, wordt dit aantal ge redu ceerd tot 6655 . D it aa ntal is verm oedelijk aa n de lage kant : de meth ode veegt immers oo k groepen bijee n d ie we l dege l ijk uit versc hi ll ende voge ls besto nden. Aa n de andere kant w ord en vogels di e op duideli jk ve rsc hil lende locat ies opdo ken, meerm alen meegeteld. Het is, mede doord at onbekend is in we lke mate Pestvoge ls z ijn opgemerkt of waa rn em ingen z ijn doorgegeven, moe ilijk om een goede sc hattin g te maken va n het aa ntal dat werkelijk aa nwez ig geweest is. Wij schatten het aa ntal op 8000-10000 indiv idu en. Groepsgro otte en verblijfsduur Hoewel er du s forse aa ntall en Pestvoge ls z ijn gez ien, waren de meeste groepen niet b ij zo nder groot (tabel 1). De meeste groepen besto nd en uit 8-20 ind iv idu en en de gemiddelde groepsgrootte (inclu sief 'groepen' va n éé n voge l) bedroeg 14.7 ind iv idu en (n= 1044). In eenzesde va n de geva llen (betrekking hebbend o p 1.2% va n de voge ls) ging het o m so litaire voge ls. Groepen va n 100 of meer voge ls wa ren ze ld zaa m. Ze werd en gez ien te Oldenzaa l (max imaa l 150, 12 febru ari), 209

In vas ie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief

350 ,------------------------------------------------, 25

I ~t.

300 5250 E

·x

•

C\l

E 200 +

Cl)

a. ~ 150 0, Cii

(ij "0 "0

·Ë

Cl)

~C\l 100

5 50 0 2

g roepen

--0---

maximum -

gem iddeld

4 Gemiddelde en maximum groepsgrootte va n Pestvogel Bomb ycilla garrulus in 1995/96 in Nederl and per decade; tevens aantal groepen weergegeven / mean and maximum group size of Bohemi an Waxwing Bomb ycilla garrulus per 10-day peri od in 1995/96 in th e Netherl ands; nu mber of grou ps in ba rs FIGUU R

,-------------~-----------------

4 3

2~1

11 J 1940

IJ+

1950

10;L.-U,~"H ,.111 ,U

1960

1970

1980

11 1990

5 Vereenvoudigd overzicht va n invasies van Pestvogel Bom bycilla garrulus in 1940-96 in Nederland (voor bron nen en bewerkin g zie Methode); invasiegrootte gekarakteri seerd met cijfe rs 1 (zeer kl eine aan tallen), 2 (besc heiden aanta ll en), 3 (kl eine invas ie), 4 (omva ngrijke in vasie) en 5 (zeer grote invasie) / simplified overview of invas ions of Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus in 1940-96 in the Netherl ands; numbers on Y-ax is indicate magnitu de of invas ion, from 1 (very low numbers) to 5 (very large invas ion) FI GUU R

210

Houten (max imaa l 140, 13 febru ari ), Ze ist (m ax imaa l 130, 8 maa rt), H aa rlem (m ax imaa l 120, 4 febru ari ) en Utrec ht (m ax imaa l 1 00, 6 m aa rt). D e groepen w aren gemiddeld het grootst va n de tweede decade va n febru ari tot en met eind maart (f iguu r 4). Dit is t ijdens en na de p iek in het aa nta lsverloop . H et lij kt erop dat d e voge ls arrivee rd en in kleine groepj es d ie in d e loop van febru ari en m aa rt gefu seerd z ijn tot f lin ke groepen, moge lijk als reacti e o p verm inderd voed se laanbod.

Vergelijking met eerdere invasies Om va ng H et voo rko men voor 1940 is on voll edi g be kend , ee n gevo lg va n het gerin ge aa ntal voge lwaa rn emers destijd s. Vermoedel ijk kwa m de soort net als th ans v rijwe l j aa rlijks in ons land voor, in sterk w isse lende aa ntallen. Grote invas ies werden o pgemerkt in 1913/14 en 193 1/3 2, terw ijl ook 1903/04, 192 1/22 en 1932/33 ve rm oedel ij k forse invas ies o pl ev erd en.

In vasie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief Bombycilla garrulus na 1940 in Nederl and . Aa nta ll en per maand, in relati e tot totaa l per w in te r, worden aangegeven door symbo-

TABE L 2 Ve reenvo ud igde karakter istiek van se izoenver loop van alle grote in vas ies va n Pestvogels

len (. 5-20% va n totaa l, •• 21-40%, • •• >40%) / Seasonal characteri st ics of all major invasions of Bohem ian Waxw ings Bombycilla garrulus since 1940 in th e Netherl and s. N um be rs per month are indicated by sym bo ls (. 5-20% of tota l, •• 21-40%, ••• >40%) W in ter 1943/44 1946/47 1948/49 1949/50 1953/54 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59 1959/60 196 1/62 1963/64 1965/66 1966/67 1967/68 1970/7 1 197 1/72 1974/75 1975/76 1981/82 1988/89 1990/9 1 1995/96

okt

nov

dec

j an

...

Vanaf 1940 kan ee n redelijk compl eet bee ld gesc hetst worden van de jaarlijkse versc hill en in voorkomen (fi guur 5). In ruim ee nderde va n de w inters wa ren Pestvoge ls bijzonder sc haars (kl asse 1). In de ove ri ge w inters w isse lde het voorkomen va n besc heiden aantallen tot omva ngrijke invas ies. Verreweg de grootste in vas ie vond pl aats in 1965/66, terw ijl die va n 1943/44, 1956/57, 1970/7 1, 1974/75 en 1975/76 eveneens omva ngrij k wa ren. Verm oede lijk is het beeld va n de eerste twee decenni a wat onderbe licht en wa ren er ook in de w inters 1946/47, 1948/49 en 1958/59 fo rse invas ies. De invas ie va n 1995/96 behoort duidelijk tot de grotere van na 1940, maa r steekt d ie va n 1965/66 ni et naar de kroon. Timing Het voo rkomen va n Pestvoge ls in Nederl and, in tij d en in aantall en, wordt grotendee ls bepaa ld doo r o msta ndi gheden ten noo rde n en noo rd oosten van Nederl and . G rote aantall en zull en pas naa r M idden- en West-Europ a vertrekken als de voedse lsituati e hen daa rtoe dw ingt (cf H affe r 1985) . Afhanke lij k va n dat moment zull en ze eerd er of later in het w interh alfj aa r in Nederl and arri veren.

feb

m rt

apr

Catego ri e / category vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / ea rl y mi dwinter / medium vroeg / early laat / late laat / late m idw inte r / med iu m m id wi nte r / med ium vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / early vroeg / early vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / early (mi dwinter) / (med ium) vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / ea rl y (midw inter) / (medium) vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / ea rl y vroeg / ea rl y (mi dwin ter) / (med ium) laat / late

W ann ee r all e grote in vas ies van na 1940 o p rij word en gezet, blijkt er in on s land sprake te z ijn va n grofweg drie typen (tabel 2). In driev ijfde va n de geva ll en gaat het om v roege invas ies. Deze beg innen doorgaa ns in oktober, bereiken piekaa ntall en i n november en/of dece mber en lopen daa rn a snel af. De grootste in vas ie va n de 20e eeuw, in 1965/66, vo rmt binn en deze catego ri e een extreem voo rbee ld, met 4 1% van all e waa rgeno men voge ls in oktober en 54% in nove mber. In ruim een kwa rt va n de geva llen gaat het om invas ies d ie so ms al in de herfst, soms pas in de loop va n de w inter beginnen, maa r de pi ekaa ntall en pas in december en/of j anu ari bereiken. Voorbee lden zijn de w inte rs 1948/49, 1957/58 en 1958/59 . Het ze ldzaa mst zijn de late invas ies, di e pas in febru ari de hoogste aa nta ll en laten zien. De w inter 1956/57 was hi erva n een marka nt voorbee ld. Tot en met janu ari werd en er amper Pestvoge ls waa rge nomen, maar medi o febru ari doken grote aa ntall en op (Taapken 1958) . Q ua timin g past de invas ie va n 1995/96 het best in de categor ie ' late invas ies', al gaat het ni et o m zo' n extree m geva l als in 1956/57. Voo rts va lt in tabel 2 op dat de tijd sduur waa rin belangrijke aa ntall en Pestvoge ls aa nwez ig 21 1

In vas ie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief

171 Pestvoge l / Boh emi an W axw ing Bombycilla garrulus, eerste-w inter, Katw ijk aan Zee, Zuid-H oll and, 29 janu ari 1996 (René van Rossum)

z ijn , per invas ie ve rschilt. In vee l geva ll en worden gedurende 3-5 maa nden grote aantall en gez ien. In enkele geva ll en is deze period e kortstondige r geweest, met name in de vroege, respecti eve lij k late in vas iew inters 1965/66 en 1956/57. In het eerste geva l was eige nlijk sprake va n doortrek en niet va n overw interin g. In het tweede geva l werd het zeer late en pl otsel in ge voorkomen w aa rsc hijnlijk ge lanceerd doo r het vo ll edig uitgeput raken va n voedselbronnen ten noorden en/of oosten va n Nederl and (G lutz vo n Bl otzh eim 1966) . Verspreiding D e in 199 5/96 geco nstateerd e nadruk op Nederland ten noorden va n de grote ri vieren komt ove reen met beri chten tijd ens eerd ere invas ies. Hoe z uidelijker in het land, hoe gerin ge r de verspreiding, hoe kl einer de aa nta ll en en hoe onrege lmati ger het j aa rlijkse voo rkomen. Zo z ijn in het verl eden versc hill ende kl einere invas ies niet of nauwe lijks tot Noord-Brabant en Limburg doorgedro nge n (va n Erve et al 1967, Ovaa 1997) . A ll een tijd ens zeer grote invasi es als di e va n 1965/66 w orden ook in het z uidelijke dee l va n het land grote aa ntall en op vee l p laatsen 2 12

aa ngetroffen. Deze nadruk op noordelijk Nederland sluit aa n bij informati e uit het buitenl and (z ie aldaa r) en suggereert dat de grote rivieren voor Pestvoge ls doorgaans de zuid grens vormen va n het reguliere W est-Europese ove rw interin gsgebi ed.

Pestvogel invasie 1995/96 in het buitenland Fennosca ndinavië G rootsc hali ge beweg inge n werd en het eerst opgemerkt in het z uid en va n Finl and en Zweden. Bij Kymenl aa kso, c 150 km ten oosten va n Helsinki , was het in september met 4 1 langstrekkende voge ls nog rusti g. In oktober (4600) en november (9800) namen de aantall en toe en in de tweede helft va n december we rd de pi ek bereikt (19 500). De aa ntall en namen daa rn a ge leide lij k af : van j anu ari tot begin maa rt, per halfm aa ndel ijkse peri ode, respecti eve I ij k 15 000, 55 00, 3000, 1500 en 800 . De sterke afn ame in j anu ari w as een gevo lg van het leeg raken va n bessenstruiken, waa rd oor ook de Kramsvoge ls Turdus pilaris uit het geb ied ve rd we nen (Tero Ilom äki in litt). De meeste trek werd eind oktober vastgesteld (200-400 voge ls per dag), daa rn a ging het voorn amelijk om ter pl aatse aa nwez ige

Invasie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaal perspectief

groepen. Gedurende deze w inter werd hier het nooit eerder vertoonde aanta l van (co nservatief gerekend) 42 000 vogels gez ien. Dat het in Finland voor voge laars goed toeven was, is ook op te maken uit andere waarnemingen: op 20 oktober 1995 10 400 Pestvogels langstrekkend bij Mustasaari, Norrskär, op 4 januari 20 000 voge ls bij Helsinki en op 21 januari 15 000 individuen op een slaapp laats in Kangasala (Annika Forsten in litt, Martin Helin in litt, Tero lI omäk i in litt). Ook in Zweden werden vanaf eind oktober omvangr ijke beweg ingen opgemerkt; het aanta l Pestvogels voor de hele periode in Zuid-Zweden wordt op c 300 000 gesc hat, waarvan 100 000 in Uppland (Dubois 1996; Roger Jonasson in litt). Het is ons niet bekend of in Noorwegen sprake was van opmerke l ijke trek. Nadat Denemarken in het spe l was betrokken (B irdi ng Wo rld 9: 12, 1996), kwamen Noord-Duitsland, Nederland en Groot-Brittannië aa n de beurt. Noordwest-Eu ropa In december was er in Noord west-Europa nog we inig te merken van de grootsc heepse verp laatsing van Pestvogels in Scandinav ië en Finland. Pas na de j aarw isse ling begonnen de waarnemingen op gang te komen. Na de eerste Duitse waarnem ingen begin november w ijzen vervo lgwaa rn em in gen uit dat de eigen lijke in vasie in Noordwest-Europa in januari begon en in de derde week van deze maand we li swaar v ia enke le pioniers middenDuitsland en in februa ri Zuid-Duits land had bereikt, maar verder geconcentreerd bleef in het noorden. Forse aantall en zijn geme ld uit N iedersachsen, in totaal 8801 indiv iduen met een maximum per pentade van 980. De in vas ie bereikte hier, net als in Neder land, zijn hoogtepunt rond medio februar i, maar er was een opva ll end versch il tussen de aan Nederland grenzende westel ij ke delen van N iedersac hsen (sta rt invasie beg in januari , relati ef kleine aanta llen, sne lle doortrek) en de oostelijke delen (start invasie begin februari, grote aanta ll en, lange verblijfsduur) (Zucc hi 1996, Kooiker 1997). Ook Sch lesw ig-Ho lste in en Hamburg werden goed bedeeld (Berndt & Busche 1997; Limi co la 10: 98- 100, 149, 1996; M ichae l Kno ll in litt). In Groot-Brittann ië werden, na enkele individuen in oktober en november, in december nog altij d niet meer dan 80 voge ls gez ien. De eerste go lf kwam begin januari aan. Een tweede, aanz ien lijk grotere golf arri veerde in de laatste week va n de maa nd. Het Britse januari-totaal kwam uit op 6000 (Birding World 9: 8, 1996). De tweede

go lf is waarschijn lijk te verklaren uit het feit dat in zu ide lijk Fennoscand inavië de bessen op waren. Het ee rst werd de Engelse zu idoost-kust bereikt, later in januari ook Schotland en Wa les. Gedurende februari bleven de ' horden ' GrootBr ittannië veroveren in zuidelijke en weste lij ke richting, zij het dat er relatief we ini g voge ls werden opgemerkt ten westen van de lijn oostSussex (ten westen van Londen) via de Mid lands naar de grens bij de Clwyd (Birding World 9: 4448, 1996). De voge ls bleven dus min of meer hangen in het oosten. In de zu idweste lijke graafschappen werden in februari slechts 50 voge ls geme ld, op Shetland en Orkney slechts enke le. Gedurende deze maand telden Britse vogelaars c 10000 vogels (Bi rdin g World 9: 44-48, 1996). De eerste Ierse voge ls arr iveerden, tegen de gewoonte in , aan de westkant en we l op 23 december (S ligo) en 26 december (Ga lway). De echte influx begon op 23 januari, op meer gebrui ke lijke noordelijke en ooste li jke aankomstplaatsen . Ier land werd aangedaa n door, voorzichtig geschat, 1250-1300 Pestvogels (Eric Dempsey in litt). In zuidel ijk en weste lij k Ijsland werden begin jan uari Pestvogels gezien; va naf ei nd januari arriveerden onbekende aanta ll en aa n de oostz ijde. West- en Midden-Europa In België werden de eerste groepen iets later waargenomen dan in Nederland, voora l eind januari en februari. Het aanta l bleef beperkt tot c 700 voge ls. Hoewe l dispersie in zuide lijke richtingen plaatsvond, werd en vooral uit zu idooste lijk België we ini g individuen geme ld (Jacob 1996). In Luxemburg werden ac ht groepjes van in totaal slechts 23 voge ls gez ien (Jacob 1996; Limicola 10: 98-100, 1996). Het past in het bee ld dat de invas ie in Frankrijk, waar de eerste Pestvoge ls werden opgemerkt op 22 januari bij Le Portel , Pas-de-Calais, beperkt bleef tot het noordelijke deel, met een accent op het oosten. Het land werd bezocht door c 300 vogels (Dubois 1996; Orn ithos 3: 148, 1996). De Kanaa lei landen kwamen er eve neens bekaaid af. Intensief zoeken op Guernsey leverde tenslotte op 3 februar i we lgete ld één Pestvogel op (Tim Earl in li tt). Ook in Zwitserland werden slec hts enkele exemp laren opgemerkt (Berna rd Volet in litt), terwijl Oostenrij k we li swaar een groep van 250 in januari bij Wiesfleck, Burgenland , meldde maar verder vrijwel niets (Bi rdin g Wor ld 9: 91, 1996)

213

In vas ie va n Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief Terugtrek De teru gtrek nam beg in maa rt een aanvang en was in Noordwest-Europa merkbaar tot in mei, met een uitschi eter naar beg in juni . In Frankrij k werd en na 1 maart vrij wel geen Pestvoge ls meer waargenomen (Dubo is 1996). In Schl esw igHolstein w as, na een zekere teru gloop in feb ru ari (omdat vogels zui dwaa rts getrokken wa ren), in maa rt en april weer sprake va n een opl evin g, veroorzaakt door mi granten op thui sreis (Berndt & Busche 1997). In Niedersachsen gin g de medio maa rt en medi o april o pgemerkte zw akke opl evin g aa n de kustreg io's voorbij (Koo iker 1997). In april werd en oo k elders in NoordDuitsland nog vee l voge ls gemeld ; de laatste waa rn eming va n het Duitse vasteland w as op 10 mei in Lübec k (Limi cola 10: 149, 1996) en de laatste van Helgo land op 8 juni (Di ersc hke et al 199 6; lochen Di ersche in I itt). In Groot-Brittannië verbl even in maa rt nog 1000en voge ls, vooral in het noorden en oosten (Birding World 9: 88-89, 1996). In Ierl and w aren toen nog 250 voge ls aa nwez ig al li epen de aa nta ll en na half maart langzaa m teru g; de laatste Ierse w aarn eming vie l op 25 april (Eri c Dempsey in litt). In de eerste week va n april w aren er nog meer dan 1000 in Groot-Brittannië, gedurende de laatste week va n april 300 . De eerste w eek va n mei leverd e nog 34 exempl aren op. Omdat er geen stuwing van trekkende vogels in het noorden va n de Britse eil anden merkbaa r was, ligt het voor de hand dat ze Groot-Brittanni ë direct in noordoostelijke ri chting hebben verl aten. In Finl and w erd en in april-juni bij Kymenlaakso verhoogde aa ntall en w aa rgenomen: tu sse n 16 maa rt en 25 mei 193 0 vogels, met eind april een piek (Tero Il omäki in litt). Van een merkbare teru gkeer va n vele 1000en voge ls was echter geen sprake. Moge lijk z ijn vele zuidelijk van Finl and naa r Siberi ë getro kken, of hadden de remigra nte n zovee l haast dat z ij hoog en hard vl ogen en nauwelijks z ijn opgemerkt. Karakteristiek van invasie van 1995/96 Er was in 1995/96 sprake van een sterk westel ijk en in mindere mate zuidelijk geri chte en geconce ntreerd e trek d ie in Fennosca ndin avië bego n in oktober. In eerste instantie b leven verreweg de meeste voge ls daar hangen al sc hoten de nodige door om tot in G root-Brittanni ë terec ht te komen. N adat de bessen in Z uid-Fennosca ndin av ië beg in j anu ari wa ren geco nsumeerd , bereikten veel Pestvogels in j anu ari Noord west-Europa. Kennelijk z ijn vee l voge ls opgestegen om pas aa n de Britse kust massaa l aan land te komen. 2 14

Gelet op de beri chten uit Niedersac hse n is er oo k ee n z uidelijk geri c hte co mpo nent geweest, waa rdoor voo ral het in ooste lijke gedee lte va n deze dee lstaat vee l Pestvoge ls w erd en gez ien. Een deel van deze vogels is verd er getrokken, een ander deel is blij ven hange n. De go lf di e in janu ari-febru ari NoordwestEuropa bereikte is slec hts beperkt ve rd er zuidw aa rts uitgewaa ierd . Streken waar norm aal ges proken bij grote invasi es Pestvogels binnensijpelen (landen aa n of eil anden in de Middelland se Zee) bl even nu buiten sc hot. Oo k België, Lu xemburg, Frankrijk, Zw itserl and en O ostenrijk kenden geen massale invas ie. Het Franse aa ntal van 300 voge ls stee kt mager af tegen de ten minste 22 00 tijd ens de meer zuidelijk geri chte in vasie va n 1988/89 en de nog veel hoge re aa ntall en van de super-in vasi e van 1965/66 (Dubois 1996). Hetze lfde geldt voor België (z ie ook lacob 199 6). De vaststelling dat Pestvoge ls bij hun aa nkomst in België gee n vo ll e bessenstruiken aa ntroffen omd at M erels T meruIa, Kramsvogels en Rood borsten Erithacus rubecula eerd er die winter al in groten getale aanwez ig waren (j acob 199 6), kan geen ve rkl arin g z ijn voor het gerin ge Belgische aa ndee l; hetzelfde go ld bijvoorbee ld voor Nederl and . Het is niet verwond erlijk dat het NoordwestEuropese gebi ed met de hoogste aantall en, En ge land , ook de grootste groepen herbergde. Zo verza melden z ich op 15 febru ari 486 voge ls in één groep bij Ipsw ich, Suffo lk, en li eten z ich op 9 maart li efst 510 indiv iduen te Stoc kport, Greate r Manchester, bewonderen (Birdin g W o rld 9: 44-48, 88-89, 1996). In Ni edersachsen werden groepen tot 240 indiv idu en gez ien. De gemidd elde groepsgrootte bedroeg hi er 27, bijn a het dubbe le van dat in Nederl and . In het oosten va n de dee lstaat was dat nog aanz ienlijk hoger (44 ; Koo iker 199 7) . Herkomst De aankomst va n Pestvoge ls aa n de westka nt van Ierl and heeft - in combinati e met de aankomst van voge ls aa n de zuiden westz ijde va n ijsl and beg in j anuari en de aa nwez igheid va n een eerstew inter Cederpestvogel B cedrorum in Nottin gham, Nottinghamshire, Engeland, van 20 febru ari tot 18 maa rt (Smith 1996) - ge leid tot specu lati es over een mogelijke Nearcti sc he afkomst va n alth ans een aa nta l vroege Britse en Ierse vogels. Hoewe l z ich oo k in oostelij k Noord-Amerika een uitzonderlijke verpl aatsing van Pestvoge ls voltrok - zo w as er in december 199 5 en januari 1996 een recordin vas ie van Pestvoge ls in Newfound-

In vas ie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaa l perspectief land (B irding World 9: 71-72, 1996) - kan over een dergelijk verband niets met zekerhe id worden gezegd. Bovendien is voor zover bekend ni et ge let op de (overigens marginale) kleurverschillen tussen de Amerikaanse en Europese populaties. De Pestvogels die eind januari in Ij sland arri veerden waren zeer waarschijnlij k van Europese komaf: zij arri veerden tege lijk met grote aanta ll en Merels en Kramsvogels. Waarschijnlijk z ijn bij de invasie vooral voge ls uit de taigazone va n Fennosca ndin av ië en Siberi ë betrokken geweest. In zeer gunstige omstandigheden broeden in Noorwegen 5000, in Zweden en Finland ieder maximaal 50000 en in Europees Rusland meer dan 100 000 paren (Hageme ijer & Blair 1997). De aantal len in Siberi ë (Az iatisch Rusland) zijn o nbekend. In Nederland werden in de w inter van 1995/96 drie ger ingde Pestvogels afge lezen. Twee in VestAgder in de zuidpunt va n Noorwegen op 26 december respectieve lijk 22 j anu ari geringde voge ls bevonden z ich op 14 maart te Arnhem . Een voge l die op 21 februari te Merksplas, A ntwerpen, België, gerin gd werd, bevond z ich op 5 april te Utrecht (van Diermen & Speek 1998).

Dankzegging Remco Hofl and ste lde de gegevens van de Dutch Birding-vogellijn ter beschikking. Rolf de By plaatste o ns verzoek om gegevens op Intern et en verzamelde de antwoorden. Wij z ijn dankbaar voor de vaak uitgebreide en samenh angende gegevens die de vo lgende personen en in sta nt ies ter beschikking stelden na onze oproep in Dutch Birding en SOVON-Nieuws en op In tern et: Kees Bakker, Theo Bakker, Birds of Ireland News Service (B INS), Chris Bradshaw, jochen Dierschke, Eric Dempsey, Marc Duquet, Tim Earl , Annika Forsten, Thierry Fournet, Hans-H erm an n Geissier, Martin Helin , Tero ilom äki, ju stin j ansen, Roger j onasson, Michael KnolI , Bernhard Kondziella, Frank Majoor, Ismo Nousiainen, Koert Scholten , Marius Pieter Teeuw, Bernard Volet en Ruud Vlek . Dit overz icht zou vanze lfsp rekend ni et mogelijk z ijn geweest zonder all e meldingen d ie b ij de Dutch Birding-vogellijn en SOVON z ijn binnengekomen. BSP Niet-broedvogels werkt met contactpersonen die waarn em in gen contro leren en deels inzamelen. De vo lgende personen worden hiervoor bedankt: j an-joost Bakhuizen, Wil Beeren , Patrick Bergkamp, Sjaak Breedveld , Bernd de Bruijn, Erik Ernens, Ko va n Gent, Henny van den Heuvel, Michel Klemann, André van Kleunen, Ben Koks, Bé va n Kuik, H ans Mom, Nico Noord-

hof, Ran Schols, Dick Schut, Henk Sierdsema, jan-Willem Vergeer, Peter de Vries en H ans Westerlaken.

Summary INVASION OF BOHEMIAN WAXWING IN THE NETHERLANDS IN 1995/96 IN (INTER)NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE This paper describes the 1995/96 invas ion of Bohemian Waxwing Bombyeilla ga rrulu5 in the Netherl ands in internationa l perspective and summa ri zes historica l information. The 1995/96 invasion has been documen ted by poolin g casual observations (Dutch Birding birdline; SOVON Rare Non-breeding Species Project). H istori ca l information is deri ved from published and unpublished records. In 1995/96, numbers in the Netherl ands were low until the beginning of january. Thereafter, numbers sudden ly increased, to reach a peak in mid February. In the seeond half of February, numbers graduall y decreased and by the end of April almost all Bohemian Waxwings had disappeared (figure 1). The invas ion was mainly confined to urban areas. O ur data suggest th at at least 8000-10 000 indi vid uals have visited the cou ntry. As numbers observed in Bel gium, France and south-western Germany were much lower, the Netherl ands can be regarded as the southern limit of the 1995/96 in vas ion. This invasion was first noticed in southern Fennoscand inavia du rin g October 1995-january 1996, moved southwa rd wh en the berries were out and went on westwa rd in a rather narrow zone ove r north-western Europe to Brita in and Ireland durin g j anu ary and Febru ary. Even w ithin the Netherl ands, numbers south of the river Meuse we re mu ch lower than in the northern part of the country (figures 2-3). Most flocks co nsisted of 8-20 birds (mean 14.7; n=1044). Flocks of 100 or more indi vidu als we re on ly sporad ica ll y recorded (max imum 150). Mean flock size was highest in the second half of February and in March (tabie 1, figure 4). During April -May, most bird s d isappeared from Ireland, Britain and north-western Europe; in Finland, hi gher numbers than usua l were noticed aga in du rin g these two months. Invasions of Bohemian Waxwi ngs have always attracted the attention of birdwatchers. In the Netherlands, th ey were documented from 1940 onwards although their magnitude has probably been underestimated prior to the 19605 due to a lack of observers. Th e 1995/96 in vasion belongs to the larger ones since 1940 but is no doubt surpassed by th at of 1965/66, the largest invasion in th e 20th century (figure 5). In the Netherl ands, three types of in vas ions can be distingu ished. Most invasions start in October and pea k in November/ December ('ea rl y'; cf table 2). Some, however, start later and reach peak numbers in December/j anuary ('medium'). Th e third type (' late'), w ith maximum numbers in February, is rare. The 1995/96 in vas ion belongs to the latter type, although it was not as extreme as the 1956/57 invas ion (ta bie 2). In the Netherl ands, it is more or less a rule that in vasions of Bohem ian Waxwings are mainly confined to the northern parts of the country. Th e southern parts are onl y in vaded by high numbers during ve ry large invasions, as in 1965/66.

215

Invasie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 7995/96 in (inter)nationaal perspectief Verwijzingen Berndt, R K & Busche, G 1997. Orn ithologischer Jahres beric ht für Schieswig- Ho istei n 1995 . Corax 17: 35 -65. Cramp, S (redacti e) 1988. The bird s of the Western Pa lea rctic 5. Oxford. va n Diermen, J & Speek, G 1998. Teru gmeldin gen. Vinkentouw 85 : 26-28. Diersc hke, L Di ersc hke, V, Hüppop, 0 & Stühm er, F 1996. Orn ithologischer Jahresberic ht 1995 für Helgoland. Ornithol Jber Helgoland 6: 1-66. Duboi s, P J 1996 . Afflu x de Ja se urs boréaux Bombycilla garrulus en France au cours de I' hi ver 1995/96 . Orn ithos 3: 78-80 . Eggenhui zen, T 1989 . Pestvoge ls in Noord -Holl and in de periode 1983-1989. Graspieper 9: 123-1 28 . va n Erve, F J H , Moll er Pillot, H KM , Wittgen, A B L M, Braaksma, S, Knippenbe rg, W H T & Langenhoff, V F M 1967. Av ifauna va n Noord-Brabant. Assen. Eykman C, H ens, P A, van Heurn, F C, ten Kate, C G B, va n Marle, J G, van der Meer, G, Tekke, M J & de Vries, TG 1937 . De Nederlandsche Voge ls 1. Wagenin gen. Glutz vo n Blotzh eim, U N 1966 . Das Auftreten des Seidensch wa nzes Bombycifla garrulus in der Schweiz und di e vo n 1901 bis 1965/66 West- und Mitteleuropa erreich ende In vasionen. Orn itho l Beob 63: 93- 146.

Haffer, J 1985 . Bombycifla ga rrulus (Linnaeus 1758) Seidenschwanz. In : G lutz vo n Blotzh eim, U N & Bauer, K M (redacti e), Handbuch der Väge l M itteleuropas 10, W iesbaden, pp 927-956. H agemeij er, W J M & Blair, M J (redacti e) 1997. The EBCC at las of European breed in g birds: th eir di stribution and abundance. Londen. Jaco b, J P 1996 . L' in vas ion de Jaseurs boréa ux (Bombycifla garrulus) de début 1996 en Wallonie et à Bruxell es. Aves 33 : 137-152. Kooiker, G 1997. Der Seidenschwanze in flug (Bom bycifla garrulus) in N iedersachse n im W inter 1995/ 96. Voge lkdl Ber Niedersachs 29: 177-185. Kw int, N 1997. Een pestvoge l-in vas ie met koorts als gevolg. V lerk 14: 143- 147. Ovaa, A 1997. Pestvoge l in vas ie 1996, ook in Lim burg merkbaa r. Limburgse Voge ls 7: 58-60. SOVON 1987. Atlas va n de Nederl andse voge ls. Arnhem. Sm ith, P 1996. Th e Ceda r Waxw in g in Nottin gham - a new British bird. Birding Wo rld 9 : 70-73 . Taapken, J 1958. Pestvoge l (Bombycifla ga rrulus)- in vasie in Nederl and gedurend e feb ru ari-maart 195 7. Limosa 31: 17-28. Z ucc hi , H 1996. Zum Auftreten des Seidensc hwa nzes (Bom bycifla ga rrulus L. ) in Osnabrück im W inter 1995/ 96. Voge lkd l Ber N iedersac hs 28: 81-84.

Fred Hustings, SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland, Rijksstraatweg 778, 6573 DG Beek-Ubbergen, Nederland (SOVON@inter.nl.net) Paul Knol/e, Venderinklanden 73, 7542 MK Enschede, Nederland Peter de Knijff, Korenmolen 25, 2406 KA Alphen aan den Rijn, Nederland Erik van Winden, SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nede rland, Rijksstraatweg 778, 6573 DG Beek-Ubbergen, Nederland (SOVON@inter.nl.netJ

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters Ricard Gutiérrez

espite having been considered eas il y identifiable in the hand or through vocalizations (Bretagnolle & Lequette 1990, Thibault & Bretagno ll e 1998), distinguishing Cory's Ca lonectris borea lis (hereafter borea lis) and Scopo l i's Sh ea rwaters C diomedea (hereafter diomedea) at sea has not been attempted seriousl y. Indeed, some authors doubt w hether this is actuall y possibl e (eg, Moug in et al 1988, Thibault et al 1997). Irrespective of w hatever ta xonomic treatment is given to these taxa : specific, as dec ided by th e Dutch committee for avian systematics (CSNA) (Sangster et al 1998); or subspecific, as otherwise 216

cons idered (eg, Thibault et al 1997, Snow & Perrins 1998); a more thorough awareness of consistent differences in fi eld characters between these taxa w ill broaden our understanding of their distribution and move ments and may even help to clarify their taxo nom ic status. In this article, a number of criteri a, based on stru ctural and morphological characters, are given to ass ist in the sepa ration of borealis and diomedea at sea.

Identification Distinguishing borealis and diomedea from con fusion species, su eh as Great Shearwater Puffinus [Duteh 8irding 20: 216-225, 799B[

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters gravis, has been recently reviewed by McGeehan & Guti茅rrez (1998). The identifi catio n of the related Cape Verde Shearwater C edwardsii, formerl y co nsid ered as conspecific w ith borealis and diomedea but now genera ll y treated as a sepa rate species (eg, Sangster et al 1998, Snow & Perrins 1998), was recentl y discussed by Porter et al (1997) and is not discussed here although photographs are included for compa ri son. How eve r, the problem of identify ing borealis and diomedea at sea has not been tackled before . On the bas is of field obse rvations in th e Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocea n (including the Canary Isl and s in 1990 and breedin g co loni es in th e Azores in 1997) as we il as study of publ ished and unpubl ished photographs and th e examin ati on of speci mens at the Zoo log ica l Museum in Barcelona, Spain , three main groups of characters we re estab li shed: size and stru cture, upperside co loration, and underw ing pattern. Only the underw in g pattern (a lready c ited in Cramp & Simmons 1977) has been found diagnostic but all three characters should be noted to safely identify any diomedea or borealis at sea .

Size and stru cture On ave rage, borealis is 46% larger than diomedea (Thib ault et al 1997). Thi s character is,

however, of littl e va lu e w hen observing a lo ne indi v idu al. Moreover, there are d ifferences in size among the various populations of borealis (Gra nade iro 1993) and a c line of decreasing size from west to east has been reported in diomedea (Iap ichino et al 1983, Mougin et al 1991). Exceptions to this are sa id to ex ist in the Balearic Islands and may be related to genetic iso latio n (Ra ndi et al 1989, Brichetti & Fosc hi 1993) as we il as env iro nmental cond ition s (Cabo et al 1993). However, these exceptions are less important th an previously thought and probably relate to mi stakes in sa mpl ing (Tri ay & Cap贸 1996). At sea, borealis usu all y looks heav ier than diomedea , w ith a stouter bill (both in depth and length), givi ng it a more fi erce look than diomedea. Also, the lon ge r w in gs of borealis look broader than in diomedea. Howeve r, due to variation and some overl ap in certain measurements (fo r a rev iew, see Thibault et al 1997), these characters should only be considered as supportive.

Upperside coloration On average, the upperside is noticeab ly darker in borealis. The head and, espec iall y, the upperparts of diomedea are ge nerall y paler. Thu s, indiv idu als w ith I ittl e or no contrast between head, upperp arts and upperwi ngs are cl earl y borealis

172 Scopoli's Shearwater / Scopoli's Pijlstormvogel Ca /onectris diomedea, off Palam贸s, G irona, Spai n, 6 Ap ril 1997 (Ricard Guti茅rrez). Note head proportions, slender bill and neck, pale neck and uppe rparts and pale inner webs of outermost primaries

217

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

173 Scopol i's Shearwater / Scopol i's Pij lstormvogel Ca /onectris diomedea, off Palamós, Girona, Spain, 6 Apri l 1997 (Ricard Gutiérrez). Compared with Cory's Shearwater C borealis, Scopoli 's shows narrower w ings . Note also bil l proportions and white underwing panel shape 174 Cory's Shearwater / Kuhls Pijl stormvogel Ca lonectris borealis, off Lajes do Pico, Pico, Azo res, 26 Jul y 1997 (R icard Gutiérrez). Note thicker and darker neck compared with Scopo li 's Shea rwate r C diomedea depicted in p late 172. Note also broader w ings. White underwing panel restr icted to cove rts, creating round ed-tip effect

whi le birds with paler upperp arts contrasting with the rest of the upperside cou ld either be borealis or diomedea. Borealis tends to show more contrast between upperside and underside, also contri buting to a more fierce look than diomedea (see above). The neck shows less co ntrast with the head and mantie in borealis. Often, borealis appea rs thicker-necked than diomedea. In addition, the extent to whic h the dark upperside fades into the pale sides of the neck differs between the two. On ave rage, it is more contrasting in borealis than in diomedea. Some d istant borealis seen in the Azores in Ju ly 1997 seemed to have a head w ith a cap recalling Great Shearwater in this respect, a feature never recorded in diomedea. The lores always appear dark in both borealis and diomedea.

Underwing pattern Compared w ith borealis, diomedea has a prominent wh ite wedge on the inner webs of the primaries which project wei l bevond th e coverts 2 18

(Cramp & Simmons 1977: 140), leadi ng to d iagnostic differences in the pattern of the primaries. Borealis shows a rounded shape to the wh ite panel on the underside of the outerwing. This panel, only formed by the primary coverts, contrasts with the comp lete ly dark outer primaries, at the most with the black outer web and dark grey inner web, givi ng at a distance the impression of a wide dark terminal area. O nl y the longest pr imary, wh en the w ing is fully extended, ca n show a small amount of white be low the coverts although it never reaches the tip nor changes th e overall 'rounded w hite area' im pression (figure 1). In diomedea , the inner webs of the outer primaries (particu larl y the outer seven) are almost white, reaching the t ip in the longest of them, and creatin g the effect of an angled w hite underwi ng panel, not only formed by the coverts, as in borealis, but also by the primaries. It does not create an effect of a dark terminal area, as in borealis. Oark edges to the inner webs are also v isibl e as ' Iines' entering the white area

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

FIGURE 1 Underwing pattern of Scopoli's Shearwater / Scopoli's Pijlstormvogel Calonectris diomedea (a, b) and Cory's Shearwater / Kuhls Pijlstormvogel C borealis (c) (R ica rd Gutiérrez). a Semi-folded and b extended wings from birds off Palamós, Girona, Spain, in 1997. Note w hite area formed by coverts and inner webs of outer primaries. Dark edges to primaries v isibly entering white area in both positions. c Extended wing of bird from Canary Islands in 1988. Note white area restricted to coverts and, in this case, exceptionally to innermost visible part of longest primary. Large dark area in underwin g formed by dark primaries and overall rounded tip of white underwin g panel formed by coverts

(figure 1). In camparison, if the underwing-tip pattern of diomedea can be likened to Cam man Tern Sterna hirundo, then th at of borealis can be likened to Caspian Tern S caspia. jizz In attempting to convey the look or 'feel ' of particular species, subjective terms have been used to categorize the different qualities of flight between species (eg, Harrison 1983). Although there is aften a clearly definable jizz for many seabirds, its description is always subject to rather unquantifiable variables such as 'd irect fl ight' and 'buoyant'. Shearwater flight is a combination of wing-beats and glides but, as pointed out by McGeehan & Gutiérrez (1997, 1998), there are clear differences among species. But can these be measured? Up to now, it appears that na attempt has been made to try to quantify jizz of shearwaters. For diomedea , specific observations were carried out from a sea-watch point at Llobregat delta, Barcelona, Spain, in October-November 1997 and, for borealis, from Vila Franca do Campo, Säo Miguel, Azores, in late July 1997. The observations were carried out from the shore during the evenings, all by the author, using a

30x telescape eyepiece. A set of data was noted for each taxon studied under similar environmental conditions: 1 good light; 2 na wind (a sample with moderate wind was taken for comparison purposes); 3 patrolling-related bird activity (not linked to rafts in breeding colonies, present in the Azores); and 4 na human disturbance or interaction (fishing vessels). As measuring glides proved almast impossible due to bird speed, the number of wing-beats between each gliding period was recorded. Special care was taken not to measure the same bird twi ce. This was possible due to the number of birds present off Vila Franca do Campo (more than 6000 birds) and more than 100 birds in each of the Mediterranean observations. Samples were found not to be normally distributed (Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test; borealis calm wind, DN=0.22 , P<O .OOO l ; diomedea calm wind, DN=0.16, P=0.04 ; diomedea moderate wind (Bea ufort scale 3), DN=0.19 , P<O.OOOl). Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to compare samples. The number of wing-beats for the two taxa considered under similar environmental conditions were plotted in a histogram (figure 2). In calm conditions, borealis usually gave 2-4 wing219

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters number of birds

•

C.borealis calm n= 179

D C.diomedea calm n=69 C.diomedea wind n= 105

......................... ········i.

.. .. 68 .

60 50 ~ ...

40 30 20

~ ...

.IB ...

...

10 0

. · 17 ·

15 12

B ..

J I. I. ·7 ·

113

1_ ' 14

FIGURE 2 N umber of wing-beats between each glidin g period of Cory's Shearwater / Kuhls Pijlstormvogel Ca/onectris borealis off Vi la Franca do Cam po, Silo Miguel , Azores, on 24 Jul y 1997 in calm condi ti ons and Scopoli 's Shearwater / Scopoli's Pijl storm voge l C diomedea off Prat de L1obregat, L10bregat delta, Barcelona, on 23 October 1997 in calm cond iti ons and on 16 September 1997 with moderate w ind

beats, with a mean of 3.20±1 .06 (n=1 79), wh il e diomedea usually gave 2-5 w in g-beats, with a mean of 3.65 ±1.5 3 (n=69). Under moderate wind co nditi ons, diomedea increased the number of wing-beats to a mean of 5.31 ±2.38 (n=105) between glides. There were sign ificant statisti ca l d ifferences between the average flight of borealis and diomedea in ca lm conditions (borealis ca lm w ind and diomedea ca lm wind ; Z=-2.09, P=0.03). The differences were highly sign ifi cant between the samp les recorded in diomedea under ca lm and moderate wind conditions (Z=4 .99, P=5.74 x 10-7 ) whi le they were even higher among borealis calm w ind and diomedea with wind (Z=8.70, P=O). The resu lts show that the fl ight pattern of these and other shearwaters can be described , at least in part, by measuring the number of w ing-beats between each gliding period. A histogram plotting the wind-force helps elu c idate the d ifferences. Differences between borealis and diomedea can be related to the former 's larger size wh ich produces a heavier and slower flight. Oiomedea is sma ll er and slimm er, resulting in a faster and less heavy flight. It has to be borne in mind, however, that ca lm cond iti ons are not normal at sea. Wind changes flight pattern , so differences

220

found between the taxa are almost useless for identification if not compared under similar env ironmenta l co nditions. Apart from demonstrating the effect of wind on the fl ight action of shearwaters, the resu lts suggest differences in flight due to structural d ifferences between borealis and diomedea. More research is needed to clarify further the influence of w ing structure and wind on flight action .

Numbers and distribution Borealis is the more numerous taxon , recent estimates giv in g 96 500-136 500 pairs (Thi bau lt et al 1997), breeding in th e Azores, Berlengas (off Portugal), Canary Islands, Madeira Islands and 5elvagens . The popu latio n of diomedea breeding on islands throughout the Mediterranean Sea has been recently estim ated at 63 000-70 000 pairs (Thibau lt et al 1997), a number cons istent w ith the results of previously pub l ished censuses (Massa & Lo Valvo 1986, Thibault 1993). Ne ither are all birds seen in the Med iterranean Sea diomedea nor do al l Atlantic records refer to borealis. There are a few reports of borealis breed ing in the Mediterranean Sea. A male ringed as pullus on Se lvagem Grande, Selvagens, successfu ll y bred paired w ith a borea lis female dur in g 1992-93 in the Co lumbretes, off eastern Spain, w ithin a diomedea co lony of 140 pairs

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

175 Scopo li's Shea rw ate r / Scopoli 's Pijl storm voge l Ca /onectris diomedea, off A renys de mar, Barce lona, Spain, 14 A pril 1986 (Ricard C utiérrez) 176 Cory's Shea rwate r / Kuhl s Pij lstorm voge l Ca /onectris borea/is, off Lajes do Pi co, Pi co, Azores, 26 Jul y 1997 (Ricard C utié rrez). Note thi cker bill th an in Scopol i's Shea rwa ter C diomedea depicted in pl ate 175 177 Cory's Shearwater / Kuhl s Pijl storm voge l Ca/onectris borea lis, off Lajes do Pico, Pi co, Azores, 26 Jul y 1997 (R icard C lItiérrez). In some li ght co nd iti ons, prim ari es show two to nes, black and dark grey; howeve r, w hite underw in g panel never fo rm s po inted shape (pl ate 178) . Note also broad w in gs and heavy structure 178 Scopoli 's Shea rwater / Scopoli 's Pijl storm voge l Ca /onectris d iomedea, off Isla Cristin a, Huelva, August 1996 (Xavier LarrllY). Eve n in di stant b ird s, shape of white underwing pa nel is cl ea rl y v isib le

(Sánchez Codoner 199 4, contra Thibault & Bretag noll e 1998) . Anoth er (nine-yea r-old ) female borea lis rin ged as pullus on Se lvagem Grande was present on Linosa, Pelag ian Islands, Si c ili an Chann el, althou gh not breed ing (Lo Va lvo & M assa 1988). An apparent case of mi xed pairing in th e Mediterranea n Sea between a proven m ale borea lis (identifi ed through ca ll analys is, body measurements and cytoc hrome-b sequ ence) and a presumed diom edea fe m ale (ca ll atypi ca l for diom edea but b iometri cs w ithin th e range of thi s taxon; however, no underw in g pattern was desc ribed) was reported from a dio-

m edea co lo ny of 25 -30 pairs o n Girag li a, ju st no rth of Co rsica, betwee n 1993 (probabl y alread y in 1992) and 1996 at least (Thibault & 1998) . Howeve r, Thib ault & Bretagno ll e Bretagno ll e (1998) did not exclud e the poss ibility of the m ale being a first- generation hybri d du e to th e lac k of rin ging ev idence, inte rm ed iate measurements and some b io metri e characters suppo rtin g thi s hybrid ex pl anati o n. Th e mi gratin g and w intering ranges of borea lis and diom edea are we il segrega ted (Mougin et al 1988). Af ter th e breeding season, imm ature borea/is mi grate to So uth A meri ca w here th ey spend 22 1

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

179 Cory's Shearwaters / Kuhls Pijlstormvogels Ca /onectris borealis, off Lajes do Pico, Pico, Azores, 26 July 1997 (Ricard Cutiérrez). Upperside of Cory's Shearwater tends to be darker tha n in Scopoli 's Shearwater C diomedea. Note also underwing pattern and structure 180 Scopoli 's Shearwaters / Scopoli 's Pijlstormvogels Ca/onectris diomedea, off Pa lamós, G irona, Spain, 6 Apr il 1997 (Ricard Cutiérrez). Head pattern is variab ie. However, note bill proportions in relation to head compa red w ith Cory's Shearwater C borea/is

222

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

181 Cory's Shearwater / Kuh ls Pijlstormvogel Ca /onectris borea/is, off Lajes do Pico, Pico, Azores, 26 July 1997 (Ricard Gutiérrez). Even in bad conditions, underwing pattern is clearly visible. Note also almost uniformly coloured upperside in this bird (unl ike Cory's Shearwater depicted in plate 176) 182 Scopoli's Shearwaters / Scopoli 's Pijlstormvogels Ca/onectris diomedea, off Palamós, Girona, 6 Apri l 1997 (Ricard Gutiérrez). Note slim proportions (pitfall of Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus for inexperienced observers) and white underwing panel 183 Cory's Shearwater / Kuhls Pijlstormvogel Ca /onectris borea/is, picked up at Fijnaart, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, 27 September 1996 (photographed on 4 October 1996) (Hans Westerlaken)

223

Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters

184-185 Cape Ve rde Shea rwater / Kaapverd isc he Pijlstormvogel Ca /onectris edwardsii, off Senegal , October 1996

(Tony Marr)

the northern winter in Argentine and Brazilian waters (eg, Mougin et al 1988, Cantos & G贸mezManzaneque 1996) . Th en, during the northern sprin g, th ey head north to Central and North American wate rs w here they stay durin g the summer. Immature borealis retu rn to their South American w interin g grounds eith er v ia Central America or v ia Europe (Mo ugin et al 1988, Pate rso n 1997) . Imm ature diomedea spend the north ern w inter in southern African waters. Th en th ey return to the Mediterranean Sea and European Atlantic waters to spe nd th e summ er (Mougin et al 1988). Th e mi gration pattern s of adult borealis and diomedea are less co mplicated. Th ey migrate directly to and back from th eir South American and southern Afr ica n w intering waters, respecti vely (Mougin et al 1988). Some diomedea overw inter in th e Mediterranean Sea (Paterson 1997) and off the Atlantic coast of Morocco (Thibault et al 1997). Inte restingly, diomedea has been record ed off New England , USA, and borealis off South Africa (C ramp & Simmons 1977) . Vagrant borealis (an d/or diomedeal are regul ar in th e Indi an Ocea n (Thibaul t et al 1997) and have been reco rd ed as far as New Zea land (Tunnicliffe 1982). Birds regularly recorded at Eil at, Israe l, most probably coming fro m the Indi an Ocean, enter th e Red Sea and end up at Eil at. Shirihai (1996) identifi es them as diomedea but rem arks that 'At Eil at a form sli ghtl y different from typ ica l nominate diomedea is found , w ith sli ghtl y large r meas urements (s ix trapped birds had w ing 344-

224

40 5 mm, avo 358) and darker upperparts'. Thi s actually po ints towa rd s borealis (cf measurements in Cramp & Simmons 1977) and , together w ith the rem ark that 'from Ei lat, some cont inu e overland above th e Negev until th ey probably reach the Mediterranean ', this m ay suggest that borealis coul d enter th e Mediterranean Sea not only from the west but also fro m the east. It is clea r that distribution ca nnot be properly used as an aid in identifi ca tion. This is espec iall y true in th e Atlantic Ocean w here the two ta xa can be prese nt at th e same tim e, even though the larger popul ation of borealis m ay resu lt in more vagrant reco rd s of this taxon. Around Britain and Irelan d and in th e No rth Sea, borealis is th e ' more common' taxon. There are no p roven reco rd s of diomedea in Britain and Ireland , borealis be ing th e onl y taxon o n th e British li st (B riti sh Ornithologists' Union 1992). A ll four Ca lonectris shearwate rs co ll ected in the Netherlands refer to borealis (va n den Berg & Bosman 1999). However, the poss ib le occurrence of diomedea aro und Britain and Ireland and in th e North Sea should not be discarded. Another shea rwate r breed ing in the (weste rn ) Mediterranean Sea, Balearic Shearwater P mauretanicus, is now known to be a scarce but regul ar sum mer and ea rl y-autumn v isito r in th e southern North Sea and a mo re co mmon v isitor off the British so uth coast. Th e (ve ry few) repo rts of borealis breedi ng in the Mediterranean Sea are also a remind er th at not all Mediterranean birds are diomedea .

Flight identifica tion of Cory's and Scopo li's Shea rwaters Furth er ana lys is of record s in th e non-breedin g season should res ult in a more thorough know ledge of the distribution pattern s of borea lis and diomedea. Acknowledgements The encouragement and fr iendly comments of my co l league Anthony M cGeehan indu ced me to pay more attention to these shearwaters. He has not only commented on th e findin gs and characte rs described in this article but also revi ewed ea rl ier drafts (a nd corrected the Engli shl : very many thank s indeed. Domini c Mitch ell provided information on w here to watch birds in th e Azores . Francesc Xav ier Sa ntaeufem ia kindl y accompaniedme durin g sea-watches at L10bregat delta. Th e comments by the members of th e editori al board of Dutch Birdin g improved the text. References va n den Berg, A B & Bosman, C A W 1999 . Ze ldzame voge ls va n Nederland - Rare birds of th e Netherlands. Haarlem . Bretagnoll e, V & Lequette, B 1990 . Struetural va ri ation in th e ea ll of Cory's Shearwater (Ca /onectris diomedea, Aves, Proeell ariid ae). Ethology 85 : 313-323 . Briehetti, P & Fosc hi, U G 1993 . Prelimin ary biometrica l data of Ca /onectris diomedea in the Trem iti island s (south Adriatie Sea) . In: Aguilar, J S, Monbai lliu, X & Paterson, A M (editors), Status and eonse rvation of seabirds, Proe 2nd Med iterr Seabird Symp Calvia 2126 Mareh 1989, Madrid, pp 36 1-362. Briti sh Ornithologists' Union 1992 . Checklist of bird s of Britain an d Ireland. Sixth ed iti on. Tring. Cabo, J M , Blaseo, M & Sánehez, J M 1993 . Var iaeiones geográfieas en Ca /onectris diomedea . In : Aguil ar, J S, Monbail liu, X & Paterso n, A M (editors), Status and conse rvation of sea bird s, Proe 2nd Mediterr Seabird Symp Ca lvia 21 -26 Mareh 1989, Madrid, pp 363364 . Ca ntos, F J & Gómez-Manzaneque, A 1996. Informe sobre la eampana de an ill ami ento de aves en Espana. Ano 1995 . Ecologia 10: 321-424. Cramp, S & Simmons, K E L (edi tors) 1977 . The birds of th e Western Pa learetie 1. Oxford. Granadeiro, J P 1993. Variation in measurements of Cory's Shearwater between populations and sex in g by di sc riminant anal ys is. Ring Migrat 14: 103- 11 2. Harri son, P 1983. Seabirds: an identifi eation guide. Beekenham. lapi eh ino, C, Lo Va lvo, F & Massa, B 1983. Bi ometri a dell a Berta Maggiore (Ca/onectris diomedea ) dell' iso ll a di Linosa (Pelagie) . Ri v Ital Ornitol 53: 145- 152. Lo Va lvo, F & Massa, B 1988. Considerations on a spe-

cimen of Cory's Shearwater rin ged at Se lvagem Grande and recovered in th e Centra I Mediterranean. Bocagiana 124: 1-5. Massa, B & Lo Va lvo, F 1986. Bi ometrica l and biologica l consideration s on th e Cory's Shearwater Ca /onectris diomedea. In : Medmaravis & Monbai lliu, X (ed itors), Med iterranean marine av ifauna: popu lation studi es an d conse rvation, NATO ASI Series, Ecologica l Sc iences, Vo lu me 12, Berlin , pp 293-3 13. McGeehan, A & Gutiérrez, R 1997. Dark sec rets. Birdwatch 61: 26-30. McGeehan, A & Gutiérrez, R 1998. Great d ilemmas. Birdwatch 73 : 32-36. Mougin, J-L, Jouanin, C & Roux, F 1988 . Les migrations du Pu ffin ce ndré Ca/onectris diomedea. Oiseau 58 : 303 -319. Mougin, J-L, Jouan in, C & Roux, F 199 1. Le Pu ffin ce ndré Ca /onectris diomedea de Flores (A rch ipel de Açores). Oiseau 61: 54-62 . Paterson, A M 1997. Las aves marin as de Espana y Portugal. Barce lona. Porter, R, Newell, D, Marr, T & Joli ffe, R 1997. Identifj cat ion of Ca pe Verde Shearwater. Birding World 10: 222-228. Randi , E, Spina, F & Massa, B 1989. Genetic va ri ability in Cory's Shearwater (Ca/onectris diomedea ). A uk 106:4 11-417. Sá nchez Codoner, A 1994. Ca/onectris diomedea. Notici ario ornitológico. Ardeo la 4 1: 91. Sangster, G, Hazevoet, C J, va n den Berg, A B & Roselaar, C S 1998. Dutch avifaunal li st: species concepts, taxonomi c in stability, and taxonomi c changes in 1998. Dutch Birding 20 : 22-32 . Shirihai, H 1996 . The bird s of Israel. London. Snow, D & Perrin s, C M (editors) 1998 . The birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise edition . Oxford. Thibault, J-C 1993. Breeding distribution and numbers of Cory's Shearwater (Ca/onectris diomedea ) in the Med iterranean. In: Aguil ar, J S, Monbai lliu, X & Paterso n, A M (editors), Status and co nse rvation of seab ird s, Proe 2nd Mediterr Seabird Symp Ca lvia 2126 March 1989, Madrid, pp 25 -35 . Thibault, J-C & Bretagnoll e, V 1998. A Med iterranean breeding co lony of Cory's Shearwater Ca /onectris diomedea in w hich individua ls show behaviou ral and biometric characters of the Atlantic subspecies . Ib is 140: 523-528 . Thibault, J-C, Bretagnoll e, V & Rabouam, C 1997. Cory's Shearwater (Ca /onectris diomedea ). BWP Update 1 (2): 75-98. Triay, R & Capó, J 1996 . Biometria del Virot Ca /onectris diomedea a I' illa de Menorca (ill es BalearsMediterrani Occidental). Butll Grup Cata là A nell ament 13: 9- 14. Tunnicliffe, GA 1982. First sightin gs of the North Atl antic (Cory's) Shearwater Ca /onectris diomedea (Scopoli , 1769) in Australas ian seas. Notorni s 29 : 85-91.

Rica rd Cutiérrez, Reserves Naturals Delta del Llobregat, DAR?, Cran Via de les Corts Cata lanes 672-674, 08007 Barcelona, Spain (a rgutbe@correu.genca t. esJ

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Hybrids of Black Kite and Common Buzzard in Italy in 1996 Andrea Corso & Roberto Gi/di

n 7 Au gust 1996, Roberto Gildi discovered two strange-Iooking raptors in th e Tolfa Hills, Laz io, Italy. After prolonged study and observation , RG concluded th at th e birds mi ght be hybrids of Bl ac k Kite Mi/vus migrans and Common Bu zzard Buteo buteo. He asked Andrea Corso to study th e birds to confirm his suspic ion and to make an extensive and accurate analysis. The birds stayed in th e area until at least 11 September 1996; th ey turn ed out to be amon g th e most obse rved and popular birds in Italy, with several birders manag ing to get good vi ews of them . During th e late spring of 1996, in a nea rby area, a Black Kite and a Common Buzzard had been observed flyin g together on several occasions and w ere even seen displ ayin g occa sionally.

Description The desc ribed birds are frequentl y compared with Bl ack Kite and Common Bu zzard with whi ch th ey were regul arly seen. SIZE & STRUCTURE Larger th an Comm on Bu zza rd but sli ghtly smaller th an Bl ack Kite. Wh en perched, appea rin g very similar to Common Buzza rd , although less bulky and more slender (pl ate 186). Wh en perched on poles, assuming upri ght or hori zo ntal posture but on ground always assuming hori zo ntal posture. Win g-tip onl y few centimetres shorter th an tail-tip, similar to Commo n Bu zza rd . Bill shape simil ar to Common Bu zza rd. Leg w ithout feath ering, quite long and stout, appearing sli ghtl y lo nger th an in Bl ack Kite; toes short and stout, apparentl y as in Bl ack Kite but stru cture more simil ar to Comm on Bu zza rd. Nostril round and profound as in both species, not long and narrow as in Eu ro pea n Honey-bu zza rd Pernis apivorus. Head robu st and ro unded as in Common Bu zza rd , not long, small and fl at-crow ned as in Europea n Honey-bu zza rd or Bl ack Kite. However, in fli ght showin g long and not very squat head, due to sli ghtl y longer neck, more like Bl ack Kite rather th an Commo n Bu zz ard. H ead ve ry often held pointin g downwa rd , giv ing birds humped appea rance as in Black Kite. Win g-span longer th an in Comm on Bu zza rd but appea ring sli ghtly shorter th an in Bl ack Kite. H and lo nger and slimmer than in Common Buzza rd, ma rkedl y directed backwa rd s in fli ght. Fin gers apparentl y also longer, more v isible and more di sta ntl y spaced th an in Common Bu zza rd , w ith five

226

fin gers we il exposed (p6-1 0, w ith p8-9 lon gest; p rim ari es numbered from in side); fin gers often ve ry archedup during fli ght as in Bl ack Kite. Win g broad as in Common Bu zza rd , w ith line of second ari es more convex, makin g w ing loo k broader th an in Bl ack Kite. In fli ght, w in gs held arched as in Bl ac k Kite, espec iall y hand from ca rpal joint bendin g downwa rd s. Sometim es, w ings held sli ghtl y forwa rd , at sa me level as bod y (never hi gher as in Common Bu zza rd ) but fl at rath er th an raised. Tail lon ger and narrower th an in Comm on Bu zza rd , not for ked but squ are-ended w ith ce ntral rectri ces sli ghtl y longer th an outhermost, givin g tri angular shape. Indi vidu al feath ers rath er pointed. HEAD & NECK H ead wa rm pale brow n, paler th an upperparts, w ith paler and w ider edgings to feath ers, es pec iall y on nape. Forehead w hite w ith narrow and quite indi stin ct dark streaks (pl ate 186) . Cro w n paler than side of neck and nape, w hiti sh w ith dark-streaks, w ith also some strea ks on si de of neck. Chin, throat and part of ea r-coverts uni form buffish-w hite, w ithout visible streakin g, formin g pale gorget contrastin g stron gly w ith breast, also we il visibl e during fli ght. Pale crow n and forehead separated from pale gorget by dark eye-m ask, typi cal of ju ve nil e (a nd second-yea r) Bl ack Kite, also v isi b le during fli ght. UPPERPARTS & UPPERWING Espec iall y in fli ght, appearing ve ry simil ar, almost identica l, to typi cal ju venil e Bl ack Kite (pl ate 189). Upperparts wa rm pale brow n w ith interspersed pale fringes. M antie, rump and uppertail-cove rts edged dull buffi sh or browni sh. Remi ges dark brown w ith bars (es pec iall y vi si bi e on pa ler prim ari es), sli ghtl y more v isible and better marked th an in typi ca l Black Kite, thu s more similar to Comm on Buzza rd. Greater w ing-coverts tipped buffi sh or buff-w hite; also primary cove rts tipped bu ffish or buff-w hite but less obv ious th an on greater cove rts; tips formin g narrow bar across w ing (pl ate 189), simil ar to ju ve nile Bl ack Kite. M edi an w in g-coverts w ith pale browni sh or buffi sh edgin gs, forming broad di agon al pale band across w in g, runnin g from sca pulars to ca rpal joint; thi s band obv iou s during fli ght but at large di stance appea rin g less strikin g th an in Bl ack Kite. Scapul ars (a nd to lesser extent terti als) edged buffi sh or brow ni sh. UN DERPARTS U nderpa rts strikin gly paler th an upperparts as in Comm on Buzza rd (in Bl ack Kite norm all y onl y sli ghtl y paler). Side of breast pale brow ni sh, tin ged sli ghtl y darker and rufous on fl ank; ce ntre of breast ve ry pale, w ith upperbreast paler and mo re buff, and lower breast sli ghtl y darker w ith some rufou s traces. Breast all dark-streaked as in Bl ack Kite, forming band co ntrastin g w ith bell y and ve nt. Bell y and ve nt ve ry

IDutch Birding 20: 226路233, 19981

H ybrids of Black Kite and Comman Buzzard in /taly in 7996

186 Hyb rid Black Kite x Cam man Buzzard / hyb rid e Zwa rte Wauw x Buizerd Mi/vus migrans x Buteo buteo, ju ven il e, Talfa Hill s, Laz ia, Italy, August 1996 (Oanie/e Ardizzone) 187-188 Hybrid Black Kite x Cam man Buzzard / hybr ide Zwa rte Wauw x Bui ze rd Mi/vus migra ns x Buteo buteo, ju ve nil e, Talfa Hill s, Laz ia, Italy, August 1996 (Roberto Gi/di)

227

Hybrids of 8/ack Kite and Common 8uzza rd in Ita/y in 7996 pa le, buffish or buffish pin k/o rangish, withou t any strea ks; ve nt and undertail -coverts contrasting stron gly w ith tail. One indi vidu al showing dark spots on bell y and less 50 on lower breast. Flank-feathers barred, not streaked as in Black Kite, w ith each feather showi ng dark mark along shaft, dark wedge-s haped spot near tip and dark, less w ide, ba r at base (eg, plate 186- 187). Thi gh \'trousers ') barred but w ith narrower and less obvious marks, less wedge-s haped at tip (p late 187). Such mark never noted in Black Kite w hil e some Common Buzzard show barred flanks and thigh. UNDERWING Very remarka bl e and unlike any other European raptor. Primaries w ith wh ite or greyish-white base and darker barrin g. Barring of primari es sli ghtly less marked than on seconda ri es, on outermost primaries more grey ish, less numerous and quite indi stin ct (eve n not visibl e in stron g light). Primary-tips (espec ialIy fin gers) black, stron gly contrasting w ith pa Ie base, much more marked, darker and con trastin g than in other remiges; in fact, dark tips (of each feather), alth ough slightly larger th an other bars, not form ing remarkable dark trailin g edge typ ica l of adult Common Bu zza rd. Secondaries all pal e and evenl y barred dark, w ith six to seve n we ll-marked and visible black bars of same length and w idth, except last (di sta l) bar, being slightly larger and w ider at tip (plate 187) . Whole pal e area (secondaries and base of primaries) as in Common Buzzard, w ith secondaries only shade darker than ba se of primaries as in most juvenile Common Buzzard, thu s tota ll y different from any Bl ack Kite (i n w hich secondari es visibl y darker th an ba se of primaries). Underw ingcoverts pale browni sh-rufous as in some ri chl y co loured Black Kite, all pal e-spotted and w ith some dark streaks and spots, espec iall y on greater underw ingcove rts; ca rpal area w ith pal e marks but characterized by dark 'commas' as in Common Buzzard. TA IL Uppertai l co loured as in Black Kite but undertail distinctly paler, with greyish-white ground tone co ntra sting with bod y, thu s more like Common Buzzard. Both uppertail and undertai l showing pale buffishcream terminal band, more contrasti ng and obvious fro m above, and six to eight black or blacki sh-brown bars ac ross tail. All bars more contrasting on undertai l. All bars of even w idth, more obvious than in adult Common Buzzard (i n some photos, last one or two bars appea rin g more marked but this due to stron g sunIight effect). MOU LT All feathers fres h. BARE PARTS Eye dark brown , more like juvenile Black Kite th an Common Buzzard (in w hich iri s nonnally paler in juvenile). Bill bluish-black, ce re ye llow or grey ish-ye llow. Leg ye llow-ochre, claws black. BEHAVIOUR Slow ga it whe n forag ing on ground, with combined wa lks an d short jumps. In flight, w ings co nsta ntl y manoeuvred and tail flexed side to side perfectIy as in typ ica l flight action of Black Kite . VOICE Strange hiss, interm ediate between Black Kite and Com mon Bu zza rd.

Age Both bird s we re aged as recentl y fl edged ju ve -

228

nil es beca use of: 7 presence of a dark eye-mask (typ ica l of juvenil e and second -year Blac k Kite); 2 absence of a bl ack or dark conspieuous and contrasting terminal tail-band , wider than the bars (as in juvenil e Common Buzzard); 2 absence of an obvious, strikin g black or dark trailing edge to the w ings, w ith black on fingers contra stin g w ith inner primari es and w ith secondar ies (as in juvenil e Common Buzzard); 4 stage of feath er moult and wear: the feathers we re fresh , especia ll y the remi ges and rectrices ; 5 presence of narrow pal e tips to th e remiges forming a pal e trailin g edge to the w ing as we il as, and more markedly, to the rectric es, resultin g in a pal e termin al tail-band ; 6 presence of pale tips and edgings to the greater and primary cove rts ; 7 10nger, more pointed cen tra I rectric es (co mpared w ith oth er rectrices), creating a sli ght projection (as in juvenile Common Buzzard and, much more rarely, juvenile Black Kite); and 8 behaviour, both in huntin g performance and interaction , with examples of typical ju venile pla y, behaviour in ge neral in reaction to hum an presence.

Identification Initi all y, w ith on ly four photographs ava il ab le, th e Tolfa Hills raptors appeared very puzzlin g; th e birds looked like typical juvenile Black Kite but with odd proportions and some strange pattern s and field marks that we never have seen in any Black Kite, neith er in European nor in ea stern populations. Probabl y the strangest character was the pattern of the flank-feathers. Later, when man y oth er photographs and add ition al f ield observations beca me availab le, the identifi cation co uld be reso lved. Pure Common Buzzard could be eliminated by the different fli ght shape and w ing position during fli ght (w ith w ing held down wa rds like Black Kite) and f li ght behav iour (w ith the tail manoeuvrin g like Black Kite), different pattern of upperparts and breast streak ing, and strange vo ice (see also some other characters mention ed in th e desc ription ). Pure Black Kite could be exc/ uded mainl y by the barred flanks (never barred in Bl ack Kite), pale secondaries (a lways darker in Black Kite) and wing stru cture. H av ing elim inated also all other known raptor spec ies (cf Porter et al 1976, Forsm an 1984, C lark & Wh ee ler 1987, Gensb0 1 1992, del Hoyo et al 1994), o nl y th e hybrid th eo ry can exp lain the birds under study. From th e description , it is c/e ar that th e parents are a Black Kite and a Common Bu zza rd. Th ere are seven c hara cters of

Hybrids of B/ack Kite and Comman Buzzard in /ta/y in 1996

189 H ybrid Black Kite x Common Buzzard / hybride Zwarte Wouw x Buizerd Mi/vus migrans x Butea butea, juvenile, Tolfa Hills, Lazio, Italy, August 1996

190 Hybrid Black Kite x Common Buzzard / hyb rid e Zwarte Wouw x Buizerd Mi/vus migrans x Butea butea, juven il e, Tolfa Hills, Lazio, Italy, August 1996

(Oanie/e Ardizzanel

(Raberta ei/di)

Common Buzzard, eight characters of Black Kite, and five intermediate (see table 1). One character, th e shape of the markings on flanks and thighs, is seldom ly found in Common Buzzard B b buteo (Andrea Corso pers obs) and is never encountered in Steppe Buzzard B b vu /pinus (Bill Clark pers comm). The parentage of Black Kite is evident from the photographs and fl ight action of the Tolfa Hills birds. However, to many birders in the field, the bird s looked more I ike astrange Buteo buzzard, eg, an odd Steppe Buzzard or a Long-Iegged Buzzard B rufinus. The possible pa rentage of Red Kite M mi/vus or European Honey-buzzard also needs d iscussion. Red Kite was excluded for the following reasons: the hybrids d id not have a fox-red tone nor a very long tail , they had d ifferent ly co lou red upperparts and, especial ly, ta il and possessed a dark eye-mark. European Honey-buzzard was elimin ated by: 1 the unfeathered tarsus; 2 the

round and profound nostril (not long, narrow and in conspicuous as in European Honey-buzzard); 3 the rounded head w ith ang led forehead (not flat-crowned , long w ith flat forehead as in European Honey-buzzard); 4 the presence of bars on the wing and black on the f ingers as described above (j uven il e European Honey-buzza rd shows less visib le bars (th ree to five, on ave rage four), not even ly distributed, interspersed with some thinn er and less vis ibl e other bars (o bservabie only at very close range or in the hand )); 5 pale secondaries, on ly a shade darker than (or in some cond iti ons as pale as) the base of the primaries (in juvenile European Hon eybuzzard the second aries are darker and less clean , contrasting more w ith the primaries); 6 tail marks as described above (juveni le European Honey-buzzard shows many narrow bars interspersed w ith four (rare ly only three) principal dark bars th at are noticeably more obvious and

TABLE 1 Summary of characters of Tolfa Hills hybrid raptors, indicating Common Buzzard / Buizerd

Butea butea or

Black Kite / Zwarte Wouw Mi/vus migrans, as we il as intermediate characters indicating Common Buzzard genera l sha pe when perched shape of secondari es pattern on flank, thigh and undertai l-coverts co loration of and markings on underparts pattern of underwing pattern and co loration of undertail length of legs

indicating Black Kite genera l shape and structure in fli gh t wing formu la shape and length of hand length of tai l pattern of upperparts breast-streaks eye co lour fl ight action

intermediate characters size w in g span structure and shape of tai l foraging behaviour voice

229

Hybrids of Black Kite and Comman Buzzard in Ita ly in 1996

FIGURE 1 Flank-feathers. Centre: Talfa Hills juveni le hybrid Black Kite x Camman Buzzard / hybride Zwarte Wauw x Buizerd Milvus migrans x Buteo buteo; right: Black Kite; left: Cam man Buzzard, twa different types

(Carmeluccia Carde"i)

FIGURE 2 Breast-feathers. Centre: Talfa Hills juvenile hybrid Black Kite x Cam man Buzzard / hybride Zwarte Wauw x Buizerd Milvus migrans x Buteo buteo, from upper breast (upper, sim il ar ta Black Kite) and lawer breast (Iawer, sim il ar ta Camman Buzzard); right: Black Kite, twa different types, juvenile (upper) and adu lt (lawer) and adult (Iawer); left: Camman Buzzard, twa d ifferent types (Carmeluccia Carde"i)

230

Hybrids of B/ack Kite and Common Buzzard in Ita/y in 7996

Rectrices . Centre: Talfa Hills juveni le hybrid Black Kite x Camman Buzzard / hybride Zwarte Wauw x Buizerd Milvus migrans x Buteo buteo; right: Eurapea n Haney-buzzard / Wespend ief Pernis apivorus; left: Camman Buzzard / Bu izerd (Carme luccia Cardelli)

FIGURE 3

darker than the others and also wider); and 7 barred f lanks and thi ghs, contrast in g w ith unbarred vent, belly and undertail-coverts (juve n i Ie Eu ropea n Honey-buzzard normally shows dark, even ly spotted underparts alth ough they can rarely show bars).

Discussion Hybridization among raptor spec ies in the wi ld is uncommon but has been record ed before . There are severa l hybr ids Red Kite x Black Kite (o ne in Germ any and a few in Sweden , Wobus & Creutz 1970, SylvĂŠn 1977). Other raptor hybrids or mi xed pairs lay in g eggs incl ude Eu ropean H oney-buzzard x O ri enta l Honey-buzzard P (pti/orhyncus) orienta /is (Va urie 1965), Black Kite x Eastern Black Kite M (m igrans) lineatus (Vaur ie 1965), Cape Verde Kite x Black Kite M fasciicauda x M migrans migrans (Na uro is 1972, Hazevoet 1995 , O rtlieb 1988), Short-toed Eagle Circaetus ga /licus x Beaudou in 's Snake-eagle

C beaudouini (B rown 1974), Short-toed Eagle x Black-chested Snake-eag le C pectora/is (Brown 1974), Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus x Eastern Marsh Harrier C spi/onotus (Vau ri e 1965), Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus x Pallid Harrier C macrourus (Forsman 1993, 1995), Hen Harrier C cyaneus x Palli d H arr ier (Fa ircl ough 1995), Common Buzzard x Steppe Buzzard (H af.ter 1989, 1992), Span ish Imper ial Eag le Aqui/a ada /bertii x Go lden Eagl e A chrysaetos (van den Berg & Sangster 1995) and Brown Gos hawk Accipiter fasciatus x Grey Gos hawk A novaeho//andiae (O l sen & O lsen 1985) . In the USA, many hybrids Peregrine Fa/co peregrinus x Prairie Falcon F mexicanus are known ; there is also a record of G rey Hawk Asturina p/agiata paired to and unsuccessfully nesting with a Red-shouldered Hawk B lineatus (B ill Clark pers comm). In Europe, there are records of harri ers w hi ch displayed to members of a different spec ies, eg, males Pallid Harrier with female Hen Harrier,

23 1

Hybrids of Black Kite and Comman Buzza rd in Ita ly in 1996

FIGURE 4 Legs and feet. Left : Tolfa Hill s juvenil e hybrid Black Kite x Common Bu zza rd / hybrid e Zwarte Wouw x Buizerd Milvus migrans x Buteo buteo; ri ght: European Honey-buzzard / Wespendief Pemis apivorus (Ca rmeluccia Carde/li)

Marsh H arrier or Montagu's H arr ier (see overv iew in Forsman 1995 and references therein, Fairclou gh 1995; Dutch Birding 17: 119, 1995). Th e on ly successful hyb ridi zation in harri ers was of a male Pallid paired w ith a female Montagu 's raisin g three hybr id youn g in Finland in 1993 (Forsman 1995) . Amongst Europea n falcons, th ere are two know n instanees of copu lating Common Kestrel F tinnun culus and Lesser Kestrel F naumann i but without nesting success (Andrea Corso pers obs). In conclus ion, the Tolfa Hills raptors are the f irst- eve r record ed Black Kite x Common Buzza rd hybrids and th e first-ever known reco rd in birds of prey, at least in the W estern Pal ea rctic, of hybridi zation betwee n two different genera. Acknowledgements W e thank Bill Clark and Di ck Forsman for th eir help with th e identifi cation and fo r their useful co mments. Th anks are also du e to D ani ele Ard izzone, Pi erandrea Brich etti , Va ler io Cappe l10, Fulvio Frati ce lli , Antero Topp, Yoss i Les hem and Thom as Kruger Jr. Special thank s to Carme lu cc ia Cardel li for her pa intings . Fin all y, we wish to thank th e cultural assoc iation ' L' Erba

232

Impaz iente' and its director Federi ca Cercato for the use of their library and for th e provision of lodgi ng fac iliti es. References van den Berg, A B & Sa ngster, G 1995 . W P reports. Dutch Bi rdin g 17: 213-2 19. Brown, L H 19 74. Th e races of the Europea n Snake Eagle Circaetus ga /licus. Bull Br Ornithol Club 94 : 126-128. Clark, W 5 & Wheeler, B K 1987 . Field guide 10 the hawks of North Ame ri ca. Boston. Fairclough, K 1995. The Pallid Harri er in Orkney. Bird ing Worl d 8: 253-255. Forsman, 0 1984. Rovfagelsguiden. Helsinki. Forsman, 0 1993 . Hybridi sing harriers. Birding Worl d 6: 313. Forsman, 0 1995. Ma le Pal lid and fema le Montagu 's Harri er raising hybrid young in Finland in 1993. Dutch Birding 17 : 102- 106. Gensbol, B 1992 . Guide ai rapac i europei. Milan. Haffer, J 1989. Parapatri sche Vogelarlen der Pal채arktischen Region. J Orn ithol 130: 475-512 . Haffer, J 1992. Parapatri c spec ies of bird s. Bul l Br Ornithol Club 11 2 : 250-264 . Hazevoet, C J 1995. Th e birds of the Cape Verde Islands. BOU Check-li st 13 . Tring. del Hoyo, J, El li ott, A & Sargatal , J (editors) 1994.

Hybrids of Black Kite and Common Buzzard in /taly in 7996 Handbook of the birds of the wo rld 2. Barcelona. de Naurois, R 1972. The Kites of the Cape Verde Islands (Mi /vus mi/vus fasciicauda and Mi/vus migrans migrans) and a hypothesis about speciation and geographical distribution in the genus Mi/vus. Prac Int Ornithol Congr 15: 671-673. O lsen, P D & Olsen, J 1985. A natura l hybridi zation of th e Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus and Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehol/andiae in Austral ia, an d a compariso n of the two species . Emu 85: 250257. Ortlieb, R 1988. Mi/vus mi/vus fasciicauda in danger of extinction ? Newslett Wor ld Work Gr Birds of Prey Owls 8: 12.

Porter, R F, Willis, I, Christensen, S & N iel se n, B P 1976. FI ight identification of European raptors. Second edition. Berkhamsted. SylvĂŠn, M 1977. [Hybridization between Red Kite Mi/vus mi/vus and Black Kite M. migrans in Sweden in 1976. J Var Fage lvĂ¤r ld 36: 38-44. [In Swedish; En gl ish summary.J Vaurie, C 1965. The bird s of the Palearctic Fauna. NonPasseriformes. London . Wobus, U & Creutz, G 1970. Eine erfo lgreiche Mischbrut von Rot- und Schwarzm il an (Mi/vus mi/vus x Mi/vus migrans). Zoo l Abhand l Staatl Mus Tierk Dresden 31: 305-3 13.

Andrea Corso, c/o GSRO, Via Camastra 70, 96700 Siracusa, Italy Roberto Gildi, Via Alessandro Avoli 7, 00 735 Roma, /taly

Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats Surfb ird Aphriza virgata is a New World shoreb ird with a restricted breeding range . It derives both its sc ientific ('striped bird livin g in sea foam ', cf Jobl ing 1991) and English name from the microhab itat it occupies during all but a few months of the year. Su rfb irds se ldom ly stray from the wavewashed rocky intertid al zone. Indeed, in terms of latitude span ned and w idth of preferred hab itat, Surfb ird hold s the record among all th e world 's shorebirds for having the longest and narrowest w intering range, extendi ng from centra l A laska, USA, south to the Straits of Magellan, Chi le. These and other deta il s of the Surfbird's life hi story have recently been summ arized as part of the Birds of North America ser ies (Senner & McCaffery 1997). However, these authors are quick to point out how littl e is actua ll y known about this spec ies . Especially lacking is information from the breed in g season, wh en birds disperse to hi gh alpine habitats throughout isolated regions of A laska and the Yukon Territory, Canada . Indeed, despite a total population estim ated at c 100 000 birds, probab ly fewer than two dozen nests have ever been reported for the species (Senner & McCaffery 1997). Key aspects of the Surfbird's life history have sofar eluded description and , as a consequence, its relationship to other shorebirds has produced much debate. The short bill and legs, the co lour patterns of ta il and w in gs and several other character istics have led some (eg, A Kistchinski pers comm) to posit that Surfb ird and turnstones Arenaria are close ly related, and fu rth er, that the simil arity in breeding plumages betwee n Surfb ird IOu/eh Bi,ding 20: 233-237, 19981

and Great Knot Ca lidris tenuirostris developed independently in response to their simil ar habitats, albeit over disjunct breed ing areas. Vet, from other studies of downy plumages (Jehl 1968) and acoustic signa Is (M ili er et al 1987) in shorebirds, it appears that Surfbird is more simil ar to Calidris sa ndpipers. Until recently, there were no deta il ed stud ies of the breeding biology and behaviour of either Surfbird or Great Knot from w hi ch further comparisons of their affiniti es cou ld be made . During the mid-1990s, Great Knot was studied on its breeding grounds (Tomkov ich 1995) and in 1996, Bennett (1996) located what appeared to be a 'workabie' breeding population of Surfbirds in mountains 225 km WSW of Ancho rage, A laska. Through the help of th e Un ited States Nat iona l Park Service (Lake Clark Nationa l Park and Preserve) we returned to Bennett's site, near Turquoise Lake, in spri ng 1997 to conduct the first study ever on the breeding biology of Surfbird. In this paper we hi ghlight some of our find ings and compare them with sim il ar aspects of the bio logy of Great Knot. The glaciers that carved out the 8 km long x 2.5 km w ide Turquoise Lake have long ago retreated bevond the head of th e lake, leavin g behind a series of steep latera l moraines. The glaciers, however, remain very active and, al thou gh mostly out of sight from anywhere around the lake, the sounds of their movements and the local weather they create consta ntly reminded us of their presence. We wou ld eventually learn that the actions of these same glac iers many mill en nia ago were ultimately responsible for the distribution of Surfbirds at the site.

233

Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats

191 Surfbird / Brandingloper Aphriz a virgata, territorial bird, Turquoise Lake, Al aska, USA, 21 May 1997 (pave! 5 Tomkovich & Robert E Gill Jr) 192 Surfbird / Brandingloper Aphriza virga ta, Turquoi se Lake, Ala ska, USA, 26 May 1997 (pave! 5 Tomkovich &

Robert E Gil! Jr)

234

Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats We initi ated our stud y at Turquoise Lake on 7 May 1997, a date we certain ly expected to precede the arri va l of any Surfbirds, based on I imited prev iou s information (Senn er & McCaffery 1997) . Our assumptio n proved w rong, however, and this only happened to be th e first of many surpr ises this eni gmatic shoreb ird wou ld prese nt to us during our 10-week stay. Th at even ing during our initial exc ursion onto the northern and uppermost latera l moraine above camp, we were treated to severa l Surfbird display fli ghts and accompanying voca li zations. Despite the lake below being compl ete ly ice-covered and snow still coverin g much of the hi gher tundra, it was clear that Surfbirds had already found the area to their likin g. Th e subseq uent almost daily visits quickly revea led th at Surfbirds were not distributed eve nIy over the site, but th at they preferred to nest in areas w ith parti c ul ar geo morph o log ica l features . Over the fo llow in g weeks, we repeatedly found birds along this upper slope w here we observed active flight displays and song, birds engag in g in pass io nate fights w ith neighbourin g males, and oth er observations that quickly convinced us that Surfbirds are indeed territori al during th e ea rl y phase of the breed ing period. Almost all pairs on th e northern side of th e lake were found between 910 and 1150 m above sea leve l (Turquoise Lake is 770 m above sea level) ge nerall y along th e upper of a series of south facing, sta ir-stepped terraces that paralleled the lake. Th e picture that emerged after mapping locati ons of paired Surfbirds and interactio ns of males was an 8 km lo ng chain of nesting birds ce ntered alo ng a relatively narrow band of sparse ly vegetated lichendwarf scrub tundra and scree fields. In our concerted effo rts to discern reasons for the observed distribution of birds, we almost over looked the com mencement of nesting activities. The fact that finding Surfbird nests eventu all y proved to be no eas ier than finding nests of Great Knot, Red Knot C ca nutus or Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis provided I ittl e co nso lation. It did, however, exp lain w hy so littl e had previously been known about their breeding biology. In the end, our daily searches and observations of birds eventu all y led us to three nests of the 10 pairs we were following on th e stud y slope. By catc hing and equipp ing w ith rad io transmitters four other no n-incubatin g birds that had come to the outlet of the lake to feed, we were ab le to locate two add ition al nests on the study slope. From all these nests, we were ab le to back-date from known hatc hing dates

and estab li sh that the first eggs were laid in midMay and that almost all clutches were complete by the end of May. With respect to the habitat cho ice, the common feature of this smal l but revea lin g samp le of nests was that all were placed among partly vegetated scree just below a terrace edge. The benefit of their doing thi s appeared two-fo ld . First, snow storms are not uncommon in May and ea rl y June at this site, but relative ly littl e snow accumu lates on the protruding portions of these slopes. What does occur there melts away more quickly than o n other areas. Second, thi s nesting habitat is less attractive to A rctic Ground Squirrels Spermophilus parryi, w hi ch we found to be among the main predators of Surfbird eggs and possibly downy chi cks. The other major unkn own aspect about Surfbird breeding eco logy th at was revealed to us was the role of individu al parents in incubation and c hi ck rearing. Through indi vidu all y marked and rad io-eq uipped birds we lea rn ed that both adu lts shared incubation duties, exc hangin g shifts o nce or twice each dav. The non-in cubating members of pa irs th en often flew off to feeding and loafing areas as far as 5-6 km from the nest. We also found that in nests that hatched ear ly, both parents tended th e brood , usually almost up to the tim e of fledg ing. In late hatch in g nests, however, only a single parent remained w ith the brood. Like other spec ies of montane nesting waders (eg, Bristle-thighed Curi ewa nd Bar-tai led Godwit Limosa lapponica) that we have stud ied elsewhere, adu lt Surfbirds grad uall y moved their broods up slope from the nest site onto higher hab itats that were covered in snow during the ea rl y nesting period. W ithin a coup le of days after fledging, ad ults had departed the area and by mid-July most Surfbirds we re presum ab le o nce agai n a common feature of rocky intertidal habitats. As stated previously, one of the reasons for stud y in g Surfbirds was to obta in information that cou ld be co mpared w ith that avai lable for Great Knot in the hope it would shed some new light on their taxonomic relation. What then did we learn? Overall , the simil ariti es between the two spec ies far outnumbered the differences: 7 breed ing plumages are compa rab le; 2 both spec ies maintain territories during pre-nesting; 3 fli ght displays (including voca l repertoires) and predator avo id ance strateg ies are simil ar; 4 macro- and microhabitat features during nesting are similar in many respects; and 5 both spec ies ex hibi t sim il ar parental care systems.

235

Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats

193 Surfbird / Brand ingloper Aphriza virgata, incubating fema le after ha il , Tu rquoise Lake, A laska, USA, 9 June 1997 (Pavel 5 Tomkovich & Robert E Ci" Jr) 194 Surfbird / Brand in gloper Aphriza virgata, adu lt w ith downy yo un g, Turquoise Lake, A laska, USA, 11 Ju ne 1997 (pavel 5 Tomkovich & Robert E Ci" Jr). Tundra is getting green at hatch ing

236

Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats Comb in ed, these shared traits stro ngly reinforce the idea th at the two spec ies evo lved from common ancestral stock that occu rred ac ross Beringia (Theuni s Piersma in litt). The most obv ious differences between the two spec ies are morphological (eg, leg size and bill shape), traits that appear to have been shaped by th e specialized habitats eac h spec ies occ upi es during the nonbreeding period. These and other issues w ill be addressed more fully when we retu rn to Turquoise Lake in the near future. References Bennett, A 1996. Surfbird distribution and abund ance

in th e Neacola Mountains, Lake Clark Nationa l Park & Preserve. Privatel y publi shed. Jehl , J R Jr 1968. The systematic position of the surfbird , Aphriza virgata. Condor 70: 206-210. Job ling, J A 1991. A dictionary of sc ientific bird names. Oxford. M ili er, E H, Gunn, W W H & MacLean, S F Jr 1987 . Breeding voca li zations of the surfb ird. Condor 89: 406-412. Senner, S E & McCaffery, B J 1997. Surfbird (Aph riza virgata). In : Poole, A & G ill , F B (editors), The birds of North America, No 266, Philadelphia & Wash in gton. Tomkovich, PS 1995. Great Knot on Siberian breed in g ground s. Dutch Birding 17: 15-17.

Pavel S Tomkovich, Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street 6, Moscow 703009, Russia (tomkovic@7.zoomus.bio.msuJu) Robert E Gil! Jr, US Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center, 7077 E Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503, USA Maksim N Dementiev, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Genera I Ecology, Bio logica l Faculty, Moscow State University, Moscow 779899, Russia

Colour variation in European Nuthatch O n 17 December 1996, in Park Sansouci in Potsdam, Germany, I noti ced a flock of c 20 European Nuthatches Sitta europaea. One of these nuth atches looked different. It gave a darker overall impressio n and it lacked the red lower breast and belly of the continental subspecies 5 e caesia. The upperparts of the bird were identi ca l w ith those of the oth er nuth atches, with th e same shade of blue-grey from the forehead and crown down to the rump and ta il and on the w in gs. However, this individual also had blue-grey flanks and a blue-grey belly and lower breast, of the same shade as th e upperparts. Th e grey of the lower breast was separated from the rusty breast by a th in darker ba nd , apparently co ntinuing onto the ear-coverts and joining w ith the black eye-stripe. On the vent, it showed the normal brownish-rusty co lour. The aberrant nuthatch did not ca ll and moved alon g with the rest of the group, behaving identica ll y to the other nuthatches. There is no other spec ies of nuth atch w ith the features shown in the photographs (cf Harrap & Qui nn 1996) and no obv iou s hybrid candidate is avai lab le w ith blue-grey belly and flanks . Thus,

195 Aberrant European Nuthatch / afwijkende Boomkleve r Sitta europaea, Park Sansouc i, Potsdam, Germany, 17 December 1996 (Ignaz Wanders)

the co nclu sion can be drawn that it most likely was a rare co lour va ri ation of the continental subspec ies of European Nuthatc h, possibly due to mutation. Reference Harrap, S & Quin n, D 1996. Tits, nuthatches & treecreepers. London.

Ignaz Wanders, Mercatorpad 4, bus 401,3000 Leuven, Belgium I Outeh Birding 20 : 237, 79981

237

Brieven

---------------------------------------------------------------

Pale-headed great skuas The unusually pale and bleached Great Skua Stercorarius skua shown in Keijl & Prins (1997) clearly invites confusion with South Polar Skua 5 maccormicki. The specimen was seen during my work for Skuas & jaegers (Mailing Olsen & Larsson 1997) and is mentioned on p 66 (under 'var iant') . Recent knowled ge (Bourne & Curtis 1994) has proven th at these very bleached first-year Great Skuas occur regu larly and have confused observers to a large degree, leading to several misidentifications. Such birds may show a very pale head and underbody contrasting with th e dark underwing. Furthermore, th ey show the typical irregular pale pattern on upperwing-coverts and mantie as would be expected, thus excluding South Polar Skua, which at most would show narrow pale streaks on th e mantie and (espec ialIy lesser and median) upperwing-coverts. This makes the upperwing look much more uniform than the bicoloured upperwing of Great Skua. As stressed in Mailing Olsen & Larsson (1997), the pale 'blaze', sometimes regarded as diagnostic for South Polar Skua, may occur in all worn 'great skuas'. As South Polar Skuas which reac h the Western Pal earctic in late summer and

autumn should be in fresh plumage, astrong 'blaze' is a most unreli ab le character for South Polar at this tim e of year - it much better fits worn Great Skuas! Newell et al (1997) present photographs of a large series of autumn birds off Senegal, none of which showed the 'class ical ' pal e blaze. Furthermore, they never observed any very pale-headed birds. A pale ' morph ' South Polar Skua is always an adult bird , whereas juveniles - based on photographs and skins are much more homogenous grey. The 'battleship-grey' plumage of South Polar Skua probably refers to the juvenile plumage, as older birds tend to look browner, although still cold brownish.

References Bourne, W R P & Curtis, W F 1994. Bon xies, barnacles and bl eached blondes. Br Birds 87: 289-298. Keijl, G 0 & Prins, T G 1997. Vondst van bleke Grote Jager in Grevelingenmeer. Dutch Birdin g 19: 284286. Mailing Olsen, K & Larsson, H 1997. Skuas and jaegers: a guide to the skuas and jaegers of the wor/do Mountfield. Newell, D, Porter, R & Marr, T 1997. South Polar Skua - an over/ooked bird in th e eastern Atlantic. Birding Wor/d 10: 229-235.

K/aus Mailing O/sen, Gartnerivej 3, 7, OK 2700 Kobenhavn 0, Oenmark

Variability of field characters in adult Pontic Culi: a comment I very much enjoyed the recent articles in Dutch Birding on Pontic Gull Larus cachinnans cachinnans. Th e second of these (Liebers & Dierschke 1997) was most interesting as it provided information on the variability of field characters, for the first tim e from the breeding grounds. However, I would like to gently challenge th eir conclusions (summarized in the final paragraph in Liebers & Dierschke 1997) that: 7 'there are d ifferences i n field characters compared with earl ier identification papers'; and 2 that variation (particularly of bare-part colours) renders these characters as not useful in identifi cation . Liebers & Dierschke (1997) for the most part co nfirmed the variation already described in, for 238

example, Garner & Quinn (1997). It is, therefore, somewhat surprising to read Liebers & Dierschke (1997), in referring to, for example, iris colour, state that 'Acco rding to Garner & Quinn (1997) ... the iris colour is more or less dark-coloured in cachinnans ... ' In fact, the relevant text in Garner & Quinn (1997) reads: 'Iris colour on nominate cachinnans ranges from pale yellow to cloudy, dull yellow-brown, or completely dark, looking blackish at long range. Two-thirds of the British individuals 50 far reported have shown dark eyes.' Discounting other observers' reports (which may have been biased towards identifying darkeyed birds), Garner & Quinn's (1997) ratio for iris colour was c 65% dark and c 35% pale. Indeed, Garner & Quinn (1997) published a photograph of a nominate with a pale iris (Br Birds 90: 376, [Outeh 8irding 20: 238-240, 7998[

Brie ven

196 Pontic Gull / Pon ti sehe Meeuw Larus eaeh innans cachinnans, adult, M ueking, Essex, England, 24 August 1996

197 Ye llow-I egged Gull / Geelpootmeeuw Larus m ichahellis, adult, M uekin g, Essex, England, October

(Bob Clover)

pl ate 11 7, 1997), and another photog raph of th e same indiv idu al is publi shed here (pl ate 195). Va ri ability in bare-part co lours does not render th em defun ct as fi eld c haracters. Cachinnans w ith a paIe iri s seen in Britain still tended to show oth er bare-part co lo urs w ithi n the typica l range of thi s fo rm, w hic h in combinati on w ith each oth er and oth er fi eld characters, fac i I itated a cl ear identifi cation. In this rega rd, in pl ate 290 in Li ebers &

1996

(Bob Clover)

Dierschke (1997), th e iri s co lour differs between th e two individuals, but th e bill and leg col ours are simil ar and within the typi ca l range of

cachinnans. References Garn er, M & Q ui nn, D 1997. Identifi eati on of Ye llowlegged Gull s in Britain. Br Bird s 90 : 25-62. Li ebers, D & Diersehke, V 1997. Var iab ili ty of fi eld eharaeters in adult Po ntic Yellow-I egged Guii s. Duteh Bird ing 19: 277 -280.

Ma rtin Ca rner, 35 Meeting House Lane, Lisburn, Antrim BT27 5 BY, No rthern Ireland

Common Tern variation and pale bill-tips: a comment M ystery photograp hs offer a uni que oppo rtu nity to make sho rt comments o n certa in indivi du als, and are generall y not intended to appear as 'main papers' . Peter Kennerl ey's comments (Kennerl ey 1997) on mystery photog rap h 58 (M ailing O lsen 1997) were useful rega rdin g w hat Common Tern Sterna hirundo tibetana loo ks like w hen fresh. O f course, th e grey co lo rati o n in th e underparts is stron gest w hen th e plumage is very fres h, becomin g gradu all y pa ler during th e breed ing seaso n. I have based my know ledge on se ri es of skins, mainl y at th e N atural Hi story M useum (NHM ) at Tring, England, all fro m breed ing sites in Ti bet . A d isadva ntage of skin seri es is surely th at most may be co ll ected w ithin a short pe ri od on a certain spot, leav ing large 'gaps' in knowledge o n yea rl y va ri ati o n, but suit-

ab le fo r taking measurements. Thi s coul d not be substituted by studying 1005 of li ve birds. Kennerl ey (1997) shows w hat fresh tibetana may loo k like and has given some useful comments o n th e co lo rati o n of underp arts and bare parts. N ote, however, th e simil ariti es between unde rpart co lo rati on in p late 294 (Dutch Birdin g 19: 283, 1997) and the Common Tern S h hirundo in simil ar fres h p lum age in M ailing O lsen & Larsso n (1995 , plate 8 1). Al so, I tend to agree w ith Kennerl ey th at pl ate 87 in M ailing O lse n & Larsson (1995) may be S h minussensis, w hi ch may be an intergrade fo rm betwee n hirundo and lo ngipennis. The photo was taken in evening li ght, affectin g th e co lo ration of the birds, makin g exact co lours and shades hard to jud ge. My co nc lu sio n th at the 'mystery tern ' wa s an unu suall y da rk-patterned hirundo was based on d isc ussions w ith the late Claudi a W ild s concerning simil ar birds observed in th e USA, whi ch 239

Brieven

198 Comm o n Tern / Visd ief Stern a hirundo hirundo, adul t summer, Stell end am, Z uid-H o ll and, Neth erl and s, 4 Jul y 199 4 (K/aus M ailing O /sen). Note pale extreme ti p to b ill 199 Co mmo n Tern / Visdi ef Sterna hirundo hirundo, ad ult mo ulti ng to wi nter plum age, Lelystad, Fl evo land, Netherlands, 9 September 1995 (K/aus M ailing O/sen). Note extent of pale bill -ti p, w hi ch grad uall y becomes more extensive in late summ er and autumn befo re bill in w inter beco mes all bl ack

would be even more out-of-range for the shortdi stance migratin g tibetana. A furth er indi cation was th at neither Kennerl ey nor me have ever see n th e grey ax ill ari es in any hirundo and tibetana, alth ough I have noti ced a slight grey was h in a bird (hirundo or minussensis) photographed in Kaza khstan in june. In th at individu al, th e bill co lo rati o n was close to th e Hon g Kon g tibetana (darker red w ith broader b lac k bill-tip). Note also, th at th e 'mystery tern ' photographs are rath er dark, es pec iall y affectin g th e appea rance of th e upperp arts - in m y opinion this may w eil be a photographi c effect rath er th an rea l ity. A pale tip to th e bill is not, as stated by Kenn erl ey, a unique feature of tibetana. It occ urs

in hirundo as we il , as shown by th e summer plum aged adult in pl ate 198 . During deve lopment of th e dark w inter bill , th e pale bill-tip becomes more extensi ve, sometim es as mu ch as to create a look reminiscent of Sandwic h Tern 5 sandvicensis (pl ate 199; see also pl ate 82 in M ailin g Ol sen & Lars son 1995). References Kenn erl ey, P R 1997 . Dark Co mmo n Tern s. Dutch Bird ing 19 : 283-284 . M ailin g O l se n, K 1997 . Mystery photograph 58: Com mo n Tern. Du tc h Birdin g 19 : 20. Mailin g O l se n, K & Larsso n, H 1995. Tern s of Europe and North A meri ca . Lo nd o n.

K/aus Mailing O /sen, Cartnerivej 3, 7, OK 2 700 K0 benhavn 0 , Oenmark

Corrigenda _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ Bij de foto va n Rui gpootuil Aego lius funere us (D utc h Birdi ng 20 : 147, plaat 108, 1998) is het ve rkeerde jaartal verm eld; het co rrecte j aa r is 1993 (ni et 1996 ). Bij de foto van Huiskraai Corvus sp /endens (D utch Bird ing 20: 190, plaat 152 , 1998 ) heeft ee n ve rw isselin g plaatsgevonden. De afgebee ld e vogel betreft niet de adulte voge l van Ko llum erpo mp, Fries land, maar de ju ven iele vogel van Hoek va n H o ll and, Zuid-H o ll and . Het correcte on dersc hrift lui dt : Hui skraa i / Ho use Crow Corvus sp /endens, juveni el, Hoek van Ho ll and, Zu idHo ll and, 23 j ul i 1998 (Leo ) R Boon/Cursorius). RED ACTIE

240

Th e photog raph of Tengm alm's Owl Aego /ius funereus (Dutch Bird in g 20: 14 7, plate 108, 1998) was w ro ngly capt io ned; th e co rrect year is 1993 (not 1996). The ph otograp h of Ho use Crow Corvus sp /endens (Dutch Bird ing 20 : 190, pl ate 152, 1998) was swi tched . Th e bird in the ph otograph is not the adul t at Ko ll umerpo m p, Fri esland, bu t the j uvenil e at Hoek van Ho ll and, Z ui d-H o ll and . Th e co rrect capt ion sho ul d read : H uisk raai / House Cro w Corvus sp /endens, ju veniel, Hoek va n Ho ll and, Z ui d-H o ll and, 23 juli 1998 (Leo J R Boon/Cursorius). ED ITORS

Recensies WULF GATTER 1998. 8irds of Liberia. Pica Press, Th e Banks, Mountfield, Nr Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5JY, UK . 320 pp . ISBN 1-873403-63-1. GBP 40.00. J S ASH & J E MISKELL 1998. 8irds of Soma lia. Pica Press, The Banks, Mountfield, N r Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5JY, UK . 320 pp. ISBN 1-873403-58-5. GBP 40.00. Th ese are two beautifully prod uced books, both to be conside red major contribu tions to Afr ican orn ith o logy. Th e books roughly fo ll ow the sa me outline, includin g a bri ef introdu ct io n, hi sto ry of orn itho logy (Liberi a 4.5 pages, Somal ia 10 pages), geology and topography, cl imate, vegetatio n zones (10 and 28 pages), bio log ica l, respective ly breeding seasons (8 and 2 pages), migration (11 and 9 pages), conse rvation, var ious appendices, gazetteer and bibliography. Several of these chapters in 8irds of Somalia are contributi ons by others th an th e authors of the book. 8irds of Liberia has been written entire ly by Wu lf Gatter, except fo r two sma ll sections on 'Phenology of Liberi an lowland forest insects' and 'Aspects of b iogeography'. In the systematic l ist of Bird s of Liberia, 615 spec ies are dea lt w ith o n 157 pages, in th at of Soma li a 654 species o n 217 pages. Distribution maps, based on half-degree grid sq uares, have been in c luded in many Liberian and in all Soma li species accounts. As a result, most pages in the systematic l ist section of 8irds of Somalia have plenty of blank space to add add iti ona l notes .. In geograp hi ca l terms, Liberi a is rega rd ed as o ne of the least know n co un tries of Afr ica: large areas have never even been mapped. Thi s country ho lds the most extensive area of rainfo rest w ithin the upper Guinea region of West Africa. Serious ornith o log ical wo rk was o nl y un dertaken for the first time in the 1960s and 1970s. Wulf Gatter has ca rri ed out over 15 yea rs of research in Liberia. As a professional forester, he gives a clea r and detailed account of forest vegetation and eco logy of forest bird s. Many new data o n foraging hei ghts and compos itio n of mixed species fl ocks are presented in a large chapter and in two appendices (3 and 14 pages). The species accounts, where relevant, summa ri ze detai ls o n distribution, habitats, eco logy, and an nu al cycle. Four nice co lour plates by Martin Woodcock show 29 characteri stic spec ies . In additio n, there are co lo ur photographs of 56 spec ies, 30 co lour photographs of habitats, most half page, and 21 monochrome plates of var ious subj ects, makin g thi s book more illu strated than 8irds of Somalia. Ornitholog ica ll y, Soma lia has been probab ly the least known of any country in Afr ica. Th e auth or's statement 'we like to think now that this deficiency has been somewhat overcome' is too modest indeed! John Ash and John M iskeIl have ca rri ed o ut an impress ive amou nt of fieldwork d uring many years of residenc y. This is reflected by th e map show in g sq uares from which th ere are orn itho logica l observations, the major-

[Ou/eh Birding 20: 241路242, 1998[

ity of whic h were v isited by the au th ors (a lthough 40 of these sq uares have never been v isited by ornitho logists!). Over 70% of the 20 000 reco rd s used to compil e the distribution maps we re provided by the authors. Indeed, the esse nce of the book are the 654 d istribution maps . The species accou nts give th e preferred habitat, relati ve abundance, detai ls on mi gration , breed ing season and clutch size. Five exce ll ent co lo ur plates by Martin Woodcock depict 25 little-known bird s specia l to the reg ion, including Somalia's seven endem ics: Somali Rock Pigeon Columba olivae, Warsange li Linnet Acanthis johann is, and f ive lark species . I w ill refrain from makin g the usual remarks on numbers of bird books publ ished and their prices, but still wo ul d like to express my doubt th at more than a few cop ies of these books wil l find their way to eith er of the countries . A nd th at is a pitty! PETER L MEININGER

BARBARA M EARNS & RICHARD MEARNS 1998. The bird eollectors. Academic Press, 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, Ca l ifornia 92 10 1-4495, USA; 24-28 Ova l Road, London NW1 7DX, UK. 472 pp. ISBN 0-1 2-4 87440-1. USD 59 .50, GBP 43 .95. Barbara and Richard Mearns have become we il known as 'ornitho-historical ' researchers by a seri es of books pub lished in the last decade. 8iographies for birdwatchers (1988) con tain ed 90 biographies of natura li sts and other people comm emorated in Western Pal ea rctic bi rd names. Audubon to Xanthus (1992) in a sim ilar fashion described the li ves of over 100 persons whose name is kept in memo ry in Nearctic bird names . Their third major work on a row, The bird collectors, again bu ild s on the fascination both authors have for the peop le w ho played im portant ro les in the orni tho log ica l hi story from the last two centuri es . This book describes the work and lives of all those who have co llected birds in va ri ous ways and for va ri ous reasons. Together, th ese co ll ected birds nowadays form an in va lu ab le treasure of documentation and information, wh ich se rves the orn ith ologica l community up to today and wi ll cont inu e to do so probab ly for centuries to come . Th e autho rs try to cover the w ho le field of bird co ll ectin g, first to uch in g upon co ll ecting for other than sc ientific reasons (eg, for food , sport or fashion) but devoting most of the book to sc ientifi c bird co ll ectin g. They descr ibe how in the 17th to 19th centu ry pr ivate co ll ections became fashionab le (ma ny of wh ich have later merged into in st itu tiona l co ll ections). A lso the p ractica li ties of fo r instance catc hing and killin g, skin ning and preparin g and sending spec imens home are discussed. The fo ll ow ing chapters each describe a d ifferent aspect of bird co ll ectin g and the vario us co llectors, focussing on the va ri ety of peop le and in stitutions in vo lved in co ll ecting, suc h as b ird artists, government-sponsored exped itio ns, army officers,

24 1

Recensies clergymen and missionaries, the 'great accumu lators' and the profess iona l field col lectors of the last 150 years . Separate chapters are devoted to female col lectors and the protectionist and conservation ist col lectors, more a phenomenon of the 20th century than of earl ier days. The book ends with a chapter discussing the importance of old and new bird col lections and highli ghts the eth ica l aspects of continued collection in such a way that it enables the reader to form his own opinion and draw his own conclus ion. An append ix gives a I ist of the wo rld 's 69 largest study sk in museums. The British Museum of Natura l History (BMNH) is on a firm first place w ith a co ll ection of c 1 million sk in s; the two influential Dutch co ll ections are at modest positions, as far as the number of sk in s is concerned: position 16 (NNM, Leiden) and 37 (ZMA, Amste rdam), respectively. The chosen clustering in chapters sometimes takes the reader back and forth i n ti me and the reasons for some clu sters may be argued, but in general this approach adds the necessary context and results in interesting extra info rm ation. The text is readable and

informative and severa l b lack-and-white illu strations enl iven the works and lives of the people described and flavour the book w ith a strong feeling of 'daysgone-by'. As a sidestep, I personally experienced that every person mentioned in the books induces the reader to find a bird species in which his or her name continu es to be remembered. Contrary to the first two books mentioned above, wh ich are centered completeIy around this 'name-giving' theme, The bird collectors tel ls a comp lete story of a fascinatin g aspect of orn ithology and invites the reader to read the w ho Ie sto ry rather than 'zapp' through the biographies as in the other two books. For those interested in the development of ornithology this is a fascinatin g book and therefore highl y recommended. If it shows one thing, it is the fact th at the eagerness and perseverence of modern-dav birdwatchers, be they professionals o r amateurs, to trace birds in the most remote co rners of the earth may differ from the gone-by bird collectors as far as tools and methods are conce rned, but not in the mentality that drives them. ENNO B EBELS

DBA-nieuws 25% korting op British Birds Nog altijd komen Dutch Birding-abonnees in aanme rking voo r een korting van 25 % op de abonnementsprij s van British Birds. Hi erdoor kost dit abonnement voor 1999 slechts GBP 36.00. Zoa ls bekend verschi jnt British Birds maandelij ks . Voor een abonnement of een proefnummer kunt u z ich wenden tot: Mrs Erika Sharrock, Fountains, Park Lane, Blunham, Bedford MK44 3NJ, UK, te lefoon & fax +44-1234364366. Betaling van abonnementsgeld voor 1999 Bij dit nummer van Dutch Birding treft u een acceptgirokaart aa n waarmee het abonnementsge ld voor 1999 kan worden betaald. De abonnementsprij s is hetzelfde als voor 1998 en bedraagt NLG 65.00 (Nederland) of BEF 1320 (BelgiĂŤ). Wij verzoeken u het abon nementsge ld voor 1 februari 1999 over te maken. In verband met de kosten die verbonden z ijn aan het versturen van herinneringen en aanman in gen zal voor latere beta lers NLG 5.00 extra in rekening worden gebracht. Voorts verzoeken w ij u om al le co rrespondentie over abonnementszaken te ri chten aan: Dutch Birding Associat ion, p/a Jeannette Admi raa l, Iepen la an 11 , 1901 ST Castricum, Nederl and. Payment of subscription for 1999 We request our subscribers to pay their subscription fee for 1999 as soon as possible. The subscript ion rate remains unchanged. For subscribers in Europe the rate is N LG 72.50 and for subscr ibers outside Europe NLG 77.50. We kind ly request to follow the instruction s on the enc losed invoice. Subscribers in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden are requested to use exclusively

242

the Dutch Birding giro accounts in these respective countri es, as indi cated in the invoice. Subscribers in Britain and Ireland are requested to pay exclusively by Sterlin g cheque and to follow the instructions on the enclosed in voice. Subscribers in the remaining European countries (except those resident in the Netherlands and Belgium) are requested to use a Eurocheque or credit card (Access, Eurocard, MasterCard or Visa; please state account number and exp iry date and append signature). Please, do not pay by bank (N LG 20.00 extra costs), cheque (N LG 20.00 extra costs) or o ur giro account in the Netherl ands (N LG 6.50 extra costs). Subscribers who have not pa id by 1 February 1999 w ill be charged NLG 5.00 extra to compensate adm ini stration costs. For all subscription matters, please use the following address: Dutch Birdin g Association, c/o Jeannette Adm iraal, Iepenlaan 11 , 190 1 ST Castricum, Netherlands. Uitverkochte nummers van Dutch Birding Veelvuldig doen leden navraag waar zij uitverkochte nummers van Dutch Birding kunnen v inden. Een goed advies was helaas nooit voorhand en en tot op heden hebben w ij mensen moeten teleurstellen. Hierbij doen wi j een drin gend beroep op de lezer die wel li cht in het bezit is van dubbele nummers of misschien geen prijs meer stelt op zijn oude nummers. Bent u zo iemand, of kent u zo iemand? Neem dan even contact op met Ron van den Enden, Mo lenve ltl aan 30, 207 1 BS SantpoortNoord, Nederland, telefoon 023-5375389. Over een redelijke ve rgoeding va lt natuu rlij k te praten!

IDutch Birding 20: 242-243, 19981

DBA-nieuws Out-of-stock back issues of Dutch Birding Frequently, subscribers request information where to find back issues of Dutch Birding that are out of stock. Good advice was, unfortunately, not avai labl e and we had to disappoint many of those interested. Therefore, we want to appea l to readers who perhaps have duplicate copies or who are no longer interested in keeping their cop ies . Do you have back issues available, or do you know somebody who has? If so, please, contact Ron va n den Enden, Molenveltlaan 30, 2071 BS SantpoortNoord, Netherl ands. Areasonabie price can be negotiated! DBA-vogeldag op 6 februari 1999 te Utrecht Het programma van de traditionele DBA-vogeldag op zaterdag 6 februari 1999 is bekend. We zijn erin geslaagd om voor deze dag de bekendste Amerika anse voge laar van dit moment te str ikken, Jon Dunn, auteu r van The large gulls of North America (v id eo) en coauteur van National Geographic Society field guide to the birds of North America en A field guide to warblers of North America. Het programma z iet er als vo lgt uit: 09:00 zaa l open voor publiek; 09:30 opening (G ijs van der Bent); 10:00 warb lers of North America Uon Dunn); 11 :15 pauze; 11:45 mystery bird competitie 1 (Domi nique Verbeien, Gunter de Smet & Gerald Driessens); 12:15 pauze; 13: 15 mystery bird competitie (op loss in gen en prijsuitreiking); 14 :00 pauze; 14:30 identificat ion of dowitchers, sandp ipers & large gull s Uon Dunn); 15:15 pauze; 15:45 jaarove rzicht 1998 BelgiĂŤ; 16:00 jaaroverzicht 1998 Nederland (Wim

Wiegant); 17:05 sluitin g; 17 :30 zaa l dicht voor publiek. De locatie van de DBA-vogeldag is het inmidd els al even traditionele Hoofdgebouw Diergeneeskunde aan de Yalelaan 1 (in De Uithof) te Utrecht, Utrecht, bereikbaar met de auto via afslag 'De Uithof' vanaf de A27 en A28, na het AZU-ziekenhuis de eerste weg rechts, en met de bus vanaf Utrecht CS met de lijnen 11 en 12. In de foyer za l de gebru ikelijke 'vogelaa rsbeurs' opgeste ld worden die tevens dienst doet als sociaa l ontmoetingscentrum. Door beter gebru ik te maken van de beschikbare ruimte kunnen behalve de bekende standhouders (o nder meer Combi Focus, DBTRS, Ger Meesters Boekprodukties, Natuur & Boek/Naturalis, Moby Dick) enke le nieuwe namen aan het aanbod van stands worden toegevoegd. Via de Dutch Birdingvoge llijn en Internet za l het laatste nieuws hierover worden gegeven Wegens groot succes krijgt de stand van de CDNA dit jaar een vervolg. Er komt een kleine diaprojector in de stand te staan voor het geval dat er bezoekers zijn met dia's van echte 'mystery birds' . De truien en polo's met Dutch Birding-Iogo die ti jdens de DBA-vogelweek op Texe l te koop waren vielen zeer in de smaak en zijn all emaa l uitverkocht. N iet-Texe lgangers krijgen op de DBA-vogeldag echter een herkansing: in de DBA-stand zul len naast de gebruikel ijke oude nummers van Dutch Birding ook truien , polo-shirts, t-shirts en petten te koop zijn. Mensen die benieuwd zijn naar de DBAwebs ite op Internet kunnen deze bekijken op twee pc's ter plaatse. Uiteraard is ook het Dutch Birding-videojaaroverzicht in de foyer te zien. GIJSBERT VAN DER BENT

Aankondigingen & verzoeken Griffon Vulture nesting surveillance project in Israel The National Parks and Nature Reserve Author ity of Israe l is running a nesting survei ll ance project for Griffon Vultures Cyps fulvus in Gamla Nature Reserve in northern Israel/Golan heights. The study aims to uncover reasons for the decline of this, Israel's largest, Griffon Vu lture population. Nesting pairs wi ll be observed, monitored and tracked during their nesting and in cubation period. The nests are situated in crev ices alon g the wa ll s of a deep ca nyon in the beautiful Gamla Nature Reserve, wh ich also holds the largest co lon y of raptors in Israe l, such as Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Short-toed Eagle Circaetus ga lficus, Long-Iegged Buzzard Buteo rufinus, Bonelli 's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus as we il as Eagle Owl Bubo bubo. Vo lunteers are required for monitoring and recording data during the nesting season and w ill participate in radio-telemetry tracking. The project wi ll run from December 1998 through September 1999 . Accommodation and basic subsistence will be provided. Commitment of at least four weeks is preferabie.

[Ou/eh Birding 20: 243, 79981

Those interested are requested to contact the following address, where also more information on the project can be obtained: Gamla Nature Reserve, PO Box 70, Katzrin 12-900, Golan Heights, Israe l, telephone +97266963721 (work) or +972-66963879 (home). fax +972-66961166, e-ma il ferro@internet-zahav.net.

New owners of Texel Birdwatching Center The Texel Birdwatching Center (TBC) at De Cocksdorp, Texel, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, has recently changed ownership and is now managed by Cor and Ineke Brandsema. Also telephone and fax numbers have +31changed: telephone +31-222316899, fax 222316688. Nieuwe eigenaars Texel Birdwatching Center Het Texe l Birdwatching Center (TBC) in De Cocksdorp, Texel, Noord-Holland, is onlangs van eigenaar veranderd en wordt nu beheerd door Cor en Ineke Brandsema. Ook te lefoon- en faxnummer zijn veranderd: telefoon 0222-316899, fax 0222-316688.

243

~_- - - -=- - -S~:- = :- =- =-t-~-%:

Maste rs of Myste ry ~ Solutions of fourth round 1998 The solutions of mystery photographs V II-VI II of the fourth round of 1998 (Dutch Bird in g 20: 182183, 1998) appear below. VII This photograph shows a rather strange look ing an imal that is even somewhat difficult to recognise as a bird. The pos ition of the head and the use of flash light, resulting in some parts of the bird being overexposed, make this bird look 50 mysterious. Fortunately, th is does not alter th e fact that there are some features visib le on the photograph. These are a both very deep- and broad-based bill , rather broad but d iffuse superci li a between th e eye and bill , ij. dark crown, and apa ie, unmarked throat and neck/breast. Imm ature Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax shows most of these featu res, but in non-juvenile plumage, when the neck and breast are no longer clearly streaked, this species already shows a wh iti sh forehead. A lso Common Quai l Co turn ix coturnix and most (juveni le) crakes Porzana resembie the mystery bird in some respects, but the bills of these species are not as broad- and deep-based as that of the mystery bird . O nl y Corn Crake Crex crex shows the right features to fit this odd photograph. This Corn Crake was photographed at Gron ingen, Gron in gen, Netherlands, on 20 May 1990 by .Leo Boon. Another photograph of the same bird appears as plate 200. It was identified correctly by 21 % of the entrants. Incorrect answers included Bai ll on's Crake P pusi//a (13%), Common Qua il (11 %), N ight Heron (8%), Little Crake P parva (8%) and also some passerines such as Spanish Spa rrow Passer hispanio/ensis and Bobol ink Do/ichonyx oryzivorus.

I.J:.--.S=-= =. .KI

OPT IK

th e structure of the closed w in g, most im portantIy the primary-projection. In Icterine, the length of the pr im ary-projection often equa ls more or less that of the exposed tertials, whereas the pri mary-projection of Me lodious is shorter, often about half of the tertial length. However, there is some variation in the primary-projections of Icter in e and Melod ious and individuals with a prima ry-projection of about two-thirds of the tertial length can be found in both, though more regularly in Melodious. Hence, the primary-projection of the mystery bi rd cou ld probab ly fit both spec ies. In such a case it is important to study the number of visib le primary-tips and the spac ing between them. Firstly, there are about six primary-tips visib le bevond the tertials in the mystery bird. This best f its Me lod ious, w hi ch usually shows five or six (but sometimes seven) visibl e primary-t ips on the c losed w ing, whereas Icterine usually shows seven or eight visibl e pri200 Corn Crake / Kwartelkoning Crex crex, Groningen, Groningen, Netherl ands, 20 May 1990 (Leo J R Boon/Cursorius)

VIII The comb in ation of ye ll ow ish-toned underparts, ol ive-green upperparts, pa le and bright ye llow lores without a hint of a dark loral stripe, just visibl e broad bill-base, pale edges to the secondar ies forming a w ing-pane l, square-ended ta il and pa le-edged outer tai l-feathers points towards eith er a Me lod ious Warbier Hippo/ais po/yg/otta or an Icterine Warb ier H icterina. A good feature for sepa rating these two spec ies is presented by

244

IDutch Birding 20: 244路246, 19981

Masters of Mystery mary-tips. Secondly, the primary-spacings of the mystery bird are all of roughly equa l length. This also suggests Me lodious, since in Icterine the spac in gs between the vis ible primary-tips often increase towards the wing-tip. On the other hand, the fairly contrasting wingpanel of the mystery bird suggests an Icter in e Warbier, wh ich typically shows a prominent wing-pane l formed by the pale-edged secondaries. In many Me lodious Warblers, the wingpanel is almost absent, but quite regularly Melodious shows a rather we ll-deve loped w ingpanel (especia ll y in spring). Additionally, the legs of the mystery bird are brown like that of most Melodious. Icterine usually has blue-grey legs, but some Melodious have grey legs as wei l and Icterine occas iona ll y has rather brownish legs. Fortunately, there is one feature shown in the mystery photograph that confirms this bird 's identity as a Me lodious Warbier. This is the length of the outermost primary (p1). In the photograph it is clear ly visibl e that p1 is lon ger than the prim ary coverts. This fits Melodious, w hi ch has p1 2.5-8 mm longer than the longest primary covert, w hereas in Icter ine Warbier p1 is shorter, varying from 3 mm shorter to 3 mm longer than the longest primary covert. This Melodious Warbier was photographed at

Taliouline, Morocco, on 18 April 1997 by Arnoud van den Berg. 18% of the entrants identified it correctly, w hil e the rather unusual prominent wing-pane l of this Melodious attracted 25% of the entrants towards Icterine Warbier. Other incorrect answers included Willow Warbier Phylloscopus trochilus (22%) and Chiffchaff P collybita (20%). There were 12 entrants with one correct answer, but on ly three entrants succeeded in identifying both mystery birds correctly: H annu jännes and jyrki Normaja from Finland and Sander Lagerveld from the Netherlands. All three of them wi ll receive a copy of 8ird Identification a reference gu ide by Kristian Adolfsson and Stefan Cherrug, donated by Ska nes Ornito log iska Förening. Hannu j ännes is now the sole leader of the competition w ith seven correct answers out of eight mystery birds, followed by Sietse Bernardus, j an va n der Laan, Sander Lagerveld, Timo Marijnissen, Mark Nieuwenhuis, jyrki Normaja and Dave van der Spoel with five correct answers, seven entra nts w ith four, 18 entrants with th ree, 57 entrants w ith two, 32 entrants with one and 30 entrants w ith zero (see also http:// www.xs4all.nl/-el and/dutch b i rd i ng).

Oiederik Kok, Pelmolenweg 4, 3577 XN Utrecht, Netherlands (d.s.kok@students.chem.uu.nl) Nils van Duivendijk, Cu ldenhoeve 34, 3457 TC Vleuten, Netherlands (duivendijk@multiweb.nl)

Fifth round 1998 Please, study th e rules (D utch Birding 20: 42-43 , 1998) carefu ll y and identify the birds in mystery photographs IX and X. In mystery photograph X, only the bird in the centre of the picture has to be identified (not all birds in this photograph are necessarily of the same spec ies). So luti ons can be sent in three d ifferent ways: • by postcard to Dutch Birding Association , Postbus 7561 1, 1070 AP Amsterdam, Netherlands • bye-mail tod.s.kok@students.c hem.uu.n l • by Internet via the homepage of the Dutch Birding Association, http://www.xs4all.nl/-eland/ dutchbirding Entries for the fourth round have to arrive by 31 December 1998. From th ose entrants having identifi ed both mystery birds correctly, three persons wi ll be drawn who w ill receive a copy of A field guide to warblers of North America by j on Dunn & Kimbali Garrett, donated by Houghton Mifflin (pub li shers). Swarovski Bene245

Masters of Mystery

lux will awa rd a pair of the highly accl aimed Swa rovski SLC 8x30 WB binoculars to th e over-

all winner at the end of th e competition (after six rounds).

Oiederik Kok, Pelmolen weg 4, 35 11 XN Utrecht, Netherlands (d.s.kok@students.chem.uu .n/J Nils van Duivendijk, Guldenhoeve 3 4, 3451 TC Vleuten, Netherlands (duivendijk@multiweb.n/J

WP reports Thi s rev iew li sts rare and interestin g bird s reported in the W estern Palearctic in late September-October 1998 and focuses on north-western Europe. Many reports from ea rl y September ca n be fo und in Dutch Birdin g 20 : 126- 135, 1998. Th e reports are large ly un checked and their publi cation here does not impl y future acceptance by the rarit ies committee of th e releva nt country. Observe rs are requested to submit record s to each country's rariti es committee . Corrections are we lco me and w ill be publi shed. At Hortobágy, Hunga ry, 44 Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus had arri ved by 24 September. In th e Netherl and s, there we re 6 1 reports of co lourrin gs in th e w inter of 1997/ 98, includin g 35 at A njum, Fri esland, 22 at Petten, Noord-H o ll and, and 13 at Strij en, Zuid-Ho ll and (some referri ng to th e sa me individu als). Durin g October, seven Ring-necked Ducks Aythya col/aris and 11 Surf Scoters M elanitta perspicilIata we re see n in Britain and Ireland . A lso in October,

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the male Lesser Scaup A affinis in Switzerl and (Ioca ll y regarded as an escape) was present for its seventh w inter at Les Grangettes, Lac Léman (cf Dutch Birdi ng 15: 83-84, 1993, 16 : 78, 1994, 17: 29, 1995) . Th ree indiv idu als (incl ud ing two fem ales) turned up at Loch of Spiggie, Shetland, Scotland, on 1-4 November. During October, 10 American Wigeons Mareca americana we re see n in Britain. Last w inter's male Black Duck Anas rubripes at Barrow Harbour, Kerry, Ireland, was aga in present from 16 A ugust until at least mid October. In the Azo res, a ma le was reported on 26 Septembe r. Th e first for mainl and England in more th an 30 yea rs was at Stithi ans reservo ir, Co rn wa ll , from 29 October into November. If accepted as a w ild b ird, a Marbied Duck M armaronetta angustirostris nea r Linz from 29 A ugust into September wo uld be the first fo r Austri a. An adult summer Pied-billed Grebe PodiIymbus podiceps w hich returned to Rostel lan Lake, Cork, Ireland, on 26 Jul y rema ined into November. Another was seen at Vi lleneuve-d ' Ascq , Nord, France,

[outeh 8irding 20: 246·253, 7998[

WP rep orts on 27-29 September. From 28 O ctober to 1 Novembe r, one w as present on Bryher, Sc ill y, En gland. The second or third Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera for North A meri ca was photographed on 18 O ctober during a Monterey Bay pe lagic tri p 10 mil es off Point Pinos, Ca lifornia, USA. Th e first Cape Verde Shearwater Ca /on ectris edwardsii for th e Canary Islands was see n from the Gomera ferry on 13 O ctober. If accepted, a Cory's Shearwater C borea lis fly in g north past Camperduin , Schoo rl , Noord-H oll and, on 1 November w ill be (onl y) th e eighth for th e Neth erl ands. Poss ibl y, th e largest influ x ever of European Storm-petrel H ydrobates pe/agicus for the Neth erl and s o cc urred on 26-31 O ctober w hen at least 50 indi v idu als we re seen at va riou s sites, mostl y at Schevenin gen, Zuid-H o ll and ; during th e previou s influ x, on 21-24 September 1990, 2 7 indi v idu als we re recorded. In Nove mber 1996, th e first breeding leach's Storm-petrels O cea nodroma /eucorhoa for the Southern Hemi sph ere we re found on Dye r Island, South Afri ca (O stri ch 69, 1998) . In the Azores, a little Blue Heron H ydranassa caeru/ea was reported on Pi co on 5-10 O ctober and a Cattle Egret Bubu/cus ibis, Western Reef Egret Egretta gu/aris and Great White Egret Casmerodius a/bus we re seen at Ponta Gosdos Taetanos on 26 O ctober. Th e breeding population of Black Stork Ciconia nigra in south-eastern Bel gium reac hed c 20 pairs in 1998 w ith c 65 young bein g raised (th e first confirmed breeding w as as recent as 1989). In th e Neth erl and s, an influ x of Glossy Ibis P/egadis fa/cin ellus occ urred w ith flocks of three to seven between 4 and 18 O ctober at Eemshaven, Gronin gen (s eve n on 4 O ctober), H arlin gen, Fri es land (fi ve on 4 October), Gaast, Fri es land (fi ve on 10-18 O ctober), Den Hoorn, Texe l, Noord-Holl and (th ree on 17 October), and De Putten, Camperduin , NoordHoll and (th ree on 18 October). Exception al numbers of Eurasian Spoonbill P/ata/ea /eucorodia we re seen in September in Finland (a flock of 20; onl y eight previou s records), Norway (a flock of 10 in Nord-Tr0nd elag on

22 September and more th an six at three oth er sites from 20 September into October), Sweden (a fl ock of 15 in Västerbotten on 16 September and three sin gles on 17-26 September) and Northern Ireland (a t least three first-w inters in October; onl y three previo us reco rd s) . At Fanel, Lac de Neuchatel, Switzerl and, a fl oc k of six ju venil es Greater Flamingo Phoen icopterus roseus was present from 1 September into at least ea rl y November; one of these was colour-ringed in the Camargue, Bou ches-du-Rh6ne, Fran ce . Th e first breedin g of Black-shouldered Kite E/anus caeru/eus for Cataloni a, Spain, con ce rn ed two pairs at the Ll eid a steppes, of w hi ch one pair raised tw o youn g. As in prev iou s autumns, a Rüppell's Vulture C yps ru eppellii was seen betwee n A igeciras and Tari fa, Cád iz, on 3 O ctobe r; three indi vidual s we re reported in September. In Sweden, at least 15 Pallid Harriers Circus macrourus we re see n in th e second half of September and, in Finl and, ei ght ju venil es we re recorded in Septembe r. Durin g O ctober, th ere we re several reports as we il, includin g an adult at Steigen, Nordl and, Norw ay, on 27 O ctober and a ju ve nile 30 km from Lund, Skäne, Sweden, on 30 O ctober. A rin ged ju venile long-Iegged Buzzard Buteo rufinus stayed near Aaien at O stalbkreuz, Baden-Württemberg, German y, from September into November. If accepted, a ju ve nile north-east of M almö, Skane, on 20 September w ill be the eighth for Sweden. At Fal sterbo, Skane, at least seven lesser Spotted Eagles Aqui/a pomarina we re see n during September; others we re, eg, on Öl and. If accepted, a female-type lesser Kestrel Fa/co naumanni bri efl y seen at Konge lunden, K0benhav n, N ordsj ce lland, on 1 O ctober w ill be the ninth for Denmark. In France, two Eleonora's Falcons F e/eonorae w ere sti II present on 18 September in th e Camargue. In Skäne, on e w as see n on 30 September. In 199 7, the w ild population of Mauritius Kestrel F punctatus had ri se n to 540 from onl y fo ur indi v idual s in 1974. In th e w inter of 199 7/98, th e number of Whooping Crane Crus america na at Aransas, Texas, USA, was 171 indi v idu als, includin g a

201 Glossy Ibises / Zwarte Ibi sse n P/egadis fa/cinellus, Gaast, Fri es land, Neth erl ands, 11 O ctober 1998 (M ark Z ekhuis)

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WP reports

202 Long-tailed Skua / Kleinste jager Stercorarius longicaudus, Altm端 hl see, Bayern , Germany, August 1998 (Thomas Sacher)

203 Wilson 's Sn ipe / Wilsons Sn ip Ga llinago delicata, Lower Moors, St Mary's, Scilly, England, October 1998 (Iain H Leach)

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WP reports

204 Demoiselle Crane / Jufferkraanvogel Anthropoides virgo, adu lt, Mariahoop, Lim bu rg, Netherl ands, 17 September 1998 Uan den Hertog) 205 Least Sandpiper / Kleinste Strand loper Ca lidris minutil/a, Rogerstown, Dublin, Ireland, 25 September 1998 (Paul Kel/y) 206 Buff-breasted Sandpiper / Blonde Ruiter Tryng ites subruficol/is, OyePlage, Pas-de-Calais, France, 23 September 1998 (Roger Tonne/) 207 Willet / W illet Catoptrophorus semipa lmatus, first-winter, La Belle-H enriette, VendĂŠe, France, 13 September 1998 Uean- Yves FrĂŠmont) 208 Long-bi ll ed Dow itcher / G rote Grij ze Snip Limnodromus scolopaceus, Leighton Moss, Lancashire, En gland, October 1998 (Steve Young/ Birdwatch) 209 Terek Sandpiper / Terekruiter Xenus cinereus, De Putten, Schoorl , Netherlands, Noord-H oll and, 10 October 1998 Uan den Hertog)

249

WP reports

210 Common Nighth awk / Amerikaa nse Nachtzwa luw Chordei/es minor, adult fema le, Ouessant, Fini stère, France, September 1998 (Migue/ Vergès) record 29 youn g. In Cyp ru s, flocks of Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo passed throug h during 2- 10 September w ith several flocks of over 100 indi vid uals, the largest being 180 at Akrotiri on 2 September. In Israel, one was seen at Kfar Ruppin on 5 September. A n adu lt at Montfoort, Limburg, the Neth erl ands, from 20 August until at least 25 October was all eged to have mi ss ing remiges and was regarded by many as being of doubtfu l ori gin. A Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax stayed at the Quendale area, Shetland, on 4-6 October before being picked up w ith a broken wi ng. The seventh Oystercatcher Haematopus ostra /egus fo r the Cape Verde Islands was recorded on Sao Vince nte from 16 September to at least 3 October. On 10-11 October, a Sociabie lapwing Van el/us gregarius stayed at Étang de Lindre, Mosell e, France. In Kent, En gland, two single first-w inters we re prese nt during mid October. On 24 October, in Spa in, an adul t was found at the same spot as last year in Bell v is, Ll eida. In the Netherl ands, su rprisingly, the adu lt White-tailed lapwing V /e ucurus staving at Assende lft, NoordHolland, from 2 1 February to 8 March return ed on 4 September and was sti ll present in large flocks of North ern Lapw in g V vanel/us on 9 October. The th ird Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipa/matus for Spain was repo rted at Ensenada da Insua, La Co ru na, on 14-16 September. Th e second Semipalmated Sand-

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piper Ca lidris pusil/a fo r Northern Ireland was an adu lt summer at Belfast Lough on 13- 18 August. Durin g September, at least three ju ve niles we re d iscovered in Ireland. In England, one sta yed in Sussex on 12-23 September. A ju ve nile was reported on 10 October in La Corun a, Spa in. The first Western Sandpiper C mauri for Iceland was a ju ve nile at Bakkatjörn, Seltj arn arnes, from 26 August. In Fran ce, sing les were reported near Marais de Monporteau, Les Sables d'Olonne, Vendée, on 9-12 September and at Guerande Sa ltern, LoireAtlantique, on 20 September. A juvenile was at Deerness, O rkney, Scotland, from 28 September to 3 Octobe r. The th ird Red-necked Stint C ruficol/is for Massachu setts, USA, stayed for several weeks at Du xbury in August. From 12 to 27 September, two ju ven ile least Sandpipers C minutil/a we re at Rogerstown , Dublin, and at Shann on, Clare. In Ireland, four Baird's Sandpipers C bairdii we re seen in September in Cork, Dublin and Wexford. A lso durin g September, one Least was reported for Sci ll y and five Baird 's for En gland and Wa les. The fourth Baird 's Sandpiper for Finl and and th e first twitchable was a ju ve nile at H ailu oto o n 20-22 September. The third for Northern Ireland was at Lou gh Beg, Londonderry, on 12 October. Th e first White-rumped Sandpiper C fuscico l/is fo r Israel was a ju ve nile at Ma' agan Mikhael on 29 September. In the Azores, a va ri ety of Nearctic waders was reported at Praia da Vitoria, Terceira, on 14- 15 October: at least three American Golden Plovers P/uvia/is dominica, at least five Semipalmated, one Western, at least two least, two Baird's and at least four Pectoral Sandpipers C me/anotos, and one lesser Yellowlegs Tringa f/avipes. The first Broad-billed Sandpiper Limico/a fa/cinel/us for the USA away from A laska turn ed up at Jamaica Bay, New Vork, on 27 August. The second Wilson's Snipe Ga l/inago delica ta fo r Europe (a nd the first for Britain) was at Lower Moors, St Mary's, Sci ll y, from 10 October into November. If accepted, an adu lt Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus at Fal guérec, Morbih an, from 27 August to 10 October w ill be th e first for France. On 5-6 September, a ju venile was photographed at Ca lderra Bran ca, Flores, Azores (B irding Wor ld 11: 337, 1998). A first-winter long-billed Dowitcher L sc%paceus at Ll obregat delta, Barcelona, from 30 October into November was the seventh for Spai n. There we re two or more Upland Sandpipers Bartram ia /ongicauda in Co rn wa ll , En gland, betwee n 17 September and 2 October. A ju ve nile lesser Yellowlegs stayed at Seiru ga, La Coruna, on 1316 September. There we re five in Britain and one in Ireland du rin g September. Th e first Wood Sandp iper T g /areo/a for Newfound land, Canada, was fou nd at Renews on 11 November. A Terek Sandp iper Xenus cinereus at De Putten, Noord-Holl and, on 9- 11 October co nst ituted the fi rst October reco rd for the Netherl ands. Th e second Willet Catoptrophorus semipa /matus for Fran ce (a nd the first for the 20th cen tury) was a first-winter on 12- 13 September at La BelleHenriette lagoon between La Faute-sur-Mer and La Tranche-sur-Mer, Ve ndée . In England, a ju ve nile Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macu/aria was photographed

WP reports

211 Hermit Thrush / Heremi etlij ster Catharus guttatus, Ga lley Head, Cork, Ireland, 25 October 1998

(Paul Kel/y) at Bawdsey, Suffolk, during 9-20 September and another was see n at Sou th Walney, Cumbria, on 27 September. In th e seco nd half of September, four sin gle Wilson's Phalaropes Phalaropus tricolor were seen in Ireland and one in Fran ce . On 10-11 September, a juvenile was present in England . A first-year long-tailed Skua Stercorarius longicaudus was photographed at A ltmühl see, Bayern , in August. Th e long-staying Great Skua S skua at l ac Léma n, Switzerl and, remain ed throu gh October. A ju ve nil e Great Black-headed Gull Larus ichthyaetus photographed on 5 September at A ltwarmbüchener See, H annove r, Germany, was again see n from 21 September to at least 9 October (cf Dutch Birdin g 20 : 186, plate 147, 1998). On 11-20 October, an adu lt Franklin's Gull L pipixcan stayed at Ba ltray, Louth , Ireland, and (poss ibl y the sa me bird) at Eglwyss Nunydd, West Glamorgan, Wa les, from 28 October to 1 November. The seventh Ring-billed Gull L delawarensis for th e Netherl and s, w hi ch stayed from 18 Jan uary 1998 to 11 Feb ru ary and aga in from 18 September at Goes, Zee land, was still present in mid November. In eastern N iedersac hse n, Germany, Baltic Gulls L fuscus we re found in a larger num ber than usual during the first hal f of October. A first-summer Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla was see n at Ista nbul , Turkey, on 26 September. After co nquerin g the WP in the 19505, Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto now seems on its way to do th e sa me in the USA w ith first state reco rd s in 1998 for Delawa re and Wisconsin. Sin gle Common Nighthawks Chordeiles minor we re reported from the Li za rd , Co rn wa ll , on 7 September, on St Agnes, Scilly, England, on 8-14 September (w hen it died), and on St Mary's, Sc ill y, on 12-2 1 September (B irdin g Wor ld 11: 338-340, 1998). The first for France stayed on Ouessant, Fini stère, on 17-28 September. This su mmer, Little Swift Apus affinis was aga in reported from Bolonia, Cádiz, Spain. A female Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon at Mosfel lsdalur, Iceland, on 6-19 September may ha ve been the same bird

212 Blyth's Pipit / Mongoolse Pi eper Anthus godlewskii, Sein, Finistère, France, October 1998 (Marc Ouquet) di scovered on 17 May at H afnir, Gardur, but the one on 19 June at Myrar could be a d ifferent indi vidual. A Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus was seen at Campitell o, Corse, Fran ce, on 23 September. On 18 September, a European Roller Coracias ga rrulus was found at Helsingborg, Skäne.

A Steppe Short-toed lark Ca landre l/a brachydactyla longipenn is stayed at Ma linmore, Donegal, Ireland, on 19-29 October. From 21 A ugust to at lea st 28 September, a Crested lark Calerida cristata stayed at Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag. In Israel, three Oriental larks Alauda gulgula we re reported at Kfar Ruppin during ea rl y October and two we re at th e sewage fa rm north of Eilat on 22-23 October. On Raso, Cape Verde Island s, 45 pairs of Raso lark A razae we re counted in 1998 (th e estim ati o n in 1992 was 250 pairs) . If accepted, a Cliff Swallow Hirundo pyrrhonota on Ouessant on 27 October w ill be the first for Fran ce . Th e second Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii for Israel was observed nea r Kfar Ruppin on 24-25 September. On 16 October, one was briefly see n at Mariensiel, W ilhelm shaven, Sch ieswig-Hoistein, Germany. Th e second for France stayed on Sein, Finistère, on 18-1 9 October. Th e 12th for Finl and was a first-winter at Hanko on 4-6 November. Th e second Olive-backed Pipit A hodgsoni for Switzerland was trapped at Col de Brétolet on 9 October. Thi s spec ies' number in western Europe showed a sli ght increase co mpared w ith the past fi ve yea rs. For instance, the first twitchab le for Belgium stayed at Zeebrugge, West-V laanderen, on 4-6 November and th e first since 1992 for Utsira, Roga land, Norway, was found on 5 October. In Shetland, Pechora Pipits A gustavi we re see n on Fai r Isle on 24-26 September, 1-3 October and 5-6 October and o ne was on Fetl ar on 8 October. In Orkney, one was at Deerness on 10 October. The first Siberian Accentor Prunel/a montanel/a for Lithu ani a was trapped at Ventës Ragas on 20 October. A Grey Catbird Oumetel/a carolinensis ca me

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WP reports aboa rd th e Qu een Eli za beth 11 a few km off th e USA and remain ed hi gh up on the heli deck, w here it was regularly fed, during the entire voyage in O ctober v ia En gland and past Spain east to Corfu , G reece, before it flew off at M alta. Sin gle adu lt males Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus we re present at Lon gstone, Farne Island, Northumberl and, En gland, on 25 September and at Fove ran, Newburgh, A berdeenshire, Scotland, on 27-28 Septembe r. First-w inters stayed at Gammelga rn , Gotland, Sweden, on 3-4 O ctober and at St Margaret's-at-C liffe, Kent, o n 18- 19 O ctober. A noth er was at Cuxhaven, Schi eswig-Ho istein, o n 2-6 November. Th e f irst Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina for Fair Isle stayed from 20 September. On e was found at Ardmore, Strathcl yde, Scotl and, on 26 September. In France, tw o we re present at Campi te llo, Corse, on 21 -23 September and one at Plo meur, Fini stère, from 26 September to 3 October. In En gland, two sin gles occ urred from 26 September to 4 October in North Yo rkshire and Suffo lk. A Pied Wheatear p/eschanka was seen at Le H ábl e d' Au lt, Somm e, France, on 6 O ctober. Oth ers turn ed up in En gland at Spurn Point, East Yorkshire, on 2-5 October, and in Finl and at Hanko from 31 O ctober to 4 November and at Uusikaupunki on 1 November. A male black-eared wheatear 0 hispanica/m elano/euca was reported on Ö land, Sweden, on 29 September. Th e ninth Desert Wheatear 0 deserti for Finl and was a female at Kirkkonummi on 5-6 November. From 29 September to 5

October, a White's Thrush Zoothera aurea stayed at Leirfjord, Nordl and, Norway. In Scotl and, one was found dead as a w indow v ictim at O rmi sto n, East Loth ian , on 13 October and a second stayed in a ga rden on Lewis, O uter Hebrid es, on 14-2 7 October. Th e first Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus fo r Ireland was a first-yea r at Ga ll ey Head, Cork, on 25-26 Octobe r. O n Helgo land, Schieswig-H o istein, a Black-throated Thrush Turd us ruficollis atrogu/aris was present on 1617 O ctobe r. A first-w inter male American Robin T migratorius stayed on St Agnes on 26-28 October. O n Fair Isle, Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers Locustella certhiola we re see n on 30 September, 1-2 O ctober and 3-7 O ctober. A noth er turn ed up in Lin co lnshire, En gland, on 3 October. In France, on e stayed on O uessant on 11 -15 October. In Sh et land, lanceolated Warblers L lanceo/ata we re present on U nst on 22 September and fi ve occ urred on Fair Isle between 26 September and 10 October. Th e third Paddyfield Warbier Acrocepha/us agrico/a for Ireland stayed in th e on ly tree of East Tow n, Tory Island, D onega l, on 2 1 September; in th e sa me tree, a Greenish Warbier Ph ylloscopus trochi/oides was present th at dav. Both bird s we re also trapped and ringed; on 30 September, th e East Tow n tree produ ced a Little Bunting Em beriza pusilla. In 1998, Cape Verde Warbier A bre vipennis was red iscove red as a breeding bird on Silo Ni co lau, Cape Ve rde Island s (the on ly oth er known breeding popul ation occ urs on

213 Radde's W arb ier / Radd es Boszan ger Ph ylloscopus schwarzi, V i ieland, Fri esland, Neth erl and s, 11 O ctober 199 8 (Ran Schots)

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WP reports Santiago). [n Sc i[[ y, an Olivaceous Warbier A pallidus stayed on St Agnes from 23 September to 8 October. [f accepted, a Booted Warbier A ca /igatus at Fanel on 7 October w ill be the first for Switzerland. A mu ch debated indi v idual trapped at Revtangen, JiEren, Rogaland, Norway, on 6 October may have been a Sykes's Warb ier A rama but was identified by many as Pad dyfield Warbier. The first Green Warbier P nitidus for Greece was trapped on A ntikythira on 18 September. Th e third Arctic Warbier P borea/is fo r Denm ark was seen at Blavands Huk, Esbj erg, Vestjy ll and, on 28 September. [t was the poorest autumn since more than a decade for Yellow-browed Warbier P inornatus in the Netherlands, while 140 we re reported during October in Britain. [n Finland, 42 Pallas's leaf Warblers P proregu/us we re seen during October, w hil e there we re nine in Britain during 4-9 October (except iona ll y early). On 2 November, a Hume's Warbier P humei was reported at St Margaret's, Kent. Four we re found in Finland between 11 and 31 October. Th e l1th Radde's Warbier P schwarzi for th e Netherl ands stayed on V lieland, Fri es land , on 10- 11 October and the eighth for German y was on Helgoland on 24 October. [n Norway, a Siberian lesser Whitethroat Sy/via curruca b/ythi was reported ly trapped at Klepp, Roga land, on 16 October. The first Red-throated Flycatcher Ficedu/a parva a/bicilla for Sweden (a nd the first west of its breeding range in Russia) was a fi rst-year at Segerstad Fyr, Ö land, on 26 October. Th e first Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus for Shetl and was on Out Skerries on 18 October. Th ere are rumours that, since a few yea rs, an establi shed population of Vinous-throated Parrotbill Paradoxorn is webbianus or a related parrotbill species of capti ve ori gin is f louri shin g in reed beds in northern [taly. On 7-8 October, a Short-toed Treecreeper Certhia brach ydacty/a stayed on H elgoland (w here it is about as rare as in Britain). [f accepted, two Eastern Great Grey Shrikes Lan ius excubitor homeyeri trapped on Lagskä r on 3 October an d at Joens uu on 30 October w ill be the first an d second for Finland. A first-yea r Steppe Grey Shrike L pa llidirostris was present at Munkfors, Vä rmland, Sweden, on 6- 18 October. Two we re reported from the Negevarea, [srael, on 12- 13 October. On 2427 September, an adu lt Daurian Starling Sturnus sturninus stayed at Durness, Highl and, Scotland. The mal e Spanish Sparrow Passer h ispanio/ensis present from Jul y 1996 at W atersid e, Cumbria, En gland, remained the entire period. On 13- 14 September, a Red-eyed Vireo Vireo o /iva ceus was see n on Ouessant. A firstw inter was found dead on Bardsey, Wa les, on 19 September. From 3 November, one stayed at Helston ,

Cornwal l. [n Värmland, Sweden, an in vas ion of Pine Grosbeaks Pinico/a enuc/eator was reported fo r late October; apparently, also larger numbers th an usual of Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridacty/us occurred here. On 8 November, the first four Pine Grosbeaks had reached Skagen, Nordj yll and, Denmark. An in vasion of Common Bullfinch Pyrrhu/a pyrrhu/a took place in Nord sjiE li and, Denmark, w here no less than 5475 we re co unted migrating in the morning of 3 Novem ber at G ilieleje; in November, good numbers we re also reported for the Neth erlands. The third Pi ne Bunting E /eucocepha/os for Switzerl and was a male trapped nea r Locarno, Tessin, on 4 November. [n [srael, a Rustic Bunting E rustica was see n at Kibbutz Sh izzafon on 25 October. [f accepted, a Yellow-breasted Bunting E aureo/a on Tory [sland on 21 September w ill be th e fourth for [reland . A Black-headed Bunting E me/anocepha/a was discovered on North Rona ldsay, O rkn ey, on 27 September. [n Sc ill y, a first-summer ma le Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus /udovicianus stayed on Bryher from 30 October to 1 November. A Bobolink Oo/ichonyx oryzivorus was present at Durigarth, Shetland, from 28 September to 5 October. For a number of reports, pub li cati ons in Ardeo la, Birdin g World, Birdwatch, Brit ish Birds, Limico la, Ornithos, Var Fagelvä rld , Wing ing [t, W in gspan and World Birdwatch we re co nsulted . News from Britain was kindly supplied by Birdline (0891-700-222 or 089 1700-2 42) and Rare Bird News (088 1-888- 111 ). [ w ish to th ank Rafae l A rmada (Turkey), David Bi gas, A lberto Boto, Mags Brind le, PA Buckley, A lain Chappui s, Ro lf Chri stensen, Tony Cl arke (Cana ri an Nature Tours), Tim Collin s, José Lui s Copete (Turkey), A ndrea Corso ([srael and [ta ly), Eri c Dempsey, Jochen Di ersc hke (Germ any), Guus va n Duin, Hugues Dufourny, Marc Duquet, Enno Ebels, Klaas Eigenhuis, Lamba rt von Essen, Peter Fra ser (UK), Gonça lo Eli as, Tom my Frand se n (Azores), Jeff Gordon (Cyp ru s), Detlef Gruber, Marcell o Grussu, Morten Günther, Ricard Gutiérrez, Co rn eli s Hazevoet, Feli x Heintzenberg (Sweden), Martin Helin, Ferd y Hieselaa r, Steve Howe ll , Erlin g Jirle, Ad ri an Jordi, Vitautas Ju sys (Lithu ani a), Yves Kayser, Chri s Kightley, G uy Kirwa n (OSM E), Pi erre Le Maréchal (Fran ce), André va n Loon , Blake Maybank, Anthony McGeehan, Peter Meininger, Richard Mi llin gton, Geir Mobakken, Colm C Moore, 0ystein Ni lsen, M ika Ohtonen, Gera ld Oreel, Gera rd Ouweneel, Daniel Petersso n, Gunnlaugur Pétursson, Stefan Ak i Ragnarsso n, Lu c iano Ruggieri ([taly), Ho iger Schritt, Bob SCOlt, Ricardo Tom e, Bri an Unwin, Martin Vavr ik, Rol and va n der V li et, [an Wa ll ace and A rend W ass ink ([srae l) for th eir help in comp ilin g thi s rev iew.

Arnoud B van den Berg, Duinlustparkweg 98, 2082 EG Santpoort-Zuid, Netherlands (A rnoud. vandenBerg@inter.nl.net)

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Recente meldingen Dit ove rzicht va n recente meldingen van ze ld zame en interessante voge ls in Nederl and en België besl aat voorn amelijk de peri ode augustus-september 1998. De verm elde geva ll en z ijn merendeels niet geveri fieerd en het ove rzicht is niet vo ll edi g. A ll e vogelaars die de moeite namen om hun waa rn emin gen aan ons door te geven word en hartelijk bedankt. W aa rn emers va n soorten in Nederl and di e wo rden beoo rdeeld door de Commi ss ie Dwaa lgasten Nederlandse Av ifa un a wo rd t ve rzocht hun waa rn emin gen zo spoedi g mogelijk toe te zenden aan: CDNA, Postbu s 45, 20 80 AA Sa ntpoo rt-Zuid, Nederl and. Hiertoe geli eve men gebruik te maken va n CD NA-waa rn emingsformuli eren die eveneens ve rkrij gbaar zijn bij bove nstaand adres .

Nederland Vroege Dwergganzen A nser erythropus werd en gez ien op 5 september in de

GANZEN TOT VA LKEN

W orkumerwaa rd , Fri es land, en op 29 september op de Pl aat va n Scheel hoek, Zuid-Holland. Eveneens vroeg wa ren de twee Witbuikrotganzen Bra nta hrota di e op 26 september gemeld werd en langs Schevenin gen, Zuid-H o ll and. De grootste groep Krooneenden Ne tta ru fina telde 44 exempl aren en ve rbl eef op 12 september in Botshol , Utrec ht. Witoogeenden Ayth ya nyroca we rd en gez ien va n 20 tot 24 september bij OostMaarl and, Limburg, en op 24 septe mber op het Harderbroek, Fl evoland. Voor zeetrek wa ren er twee peri odes met gun sti ge wind: van 13 tot 29 au gustus en van 9 tot 19 september. In de ee rste peri ode werd en enkele 10-tallen Noordse Stormvogels Fu/marus g/acia/is gemeld . In de tweede period e wa ren voo ral 14 en 15 september buitengewoon, met op enkele tel posten 100en tot 1000en exempl aren. Zo v logen er op 15 se ptember c 3000 lan gs Camperduin , Noord-Holl and, en c 10000 langs Texel, Noo rd-Holland. Opva llend is dat er op die dag ten zuiden va n Katw ijk aan Zee, ZuidHolland, slec hts enkele 10-tallen per tel post w erden gez ien. In tota al werd en c 170 Grauwe Pijlstormvogels Puffinus griseus geteld, waarva n c 20 in augustu s en de rest in september. Noordse Pijlstormvogels P puffinus we rden gez ien op 13 en 21 augustu s (totaal acht) en va n 10 tot 17 september (c 60). Vale Pijlstormvogels P mauretanicus vlogen op 13 augustu s langs Den Helder, Noord-Holland, en Westkapell e, Zee land, op 6 se ptember langs Scheveningen, op 9 september lan gs Terschellin g, Fri es land, en op 15 se ptember langs de Westerslag op Texel. Stormvogeltjes Hydrobates pe/agic us we rden gemeld op 25 augustu s lan gs de Maasvlakte, Zuid -Ho ll and, op 15 september lan gs Texel, Westkapell e, en Petten, Noord-H oll and, op 16 september langs Den Helder en op 17 september bij Westkapelle en de Bl ocq va n Kuffeler, Fl evoland. Behalve v ier Vale Stormvogeltjes Ocea nodroma /e ucorhoa tussen 21 en 25 augustu s wa ren er c 155 tu ssen

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13 en 17 september, waarva n het merendeel langs Zuid-H oll and en Zee land . De laatste v loog op 29 september langs Tersc hellin g. Kuifaalscholvers Stictoca rbo aristote /is ve rbl even op 17 augustus en va n 19 tot 25 se ptember bij Ijmuiden, Noord-H oll and , op 20 augustu s bij Sc hevenin gen, va n 16 tot 19 september max imaa l twee aan de zuidpunt va n Texel, op 17 en 18 september vloge rn er twee langs Westkapelle en op 19 september we rd er één gez ien bij de Maasvlakte. Er was een meldin g va n een ju ve niele Woudaap Ixobrychus minutus op 27 augustus in de Foppepo lder bij Vl aardin gen, Zuid -Ho ll and. Kwakken Nycticorax n ycticorax ve rbl even op 5 en 6 augustu s in De Doort ten zuid en va n Echt, Lim burg, en op 14 augustu s bij de v isv ij ve rs va n Valke nswaa rd , Noord-Brabant, en twee exempl aren bij Alphen aan den Rijn , Zuid-Ho ll and. Voorts was er een meldin g in september bij HendrikIdo-Ambacht, Zuid-H oll and. Koereigers Bubu/cus ibis pl eisterden nog tot 12 augustu s (max imaa l twee) in het Fri ese Lauwe rsmeergebi ed, Fri esland, en na lange tijd va n afwez igheid weer bij Camperduin va n 6 tot 29 september. Kleine Zilverreigers Egretta ga rzetta bl even vooral in Zee land ta lrijk met in de omgeving va n de Grevelin gen minim aa l 60. Eld ers in Nederland we rden er slechts enkele gez ien. Grote Zilverreigers Casmerodius a/bus verbl even va n 7 tot 12 augustus in de Lauwe rsmeer, Gronin gen, op 5 en 6 september bij O lst, Overij sse l, op 17 september bij Delft, ZuidHoll and, op 22 september op de Strabrechtse Heide, Noord-Brabant, en op 26 se ptember bij Bergambacht, Zuid-Holl and (dri e) . Record aantall en Zwarte Ooievaars Ciconia nig ra deden Nederl and aa n. Ruim 60 exemplaren werd en gemeld, voo rn amelijk in de eerste helft va n augustu s. met tot ver in september her en der nog doortrekkers en pl eisteraars. De grootste groep telde 13 exemplaren en vloog op 7 augustu s langs Katw ijk aan Zee . Een groep va n 62 Wespendieven Pemis apivorus we rd gez ien op 8 september va naf een trektelpost bij Kerkrade, Limburg. Zwarte Wouwen Mi/vus migrans we rden opgemerkt op 2 augustu s bij Huisduinen, Noord-Holland, op 9 augustu s op de Maashorst, Noord-Brabant, op 17 augustu s bij Deventer, Overij sse l, en op 26 se ptember bij Den H aag, Zuid-Holl and. Rode Wouw M mi/vus was opva llend sc haars met op 11 augustu s één over Groningen, Gronin gen. Een vrij we l adulte Zeearend Hafiaeetus a/bicil/a we rd op 22 en 23 september gez ien op de Strabrechtse Heide. Er wa ren weer eens meldingen va n Slangenarenden Circaetus ga /ficus: op 6 augustu s op de Maas horst, op 20 september over Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, en aa n de Praamweg, Fl evol and, en op 25 september ove r Rij swijk, ZuidHoll and . Een grote arend Aqui/a we rd op 1 augustu s gez ien in de om gevin g va n N umansdo rp, ZuidHo lland. Dwergarenden Hieraaetus pennatus we rden gemeld op 5 september bij het Vossemeer, O ve rijssel, op 15 september bij M ontfort, Limburg, en op 18 se p-

IOu/eh Birding 20 : 254-260, 79981

Recente meldingen

214 Zwarte Ooievaar / Black Stork Ciconia nigra, Texel, Noord-Holland, 14 september 1998 (Eric Koops) 215 Morinelp lev ier / Dotterel Charadrius morinellus, Maasvlakte, Zuid-Hol land, 5 september 1998 (Chris Schenk)

255

Recente meldingen

216 Hop / Hoopoe Upupa epops, A lkm aar, NoordHolland, 3 oktober 1998 (johan van der Louw)

tember b ij Den Haag. Visarenden Pand ion ha/iaetus waren opva ll end talrijk, met c 90 voorname lijk va n eind augustus tot begin september. Ve rspreid ove r de periode werden 11 Roodpootvalken Fa/co vespertinus gez ien. RALLEN TOT STERNS Kwartelkoningen Crex crex we rden gez ien op 4 september bij Budel-Dorplein, NoordBrabant, en op 27 september bij Katw ijk aa n Zee. Een groepje va n 19 Kraanvogels Grus grus was op 19 september aanwezig bij Arcen, Limburg, en één exemplaar ve rbl eef op 25 september in de Eemshaven, Gron in gen. Vanaf 20 augustus tot in oktober bevond z ich een adu lte, ongerin gde jufferkraanvogel Anthropoides virgo, van dubieuze oo rsp rong maar door ve len bezocht, tussen Montfort en Mariahoop, Limburg. Op 16 augustus ve rbl eef er ook één (of dezelfde) bij Puth, Limburg. Tot 12 augustus ve rbl even max im aa l twee Steltkluten Himantopus himantopus bij het Oudeland van Strij en, Zuid-Ho ll and. De Vorkstaartplevier G/areo /a pratinco/a van het Stinkgat bij het Rammegors, Zee land, bleef daar tot 1 augustus. Op die dag werd ook een exempl aar waa rgenomen b ij de Oesterdam , Zee land . Op 16 augustus was er één aanwez ig in het gebied De Blikken bij Groede, Zee land. Er we rd en c 45 Morinelplevieren Charadrius morinel/us gemeld, voo rnamelijk in de eerste helft van september. De groep op de Maa sv lakte groeide va n 7 tot 9 september aan tot 18. De Aziatische Goudplevier P/uvialis fu/va va n De Putten va n Camperdu in, Noord-Holl and, werd daa r all een op 1 augustus nog gezi en. Een Amerikaanse Goudplevier P dominicus ve rbl eef van 20 tot 24 september langs de Muidenweg bij het Veerse Meer, Zee land. De Steppekievit Vanel/us gregarius van Spaarndam, Noord-Holland, bl eef daar tot ten minste 17 augustus. Voor enkele waarneme rs die beg in dit jaar in het bu itenland verb leven was het een opluchtin g dat de Witstaartkievit V /eu curus vanaf 4 se ptember terug was bij Assendelft, Noord-Ho ll and. De zesde en ze-

256

vende Grijze Strandloper Ca/idris pusil/a voor Nederland we rden , zi j het soms op grote afstand, gez ien va n 5 tot 12 augustus op de SI ikken van Bommenede, Zee land, en va n 8 tot 22 augustus in de Ezumakeeg, Friesland. Gestreepte Strandlopers C me/anotos in deze periode wa ren de vo lgende: op 3 en 4 augustus bij Neer, Limburg, van 1 tot 12 september bij 't Zand, Noord-Hol land, op 7 september in de Eemshaven en van 9 tot 11 september bij Assendelft. De Ezumakeeg leve rd e ook de tweede en derde Siberische Strandloper C acuminata voor Nederland op. Van 6 tot 8 augustu s li epen ze er allebei en daarna tot 23 augustus nog éé n. De traditione le Texel-week leverde een Blonde Ruiter Tryngites subruficol/is op die va n 16 tot 19 september in Po lder Eij erland ve rbleef. De en ige ve rifieerbare Poelsnip Gallinago media ve rbl eef, evenee ns tijdens de Texe l-week, op 18 en 19 september nabij de Horsmeertj es op Texe l. Poelruiters Tringa stagnati/is pl eisterden nog tot 22 augustus (max ima al vi jf) in de Ezumakeeg, tot 12 septem ber max imaal twee op het Ramm ego rs, tot 16 se ptember op Texel, op 3 augustu s bij de Lepelaarspla ssen, Fl evoland, op 8 augustus bij Spaarndam en bij Sint-Maartensvlotbrug, Noord-Ho ll and, op 9 augustus in De Putten va n Camperduin en op 2 september op de Westpl aat bij de Maasv lakte. Van half augustus tot half september werden ruim 40 Grauwe Franjepoten Pha/aropus /obatus gemeld. Een Rosse Franjepoot P fu/icaria vloog op 24 septem ber lan gs Scheveningen. Slechts enkele 10-tallen Middelste jagers Stercorarius pomarinus werden voora l tu sse n 13 en 19 september gemeld . Meer dan 50 gemelde Kleinste jagers 5 /ongicaudus kwamen, zoa ls zovee l zeevoge ls, in twee pieken door: 25 va n 22 tot 29 augustus en 28 va n 12 tot 18 september. Grote jagers 5 skua we rden voo ral gemeld tussen 13 en 19 september (in totaal ruim 250). Bij Vorkstaartmeeuw Larus sabini wa ren er eveneens de twee pieken: 13 tussen 23 en 29 augustus en 24 tussen 13 en 18 se ptembe r. Een adulte Ringsnavelmeeuw L de/awaren sis was wederom aanwezi g bij Goes, Zee land, en wel vanaf 18 september. Enigmati sc he Baltische Meeuwen L fuscus we rden geclaimd va n 22 tot 27 augustu s langs de Gooimeerdijk in Zuidelijk-Flevo land, op 29 augustus en 5 september bij Westkapell e, van 2 tot 26 september bij Arcen, op 18 september twee bij Huizen, Noord-Holland, va n 24 tot 28 september te Ijmuiden en op 27 september twee in het Rutbekerveld , Overij sse l. De belangrijkste plaatsen om ' zowe l Geelpootmeeuwen L michahe l/is als Pontische Meeuwen L cachinnans cachinnans te bestud eren waren de Gooimeerdijk, en de grind gaten langs de Maas in Limburg. Een Kleine Burgemeester L g/aucoides we rd op 22 augustus gemeld op het strand van Texe l. Het lijkt er zeer sterk op dat er nog steed s een adulte Ross' Meeuw Rhodostethia rosea rondh angt in onze continentale wateren, getu ige de waa rnemin g op 21 augustus va naf de boot naar Texel. De bloembollen ve lden in de omgev in g va n 't Zand leve rd en tot 25 augustus weer waa rn emingen van lachsterns Ge/ochelidon ni/otica op, met een maximum van 18 tussen 2 en 10 augustus. Ook was er nog een meldin g op 29 augustu s bij

Recente meldingen Termunterzijl, Gron in gen . De Friese Ij sse lmeerkust leverde grote aanta ll en Reuzensterns Sterna caspia op: op 11 augustus 251n de Workumerwaard en op 6 september 23 eveneens in de Workumerwaard of de directe omgeving daarvan. Daarnaast werden er nog 35 elders gemeld, voorname lijk in augustus. Er werden 16 Witvleugelsterns Ch lidonias leucopterus gemeld, voornamelijk vóór 23 augustus en nog enkele tot half september. HOPPEN TOT GORZEN Hoppen Upupa epops verbleven van 5 tot 7 september bij Egmond aan Zee, NoordHolland, op 22 september in de Eemshaven en op Tersc hellin g, van 26 tot 28 september weer op Terschellin g, van 28 tot 30 september op Schi ermonnikoog, Friesland, en vanaf 29 september in Alkmaa r, NoordHolland. C 50 Draaihalzen lynx torquil/a werden gezien, voornamel ijk tussen 24 augustus en 20 september. Kortteenleeuweriken Calandrel/a brachydactyla werden gemeld op 19 september op de noordpunt van Texel en op 24 september op de Maasvlakte. Een Roodstuitzwaluw Hirundo daurica v loog op 13 september langs Breezanddijk, Friesland. Vanaf 20 september werden 17 Grote Piepers Anthus richardi opgemerkt en vanaf 15 augustus c 50 Duinpiepers A campestris, waarvan het merendeel in de eerste helft van september. Daarnaast werden 17 Roodkeelpiepers A cervinus doorgegeven. Een Citroenkwikstaart Motacil/a citreola werd gemeld van de Maasvlakte op 23

augustus. Noordse Nachtegalen Luscinia luscinia werden gevangen op 16 september op V lieland, Friesland, en op 20 september bij Castricum aan Zee, NoordHolland. Een mannetje Roodsterblauwborst L svecica svecica werd op 22 en 23 september waargenomen op Terschelling. Van 10 augustus tot ten minste 27 september werd een Cetti's Zanger Cettia cetti regelmatig gehoord en soms gez ien bij de Ventj agersplaten; ZuidHolland. Maar liefst 12 juveniele Waterrietzangers Acrocephalus paludicola werden van 3 tot 20 augustus gevangen te Castricum, Noord-Holl and, en één op 3 augustus in de Kennemerduinen, Noord-Holl and. Er waren waarnem in gen op 5 augustus op de Westplaat, op 12 augustus op Schiermonn ikoog, op 14 augustus bij het Rammegors, op 16 augustus in de 's-Gravenhoekinlaag, Zeeland, op 19 augustus in de Kollumerwaard, Friesland, en b ij Den Oever, Noord-Ho ll and, en op 30 augustus b ij Benthuizen, Zuid-Ho ll and . Een Kleine Spotvogel A caligatus werd op 27 september gefotografeerd te Westkapelle, Zeeland. AI op 11 augustus werd de eerste Sperwergrasmus Sylvia nisoria gevangen in de Kennemerduinen . Tussen 3 en 21 september werden nog 12 waarnemingen en twee vangsten verricht. In de lastige bosjes bij Hargen, NoordHolland, werd op 30 augustus een Grauwe Fitis Phyl/oscopus trochiloides gemeld. Een ander exemplaar werd op 12 september gevangen op Vl ieland. Vanaf 13 september werden al weer 19 Bladkoningen P inornatus gezien. Gelukkig werd de Texel-week ook

217 Noord se Nachtegaal ! Thrush N ightin gale Luscinia luscinia, Castricum, Noord-Holl and, 20 september 1998

(André 1 van Loon)

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Recente meldingen

218 Bergfluiter / Western Bonelli's Warbier Phylloscopus bonelli, Texel, Noord-Holl and, 15 september 1998 (jan van Holten)

219 Dwerggors / Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla, Tersch elling, Fri es land, 21 september 1998

dit jaar weer opgevrolijkt door een Bergfluiter P bonelli, ditmaal va n 14 tot 16 september in de fameuze tuintjes bij De Cocksdorp. Na een vroege melding op 21 augustu s in Haren, Groningen, wa ren er Kleine Vliegenvangers Ficedula parva op 15 en 16 september in het Oostduinpark bij Den Haag, op 19 september op Vlieland, op 23 september bij de Westplaat, op 25 september bij Den Helder en Katwijk aan Zee, op 26 september in het Noord-Hollands Duinreservaat, Noord-Holland, en bij Petten en op 27 september bij Maasdam, Zuid-Holland. Taigaboomkruipers Certhia familiaris werden gezien op 13 september op Breezanddi j k en op 28 september bij Lauwersoog, Groningen. De meeste Buidelmezen Remiz pendulinus op doortrek werden gez ien vanaf eind augustus. De Huiskraai Corvus splendens van Kollumeroord , Friesland, werd daar gez ien van 15 tot 19 augustus en mogelij k

hetzelfde exemp laar verbleef va n 20 tot 22 september bij W insum, Groningen. De vier van Hoek va n Holland, Zuid-Ho ll and, bl even daar de gehele periode. Ju ve ni ele Roze Spreeuwen Stumus roseus waren va n 10 tot 30 september aanwezig in het Westdu in park te Den Haag, va n 19 tot 27 september op de Maasvlakte en op 28 september op Tersche llin g. De wein ige Roodmussen Carpodacus erythrinus betroffen exemplaren op 2 augustus bij de Eem shaven en op 13 september op Tersch ellin g, en vangsten op 31 augustus op Schiermonnikoog en op 17 en 20 september op Vli eland. C 60 Ortolanen Emberiza hortulana werden gemeld, voornamelijk na 28 augustus. Een Bosgors E rustica zat op 26 september op de Maasvlakte. Dwerggorzen E pusilla werden waargenomen op 18 september b ij de Horsmeertj es en op 18 september (éé n) en op 20 en 2 1 september (twee) op Terschelling.

(Arie Ouwerkerk)

Ruud M van Dongen, Taalstraat 762, 5267 Bj Vught, Nederland Remco Hofland, Koningstraat 23A, 2376 CC Leiden, Nederland Peter W W de Rouw, Schoolstraat 3-bis, 3587 PM Utrecht, Nederland

België EENDEN TOT VALKEN Van 14 augustus tot 24 september verbleef een mannetj e Witoogeend Aythya nyroca te Obourg, Hainaut. Op 20 september was er weer een mannetje prese nt bij Dendermonde, Oost-V laanderen. Tengevo lge va n de overstrom in gen half september moeten er heel wa t watervoge ls ontsnapt zijn want opeens doken er Kokardezaagbekken Lophodytes cucu llatus op te Geel, Antwerpen (twee) en bij Lier, Antwerpen; dat belooft wat de kom ende winter. .. Rosse Stekelstaarten Oxyura jamaicensis ve rbleven te Moerbeke-Waas, Oost-Vlaanderen, vanaf 20 juni tot 18 augustus en op Blokkersijk, Antwerpen, op 14 augustus . Op een achttal plaatsen we rd en Roodhalsfuten

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Podiceps grisegena waargenomen. Vanaf 23 september verb leef een Kuifduiker P auritus te Kallo-Doel, OostVlaanderen. Op 13 september werden 686 Noordse Stormvogels Fulmarus glacialis geteld langs Oostende, West-V laanderen. Op 22 augustus v loog hier een grote pijlstormvogel Puffinus/Calon ectris langs . Een Grote Pijlstormvogel P gravis vloog op 13 september langs Nieuwpoort, West-Vlaanderen. Er werden in totaal 216 Grauwe Pijlstormvogels P griseus geteld met als maximum 81 langs Oostende op 13 september. Voor Noordse Pijlstormvogels P puffinus lag dat totaa l op 271 en het dagmaximum op 53 op diezelfde topdag. Vale Pijlstormvogels P mauretanicus trokken langs De Panne, West-V laanderen, op 2 augustus, langs Oostende op 23 en 26 augustus en langs Nieuwpoort op 13

Recente meldingen september. Op 16 september zagen meerdere w aarnemers te O ostende de eerste moge lijke Yelkouan Pijlstormvogel P ye/kouan voor België. Een Kleine Pijlstormvogel P ass imi/is passeerde hi er op 11 september voor het oog van v ier w aarnemers. O p 13 september we rden Stormvogeltjes H ydrobates pe /agicus herkend te N ieuw poort en te Zeebru gge, W est-V laanderen. De eerste Vale Stormvogeltjes O ceanodroma /e ucorhoa trokken langs Oostende op 22 augustu s, in se ptember vo lgden er nog eens 39 met max im aa l 13 op 16 se ptember. Langs Oostende vloge n, ve rspreid ove r zes se ptemberd agen, zeve n Kuifaalscholvers Stictocarbo aristote /is en de soort we rd oo k gez ien te Zeeb ru gge op 11 en 22 september. Kwakken N ycticorax nycticorax w aren aanwez ig te Doo rnze le, Oost-V laa nderen; Dud ze le-Zeebrugge (v ij f); Gent, O ost-V laa nderen; Lokeren, Oost-V laanderen; Mechelen, Antwe rpen; en Vinderhoute, O ost-V laa nderen (twee). Bij het Zw in te Kn okke, W est-V laa nderen, pl eisterd e nog tot ten min ste 11 se ptember een Koereiger Bub u/cus ib is. Va naf 22 augustu s ve rbl eef er één bij Kruibeke, O ost-V laa nderen. Er wa ren waa rnem ingen va n Kleine Zilverreigers Egretta garzetta op versc hillende pl aatse n met al s max im a 19 te Kn okke en acht te Dud ze le-Zeebru gge . Er we rden ve rrassend vee l Grote Zilverreigers Casmerodius a/bus gez ien: te Zonhove n, Limburg, max im aa l drie va n 2 tot 27 se ptember; te Bokrijk, Limburg, max im aal twee va n 2 tot 13 september; te Harchi es op 6 september; bij Tourn ai, Hainaut, op 13 september; te Will ebroek, A ntwe rpen, op 24 september; ove r Bredene, W est-V laanderen, op 25 se ptember; op Blokkersdij k op 26 se ptember; ove r Oostende op 28 september en bij Genk, Limburg, op 30 september. De Limburgse waa rn em ingen hebben vermoedelijk betrekkin g op dezelfde voge ls. Er werd en in totaal 29 Purperreigers Ardea purp urea waa rgenomen, waa ronder een groe p va n 14 te Ti enen, Vlaams Brabant, op 12 september. Tu sse n 6 en 16 augustu s trokken Zwarte Ooievaars Ciconia n igra over Brecht, A ntwerpen (twee); Galm aa rden , O ost-Vl aanderen ; Kalmth out, A ntwe rpen; Konti ch, Antwe rpen; Melsen, O ost-Vl aanderen ; Wei er, Limburg, Woum en, W est-V laa nderen; en Zonhove n. O p 23 augustu s zaten er drie bij Turnhout, Antwerpen . Op 10 september vloog er één over Leuve n, Vl aam s- Brabant, tu ssen 5 en 20 september vloge n er 10 ove r Torgny, Lu xe mbourg, en op 27 september zat de laatste bij Schulen, Limburg. In Wa llonië w aren er tijd ens het broedseizoen va n 1998 16-1 7 territoria maar slechts z even geslaagde broedgeva llen. Voor Ooievaars C ciconia totalisee rde België min imaal 274 exemplaren; de grootste groe pen telden 53 te Wuustweze l-Ni euw moer, A ntwe rpen, op 10 augustu s, 40 te Bru sse l, Bru sse ls Gewest, op 11 au gustu s; 34 te Marche-en-Famenne, Lu xembourg, op 27 augustu s en verm oedelijk dezelfde 21 te Ac hel, Li mburg; Ze len, Limburg; Ransbe rg, V laams-Brabant; en Sauvenière, Namur, tusse n 1 en 8 september. O p 31 augustu s trok een Zwarte Ibis P/ega dis fa/cinel/us ove r de Voo rh aven va n Zee bru gge. O ver Torgny v logen op 31 augustus 11 4 Wespendieven Pernis apivorus. Op 11 augustu s trok een Zwarte Wouw Mi/vus m igrans langs Vierse l,

A ntwerpen; op 9 september v loog er één ove r Sohier, Lu xembourg; op 11 september ove r Neerij se, V laamsBrabant; en op 19 septe mber ove r Sint-Martens-Latem, Oost-V laa nderen. Een Rode Wouw M m i/vus v loog ove r Weve lgem, Oost-V laa nderen, op 8 augustu s. Te U rse l, Oost-V laanderen, was er in 1998 een mi slukt broedgeva l (pu ll us dood in nest) . In september kwa men 11 waa rn emingen va n di ve rse locati es . Bovendi en tro kke n er 10 over Torgny op 28 september. In totaa l werden ac ht Grauwe Kiekendieven Circ us p yga rg us opgemerkt. Voo r Visarenden Pand ion ha/iaetus we rd een moo i totaa l va n 11 3 bereikt. Vrou w tj es Roodpootvalk Fa/co vespertinus vloge n op 11 augustu s over Brecht, op 13 augustu s over Wo mmelgem, A ntwe rpen, en op 18 september ove r Kn okke. Het eni ge ju ve niele exempl aar werd op 26 september waa rgenomen te Drongen, Oost-V laanderen. Er werd een 17-tal Slechtvalken F peregrinus gemeld. RALL EN TOT SPECHTEN Er werden 22 Porseleinhoenders Porzana porza na gez ien. Op 18 augustu s verbl eef een Kwartelkoning Crex crex te Gen k-Bok ri j k; op 1 september te Heist, West-V laa nderen; op 5 en 21 september te Raversijd e, West-V landeren; op 5 septembe r te Oostende (vo nd st) en op 26 september te Bl ankenberge, W est-V laa nderen. De twee Steltkluten Himantopus himantopus va n Fontenoy, H ain aut, bleven tot 4 augustu s ter pl ekke, daa rn a was er wee r één op 7 en 8 augustus . Morinelplevieren Charadrius morin el/us we rden waa rgenomen te A ngre, Hain aut (twee); A ngreau, Hain aut (zes); Aud regnies, Hainaut; Boneffe, Namur (twee); Donst ienn es, Waa ls-Brabant (v ier); Kall oMelse le (ac ht); Oostmalle-Zoerse l, A ntwerpen; Raversijde (twee); Sohier (11 ); Taviers-Rami ll ies, Na mur (zeve n); en Zee bru gge-Voo rh aven (twee) . Temmincks Strandlopers Ca /idris temminckii bereikten een totaa l va n 21 exempl aren. Het eerste hoogtepun t va n het najaar we rd gevormd doo r de adu lte Bonapartes Strandloper C fu scicol/is die op 2 en 3 augustu s te M oerbeke-Waas vertoefd e. Een ju ve niele Bairds Strandloper C bairdii te Gentbrugge, O ost-V laanderen, op 21 se ptember b leek al snel ve rtrokken te z ijn . In het Zw in te Knokke pl eisterd e op 17 september een Breedbekstrandloper Limico/a fa /cine l/us. Op 29 augustus liep daar een Poelruiter Tringa stagnati/is en op 3 septembe r we rd er één gez ien bij Doo rnze le. Een ve rraderlijk moeilijke maar ze kere adulte Kleine Geelpootruiter Tringa f/avipes verbl eef op 6 en 7 augustus in de Ac hterh aven te Zeebru gge. Bove ndien was er één aa nwez ig bij Mui ze n, A ntwe rpen, op 19 en 2 1 septem ber. Langstrekkende Grauwe Franjepoten Pha/aropus /obatus werden op 23 augustu s en 13 se ptember waa rgenomen te Oostende. Ju ve niele pl eisterden te Longchamps, Nam ur, va n 2 tot 25 september; te Genappe, W als- Brabant, op 16 en 17 september; bij Bredene va n 19 tot 25 september; te Knokke op 23 en 24 september; en te Schul en, op 25 september. O p 15 en 27 september passeerde er te lke ns één Rosse Franjepoot P fu/icaria langs Oostende . In augustu s passee rd en 62 Middelste Jagers Stercorarius pomarin us. A ugustu s te lde 47 Kleinste Jagers 5 /ongicaudus met een max i-

259

Recente meldingen mum va n 11 op 28 en 19 op 24 augustu s te Oostend e; in september we rd dat totaa l nog ee ns vermee rderd met 15. Naast de 48 kustwaarnemingen va n Grote Jagers S skua z ijn de verzwakt op een kapvlakte te Hotton, Luxembourg, opgeraapte voge l op 23 augustu s en de ju ve ni ele voge l va n Marche-en-Famenne van 27 tot 31 augustus ze ker het verm elden waard. Verder was er een binnenlandwaarneming te Kallo-Doel van 18 tot 22 september. Er we rden 38 Zwartkopmeeuwen Larus me/anocepha /us gez ien. Te Oostende we rd op 3 en 12 september een eerste-winter Dwergmeeuw L minutus met donkere bovenvleugels waargenome n. De eerste Vorkstaartmeeuwen L sabini vlogen langs Nieuwpoort op 22 augustus en langs Oostende op 25 augustus. Op 6 september vo lgde er nog één te Zeeb ru gge; tussen 12 en 19 september 15 te Oostende (met v ier op 17 septem ber) en op 18 september één te Sint-Idesbald, WestV laa nderen. Het maximumaantal Geelpootmeeuwen L michahellis (20) werd op 17 augustu s geteld te Rotem-Stokkem, Limburg. Tot 8 september pleisterde de Pontische Meeuw L cachinnans cachinnans nog te Pommeroeul, Hain aut. Op 17 augustu s ve rbl eef er één te Rotem-Stokkem. Op 13 augustus vloog een adulte Grote Burgemeester L hyperboreus langs Oosten de en moge lij k dezelfde voge l we rd daar op 10 september gez ien. Eveneens langs Oostende vloog telke ns één lach stern Ce/oche/idon ni/otica op 26 augustus en 17 september. Een adu lte en een juveniele Reuzenstern Sterna caspia werde n op 18 augustus gez ien tussen Nieuwkerke en Diksmuide, West-V laandere n. Op 12 september vloog er één langs leper, West-Vlaanderen, op 13 en 14 september zaten er twee te Knokke-Zwin en op 15 september zaten hier twee ni euwe. Op 19 september v logen er twee langs Harelbeke, WestV laanderen. Een ad ult zomer Witwangstern Chlidonias hybridus trok op 24 augustus langs Oostende. Een adulte en een ju ven iele Witvleugelstern C /eucopterus pleisterden op 3 september kortstondig te Klui zen, Oost-Vlaanderen, en op 15 september v loog een adu lte langs H asse lt, Limburg. De overzomerende Zeekoet Uria aa /ge van Kallo-Doel bleef de gehele peri ode ter pl aatse . Op 25 augustus trok een Papegaaiduiker Fratercu/a arctica langs Oostende. In september we rden slechts twee Velduilen Asio f/ammeus opgeme rkt. Op 11 september trok een Alpengierzwaluw Apus me/ba over Blankenberge. Va naf 11 augustus werden in tota al 62 Draaihalzen l ynx torqu illa waa rgenomen. PIEPERS TOT GORZEN Op 28 september werd en de ee rste twee Grote Piepers Anthus richardi gez ien te Oostmalle-Zoersel, daa rn a bleef het wac hten tot oktober. De trek va n Duinpiepers A campestris kwam op gang va naf 9 augustus; in die maand werde n er 16 opgemerkt en in september kwamen daar nog 198 bij. A ll een al ove r Sohier v logen in totaa l 100 exempl aren.

Tu sse n 19 en 28 september werden 10 Roodkeelpiepers A cervinus gemeld. Van 16 tot 18 augustus pleisterde een eerste-winter Citroenkwikstaart Motacilla citreo/a in de Voorhaven van Zeebrugge. Op 30 augustus werd een Noordse Nachtegaal Luscinia /uscinia gevangen te Bocholt, Limburg. De eerste drie Beflijsters Turdus torquatus doke n op 26 en 27 september op aan de kust maar in oktobe r zo ud en er nog ve le vo lgen. Op 24 september werd een Cetti's Zanger Cettia cetti geva ngen en gerin gd te Raversijde en op 19 september v loog daar een Krekelzanger Locustella f/uvia ti/is in de netten, die zo rgde voo r het eerste naj aarsgeva l va n deze soort. Te Froyennes, H ai naut, was op 19 augustus een Orpheusspotvogel Hippo /ais po/yg/otta aanwezig . Op 26 en 27 september we rd een Struikrietzanger Acrocepha/us dumetorum gerin gd te Bocholt. Waterrietzangers A pa/udico/a wa ren er te Raversijde en Zeebrugge op 8 augustus, op de Kuifeend, A ntwe rpen, op 12 augustu s, te Willebroek op 14 augustus en te Bokrijk op 6 september. Een late ve ldwaarneming gebeurde te Li er op 27 september. Sperwergrasmussen Sy/via nisoria we rden geringd te Geel op 16 augustu s; Meetkerke, West-Vlaanderen, op 25 augustu s; Asse nede, Oost-Vlaa nderen, op 29 augustus; en ve ld waa rnem in gen gebeurden te Heist op 4 september en twee op 26 september. O p 24 augustus we rd een Grauwe Fitis Phylloscopus troch i/oides geringd te Sint-L aureins, Oost-Vl aa nderen, en op 30 augustus we rd er één ontdekt bij Blankenberge. Deze voge l kreeg va n 31 augustus tot 5 september gezelsc hap va n een tweede exem pl aar. Op 11 september we rd kortstondig een Noordse Boszanger P borea/is gemeld te Ti enen maar all e ve rsterking kwa m te laat. Er wa ren we ini g Bladkoningen P inornatus te bespeuren: te Heist op 20 en 29 september en te Raversijde op 23 septem ber. Buidelmezen Remiz pendulinus deden het met 9 1 exemplaren we l behoorlij k goed. De grootste groep (13) vloog over Ti enen op 28 september. Op 15 augustu s ve rbleef een juveniele Grauwe Klauwier Lanius collurio te Genk-Bokrijk, in september vo lgden er nog acht ve rsp reid ove r heel België. Vanaf 19 september we rd een 10-tal IJsgorzen Ca /ca rius /appon icus waargeno men. Op 30 augustus arriveerden de eerste Sneeuwgorzen P/ectrophenax nivalis in de Voorhaven van Zeeb ru gge. In totaa l werden 41 overtrekkende Ortolanen Emberiza hortu/ana gemeld. Deze waa rn emingsrubri ek kwam tot stand met medewe rkin g van Lu c Bekaert (Oost-V laanderen), Peter Col laerts (Ti enen), Fran k De Scheemaeker (Mergus), Koen Leysen (Limburg), D irk Symen s (V lavico), Wil ly Versc hueren (Groe nlink), en Didier Vieuxtemps (Lu xembou rg). Ook de hulp van al diegenen die (hun) waa rn emin gen in spraken op de Belgische Dutch Birdin g-vogellijn (03-4880 194) was hier onontbeerlijk.

Cerald Driessens, Pastoriestraat 16, 2500 Lier, België

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BOARD ASSISTANTS Jeannette Admiraa l, Gerald Dri essens, Ron van den Enden, H ans Gebui s, Leo Heemskerk, Remco Hofland, Paul Kno lIe, sander Lagerve ld, Ger Meesters, Arn old M eijer, André va n der Pl as and Kees Tiemstra DUTCH BIRDING TRAVEL REPORT SERVICE (DBTRS) Ib Huysman, Postbus 737, 9700 AS Groningen, Netherl ands, tel +31-50527499 3, fax +31-505272668, intern et http ://www.mebweb .nI/DBTRs

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© 1998 Stichting Dutch Birding Assoc iation. The copyri ght of the photographs and draw ings remain s w ith the photographers and artists. ISSN 0167-2878. Printed by Dru kkerij Rob stolk bv, Mauritskade 55, 1092 AD Amsterd am, Netherland s

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Dutch 8irding Artikelen

JAARGANG 20 NUMMER 5 1998

' VOLUME

NUM8ER

5 1998

237

Utsira Geir Mobakken Invasie van Pestvogels in Nederland in 1995/96 in (inter)nationaal perspectief Fred Hustings, Pau/ KnolIe, Peter de Knijff & Erik van Winden Flight identification of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters Ricard GutiĂŠrrez Hybrids of Black Kite and Common Buzzard in Italy in 1996 Andrea Corso & Roberto Gi/di Surfbird in its non-surfing habitats Pave/ S Tomkovich, Robert E Gill Jr & Maksim N Dementiev Colour variation in European Nuthatch Ignaz Wanders

Brieven

238 238 239

Pale-headed great skuas K/aus Mailing O/sen Variability of field characters in adult Pontic Gull: a comment Martin Garner Common Tern variation and pale bill-tips: a comment K/aus Mailing O/sen

Corrigenda

240

Recensies

241

197 206 216 226 233

241

Birds of Liberia by Wulf Gatter & Birds of Soma/ia by -J S Ash & J E MiskeIl Peter L Meininger The bird collectors by Barbara Mearns & Richard Mearns Enno B Ebe/s

DBA-nieuws

242

25% korting op British Birds; Betaling van abonnementsgeld voor 1999; Payment of subscription for 1999; Uitverkochte nummers van Dutch Birding; Out-of-stock back issues of Dutch Birding; DBA-vogeldag op 6 februari 1999 te Utrecht

Aankondigingen & verzoeken

243

Griffon Vulture nesting surveillance project in Israel; New owners of Texel Birdwatching Center; Nieuwe eigenaars Texel Birdwatching Center

Masters of Mystery

244 245

Solutions of fourth round 1998: Corn Crake and Melodious Warbier Diederik Kok & Ni/s van Duivendijk Fifth round 1998 Diederik Kok & Ni/s van Duivendijk

WP reports

246

WP reports: September-October 1998 Arnoud B van den Berg

Recente meldingen

254

Nederland: augustus-september 1998 Ruud M van Dongen, Remco Hof/and & Peter W W de Rouw BelgiĂŤ: augustus-september 1998 Gera/d Driessens

258

Voorplaat / front cover

Vorkstaartmeeuw / Sabine's Gull Larus sabini, Northwest Territories, Canada, juli 1997 (Chris Schenk)

Abstraeted / indexed in

Auk, Ecological Abstracts, Emu, GEOBASE (Geo Abstracts Database), Ornithologische Schriftenschau, Wildlife Review, Zoological Record

Ibis,