The recent turnover in BBRC membership, owing to unforeseen circumstances for individual members, has led us to review our current process for rotating membership. Members have expressed a concern about ‘early’ retirements and the potential impacts on the collective knowledge of the Committee. Consequently, a decision has been taken to postpone the annual retirement policy and offer all Committee members a minimum term of eight years and a maximum of ten. Our constitution has been adjusted to reflect this change. Consequently, the next retirement and new position is not expected to arise until April 2014, when James Lidster will reach the end of his term.

Minsmere is the reserve with the longest list of species currently on the BBRC list: 48 since the RSPB became involved with the site. Dungeness is second, with 42 species, and for both of these coastal reserves the heritage of more than 60 years of careful habitat management and creation is clear. Nonetheless, the number of vagrants on RSPB reserves has increased in line with the cumulative acreage of the Society’s reserves, and there was an average of 36 per year during 1998–2007. Wetland species in general – but waders in particular (as suggested by the list of firsts) – are particularly well represented when it comes to rarities on RSPB reserves. According to Mark Gurney’s statistics, 110 rare waders turned up on RSPB reserves during 1998–2007, almost a fifth of the total for the whole of Britain. During that same ten-year period, 50% or more of the British records of Little Crake Porzana parva, Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca and Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus were seen on RSPB reserves, and more than a fifth of the records of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica, Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia and Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus. Tens of thousands of people were thought to have seen one of the most enduringly popular rarities of recent times – the Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus that for almost 12 years made the RSPB reserve at Titchwell, in northwest Norfolk, its home. The totals are impressive, but can they tell us something about the value of RSPB reserves? The more popular RSPB wetland reserves are under almost constant surveillance by birders and this undoubtedly contributes to the high proportion of sightings of wetland species. But shallow pools with accessible, food-rich margins, and muddy scrapes are not common in our countryside, and a consistently high diversity of wader species is an index of the importance of nature reserves in conserving (and creating) this scarce habitat. This is even more true of reedbeds. RSPB reserves contain about 18% of Britain’s reedbeds, so it is not surprising that they have turned up such a high proportion of the Great Reed Warblers and Penduline Tits.

RSPB sponsorship will contribute to that already provided by Zeiss, whose support for BBRC is approaching its 30th anniversary and remains essential for the core function of the Committee. As well as contributing to overall running costs, our intention is to use the additional resources to begin the process of digitising our archive material. We very much hope that this new relationship will blossom and develop into the future.

RSPB sponsorship

As described in the lead editorial in the July issue of BB, we are delighted to confirm RSPB sponsorship for the Committee’s work, supporting and enhancing the long-running and invaluable financial support from Zeiss.

Record assessment

We plan to publish an article in BB that will clarify issues raised by observers in relation to the level of detail required for a record to be accepted. It has long been recognised that any process of record adjudication will have inherent flaws, and that a small proportion of good records will not be accepted while some erroneous records may be. We try hard to apply consistent standards but ultimately all records are still assessed on a case-by-case basis, because all the circumstances relating to the sighting have to be considered as an important part of the evidence. Some particular aspects of this general topic are discussed further below.

Non-photographed records

There is an increasing perception among birders that photographs are now essential for a record to be accepted. In fact, the proportion of accepted records for which the bird was photographed has remained more or less constant over the last five years, at about two-thirds of the total. Clearly it is not true that all records must be supported by photographs, although that is the case for certain taxa and circumstances. These will be explored further in the forthcoming article.

Heard-only records

We discussed the criteria for records involving birds that have been identified principally by calls. Explicit criteria were published in 1998 for fly-over records of one species often claimed on call – Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus (which at the time was a BBRC rarity; see Brit. Birds 91: 500) – but these serve as the basis for more general guidelines: observers must be see the bird sufficiently well to determine that it belongs to the family being claimed (in this case that it’s a pipit), and there must be a full account of three or more calls from an observer with prior experience of the species. Birders are encouraged to obtain sound recordings wherever possible and these are extremely valuable in situations where vocalisations are critical to the identification of a singing vagrant (e.g. Iberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus). In the case of singing vagrants where sound recordings are not available, the previous experience of observers will be of particular importance.

Documenting trapped rarities

This issue remains a concern. Despite an article published in the BTO’s Ringers’ Bulletin (winter 2009, pp. 4–5), the quality of some submitted descriptions remains well below par. Good-quality descriptions of trapped birds, along with relevant biometrics, improve our knowledge of the taxon concerned and provide a valuable source of information. We are liaising with staff from the BTO Ringing Unit to investigate further ways to raise awareness among ringers and improve recording standards, but we take this opportunity to emphasise the value of taking a detailed description together with all relevant biometrics, plumage details and good quality images whenever possible, realising of course that the bird’s welfare must always be the first priority.

Species pairs or groups

We are currently reviewing the taxa which we consider as species pairs or groups (see BBRC’s constitution, Appendix IV, here). Once the review is completed we will update our position on those taxa to be considered and published as species pairs or groups in the annual report.

Records of rare species for which only subspecies are assessed by BBRC

Recent correspondence with recorders in Scotland has identified concerns over species for which only certain subspecies are assessed by BBRC – for example, Subalpine Warbler Sylvia cantillans and Arctic Redpoll Carduelis hornemanni (S. c. cantillans and C. h. exilipes are not currently considered by BBRC). If a record submitted to BBRC (as one of the rarer subspecies) is found not proven, it may nonetheless still be an acceptable record (either of the commoner form or as subspecies undetermined) at a local level, and it is important that such records are not lost from the system. The BBRC Secretary will attempt to report any not proven decisions to the observer(s) and recorder concerned, to ensure that the record can be reconsidered by the local committee where necessary.

Informal submissions

The principle of informal submissions for taxa where identification criteria are still evolving was introduced in the RIACT paper (Brit. Birds 99: 619–645 or in ‘Other Publications/Report: Racial identification and assessment in Britain’ here). We have now received several such submissions, and these have certainly helped us to develop assessment criteria. As this is a new and innovative method of documentation, our approach to such submissions has necessarily evolved during this period. Following discussions at the AGM, it was agreed that this approach should be limited to the most difficult taxa in terms of identification. Observers who are unsure as to whether they should consider an informal submission are encouraged to contact the Secretary and Chairman for advice.

Observer credits

We discussed whether individuals who had identified certain rarities from photos on the internet should be credited in our annual report, but we concluded that our default position is that they would not be named. It is often difficult to establish who first identified the bird in such circumstances and there is a danger of us becoming embroiled in accusations of ‘poaching’ if we go down this route. Nonetheless, we are well aware that these situations are likely to become more frequent and so we intend to treat such records on a case-by-case basis, and provide reference to key individuals in the identification process in the species comment of the report when appropriate.

Intergrades and hybrids

A number of challenging examples were discussed! We determined that records of birds that were potential intergrades, but which could equally be rare variants of certain taxa, would in future be published in the report. This would include, for example, Black-headed Wagtails Motacilla flava feldegg that show limited pale feathering in the supercilium. It could also include gulls that were considered to have originated as hybrids from Pacific populations, and for which all the potential parent species would thus be considered as vagrants in their own right. This approach is consistent with our comments about ‘southern’ Yellow Wagtails in the 2009 repor t (Br it. Birds 103: 624). However, details of hybrids that might involve a cross between a rare taxon and a resident species or regular visitor to Britain (e.g. a suspected hybrid between a Canvasback Aythya valisineria or a Redhead A. americana and a Common Pochard A. ferina) would not be published. In such cases, the pairing may have occurred in western Europe (in which case the individual is not a genuine vagrant), while the matter of captive origin also clouds the issue for wildfowl in particular. In relation to issues of provenance, we once again encourage local input to help us try to determine the origin of potential vagrants.

Adam Rowlands, Chairman British Birds Rarities Committee

East Walks Bungalow, Minsmere Reserve, Westleton, Suffolk IP17 3BY

chair@bbrc.org.uk

Current BBRC species - Last updated 25/07/2011

Following the recent AGMs of both BOURC and BBRC the two committees have agreed on the following and hope that counties will find it acceptable.

• BOURC will consider any pre-1950 record if it constitutes one of the first five records of the species for Britain.
• For other records we ask counties to make the decisions themselves
• We ask counties to notify both BBRC and BOURC on any changes made as a result of such reviews, so that we can update our statistics.

Contact can be made with BBRC statistician@bbrc.org.uk to see if we are already aware of the record and whether it falls into the first five category.

White-billed Diver Gavia adamsii met the statistical criteria for removal from the list (more than 150 records in the last ten years, with 10 or more in at least eight of those years) for the period to the end of 2008 and will therefore be dropped from the list of species considered from 1st January 2009.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis met the more than 150 criteria, but fell short of the 10 or more per annum threshold. Nonetheless, given that the influx which began in autumn 2007 appears to be being sustained, and that the species is relatively easy to identify, it was determined that it would also be dropped from the list of species considered from 1st January 2009.

Parrot Crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus was also considered. Although reports of this species to the Committee have been nowhere near the frequency to be considered for review, the widely publicised Scottish breeding population (see Brit. Birds 95: 4-11; Ibis 144: 393-410) appears well established. Ron Summers has provided the Committee with summary data for Parrot Crossbills trapped during his study and we are grateful for this information, which allowed us to confirm the identification of these individuals. We will therefore not be seeking records of this species from 1st January 2009 onwards, but will also not assess retrospective records as a consequence of the established breeding population.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind local committees that BBRC is willing to assist with the assessment of any previous BBRC species, if necessary. Any requests should be directed towards the Secretary.

Richard is based in north east Scotland, is a self-employed ornithologist, organising and leading over 150 tours to over 50 countries on all continents and now as a consultant in the UK. He has worked for many organisations including J.N.C.C., R.S.P.B., B.T.O. and W.W.T. on a variety of surveys from land, sea and air. Despite all this he still retains enthusiasm for birding in Scotland and has added several species to the North-east Scotland list including Red-breasted Goose, Melodious & Great Reed Warblers, Siberian Stonechat, Woodchat Shrike and Ruddy Duck. Other finds include Booted & Blyth’s Reed Warblers, Grey-cheeked Thrush and Penduline Tit. He has served on the North-East Scotland Rarities Committee for most of the last thirty years and on the Scottish Rare Birds Committee from 2001 to 2008.

Chris works in Glasgow and has served on the Clyde Rarities Panel for 12 years since 1998 and on the Scottish Birds Records Committee for eight years, with his rotation as voting member finishing this year, when he will become secretary. He is also a member of the SBRC Scottish List sub-committee and is a Council member of the Scottish Ornithologist’s Club. He has written many articles on birds and bird identification, with a particular interest in birds in Scotland, gulls, skuas and shorebirds; the papers have been published in domestic and international journals such Scottish Birds, Birding Scotland, British Birds, The Lek, Washington Birds, Corella, and county bird reports. He was invited to join the editorial team for the SOC book The Birds of Scotland and was lead editor of 148 species and authored 13 species accounts. He has travelled much abroad with a personal World List approaching 4,000, having seen most birds on the British List. Chris has also found a number of rarities in Scotland including two Lesser Scaup, Franklin’s Gull, Paddyfield Warbler, Rustic Bunting, Sub-alpine Warbler, King Eider, and Red-rumped Swallow.

It was clearly a difficult decision for the voting representatives and both candidates received broad support. However, the winning vote was commanded by Richard, both for Scotland and the Northern Isles and for Britain as a whole. Therefore Richard is confirmed in post, alongside Steve Votier who has been co-opted to the committee and Nic Hallam who has also been confirmed in post as a serving member unopposed after his year co-opted. We are grateful to all involved for accepting nominations and invitations to stand for committee membership, and also to all the County and Recording Area and Bird Observatory Committees and representatives who contributed to the election process.

The recent turnover in BBRC membership, due to unforeseen circumstances for individual members, has led us to review our current process for rotating membership. If we maintain our current policy of annual retirement for the longest serving member, the next retirement would be James Lidster in 2011, which would mean that James had only served a term of five years. This issue was discussed at the 2010 BBRC AGM in Lochwinnoch, and members expressed a concern about “early” retirements and the potential impacts on the collective knowledge of the committee. Consequently, a decision was taken to postpone the annual retirement and offer all committee members a minimum term of eight years and a maximum of ten years. Our constitution will be re-worded to reflect this change. There will still be the opportunity for other candidates to be nominated, as per the protocol of our constitution, during the coming year for the position vacated by Lance Degnan, to which Steve is currently co-opted but, assuming that all members decide to serve their full minimum term, the next retirement and new position will not arise until April 2014.

Committee membership

As no alternative nominations for election to BBRC were received, the Committee’s nominee, Richard Millington (see Brit. Birds 102: 105), will commence his term of office on 1st April 2009. We welcome Richard, who replaces our longest-serving member Brian Small, although we are delighted to retain Brian as the Committee’s Museum Consultant. In addition, Phil Bristow has regrettably been forced to retire from the Committee, owing to the pressure of other commitments. It will be a great shame to lose Phil, who has made a very valuable contribution to BBRC’s work, and we fully understand that this has been a difficult decision for him to relinquish his duties. He was due to retire in April 2011, so in the meantime we have co-opted a new member to undertake his duties. We were keen to find a replacement who was also based in Wales but, despite extensive enquiries, none was forthcoming with the necessary time to commit to BBRC at present. We are nonetheless delighted to welcome Nic Hallam onto the Committee to replace Phil from 1st April 2009. Nic is based in Oxfordshire and does much of his birding at Farmoor Reservoir, where his impressive list of finds includes Britain’s only inland Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens, along with two Bonaparte’s Gulls Chroicocephalus philadelphia, two Franklin’s Gulls Larus pipixcan and a Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica. His other finds in this land-locked county include Oxon’s second Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps, and he has served on the Oxfordshire Rarities Committee for 25 years and is co-author of the county bird report. Nic is widely travelled in Europe and further afield. He will be co-opted for a period of 12 months, and there will be the opportunity for other candidates to be nominated during the coming year for an election if necessary. Names and capabilities of potential candidates should be sent to the Chairman, supported by a proposer and seconder. We are disappointed that we no longer have a representative for Wales, but we are grateful to Reg Thorpe, Chairman of the Welsh Records Panel and a former BBRC member, who has continued to assist the committee with Welsh records where necessary.

Species to be removed from the BBRC list

Despite the removal of a number of species in 2006 (Brit. Birds 99: 52 & 100: 18-19), the number of records received continues to grow and we assessed the frequency of several of the more common rarities at the AGM. White-billed Diver Gavia adamsii met the statistical criteria for removal from the list (more than 150 records in the last ten years, with 10 or more in at least eight of those years) for the period to the end of 2008 and will therefore be dropped from the list of species considered from 1st January 2009. Cattle Egret Bubulcusibis met the more than 150 criteria, but fell short of the 10 or more per annum threshold. Nonetheless, given that the influx which began in autumn 2007 appears to be being sustained, and that the species is relatively easy to identify, it was determined that it would also be dropped from the list of species considered from 1st January 2009. Parrot Crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus was also considered. Although reports of this species to the Committee have been nowhere near the frequency to be considered for review, the widely publicised Scottish breeding population (see Brit. Birds 95: 4-11; Ibis 144: 393-410) appears well established. Ron Summers has provided the Committee with summary data for Parrot Crossbills trapped during his study and we are grateful for this information, which allowed us to confirm the identification of these individuals. We will therefore not be seeking records of this species from 1st January 2009 onwards, but will also not assess retrospective records as a consequence of the established breeding population. We would like to take this opportunity to remind local committees that BBRC is willing to assist with the assessment of any previous BBRC species, if necessary. Any requests should be directed towards the Secretary.

Species and subspecies reviews

The Druridge Bay Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris review also continues. With regard to the curlew, we have gathered all the material from previous recirculations, which established that the Committee have not formally reviewed some of the video evidence collected at the time. We are in the process of gathering this material, but would be grateful if any observers with video evidence of the bird are willing to submit this for review (please contact the Chairman).

We are also still considering records of Canada Geese (to determine the first records of wild Greater Branta canadensis and Lesser Canada Goose B.hutchinsii for Britain and then to determine if each species should be considered as national rarities). We have decided that records of Snow Goose Anser caerulescens will not be considered (contra Brit.Birds 99:623). Vagrants do appear to reach Britain on a reasonably regular basis, but introduced or escaped birds continue to cloud the issue; also, for this species, the volume of records exceeds that which is deemed appropriate for its consideration as a rarity. Still on the theme of wildfowl, note that the Devon Falcated Duck Anas falcata has been re-aged as a first-winter (contra Brit.Birds 100: 751); reasons for this correction will be published in British Birds in due course.

The review of records of ‘Siberian Chiffchaff’ Phylloscopus collybita tristis during 2008 has established that this taxon (or at least birds that can be assigned to tristis/‘fulvescens’) occurs too frequently to be considered a BBRC rarity. BBRC is extremely grateful to those observers and recorders who cooperated with this review and submitted documentation to support their observations in 2008 (and some previous years). The subcommittee who have assessed claims are still keen to receive further documentation for birds in 2008 even if observers believe the birds involved are closer to ‘fulvescens’ or ‘eastern abietinus’ types. Please send details to Alan Dean (tristis@btinternet.com) who is undertaking secretarial duties for the subcommittee, by the end of June 2009 if possible, although outstanding reports of birds that were trapped (and for which full biometrics and photographs are available) or sound-recorded would still be welcome after that. It is intended that the results will be written up in due course and these additional reports will enhance the quality of that paper.

BBRC Archive

We are currently investigating the possibility of digitising accepted records of species that are currently considered by BBRC, to ensure that we have an electronic archive to assist ongoing research or reviews. This will be a considerable task and we are currently attempting to secure external funding for the project. We are particularly keen to enable public access to part of the archive if this project could be realised and are investigating the opportunity of providing internet access to electronic versions of record submissions. This would provide a significant resource, allowing data collected during the 50 years of BBRC’s existence to be more widely available.

For this project to realise its full potential we need the support of all those observers who have submitted descriptions and supporting documentation to BBRC, before we make these data available in this way. We ask anyone with any concerns regarding this proposal to contact the Chairman.

Support for BBRC

We continue to be extremely grateful for the financial support offered by Carl Zeiss Ltd and the ongoing commitment and support from directors and staff of the journal British Birds. Both of these organisations continue to underpin the variety of functions of the BBRC and enable us in achieve our core aims and objectives, serving British and overseas birders as we have done for the last 50 years.

Adam Rowlands, Chairman British Birds Rarities Committee

East Walks Bungalow, Minsmere Reserve, Westleton, Suffolk IP17 3BY

chair@bbrc.org.uk

In addition, Phil Bristow has regrettably been forced to retire from the Committee, owing to the pressure of other commitments. It will be a great shame to lose Phil, who has made a very valuable contribution to BBRC’s work, and we fully understand that this has been a difficult decision for him to relinquish his duties.

He was due to retire in April 2011, so in the meantime we have co-opted a new member to undertake his duties. We were keen to find a replacement who was also based in Wales but, despite extensive enquiries, none was forthcoming with the necessary time to commit to BBRC at present.

We are nonetheless delighted to welcome Nic Hallam onto the Committee to replace Phil from 1st April 2009. Nic is based in Oxfordshire and does much of his birding at Farmoor Reservoir, where his impressive list of finds includes Britain’s only inland Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens, along with two Bonaparte’s Gulls Chroicocephalus philadelphia, two Franklin’s Gulls Larus pipixcan and a Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica. His other finds in this land-locked county include Oxon’s second Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps, and he has served on the Oxfordshire Rarities Committee for 25 years and is co-author of the county bird report.

Nic is widely travelled in Europe and further afield. He will be co-opted for a period of 12 months, and there will be the opportunity for other candidates to be nominated during the coming year for an election if necessary. Names and capabilities of potential candidates should be sent to the Chairman, supported by a proposer and seconder.

We are disappointed that we no longer have a representative for Wales, but we are grateful to Reg Thorpe, Chairman of the Welsh Records Panel and a former BBRC member, who has continued to assist the committee with Welsh records where necessary.

The subcommittee who have assessed claims are still keen to receive further documentation for birds in 2008 even if observers believe the birds involved are closer to ‘fulvescens’ or ‘eastern abietinus’ types. Please send details to Alan Dean (tristis@btinternet.com) who is undertaking secretarial duties for the subcommittee, by the end of June 2009 if possible, although outstanding reports of birds that were trapped (and for which full biometrics and photographs are available) or sound-recorded would still be welcome after that. It is intended that the results will be written up in due course and these additional reports will enhance the quality of that paper.