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25th September 2006 - ANGELSEY - ISABELLINE WHEATEAR

ANGELSEY. ISABELLINE WHEATEAR NEAR CARMEL HEAD IN 3RD FIELD W/OF KISSING GATE+MYNACHDY SIGNPOST LATE A/NOON FROM NT C/PK JUST W/OF CEMLYN LAGOON FOLLOW COAST PATH c2MLS VIEW ONLY FROM COAST PATH DO NOT ENTER FIELDS For more birding information ring our National Information Newsline. If you are not a member yet, try our service NOW and get the very latest up to date information, ring our public National Information Newsline on 09066 170079. (Calls are charged at 60p per minute) ** The BirdNet Team **

21st September 2006 - CORNWALL - LITTLE SHEARWATER

CORNWALL LITTLE S/WTR S/PAST MOUSEHOLE AT 6.10PM+BALEARIC S/WTR. For more information ring our National Information Newsline. If you are not a member yet, try our service NOW and get the very latest up to date information, ring our public National Information Newsline on 09066 170079. (Calls are charged at 60p per minute) ** The BirdNet Team **

23rd August 2006 - Lady Amherst's Pheasants in Britain - an update.

Lady Amherst's Pheasants in Britain - an update. The first introduction of Lady Amherst's Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae into Britain that had any lasting impact occurred at Woburn (Bedfordshire) in the 1890s. Further releases were made from the 1930s onwards and a population became established along the Greensand Ridge in Bedfordshire, from where they also spread into Buckinghamshire, and in the Luton Hoo estate (also Beds), released there in the 1950s. Results from various other release programmes elsewhere were short lived and it can be said that the entire British population soon became restricted to the counties of Beds and Bucks. Nothing much was published about the population levels of this species until after 1971, when it was added to category C of the British List (species that although introduced have self-sustaining populations). Since that time the British population probably peaked around the end of the fieldwork for the first national breeding atlas in 1972, at about 100-200 pairs. It may well have been higher than that before the 1970s. By the mid-1980s some concerns were already being expressed about the apparent decline in numbers, and it is known that further releases were made about that time. By 1992 the Bedfordshire population was thought to be as low as 100-200 individuals, and as a result a full survey was organized in the county during 1995-97. In the last year of that survey only 48 males and 10 females were found. It should be noted that whilst it is believed that females have always been heavily outnumbered by males, their population is extremely difficult to monitor. The best way to estimate the number of males is by locating them by their very distinctive, three-syllabic song during the months of March through to May. By 2001 the population had probably dropped to around 30-40 birds. In spring 2004 all woods in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire with previously published records, and some others that looked suitable, were visited. As a result of that survey it was estimated that the total population in those two counties is no more than 20 males with an unknown (but small) number of females. No more than nine males have been located in any one year since 2003 (Nightingale 2005). During 2005 confirmed records (up to three males) in Bedfordshire came from just one traditional site on the Greensand Ridge, which because of the nature of the habitat and the fact that a large part of the area is private, are virtually impossible to see. There was also an unconfirmed report of two males and a female in a private estate in the south of the county. They were also found in just one locality in Buckinghamshire, with one or possibly two males. In 2006 a total of nine males were found in woods along the Greensand Ridge in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, at a total of five sites. It is thought that the reasons for the dramatic decline, seemingly towards extinction in the UK, include a combination of habitat change (both man-made and natural woodland progression), predation by Red Foxes, destruction of the understorey by Muntjac Deer, and latterly fragmentation of the population, in-breeding and a lack of females. Being a very shy and secretive species it is also now under pressure from over-zealous birders, and for this reason the few localities where it still occurs are kept confidential. In 2005 the BOU Records Committee (BOURC) 'relegated' this species to category C6, as they consider that the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire population is no longer self-sustaining (Dudley 2005). As a non-native species further releases are prohibited under Section 14 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981). From a global perspective, the population in China and Myanmar in 1994 was estimated to be 20,000-50,000 individuals. The population trend has not been quantified but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criteria of the IUCN Red List. For that reason the species is currently evaluated as Least Concern (from Lower Risk/Near Threatened in 1994). [Source BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Chrysolophus amherstiae. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21st August 2006]. According to Lever (2005) '…the introduced population of Chrysolophus amherstiae in Britain is (of) considerable conservation significance…'[or at least was!]. Observers lucky enough to find Lady Amherst's Pheasant in Bedfordshire are asked to submit details to the county recorder, Dave Odell at 136 Bedford Road, Wootton, Beds MK43 9JD, or email at daveodell@tiscali.co.uk. References: Dudley, S.P. 2005. Changes to Category C of the British List Ibis 147: 803-820 Lever, C. 2005. Naturalised Birds of the World A&C Black, London Nightingale, B. 2005. Brit Birds 98: 20-25

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