Table Of Content

7 : s I04- British Birds July 2001 Vol.94 No. 3 0 JUL 2001 P^SENTED •y;>j»fvir? library - xrtVTvrr.rewa? Farmland birds Summering Little Gulls Common Stonechats in Sicily Bird Illustrator of the Year British Birds Established 1907,incorporating The Zoologist,established 1843 Published by BB 2000 Limited, trading as British Birds' Registered Office:4 Henrietta Street,Covent Garden,LondonWC2E8SF ISSN 0007-0335 British Birds Behaviour Notes Panel Editor Roger Riddington Colin Bibby, Ian Dawson,Jim Flegg, Assistant Editor DavidA. Christie Ian Newton FRS,Malcolm Ogilvie, Editorial Board Ian Carter, Richard Chandler, Ken Simmons,AngelaTurner (Co-ordinator) Martin Collinson, Robin Prytherch, Nigel Redman,Roger Riddington Annual subscription rates Art Consultants Robert Gillmor &Alan Harris Libraries and agencies £66.50,$116.00 Photographic Research Robin Chittenden Personal subscriptions DavidTipling UK,Europe,surface mail: £53-50 Design Mark Corliss Outside Europe,airmail: £85.00 Concessionary rates Rarities Committee (National,Regional & County bird club members) Chairman Colin Bradshaw UK - £40.00 Europe & Outside Europe,surface mail: £44.00 Hon. Secretary Michael Rogers J. Paul Harvey,John McLoughlin,John Martin, Young Ornithologist’s rate £26.75 (YOCUK only) Doug Page, Adam Rowlands,Ken Shaw, Single back issues £6.50 Jimmy Steele, Andy Stoddart, Available from British Birds, The Banks, Mountfield, RegThorpe,GrahameWalbridge East SussexTN32 5JY Archivist John Marchant Statistician Peter Fraser Rarities issue £10 - available as above. Museum consultant Ian Lewington Please make allchequespayable to British Birds www.britishbirds.co.uk EDITORIAL CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION Chapel Cottage, Dunrossness, The Banks, Mountfield, Shetland ZE2 9JH Robertsbridge, Tel & Fax: 01950 460080 East Sussex TN32 5JY Papers, notes letters, illustrations, etc. Tel: 01580 882039 , Roger Riddington Fax: 01580 882038 E-mail [email protected] : Subscriptions & Circulation ‘News & comment’ information Vivienne Hunter Bob Scott &Wendy Dickson,8Woodlands, E-mail:[email protected] St Neots,Cambridgeshire PE19 1UE Design, Production &Advertisement Sales Tel:01480 214904 Fax:01480 473009 Philippa Leegood E-mail:[email protected] E-mail:[email protected] ‘The Ornithological Year’ bird news Accounts &Administration Barry Nightingale & KeithAllsopp, SallyYoung 7 Bloomsbury Close,Woburn, E-mail:[email protected] Bedfordshire MK17 9QS Tel:01525 290314 BB Bookshop c/o Subbuteo Books,The Rea, Rarity descriptions Upton Magna,Shrewsbury SY4 4UR M.J. Rogers,2 Churchtown Cottages, Tel:0174.3 709420 Fax: 01743 709504 Towednack,CornwallTR26 3AZ E-mail: [email protected] Front-cover photograph: Adult Little Gull lams minulus,Scaforth,Merseyside, May 1999. Steve Vb////g/Birdwatch Great for 2001! OULU, FINLAND „ 12-19 May with Killian Mullarney Travel north with ustosee Scandinavia'sowls, northern specialitiesandspring migration ontheGulfofBothnia. BEIDAIHE, CHINA iom £1120 20 September-6 October with PaulHolt Foran autumn full ofSiberian migrantsjoin us inthis Chinese birding hotspot. GOA, INDIA £1050 from SggjMp 27 October-11 November with PaulHolt vTltlmr Sunbirder is thechoiceforthis Indian Ocean resort. Paul's WlwurmS knowledge ofthe region'sbirds is unrivalled. Ahostofpelagicbirds canbefound EILAT, ISRAEL £690 just minutes offshore duetothe from closeproximityofthedeep Kaikoura 4/11 November with Killian Mullarney Canyon. Enjoycloseathand anarray Awhole hostof middle-easternspecialities, plusa wealth ofAlbatross, Petrels, Shearwaters, ofnorthern migrants, ontheshoresofthe Red Sea. Terns, Gulls and more. Alleventsofferafull, professionally-ledexcursion Trips3timesdaily. Duration3 hours programme. Foran information pack, contact Sunbird Cost:Adult$60 -Child $35 specifyingwhicheventyouareinterestedin. Sunbird (BS), P O Box 76, Sandy, Beds, SG19 IDF Telephone. 01767'682969 Fax 01767 692481 E-mail; [email protected] co.uk Website; wwvv.sunbirddemoncouk Yourmoneyisfullyprotected byourown ATOLbond. OUT NOW! Our 2001 brochure, featuring dozens of great birding holidays ... Lesbos • Cyprus • Greece • Corsica France (Camargue, Pyrenees, Vercors) Spain (Andalucia, Extremadura, La Mancha, Pyrenees, Sierra de Gredos) Canary Islands • Holland • Austria Hungary (Hortobagy, Zemplen, Cranes) Bulgaria • Romania • Iceland Finland & Arctic Norway • Lapland Morocco • Israel • Oman • UAE Gambia • Ethiopia • Kenya • Namibia South Africa • Siberia • Bhutan • Nepal India • Sri Lanka • Malaysia • Borneo Australia • New Zealand • New Caledonia Philippines • USA (Alaska, Arizona, Z California, Florida, North Carolina, Texas) 01263 578143 Canada • Costa Rica • Cuba • Trinidad Venezuela • Peru • Brazil •/To;. / if % Mo WithYOsoUmedotnr’itpsmiaslsreoaudtyofunllt,hmeafkuen!sure Most major Fax: 01263 579251 Suffield House, Northrepps, Norfolk NR27 OLZ 1'accepted ' e-mail: [email protected] eye view Bird’s The Victory Range 8x40 BT*/10x40 BT\ 8x56 BT*/10x56 BT* ZeissVictory Range- shorter, lighter and displays a higher transmission to comparable binoculars in this class. Every pair is nitrogen filled to prevent fogging - internal focusing ensuresoptimum sealing against dust and water. See what you're missing with the new binocular generation from Zeiss. For further information visit our website: www.zeiss.co.ukortelephone01707871350 See the world close up with ZEISS in binoculars from Carl Zeiss