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Recent reports

01 February 2010 Comments News and comment This summary of unchecked reports covers early December 2009 to early January 2010. Headlines A Killdeer in Ireland was a fine Christmas present for the finders, and no fewer than four Gyr Falcons were also seasonal treats. More unexpected records includ...

News and comment

01 February 2010 Comments News and comment As BB went to press, the UK was experiencing the most severe winter weather for 30 years. Reacting to the conditions, the RSPB took the lead with emergency feeding of threat- ened species, including Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris and Cirl Bunting Emb...

The Birds of Leicestershire & Rutland

01 February 2010 Comments Reviews By Rob Fray, Roger Davis, Dave Gamble, Andrew Harrop and Steve Lister Christopher Helm, 2009 Hbk, 768pp, black-and-white and colour photographs, many graphs and figures ISBN 978-0-7136-7233-6 Subbuteo code M20094 £45.00 BB Bookshop price £40.0...

Letters

01 February 2010 Comments Letters The recent paper by Richard Broughton (Brit. Birds 102: 604-616) summarised a welcome analysis of the relative importance of the various criteria used to separate Willow Poecile montana and Marsh Tits P. palustris. We consider, however, that the con- clus...

Conservation research news

01 February 2010 Comments News and comment The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) has pro- vided important information on population trends of the breeding birds in the UK coun- tryside since 1994, using data from several thousand 1-km-square survey plots. Stuart Newson and his colleagues from the BTO hav...

The BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2009

01 February 2010 Comments Main paper British Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology announce the winner of the Award for Best Bird Book of the Year. All books reviewed in BB or the BTO publications BTO News and Bird Study (and on the BTO website, www.bto.org) during the year 2009 were e...

The population biology of Common Sandpipers in Britain

01 February 2010 Comments Main paper Abstract The population biology of Common Sandpipers Actitis hypoleucos has been studied, especially by colour-ringing breeding adults, at two sites, in the Peak District and in the Scottish Borders. Adults are usually site-faithful, males more so than fe...

Green Warbler on Scilly: new to Britain

01 February 2010 Comments Main paper Abstract Britain's only Green Warbler Phylloscopus nitidus was discovered on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, on 26th September 1983, where it remained until 4th October. The taxonomic position of Green Warbler has oscillated since then, between se...

The Eskimo Curlew in Britain

01 February 2010 Comments BOURC Abstract This paper summarises the history and migrations of the Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis, a formerly abundant species now possibly extinct. A recent review of all British records by BOURC concluded that the previously ...

Mystery photographs

01 November 1985 Comments Main paper Last month's photograph by Richard T. Mills (plate 241, repeated here as 288) is so sharp and evenly lit, and gives such a vivid impression of how the bird must actually have looked, that one is tempted to jump to a rapid conclusion. Other than se...

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