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Notes

01 August 1990 Comments Notes Oystercatchers incubating on closely adjacent nests. In early spring 1987, in a quiet corner of Blackpool Airport, Lancashire, soil, sand and chippings were dumped and then levelled. Later, the area became partly covered by vegetation and up to five Oy...

Mystery photographs

01 August 1990 Comments Main paper Perched conspicuously on a prominent vantage point, this mystery bird shows a fairly substantial bill, relatively long tail and black mask, a combination which quickly shows it to be one of the shrikes Lanius. The blackness of the wings and '...

Seventy-five years ago

01 August 1990 Comments Other 'LAND-RAILS IN STAFFORDSHIRE. I am pleased to report that the Land-Rail (Crex crex) turned up this year in quite average numbers in the district of Cheadle, Staffordshire . . . This very dry season is bringing on a very early hay harvest, and this...

Seasonal reports: winter 1989/90

01 August 1990 Comments Main paper The weather during this winter period was milder and wetter than average everywhere, with temperatures 2.5ºC above normal in much of southern and eastern England Unsettled westerly weather in early November changed to warm anticyclonic southeasterlies...

Plumage variation and identification of the 'Yelkouan Shearwater'

01 August 1990 Comments Main paper The classification of the European breeding shearwaters related to the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus, and the identification of the Mediterranean forms yelkouan and mauretanicus, colloquially known as the 'Levantine Shearwater' and the 'Balearic Sh...

Parrot Crossbills in Britain

01 October 1985 Comments Main paper Following an exceptional influx of Parrot Crossbills Loxia pytyopsittacus into Britain in the autumn of 1982 (Brit. Birds 76: 46, plates 12, 13 & 220) and subsequent wintering records, we decided to summarise all known past records of this species ...

Marmora's Warbler: new to Britain and Ireland

01 October 1985 Comments Main paper In the late evening of 15th May 1982, G. Lee telephoned me to say that, during that day, at Mickleden Clough, Langsett, South Yorkshire, he had watched a small warbler which he could identify only as a Marmora's Warbler Sylvia sarda. At ...

PhotoSpot. 15. Oriental Cuckoo

01 October 1985 Comments Main paper Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus is notoriously difficult to distinguish from Cuckoo C. canorus in the field, other than by its diagnostic call, typically rendered 'oo-poo-poo-poo' and recalling a Hoopoe Upupa epops. Without direct comparison, many of...

Rarities committee news and announcements

01 October 1985 Comments Editorials Committee membership is listed on the inside front cover each month, and on the back of the title page. In the absence of further nominations (Brit. Birds 77: 292), Iain Robertson started his official term of membership on 1st April this year, having e...

The 'British Birds' best bird book of the year

01 October 1985 Comments Editorials For the benefit of those who may wish to acquire (or give as a present) just one of the many bird books published each year, British Birds selects annually its choice of the 'Best Bird Book of the Year' from those reviewed in the journal during the pre...

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