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CONTENTS

Monthly Summaries 1 Swift movements 4 Population & breeding density of Willow Ti 5 TIT-BITS 7 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers 9 Report from the Chair 10 RSPB Membership profile 10 Greenabella development scheme 11 Teesmouth WeBS Spring 2021 Summary 13 BTO news 15 TBC publications 16 Crosswords 17

MONTHLY SUMMARIES

Chris Sharp reviews the birding highlights of the spring period.

MARCH Last month’s Spoonbill and Great White Egret were still present at Saltholme early in the month as were the 12 White-fronted Geese on Cowpen Marsh. Three Waxwings in Billingham on 2nd were elusive in what was a poor winter for this species. The Green and Common Sandpipers were still in situ at Portrack as were the Greenshank and Spotted Redshank at Greatham Creek.

A drake American Wigeon at Port Clarence Flood on 7th was the first for ten years. Also present at this time was a drake Green-winged Teal. Two Slavonian Grebes were off Saltburn on 7th and five Whooper Swans on Scaling Dam were the first of a good return passageofr Whoopers.

Up to 100 Twites were around Seaton Snook and Avocets were back on the North Tees Marshes in good numbers from 9th. It was an excellent winter for Great Northern Divers and at least two birds were present for much of the month at South Gare.

A Bittern was at Dorman’s Pool on 13th. Cetti’s Warblers sang at both Portrack and Bowesfield Marshes. Up to 19 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were at Seal Sands mid month.

Red Kites were to the fore on 19th with three over Guisborough. Single birds were seen the following day over Wynyard, Hartburn and Guisborough. The first Little Ringed Plover was on 19th with Wheatear on 20th. Three Cranes flew past Saltburn on 20th and an impressive 27 Buzzards were in the air at Wynyard. 70 Whooper Swans were over Saltburn and 80 flew over Lockwood Beck.

A drake Mandarin was at Scaling Dam on 22nd. The same day saw a Black Redstart at Hunley Hall Golf Course and an Iceland Gull here. A drake Scaup was on Saltholme Pools. Two Garganey were at Scaling Dam on 23rd and a Spoonbill was

Teesmouth Bird Club Newsletter

September 2021 (No.79) Reg.Charity No.508850

The newsletter is published three times a year ( April, September and December). Compilation and layout by Eric James, distribution by Chris Sharp, and web download by Jamie Duffie. Articles and contributions are always welcomed; please send to tbc.projects@hotmail.co.uk

Q : How many Willow Tits can you get on the site of a disused coal mine? A : More than you might think - see page 5

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on Seaton Common. The first Swallow was on 24th and Sandwich Tern on 25th. The latter date also saw two Cranes over Hutton Rudby.

An Osprey was over Zinc Works Road on 27th and was tracked over Hartlepool. A Bittern was on Dorman’s Pool. Two Black Redstarts showed well at Scaling Dam on 28th. Single Ospreys were over Stockton, Dorman’s Pool and Zinc Works Road on 30th with a Red Kite at Dalton Piercy the same day.

The month ended with a Whimbrel at Greatham Creek, Willow Warbler at Scaling Dam and more Whooper Swans; 51 over Hartlepool Marina and 40 at Scaling Dam.

APRIL

A female Garganey was at Cowpen Marsh early in the month. It was to prove a poor spring for this, our only summer visiting duck. A Spoonbill was at Saltholme on 3rd joining the long staying American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal. An Iceland Gull visited Redcar on 3rd.

A drake Mandarin was present at Locke Park on 9th. A Greenshank at Saltholme Pools on 9th was presumably a spring migrant and a Red Kite was over Stockton. A late Great Northern Diver was at Jacksons Landing 10th. Two were also at South Gare at this time.

The first Grasshopper Warbler was seen on 12th with both Reed and Sedge Warbler the following day. Whitethroat followed on 15th and Yellow Wagtail on 16th. A single Whooper Swan was on Dorman’s Pool on 17th. Five Ruffs and 42 Black-tailed Godwits were at Port Clarence Flood on this date.

Yellow Wagtail, Dorman’s Pool Ian Forrest

The first Ring Ouzels were at Hunley Hall Golf Course on 21st with Tree Pipit on Roseberry Common. A Cuckoo was on Long Drag on 22nd. Up to three Cetti’s Warblers were at Portrack Marsh at this time. The first Whinchat was on 23rd with Lesser Whitethroat the following day.

Also on 24th A Hooded Crow was over Portrack Marsh and a Raven was over Roseberry Topping.

An Osprey was at Scaling Dam and what was presumably the same Hooded Crow appeared at Hargreaves Quarry on 28th. Two Swifts were over Dorman’s Pool on 28th and a Bonxie was at South Gare. A Black Redstart was at Skinningrove on 30th and a Red Kite flew over Carlin How.

MAY

Black-necked Grebes, Saltholme Ian Forrest

[IMPORTANT info for photographers : These birds are in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), so if they were to breed, then it would be an offence to disturb them]

Two Black-necked Grebes in their smart summer plumage were on Saltholme Pool on 2nd. The first Common Terns were also here. Both Wood Sandpiper and a fly-through Hobby were present on 5th. The 6th saw a trip of four Dotterel on Guisborough Moor and a Shore Lark at Tidal Pool. Redstarts were at South Gare on 7th and Hummersea on 8th. A Curlew Sandpiper on 9th at Saltholme was the only one of the spring on the North Tees Marshes. Five Arctic Terns were also here but the rarest bird of the day was a Turtle Dove at Old Cemetery, Hartlepool.

It was a good spring for Yellow Wagtails. Ten were at Zinc Works Road on 10th. Three Wood Sandpipers were on a flood along Seal Sands road

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at this time. Spotted Flycatchers were at Hummersea on 11th and Zinc Works Road on 12th. A singing Pied Flycatcher was at Newton Woods on 13th, a traditional breeding site for this increasingly scarce bird. A drake Garganey was along Seal Sands road from 13th. A late Glaucous Gull was off Hartlepool on 14th.

Shore Lark, Greatham Creek Ian Forre3

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Hooded Crow, Dorman’s Ian Forrest

The 15th saw single Spoonbills at Cowpen Marsh and Saltburn,an Iceland Gull on Dorman’s Pool, a Hooded Crow at Warsett Hill and both Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper on Bran Sands. A Golden Oriole at South Gare on 16th was unfortunately only seen by the initial observer.

Both Osprey and Red Kite were at Scaling Dam on 19th with one of the latter also over Billingham. A Ruddy Shelduck was present at Saltholme Pools on 20th. A Spoonbill was on Cowpen Marsh on this date with another bird at Saltholme Pools on 22nd. A Bonxie was sat on the Heugh breakwater at Hartlepool on this date. An Osprey was over South Gare on 23rd. Single Garden Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher at Zinc Works Road on 23rd were part of the few spring migrants to be seen this year.

A Wood Sandpiper was on Seaton Common 24th-25th. A Great White Egret was over RSPB Saltholme on 27th. Five Spoonbills toured the North Tees Marshes late in the month and an unseasonal Brent Goose was on Seal Sands Road on 30th.

Wood Sandpiper, Seaton Common Ian Forrest

JUNE June proved to be the best month of the spring for scarce birds.

Spoonbill, Greenabella Ian Forrest

The five Spoonbills remained around the North Tees Marshes early in the month. 23 Whimbrel were at Greatham Creek on 1st. A Rose-coloured Starling that showed briefly at South Gare on 2nd was part of a national influx at this time. A Woodchat Shrike at RSPB Saltholme on this date showed much better and was the seventh for Cleveland. A Pied Flycatcher was at Hartlepool and the following day a Black Redstart was at Ferry Road, Hartlepool.

37 Snow Geese flying south off Hartlepool on 4th was a splendid sight, whatever their origin. Two Great White Egrets were on Dorman’s Pool. A Marsh Warbler sang and showed well at Bowesfield from 5th. Highlight of the month was an adult Purple Heron at Dorman’s Pool 6th to 7th. It was the first to be seen in Cleveland for ten years. A White-fronted Goose at Petroplus

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Pool on 7th was on a rather odd date for this species.

Great White Egret, Dorman’s Ian Forrest

Woodchat Shrike, South Gare Rob Young

A Quail was flushed at Wilton on 8th. Another Rose-coloured Starling at Easington on 9th was more obliging than the one earlier in the month and a second Woodchat was at South Gare on 10th. A Red Kite was over Yarm and a drake Garganey was at Saltholme Pools.

Another Red Kite was over Middlesbrough on 14th. This species continues to get commoner in Cleveland. Sea watching off Cowbar on 17th produced 59 Manx Shearwaters ad 43 Puffins. A Green Sandpiper was at Scaling Dam on 18th.

A splendid adult Roseate Tern was around Cowpen Marsh from 20th. Bearded Tits were seen at Dorman’s Pool from 20th and it was the second consecutive year off successful breeding.

A Spoonbill was at RSPB Saltholme from 20th remaining until the month’s end. Both Mediterranean and Little Gull were at Saltholme

on 26th.Two Ruddy Shelducks were on Cowpen Marsh on 27th. 47 Black-tailed Godwits here on 27th were the forerunners of, hopefully a good autumn passage for waders through the county.

Swift movements

Lightweight tracking devices continue to give insights into birds’ lives. It was thought that migrating Swifts covered 500km (310 miles) per day, but tracking gives an average of 570 km (353 miles) per day with the fastest birds covering 832km (516 miles).

Long before these technological advances, David Lack in his classic book ’Swifts in a Tower’ described situations where the birds made long journeys to avoid bad weather. Swifts, unlike Swallows that can hunt close to and in the shelter of trees, avoid heavy rain and make great efforts to avoid it. The first example Lack quotes was when he and others were on the Berkshire Downs and saw huge thunder clouds coming in from the west. A party of Swifts quickly flew east past the watching party, who were drenched by the ensuing downpour and envied the birds’ ability to escape. Research by a Finnish zoologist, J. Koskimies showed the same behaviour can occur on a bigger scale with birds flying round approaching depressions and their associated weather fronts Depressions are areas of low atmospheric pressure caused by warm, moist air meeting cold air and being raised off the ground, resulting in a temperature drop and condensation of the moisture into droplets. The heaviest rain is to the southeast of the low pressure and, in the northern hemisphere, the wind round it moves in an anti-clockwise direction. The birds can sense the approach of the weather system and those breeding can shelter in their nesting cavities, while younger non-breeding birds escape by flying into the wind and reaching the fine weather. Depending on the extent of the depression, some of these movements can cover large distances as shown by the passage of birds along the south and east coasts of England as a result of depressions over the continent

Eric James

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The population and breeding densities of Willow Tits

Eric James compares ‘our’ Willow Tits with some from a surprising location.

Willow Tit, Flatts Lane C.P. Eric James

The British subspecies of the Willow Tit (Poecile montanus kleinschmidti) has become notable for its dramatic falls in numbers and range. The 2019 Cleveland survey, which was impressively comprehensive, gave a population of 53 pairs/ singing males. The British population in 2016 was estimated as 2750 pairs, so our birds comprise

about 0.02% of the total. The survey coverage clearly shows Barbara was considerably more successful than I ever was in organising surveys of ‘ordinary’ birds.

It was interesting to see that the Flatts Lane tetrad is maintaining a good number (seven pairs). I covered this as part of the CBBS in 2003, using the territory mapping method of the BTO Common Bird Census. I returned a count of four territories, though with the possibility two others, one of which overlapped an adjacent tetrad where the it had been counted when I had covered that tetrad in 1999, so couldn’t include it in Flatts Lane as well. There was also a single record of a bird calling near the edge of Eston Moor but I was reluctant to count a territory on the basis of just one record. The 2019 survey method would not have had such scruples.

Although our Willow Tit problems look serious, taking a global view puts it in perspective. The range is extensive and holds 14 subspecies, see the map on next page, which shows the presence in part of the Himalaya, perhaps explaining the species’ specific name of ‘montanus’ :

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The Eurasian range of the Willow Tit

The estimated population is 4 to 7 million pairs, also quoted as 175 to 253 million adults, but is slowly declining though not quickly enough to make it qualify as being vulnerable

Although the Cleveland numbers look good, considering the size of the area; they pale in comparison with the findings of a survey described in a paper in the BTO journal Bird Study.

The site in question was a disused coal mine in north-west England, on the outskirts of Wigan. The underground workings have caused subsidence so there is open water, surrounded by damp grass, scrub and woodland The site area was 596 ha, including the 103 ha of open water, leaving 493 ha of potential breeding area, slightly larger than a 400 ha tetrad. Willow Tits were studied from 2017 to 2019 with all birds fitted with metal rings and combinations of colour rings so they were individually identifiable. All nests were located and territories mapped (as shown in the maps on the previous page); the surrounding ground has been used for retail, light industry and suburban housing (they must have garden lists to die for!). The woodland is mainly deciduous, with 14 ha of larch and Scots pine plantation.

The number of pairs was steady with 35 to 37 each year; this is equivalent to 7.3 pairs/km2,and is 1.3% of the national (and global) population of the subspecies. The territories on average were 13.7ha but varied in size from 1.1 to 41.3 ha. The largest territories contained larger volumes of woodland and were occupied by dominant birds. If you are wondering about the concept of volume of woodland, it’s area multiplied by the average tree height. Perhaps stretching a point, the authors of the paper say that under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands a site is considered as internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the population of a waterbird species or subspecies. Willow Tits are hardly waterbirds, although the British subspecies is often associated with damp woodland and scrub integrated with wetlands, so if similar criteria to the Ramsar Convention were applied, hypothetically, then this site could be considered as internationally important for this taxon.

Other observations include the fact that 84.3% of nests were in or adjacent to woodland, which needs to be old enough to have some dead wood for the birds to be able to excavate their nest holes, but not so tall to attract other species that will adversely affect the birds. Although the success of the breeding birds was quite good, in several cases the first attempt failed. A common cause of failure was Blue Tits taking over the nests. It’s surprising that the bull-necked Willow Tit cannot defeat the slightly lighter Blue Tit, or do Blue Tits fight dirty?

More credible causes for the birds’ problems include loss of habitat and predation by squirrels and by Great Spotted Woodpeckers whose population has quadrupled recently, though, surprisingly, the anglicus subspecies, which is actually the Continental form and only rarely seen in Britain, is on the amber list

Above : Bad news for Willow Tits?

This dramatic rise in Great Spotted Woodpeckers, there being good evidence that their nest survival rate has increased, most likely due to decreased competition with Starlings. This demonstrates how things are subtly interconnected by ecology.

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Before finishing this article, I must have a moan about the representations of Willow Tit calls that have annoyed me for many years. Many field guides say the call is ‘chay’, and the Collins guide gives it as ‘taah’. It took me a long time to relate these to what I transcribed as ‘ner’. I was pleased to see in a BTO video on the separation of Marsh and Willow Tits that the Willow Tit’s call was nasal, which is not suggested by either of the field guide descriptions. In addition, I have never heard anything that sounded like the ’t’ in the Collins version. Perhaps a compromise version could be ‘naah’.

I feel much better after that, though I could also complain about the representations of the Goldcrest’s song, but that will have to wait for another occasion.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Wikipedia Would these birds be so popular with suburban bird feeders if they knew that they eat other birds’ eggs and nestlings?

Eric James

Effects of Australian wild fires

We’ve all seen the news reports of these fires, so will not be surprised to find changes in bird behaviour as a result. Researchers have found that Red-backed Fairywren males have remained in their drab non-breeding plumage. This species is adapted to fire because it evolved in savannahs that tend to burn, so if there is no place for the birds to nest, it might not be worth the risk of switching to bright colours that might attract a

predator, so skipping the breeding season altogether would be a safer bet.

People have suddenly noticed birds

With the first lockdown and reduced traffic noise, many people have started noticing and taking an interest in bird song. Consequently, recordings of songs have been sent into radio stations, together with some decidedly doubtful identifications. A Radio three announcer said that a previously broadcast song of a ‘thrush’ (Song or Mistle? – didn’t say) might have been a Chaffinch [!] or possibly a Nuthatch [!!]. While an interest in birds is welcome, some knowledge would be useful as well.

On Radio four’s Saturday Live, the Rev Richard Coles read a short piece praising the universally disliked Feral Pigeon, but it was undermined by being accompanied by a recording of a Woodpigeon singing.

Another radio announcer came out with the long-held misunderstanding of Tawny Owl utterances, saying that the female called kee-wick and the male responded with the hoot.

Will our logo get the chop?

Shelduck fitted with GPS tag, glued to feathers on the bird’s back, just behind the chestnut collar.

As we know, Shelducks cross the North Sea to moult in areas along the northern coasts of The Netherlands and Germany. However, little is known about the routes, speeds and heights of these flights, which will become important as more off-shore wind farms come into operation.

The BTO ran a pilot study to investigate this. It involved four Shelducks (two of each sex) fitted with solar-powered GPS tags on Havergate island

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in Suffolk. The GPS readings were logged as the birds crossed the sea, which took on average 3½ hours, flying at up to 55 knots (63 mph for us landlubbers) Since the crossing is done twice a year, and since the birds fly at a height that could, as the report puts it, mean there is a chance that could lead to turbine interactions, interaction in this context meaning sliced in two. Even if the birds actively avoid the turbine areas, it increases the energy demands needed for the flight.

The project revealed previously unknown aspects of the moult migration

The birds set off at different times and took different routes depending on the weather conditions.. but they all stopped in the same small area in the Dutch Wadden Sea where they remained for 11 to 17 days, occasionally making short local flights. In crossing the North Sea, at least one bird flew through an operating wind farm at a height (85 m) where it could have had an ‘interaction’.

While on the Dutch sector of the Wadden Sea, one bird lost its tag, but the others could be tracked to the German sector at the Elbe estuary where they moulted. A male moved back and forth between the Dutch and German sectors before settling in the Dutch sector to moult.

The track of the male that couldn’t make up his mind where to settle

As the birds moulted, the tags became loose and floated around. As long as they remained the right way up, the PV cells kept them powered up and their movements could be followed. Three were recovered but the fourth landed in a field occupied by a very dangerous bull; by the time the bull was removed, high tides had washed the

tag on to a marsh, and as it was upside down, it did not transmit its location and was not found

70 million years of birds sticking beaks into mud

It’s always impressive to see a long-billed wader yank a prey item out of mud. The birds have two tricks for doing this. The first is having a sensitive tip to the beak where small pits contain Herbst corpuscles. These can detect vibrations from moving creatures. The second trick is being able to grip the prey. The birds obviously cannot open the beak when deep in mud or sand, but they are able to open just the tip. Even smaller billed waders have this ability as shown in this photograph of a Knot

Knot, Fish Sands Eric James

Other species with sensitive beaks include the Kiwis. These are in a group of birds called the paleognaths (with ostriches and emus). Other modern birds are classed as neognaths. The two groups separated 70 million years ago, suggesting that the ability evolved in a common ancestor; fossils of extinct birds from the Cretaceous period (lithornithids) show the pits which imply the presence of Herbst corpuscles, and there is even the possibility of some dinosaurs having the same ability, though the available fossils are in not good enough condition to prove this.

Saving seabirds from nets – another way

One method of fishing is using gill nets which are strung in the water between two buoys; it is estimated that 400,000 diving birds are drowned each year by being entangled in these nets. A novel approach has been devised o keep birds away, involving the use of ‘Looming-eyes buoys’ acting like scarecrows. Each buoy is fitted with a panel which rotates in the wind. On one side there are two cartoon-like small eyes, and on the other side two larger eyes. As the panel rotates, birds see the small and large eyes, and perceive them as something possibly dangerous approaching, making them swerve to avoid the buoys

Tests of the devices in Küdema Bay, Estonia, showed that the number of over-wintering Long-

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tailed Ducks within a 50m radius of the buoys fell by up to a quarter

I’m feeling a lot safer now Wikipedia

Blue Tits and garden bird food

Ornithological research requires practitioners to do various strange activities. A project in Scotland involved collecting Blue Tit droppings from 39 woodlands across the country, some close to houses, some on remote mountainsides and some by the sea, and using new molecular technology (metabarcoding if you are wondering) to determine what the birds were eating. It is not surprise that there were hundreds of species of insect prey, the commonest being a small moth caterpillar that lives on birches, and was present in a third of the samples. Garden bird food was present in 53% of the samples, with peanuts in 49% of them. It wasn’t just local birds that were feeding in gardens, there being evidence that some were flying in from 1.4km away, which was the limit of each sampling area.

Garden food is now an important part of the birds’ diet, which is not surprising if the total quantity is considered : 150,000 tonnes of bird food each year. That’s enough to feed three times the breeding populations of the ten commonest garden species if they ate nothing else all year, with one feeder for every nine birds that use them.

Birds before hatching are aware of predators and keep quiet

It’s dangerous being a young bird, even or more so before hatching. Experiments on two Australian wader species (Red-capped Plover and Masked Lapwing) showed they responded to the calls of predators and slowed their rate of calling.

The researchers exposed eggs to different signals of a predator approaching, such as predator calls, parental alarm calls, increased parent heart rate sounds or changes in light level from a parent bird moving off the nest.

They didn’t find any effects from a change in light or heart rate, but the embryos of lapwings went

from calling just over once per minute under white noise, to once over three minutes when exposed to the sounds of egg-eating Little Ravens, suggesting they recognised the danger and were being quieter to avoid attracting attention. It is unexpected that the parent’s alarm calls were ignored since they would be a reliable warning if the predator was silent

Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers

Because of some confusion, I received a report supposedly from Alistair McLee describing a Club outing to the Leven valley and Weary Bank. Alistair said he hadn’t led such an outing for several years, but I’d written a piece on the bird this area is noted for, so to avoid wasting it, here it is : Considering their small size, it’s surprising that Lesser Spotted Woodpecker parents hack out their nest, though usually in softer decayed wood. It can be at various heights up the tree and often be in a side branch. It starts with a 1½ inch diameter hole leading to a tunnel which in the tree trunk curves down to the nesting chamber, 3 in. diameter and 9 in. high, unlined except perhaps for any remaining wood chippings

The August issue of British Birds includes an estimate of the current British population of 2000 pairs, in a range of 1750 to 2300. The species is on the Red List and its population is now too low to be reliably monitored by the BTO/JNCC/RSPB

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BBS, the situation being aggravated by the species’ early nesting, so the estimate was based on tetrad-atlas data (including ours though it wouldn’t contribute much). The successive BTO Atlases show the range shrinking towards the South-east where densities of up to 2.3 to 3.3 pairs/tetrad have been found in parts of Kent. and 2.8 to 5.6 pairs per tetrad in Bedfordshire. Though limited in Britain, the global range is large

Report from the Chair

As acting chair I have to step into the shoes of Barbara Crinson who has completed a three year stint as Chair! Barbara has completed an excellent term as Chair, and I feel I will have a lot to live up to as I move into the role. My thanks go to Barbara for all her hard work throughout her term and for her help and guidance as I undergo the transition to Chair.

As we move into late summer there was a hope of better things as lockdown restrictions were lifted. However, as we see many spikes of high numbers of positive COVID cases throughout our region, restrictions are not easing as quickly as we thought they would, and I know many of our members remain cautious about resumption to normality.

The Trustees have held two meetings by Zoom, in April and July. It is intended to hold the somewhat delayed AGM in September.

The trustees have discussed and are looking into the resumption of indoor meetings at Stockton Library. However, Stockton Council will not decide on whether to open the conference room to visitors until mid-August, still leaving us with an air of uncertainty as we move closer towards our 2021-2022 season of indoor meetings. So, it could still be necessary to start off the season using Zoom for our meetings, which proved to be very popular earlier in the year.

On a positive note, outdoor meetings will shortly resume and it is hoped members will again join us as we visit the popular sites in our region.

Bank Work continues at Lockwood Beck, and restrictions around the site are still in place. Work has overrun its initial finishing date and a date of mid-September has been given for its completion .

Earlier in the year Barbara Crinson and I had a meeting with Joe Stockil from The Clarences Leisure and Gardening Association. Joe is busy building a bird hide that overlooks the Clarence flood in the nature garden that he is developing. It will be used by pupils from High Clarence Primary School. If any members would like to donate any old binoculars or old bird identification books suitable for the use of the children, we would be grateful.

I look forward to meeting and greeting members back to the Club for our new season

Steve McDonnell

RSPB membership profile

Just as a matter of interest, but the results are not surprising :we’re old, mostly English townies. who don’t shoot birds - Ed

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GREATHAM NORTH EAST (a.k.a. Greenabella Marsh) FLOOD ALEVIATION SCHEME

Above : Aerial view of present state of Greenabella

In April, the Club was invited to attend a Zoom meeting to discuss options for this proposal. Present were stakeholder representatives from local government, statuary bodies, non-government organisations (NGOs) such as ourselves and site business.

The meeting was chaired by the Environment Agency (EA) who outlined the site’s history and the need to replace and realign the existing sea defences. These structures date back to around 1896 with some modifications in the 1990s. In their present state, they are virtually impossible to maintain due to their non-standard composition and construction. A structural study in 2019, showed their poor condition and arrival of the end of their useful life.

Also, there was a requirement of the EA under the Water Framework Directive, to restore intertidal habitat, through managed realignment. (This has taken place already in the creation of the Salterns (Greatham Creek N W) and Greatham Creek S W (a.k.a. Cowpen Marsh).

Prior to the meeting a series of options had been circulated which presented opportunities for inclusion of existing biodiversity and its potential enhancement. At the time of writing, site surveys of the existing biodiversity and habitat were underway. In the equation, economic benefit will be a factor too, of course, in the process. What emerged was a variation on the proposed options. (See diagram on next page).

At present the basic concept is to allow partial ingress of the tide into the south sector to Greenabella Marsh to create tidal pools in the Number 5 Brine Field. The northern sector of Greenabella will have full tidal ingress to create a habitat like those evolving presently on Cowpen and the Salterns. Areas of fresh water wetland will be planned in other sectors.

Serious money is involved with a notional budget of £12 million. By July this year when survey data has been reviewed, a decision will be made on the final configuration with a view to an interim business case in March 2022. This will be followed by the production of a detailed design and the subsequent emergence of a full business case in 2023.

The Club will have continued input during the evolution of this exciting development.

Ali McLee May 2021

The Tees estuary has suffered considerable damage over many years, with large areas of so-called reclamation (now more accurately called land claim), so it’s a welcome change to see more of the recent developments that benefit birdlife. Things could have been worse : the Taff estuary in Cardiff had a barrage built across the mouth, permanently flooding mudflats. It’s easy to imagine the promoters of the scheme saying that visitors would rather see water than mud – Ed

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WETLAND BIRD SURVEY TEESMOUTH SPRING 2021 SUMMARY Coverage was excellent with 119 of the scheduled 123 sector counts completed over the

three months.

Teal (717, April), Little Ringed Plover (13, June) and Black-Headed Gull (2358, May) all set

new spring maxima records utilising WeBS data which goes back to 1988. Canada Goose

(509, May), Greylag (266, May) and Grey Heron (43, June) recorded their second highest

spring maxima totals. Shelduck (436, April) had their best spring showing since 476 were

recorded in 1993.

Oystercatcher (171, June) recorded their lowest spring maximum total, potentially the

result of recreational disturbance along the shorelines which was noted by several

surveyors during the period.

Other notable records from the spring counts included single drakes of American Wigeon

and Green-winged Teal (Back Saltholme, April), a Garganey (Cowpen Marsh, May), Ruddy

Shelduck (Cowpen Marsh, May) and Spoonbill (Fleet Field, June).

Following this spring’s series of counts, the Tees and Hartlepool Bay WeBS recording area

is of national importance for Avocet, Gadwall and Sanderling.

Adam Jones

Local Organiser, Tees Estuary WeBS

June 2021

Apologies about the small squares after every item in the table on the next page, they appeared when the numbers were transferred from the original and can’t be deleted.

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Teesmouth Wetland bird survey Summary for Spring 2021

Species April 11

May 23

June 20

Little Grebe 5 10 8 Great Crested Grebe 20 23 28 Cormorant 22 34 51 Mute Swan 44 44 63 Shelduck 436* 198 270 Gadwall 311** 136* 394** Teal 717 1 12 Mallard 126 142 164 Shoveler 130* 28 36 Pochard 82 47 69 Tufted Duck 115 100 103 Eider 22 10 2 Coot 164 127 235 Oystercatcher 138 118 171 Avocet 104** 76** 89** Little Ringed Plover 10 3 13 Ringed Plover 84 231* 28 Golden Plover 0 0 0 Grey Plover 63 8 2 Lapwing 144 116 218 Knot 142 4 0 Sanderling 319** 9 8 Purple Sandpiper 0 0 0 Dunlin 247 124 15 Ruff 1 0 0 Snipe 14 0 0 Black-tailed Godwit 35 0 0 Bar-tailed Godwit 48 9 4 Curlew 294 88 82 Redshank 463 9 6 Turnstone 30 25 1 Sandwich Tern 0 9 17 Common Tern 0 125 302 Little Tern 0 22 2

Underlined counts indicate Spring 2021 maxima. * Denotes count of >50% of national significance for that species ** Denotes count of national importance for that species

All WeBS data are collected on behalf of the WeBS Partnership, which retains exclusive rights to the sale or supply of these data for commercial purposes.

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BTO News August 2021 Breeding Birds Survey and Waterways Breeding Birds Survey

While April’s unusually cold weather made early seasons visits challenging at times, conditions were much more benign in May and June. 78% of Cleveland’s BBS squares are currently allocated. Of these, 2021 data from 76% of early visits and 72% of late visits have already been submitted. Well done to everyone who has contributed, and if you have yet to submit data please do so by the end of August. Thanks are due to Gordon Douglas, who has stepped down from the scheme after many years of participation. All of Cleveland’s WBBS squares are currently allocated, and all 2021 data have been submitted. Despite limited 2020 data due to COVID-19 restrictions, the latest BTO/RSPB/JNCC Breeding Bird Survey report (released in late spring 2021) reveals interesting trends.

Restrictions were lifted in time for some volunteers to survey their allocated squares, and fortunately, enough late-season visits were made in England to allow selected trends to be produced.

As a result, the latest BBS report uncovers interesting trends for two very similar warblers in England: the Willow Warbler and the Chiffchaff.

However, this report shows that their fortunes are quite different. During the last 24 years, the breeding population of Willow Warblers in England has declined by 45%, whilst that of the Chiffchaff has increased by 114%.

Despite their similar appearance, they have different migration and overwintering behaviours. Willow Warblers are long-distance migrants and spend the winter in Sub-Saharan Africa, whereas Chiffchaffs are short-distance migrants, heading only as far as Europe or North Africa for the winter – and some even stay in the UK. It is likely that they face different pressures during their respective migration and overwintering periods, which is thought to have contributed to their disparate long-term trends.

The full 2020 BBS report can be accessed here https://www.bto.org/our-science/publications/breeding-bird-survey-report/breeding-bird-survey-2020

Heronries Census 2021 Counts have been submitted for four Cleveland sites, with a total population of 31 breeding pairs. Thanks are due to Martin Blick and Ali McLee for their continuing input to this long-running survey. Breeding Waders of Wet Meadows Survey All data should be entered by the end of August at the latest. Surveys took place across the wider RSPB Saltholme site, the Brinefields and Seaton Common. BirdTrack - new feature The ability to add extra taxa was released on 20th July, enabling users to also add their records of butterflies, orchids, reptiles, and amphibians via the website. This facility is only available via the website at the moment but will be rolled out to the app in a future release. A link to iRecord that will enable all the non-avian taxa records to flow into iRecord and made available to the relevant recorders is progressing well. Cont.....

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Mike Leakey, BTO Regional Representative for Cleveland

mikelaquila@hotmail.com Tel 07510 996977

TEESMOUTH BIRD CLUB – Publications

Birdwatchers of Teesmouth 1600 to 1960 £1.00 P.&p. £2

Teesmouth Bird Reports 1958-1973 on a CD £2.50

Birds of Tees-side 1962-67 by Phil Stead £2.50 P.&p. £2.00

Birds of Tees-side 1968-1973 by Martin Blick £2.50 P.&p. £2.00

Cleveland Bird Reports:-

1974 to 2013 £2.00 each where available. (Out of print 1974, 1976, 1978 to 1988 on a CD) Plus £2.00 for p.& p. per copy.

2005 Special Offer £1.00 each (Plus £2.00 for P & P)

2014 to 2018 £5.00 each Plus £2.00 for p.&p. per copy

2019 £7.50 each (£5.00 to members) plus £2.00 for p.&p. per copy.

Barn Owl at RSPB Saltholme Print – free but need to collect

Cheques should be made payable to “Teesmouth Bird Club” with orders, and sent to: John Fletcher, 43 Glaisdale Avenue, Middlesbrough, TS5 7PF.

Please pass on unwanted copies of Club publications to John, particularly those that are “Out of print”, so that they can be resold to other members. A BIG DISCOUNT on orders over £20

J.Fletcher j.fletcher666@btinternet.com 01642-818825

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Crosswords by Bill Irving

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Crossword No. 5