Ornithological Society

Hood's Bay and managed to unearth some fossils from the eroded coastal rock face.

On some evenings through the term, dusk watches were kept from the trees above the badger's sett at Moorlands, Skelton. It was fascinating to watch the young playing "hide and seek" like a litter of energetic puppies, and the very young closely guarded by the large, suspicious mother.

MALHAM TARN FIELD CENTRE

On the 19th April a party of eight boys left for Malham, a small village in the Pennines near Settle. The purpose of the trip was to study various botanical and zoological aspects of the area, including the Tarn and the Cove, for which Malham is well known.

We stayed at the Tarn Field Centre, a large country house set on a wooded slope on the northern side of the Tarn.

Many other naturalists were also staying at the house on courses ranging from early morning bird watching to geology. The house was very comfortable and the food good, though the joys of having to wash up for about 50 people were not fully appreciated.

The deciding factor on the amount of work done was the weather, with Robinson a close second. A good deal was done, as most of the rain fell during non-working hours.

The first three days were spent as a group studying the animal life of the Tarn, and also the flora of the limestone scree slopes which are abundant in this region. The remainder of the time was given over to definite ecological problems, which were tackled either individually or in pairs. P. S., A.B. S.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

This has been our most successful term from a ringing point of view. Over 600 birds have been ringed at or near the School, the majority being nestlings. P. Stuttard, during the Easter holidays and the term, has ringed over 250. The individual totals are tabled at the end. The species new to our ringing list are: grey wagtail, lapwing, sand martin, magpie and carrion crow. Besides the ringing, nest record cards have been filled in for all nests found, and several boys have contributed cards for nests discovered during the holidays. Last year's total of cards will be exceeded when all are complete.

Regular weekly visits were made to Strensall early in the term, but it was impossible to keep these up later. Many nests were found, but the black-headed gull colony was robbed early on and only about five pairs finished breeding. To make up for this disappointment C. R. Barton had found a large colony on the moors near Haworth. Although it takes two and a half hours to reach it, one and a half by car and then a one hour walk, we visited it three times. It was a very impressive sight, as the colony contains approximately 3,000 pairs of birds. On our last visit 93 young birds were ringed and more could have been done had time permitted. Other birds seen on our visit included redshank, dunlin, golden plover and one short-eared owl. 29

Our help with the enquiry about breeding swallows has started fairly successfully. Many nestlings have been ringed and several pairs of adults have been caught late at night when they roost on or near the nests. It will be interesting to see next year if the pairs return to the same area and if they remain faithful. The area chosen is a disused airfield at Riccall and the nests are mainly in old air-raid shelters. Catching the adults has proved very interesting, especially as some of the shelters are flooded. This enquiry will be continued throughout the summer by P. Stuttard and it is hoped that nearly all the breeding pairs can be trapped and ringed.

In the last week of term three enthusiasts made a night expedition to a sand martin colony at which 16 birds were caught. The martins nest in the side of sandy slopes with an entrance hole about one inch across, and roost in their nests. We got up, with difficulty, at 2-30 a.m. and arrived at the colony armed with cardboard tubes fitted with a polythene bag at one end, fixed on by a rubber band. These were inserted in the holes so that when the birds left at dawn they were trapped in the bags. Some were even caught soon after we put the tubes in position, having been disturbed from their sleep. It was a memorable morning but not one to be repeated too often.

Recoveries:-

Species Date Ringed Date Recovered Recovery Details Starling 27.2.60 5.4.61 Found dead. Szczytno (Olsztyn), Poland. Starling 26.2.61 13.6.61 Found dead. Hallingeberg (Smaland), Sweden. Swallow 1.7.60 3.6.61 Killed by car, Huntington, Skelton York. Black-headed Gull 25.6.61 8.7.6 I Found in very weak condition. Nr. Haworth Baildon, Yorks. Yorks.

Ringing totals-921. Swallow 337; linnet 131; blackbird los; black-headed gull 1o5; song thrush 49; great tit 29; starling 20; reed bunting 18; dunnock 17; chaffinch 15; greenfinch tz; sand martin ; tree sparrow t1; blue tit t1; wren to; robin 7; wood pigeon 5; grey wagtail 4; pied wagtail 4; spotted flycatcher 4; carrion crow 3; skylark 3; house sparrow 2; snipe 2; magpie 2; willow warbler 2; lapwing 1; meadow pipit 1.

MODERN LANGUAGES SOCIETY

This term has seen much progress made towards a Society in which members play a full part—an approach vital for a languages society of any value.

Six of our itinerant members returned to fulfil promises made at the end of last term and gave short talks on some aspects of the courses they attended in Paris. The names of Williams, Brown, T. P., Hayes, Peat, Richardson, J. L., and Wakefield will thus go down as pioneers in the history of the Society.

At our second meeting we were able to show two French films (complete with audible sound-track) entitled "Bravo Alpha" and "Le Jour Solaire de Mont-Louis".