50th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
The Talks - a Summary
Mike Hodgson was the first speaker and set the scene with an illustrated history
of the Club entitled “Fifty years - where did that go?” He began the talk with
references to the formative years of the late fifties and the desire amongst birdwatchers
for up-to-date information on recent bird sightings. He presented slides of copies
of the early Club Bulletins and demonstrated how over the years, as the number of
contributors had increased, so too had the size and content of the Bulletin. It changed
from the single sheet produced on a Banda machine to the present 20 – 30 page publication,
with coloured illustrations and photographs, and was now available electronically.
From the beginning the Club was involved with survey work, particularly wildfowl
and wader counts, working closely with national agencies such as the BTO. Sea-watching
and drift migration papers also featured prominently in Club publications in the
1960s as did the appearance of identification papers on divers and shearwaters. The
part played by the various independent ringing groups in the county throughout the
first 30 years of the Club’s history was clearly shown, even though ringing was never
a specific Club activity. That the Club had always been very active in participating
in BTO surveys as well as instigating its own surveys was highlighted and it was
stressed that publishing the results of these surveys in the Bulletin and the annual
report (Birds in Northumbria) was a very important aspect of the Club’s functions.
Mike concluded his account by looking forward to the next fifty years. He stated
that the Club must continue with its survey work and that regular findings and that
the lowering of the age profile of the Club was a challenge that had to be met. He
also felt that as the size and content of both the Bulletin and Birds in Northumbria
had peaked in their present format that changes should be considered, and as a parting
comment asked whether the Club should look at the possibility of producing a new
county avifauna.
The second speaker was David Parkin, the former professor of genetics at Nottingham
University. David’s talk complemented that of the previous speaker in concentrating
on the scientific and survey work undertaken by past and present Club members.
The title of his paper was “Fifty years of science from the Tyneside Bird Club”.
He impressed the audience by starting with a list of over 200 publications that
had appeared in print by authors who had at one time or another been associated with
the NTBC. From his long catalogue of titles David chose to look in detail at the
writings of a number of writers who had produced significant works in their field.
The first paper he chose was that by Dave Howey and Mike Bell entitled Pallas’s
warbler and other migrants in Britain and Ireland in October 1982, published in 1985
(British Birds 78). Their examination of weather patterns in relation to autumnal
movement from central Asia was a major study in bird migration the findings of which
have since been verified by later researchers. The second article related to moult-migration.
It was Ringing studies of Goosanders in Northumberland by Eric Meek and Brian Little
that appeared in 1977 (BB 70). As the result of an extensive ringing and recovery
programme the authors were able to clearly demonstrate that many UK breeding Goosanders
were flying to northern Scandinavia for their moult-migration. It was a significant
piece of formative research. Along with Ian Newton both Meek and Little authored
David’s next selection. It was their work on Merlin studies. Their article Breeding
ecology of the Merlin, published in 1978 (BB 71), was a ground-breaking study of
this little known moorland raptor and the result of many years of fieldwork in north
east England. The next author chosen by David was Brian Etheridge who had jointly
written with Ron Summers and R.E.Green a paper entitled The effects of illegal killing
and destruction of nests by humans on the population dynamics of the Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus in Scotland. It appeared in 1997 in the Journal of Applied Ecology
(34). Like the papers previously selected for his talk it was another substantial
contribution to science, in this case for a highly endangered species in the UK.
David’s final selection related to a paper on a bird that was the first for Western
Europe. It was Mark Cubitt’s 1995 paper Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels at Tynemouth : new
to Britain and Ireland (BB 88). The article described the intricate examination
of the evidence gained from a variety of sources, including DNA analysis, before
the correct identity of the birds mist-netted at Tynemouth could be confirmed.
After the mid-afternoon break the next speaker was Mick Marquiss who chose to describe
three of his more recent field study assignments. The first was an examination of
the diet of White-tailed Eagles on Mull. He found that whilst young lambs formed
a small proportion of a very mixed diet for many pairs of birds there was a rogue
pair on the island who more regularly ate, lambs and that the worries of local farmers
were therefore not unfounded. He nevertheless concluded that White-tailed Eagles
were not pests and that the income from visitors to Mull to see the eagles far exceeded
the value of lambs lost. As with all three of the research studies in his talk Mick’s
accounts was spiced with humour and included many excellent colour slides of the
habitats he was describing. The second study was on the marine foraging of Osprey
and the complexities of identifying the species of fish caught. Whilst it has long
been understood that in warmer climes the Osprey is primarily a coastal species,
in more temperate zones it is a freshwater forager. Analysis of sea water temperatures
clearly showed this distinction in Osprey behaviour. In a concluding remark Mick
postulated that due to climate change, as the seas round the British Isles warmed
up, we could expect to see breeding Ospreys in some of our more southerly estuaries
in years to come. His final study related to the question of why so many Bullfinches
become Sparrowhawk kills, particularly in the harsher winter months. Much observation
and many field notes taken over the years determined that in northern Britain whilst
the variety of Bullfinch food was quite broad it was very much related to seasonal
availability. At the height of winter Bullfinches flock together and are forced
to move higher up the hillsides to find suitable food. Often this is to open heather
moorland. Flying from tree cover to heather areas exposes Bullfinches to predation
and would seem to be the reason for the increase in their deaths. Mick suggested
that forest edges should therefore not be created in straight lines but that the
tree line should be feathered, and that more native trees should be scattered on
the higher hillsides.
Colin Bradshaw was the final speaker. He chose as his title “The future for bird
watching”. Colin talked about the problems of “splitting and lumping” using examples
of such species as Lesser Whitethroat and Crossbill, and suggested that even Nightingale
and Eider might be candidates for splitting. He also wondered if we were always
correctly identifying some of the newer species to the British list. He posed the
question in relation to Scoter species; the distinction between Little Egret, Snowy
Egret and immature Little Blue Heron ; and wondered how many Double-crested Cormorant
had been overlooked. He commented on status change for some species including Yellow
Wagtail, Ring Ouzel and Wood Pigeon and suggested that perhaps we could hope for
more breeding Pectoral Sandpiper in the British Isles. Partly tongue-in-cheek (I
think) he also forecast the disappearance of Holy Island and the Farnes as sea levels
gradually rise. With typical Bradshaw thoroughness his talk was spiced with amusing
anecdotes and compromising photographs of many Club members, as well as with magnificent
pictures of many of the bird species he discussed.
To round off a very stimulating and interesting afternoon Sarah Barratt, another
former Club chairman, gave a fulsome vote of thanks to all the speakers.
J. C. Day
