Recent Birds Round Lowestoft

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RECENT BIRDS ROUND LOWESTOFT.

230. Alloteuthis media, Linn.—Suffolk ( G r ) ; Orwell river and Harwich harbour (Sorby) ; much commoner in Stour river in 1890 than in 1900 (Vict. Hist.). Southwold (Trans, i, 71 : recte). Four in Kessingland fish-boats in May 1934 (D).

Yarmouth (Zool. May 1903) ; Breydon water in July 1906 (Tr. Norf. Soc. vii, 465) ; Caister beach in April 1934 (Rumbelow).

231. Todarodes sagittatus, Lam. (Ommastrephes todarus, Ch.)—Gorleston beach on 16 December 1933 (Trans, ii, 284) ; Hopton beach on 24 Dec. 1936 (I.e. iii, 299).

232. Sepiola Atlantica, Orb. (Rondeleti, Lch.)—Alive on Suffolk coast (Gr. 1903). Much commoner in Orwell and Stour rivers in 1890 than 1900 (Vict. Hist.) ; Southwold (Trans, i, 71) ; Gorleston beach strewn with them on 26 August 1909 (Tr. Norf.

Soc. ix, 85); Yarmouth in 1904 and abundant there early in 1906 (I.e. vii, 112 & 462).

233. S. Scandica, Steen.—Taken at Lowestoft (Gr. 1903) ; Yarmouth (Zool. May 1903).

234. Sepia officinalis, Linn.—Holbrook Bay in the Stour, June 1930 and one of 32 inches in length, July 1934 (Trans, i, 140) ; Harwich harbour (M3); Aldeburgh (Gr). Bones abundant from Dunwich northwards (Mly). Five entire speeimens on Gorleston beach on 20-1 December 1927, untouched by the numerous Gulls (D).

RECENT BIRDS ROUND LOWESTOFT.

BY FREDERICK C .

COOK.

1937 OCTOBER.—A small party of Lapwings arrived from the east on 3rd. A boisterous north-easter on 5th favoured the advent of a large number of Song-thrushes, several flocks of which came from eastward in early morning and one or two were washed ashore : it is difficult to judge how many small Birds perish while crossing the North Sea, owing to the ever-increasing hordes of Gulls that patrol the foreshore on the look out for any edible morsels. At night many Song-thrushes were audible passing over the town. The first Redwing was seen on 6th and, from 7th onwards, their call-notes could be heard nightly, as they crossed the coastline. Our Member, Mr. Jenner, to whom I am indebted for certain of these notes, reported on 12th a male Ringouzel on the north denes here. Düring 17th-31st persisted a steady immigration of Corvidoe, Starlings and Sky-larks.

No spectacular rushes of migrants occurred, but one morning a Starling was seen to drop, from an incoming flock, into the waves ; it was washed ashore exhausted but, when an attempt was made to pick it up, enough strength was mustered to flutter

RECENT BIRDS ROUND LOWESTOFT.

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across the beach and take refuge in the marrams. I flushed a Jack-snipe from the edge of Benacre Broad on 17th ; a Black Redstart was seen on 21st; and on 22nd Rooks began to come in from the east.

NOVEMBER.—The first Fieldfares were seen on 8th and Snow Buntings on l l t h , but of the latter none wintered in this neighbourhood. A solitary female Long-tailed Duck appeared close inshore near the harbour on 14th and stayed thereabout for several weeks : one or two small parties were noticed just off-shore about that time. A pair of Bullfinches, of the large and brilliant northern race (Linnaeus' typical pyrrhula), turned up on the north denes about 19th and remained until mid-December.

Redwings were still arriving on 20th and considerable numbers stayed for some time about the town's playing-fields where Common and Black-headed Gulls kept close watch upon them, relieving them of almost every worm they captured.—DECEMBER. On 12th hundreds of Fieldfares and Redwings, fleeing from sharp weather in northern England, passed southward along the coast.

A flock of Rooks arrived from the east about noon on 19th : an unusually late immigration for this species.

1938 JANUARY.—The large number of Pink-footed Geese that came to our vicinity early this month had fled, in all probability, from that extremely severe weather which then gripped all central Europe. A flock of over fifty Redwings were all singing together in the Normanston Park trees on 16th, the earliest date at which I have ever heard this species. Just north of Southwold 1 watched a flock of Bramblings and Chaffinches at their seedhunting on a large floating raft of broken Sedge-tops that the gale had packed tightly against the rond of a flooded marsh.— FEBRUARY. While observing some Redshanks through my glasses on 6th in the upper harbour, I saw one disgorge a pellet of which I possessed myself: it was 1} inches long and a half-inch wide, principally composed of fragmentary small Mollusc-shells, a portion of which I enclose* Mr. Peter Long reported on 9th two Bitterns booming at Easton Broad.

MARCH.—The unusual spring-weather of 1938 furnished the strängest list of arrival-dates of summer migrants that I have yet compiled : March's exceptional mildness brought Wheatears to our denes on 15th and a Willow-wren was seen at Oulton Broad on 27th, the earliest I have ever noted this species; but the next month's reversion to hiemal conditions caused a pause, so that *We are obliged to M r . Cook for these interesting regurgitated Shells, a collection of fully a hundred Gastropods whereof the vast majonty are reduced to no more than their central column. All the specimens are small, and of one or few species. T h e sole three examples retaining distinctive features pertain to the estuarine Littorina saxatilis, Ol. (rudis„ Mat.) and Pernigia ulvce, Penn.—Ed.

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RECENT BIRDS ROUND LOWESTOFT.

Swallozv, Cuckoo and most other kinds did not come tili long after their normal periods. This month occurred one or two Black Redstarts.—APRIL. A pair of Herons nested in a Fir-tree overlooking the marsh at Camps Heath ; and a pair of Tufted Duck unsuccessfully tried to nest on Leathes Ham in Normanston Park: the presence of eight Mute Swans on so small a broad renders almost impossible the breeding of other fowl there.—MAY. Two Spoonbills were reported to be on Breydon Water on 12th, and on 15th I spent a day there with a couple of other Naturalists.

We moored our punt near the Lumps on the south side and were watching a Glaucous Gull in flight, when a stränge small Gull flew from that side and settled not far from where we were lying.

In size it resembled a Black-head, showing no black about wings or body ; it had short dark legs and a dark bill; but in flight it distinctly differed from other Gulls in its quicker wing-beat.

If this were an Ivory Gull [Pagophila eburnea, Bew. : cf. Trans iii, p. cxliii], it is the FIRST that has ever been recorded from the whole of East Anglia. Upon this question Dr. Ticehurst writes : ' If you are convinced that the bird was a Gull and was quite white with black bill and legs, there is no other Gull but the Ivory which could tally.' I should not care to dogmatise in the case of such a rare species, when seen for only a few minutes ; but we were all three quite agreed upon the points that I have already indicated, and are quite familiar with every kind of Gull which is to be seen thereabouts.

Later that day we saw seven Spoonbills on the mud-flats. On 29th two Lapwings rose from a field at Benacre and flew off eastward ; my field-glasses followed their flight tili beyond view. Another stränge migration of the same species occurred on 19th June, when Mr. Jenner saw at first a solitary bird, then a small party, arrive in from the east at dawn.

AUGUST.—The early autumn migration produced little of outstanding interest: on 28th fully fifty Ringed Plovers were bunched together up the inner harbour ; I have seen similar gatherings at that spot in former years.—SEPTEMBER. At Blythburgh on 3rd was a considerable concourse of Dunlins, Ringed Plovets, several Knots and a Greenshank. One or two Richardsons-Skuas occurred on passage. Düring the very warm u eather that feil about the 12th, the air was alive with myriads of Insects : besides Swallows and Martins were hundreds of Gulls and Starlings snapping them up.

Most curious, however, were the grostesque antics of a Green Woodpeckei that was thus taking a meal in mid-air.