Monthly Marathon

01 December 1998 Comments Other The bird in the seventh stage (plate 110) was identified as a wheatear Oenanthe by everyone, and most entrants (87%) correctly named it as Red-tailed O. xanthopryma (it was photographed by Colin Richardson in the United Arab Emirates in November 1989)....
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Looking Back

01 December 1998 Comments Other One hundred years ago: 'The Cirl Bunting in Breconshire. At the present time the Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) is a firmly established resident in this county, and is to be found in at least five or six localities . . . I found a nest containing four ...
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Seventy-five years ago

01 January 1991 Comments Other 'Unlike most species of duck, Sheld-drakes are not clumsy on land. They assembled on their leking-ground about 11 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. Some bathed and then sat apart preening themselves. Others began to play at once . . . When close together, the wings...
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Monthly marathon

01 January 1991 Comments Other Yes, we admit it, plate 237 in the October 1990 issue was an absolute stinker. It was named by entrants as: (43%) Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator (19%) Black-necked Grebe P. nigricollis (12%) (10%) Shag Phalac...
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