BTO
Report May 2006
All of our summer migrant species have now returned to Britain and Ireland
and breeding is well underway for most. The unsettled weather, particularly
the heavy rain in parts, has caused difficulties for some resident and
migrant species and has resulted in small broods and some abandoned nests.
Most of our winter visitors have now departed with a late Brambling in Somerset on 11th May and Fieldfare and Redwing last recorded on 22nd May in Kent. Pink-footed Geese and Dark-bellied Brent Geese continue to linger. A late Shorelark was in Norfolk on 15th May and a Snow Bunting was in Northumberland on the 17th.
The strong south-westerly winds that have dominated the weather over the last 10 days produced an unprecedented influx of Storm Petrels to the south and west coasts of Britain. On the 19th May Storm Petrels were seen off West Sussex, Dorset, Somerset and Glamorgan and the following day over 1000 were logged off Portland Bill in Dorset. On the 21st, 43 were recorded off Dungeness in Kent - quite astonishing given there are no previous spring records and only 19 individuals have been previously recorded since 1952! Smaller numbers of seabirds such as skuas and shearwaters have also been recorded. At this time of year Storm Petrels are returning from their wintering grounds at sea to breeding colonies in Wales, Ireland and Scotland and it’s likely they were blown up the English and Bristol Channels during the gales.
You can get help finding grid references for Britain and Northern Ireland by using the Ordnance Survey 'Get-a-map' website. Use the link below and type in the place name and then hover over the exact location on the map and you will see the six-figure grid reference (two letters, six numbers) in the bottom left-hand side of the screen. You can then convert this grid reference to a four-figure grid reference required for BirdTrack (by knocking out the third and sixth number) eg TL871862 becomes TL8786. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/
Don't forget that the name for Canada Goose has changed to Greater Canada Goose!
Thanks again for your continued support for BirdTrack (www.birdtrack.net). If you have any queries, do contact us by email at birdtrack@bto.org