Editorial: Nick Mason

Nick Mason

the weather in 2021 did not serve our wildlife well at times. By the middle of March, i had located up to six Dartford Warbler territories on Lower Hollesley common, but the attritional winds and low temperatures in April meant that there were only three remaining in May. it was the same on upper Hollesley and Sutton commons. Much of the gorse on the heaths appeared dead following these winds. on the positive side, Woodlarks survived and were in constant numbers, as were the Stonechats that often suffer in such conditions. the autumn migration season was disappointing for many of us. there were few passage warblers etc in the usual migrant hotspots. Many were able to fly south straight through western europe to their wintering grounds – so i suppose that was a positive with no sea crossing caused by easterly winds. Personally, i also missed the main thrush arrival. i can normally rely on the twin Banks behind Shingle Street for my first Redwings and fieldfares and a Ring ouzel or two where they feed up on Hawthorn berries. in 2021 they just flew straight over us and on towards the south-east. i had to go out into my garden at night to listen for them as they passed over. every day the local press includes details of proposed housing developments in Suffolk’s towns and villages – our county is in danger, not just on the coast, of being submerged in concrete, bricks, mortar and asphalt. Please let planners know of the potentially harmful effects that any planning application, no matter how small, might have on Suffolk’s precious countryside. unfortunately, as it stands, the government has given the go-ahead for Sizewell c – let’s keep an eye on this and hope that eDf keep their word about caring for the environment. it is difficult to show trends in bird populations or movements in recent years because of the pandemic, which caused counts to be cancelled and, therefore, led to gaps in our data. We use Breeding Bird Survey data in many of our species’ accounts. the BBS has temporarily gone to using 25-year, 10-year and 2-year trends, the latter rather than the 1-year trend (i.e., year on year), missing out on 2020 data. We have tried to do the same. the same is true of the WeBS data that so many of us collect. the Bto will calculate short-term trends for waterbirds and waders when we are back to normal, regular, counting. there are interesting articles, as usual, in this bird report. Steve Piotrowski writes about the attempted breeding of Black-necked Grebe in the north of the county in 2020. it seems that success will not be far off. our previous bird report editor, Malcolm Wright, has given us a catchup on the Suffolk Wildlife trust reserve at Mickle Mere – close to his home and close to his heart. i found it fascinating reading Mick Wright’s piece on where the colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits from the orwell estuary go. And so many people are involved in making it possible. i wondered about removing the list of all those who had sent in their observations of these godwits, but no, all should be recognized for what they do. i just felt guilty my name wasn’t on the list! Without a ringing report these days, i was pleased to be able to include Justin Zantboer’s ringing report from trimley Marshes, a year-long look at the whole business of ringing at a site. Perhaps he should have included a bit about his time and the early hours! there have not been any new species for Suffolk for a couple of years. the highlight in 2021 was, for most birders, the Roller in the west of the county. Peter Lack, one of the joint finders, writes on this event. feast your eyes on John Richardson’s photograph! thank you very much to all of you for your time and effort. once again, i must say that we are lucky to have the section writers that we do. it can take ages to work through all the records received from the county recorders, especially nowadays with thousands upon thousands of Birdtrack data. Gi Grieco starts off the systematic list with the geese and swans. He also does the gamebirds which now follow the ducks! the ducks are ably written up by Andrew Green, he who has stood down from his long-running role as north-east recorder – and what an excellent job he made of it. Nightjar, Swifts, cuckoo and pigeons then follow – covered by the dependable Darren Underwood. Darren also does the owls, Hoopoe,

kingfisher and woodpeckers’ section which is further on in the list, following the raptors. John Davies has once again done a fine job with the rails, crakes and grebes section. i am pleased that Margie Carter continues with the Stone-curlew to plover section – as i mentioned last year, it would be good to have more women contributing as well as to see them out in the field. At least we have one on SoRc now. Ed Keeble does a wonderful job on the wader section, as well as the other ways that he helps with the report. the gulls and skuas sections are either side of the terns in the British list – it is pleasing to see the effort that James Wright puts in. in between, the terns are knowledgeably covered by Brian Buffery, who is also doing the auks which now follow skuas! our SBG chairman, Chris Courtney, writes on the divers and shearwaters and Peter Lack, he who found the Roller, on the storks, cormorants and herons. then follows Chris Gregory’s raptor section. He, of course, also does the falcons, which, as before, are at the end of the nonpasserines. the shrikes, corvids and tits are ably covered by Phil Whittaker. Nick Mason writes about the larks and hirundines and then come all those warblers; we are fortunate to have the everprofessional Peter Kennerley to cover this group. the crests, Nuthatch, treecreeper and thrushes section is written by Richard Attenborrow and the Robin, flycatchers, chats and wheatears by Steve Fryett. the sparrows, wagtails, finches and buntings section is quite a large one and is ably written by Paul Gowen. finally, the appendices, probable escapees and introductions, has been written by Adam Gretton.

We thank every one of the above-mentioned writers for their time and effort and good grace in the face of adversity! there are always thankyous to give out. Volunteers all of them. All the counters, surveyors, ringers and all those who send in their records to the three county recorders. thank you all. i know that most of it is done for the love of birds, and other wildlife, but it is essential to keep our eyes on what is happening to that wildlife in these difficult, climate-uncertain days. We must

also all do what we can to prevent us losing any more through wildlife-unfriendly developments and land use. However, i must say that i see a more positive trend from many farmers and other land users.

As usual, i must give my greatest thanks to Philip Murphy who aids me with additional editing, but more importantly, spends hours searching the archives to bring the data into perspective. the report would not be the same without him. David Walsh is essential in his role in getting the rarer birds sorted. As well as being Suffolk’s correspondent with the Rare Breeding Bird’s Panel he has now taken on the sorting of rare birds in Suffolk as part of SoRc. if you have seen a rare bird in Suffolk that needs a submission to SoRc or BBRc get that submission in or you will be hassled until you do! Some people may find the process difficult but it shouldn’t be – especially if it has been photographed or multi-observed.

Phil Whittaker continues gathering the artwork for the report and John Richardson the photographs. thank you both and thanks to all those who have offered their work whether it has been included or not. the standard remains very high. the Roller immediately came to mind for the front cover, but that is well-covered in the report with photographs. for me the most interesting event of 2021 was the breeding Marsh Warblers in the east of the county. So, i badgered Brian Small into producing the cover – a masterpiece!

Chris Gregory is taking over as recorder for the west. Good luck to him!

Many, many thanks to Colin Jakes for his 29 years (yes – 29 years!) as West Area Recorder – since January 1st 1994. What a great job he has done over those years. He has certainly made the task of bird report editor much easier than it might have been.

European Roller and Hobby, icklingham, June 26th John Richardson