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From the Rarities Committee's files: Do we know what British 'soft-plumaged petrels' are?

01 August 2006 Comments Main paper ABSTRACT Sightings of `soft-plumaged petrels' Pterodroma mollis/madeira/feae in British waters have increased significantly in the last 20 years, and there has been a growing realisation that all the British birds show a suite of characters as... Read More

Fea's Petrel off Scilly: new to Britain

01 August 2006 Comments Main paper ABSTRACT A Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae was seen from a boat approximately 10 km south of Scilly on 8th July 2001. Although there had been several previous sightings of Fea's/Zino's Petrels P. feae/madeira in British waters, this sigh... Read More

Canvasback in Kent: new to Britain

01 March 2004 Comments Main paper ABSTRACT A male Canvasback Aythya valisineria was recorded at Cliffe, Kent, on 7th December 1996.This has now been accepted as the first record for Britain; it preceded a more settled, and much more widely observed bird in Norfolk in January 1997.To da... Read More

The identification of a hybrid Canvasback x Common Pochard: implications for the identification of vagrant Canvasbacks

01 March 2003 Comments Main paper ABSTRACT The identification of a male hybrid Canvasback Aythya valisineria x Common Pochard A. ferina at Chew Valley Lake, Somerset, is discussed. The most important character for separating a pure-bred Canvasback from a similar ... Read More