The list of species that warrant detailed descriptions has been reviewed by the Committee and the following changes will take effect from Jan. 1st, 1987. Due to an upsurge of occurrences, Ruddy Duck, Hobby, Mediterranean Gull, Little Auk and Golden Oriole have been withdrawn from this category along with Ruddy Shelduck which so often refer to escapees from wildfowl collections. Conversely, Pink-footed Goose, now the rarest of the County's grey geese which regularly overwinter, has been added to the list. The full revised list appears below and observers are requested to forward descriptions to the County Recorder without prompting to save both his time and pocket :Black-throated and Great Northern Divers; Red-necked, Slavonian and Blacknecked Grebes; all Shearwaters; Storm and Leach's Petrels; Shag; Purple Heron; White Stork; Bean and Pink-footed Geese; Red-crested Pochard; Ferruginous Duck; Honey Buzzard; Red Kite; Montagu's Harrier; Goshawk; Rough-legged Buzzard; Peregrine; Quail; Spotted Crake; Corncrake; Crane; Kentish Plover; Dotterel; Temminck's Stint; Pectoral Sandpiper; Buff-breasted Sandpiper; all Phalaropes; Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas; Sabine's, Ring-billed and Iceland Gulls; Roseate Tern; Black Guillemot; Puffin; Hoopoe; Richard's and Tawny Pipits; Dipper; Bluethroat; Savi's, Aquatic, Marsh, Hippolais, Barred and Yellow-browed Warblers; Red-breasted Flycatcher; Raven; Serin; Scarlet Rosefinch; Ortolan, Ciri and Lapland Buntings plus any other species of less than regular occurrence outside their normal season or habitat, and unusually large numbers of common birds. It greatly assists the preparatory work that is required before the compilation of Suffolk Birds can commence if records are submitted on a monthly basis. Records for the previous year received after Jan. 31st cannot be guaranteed inclusion in that year's report. Please forward all records to R. B. Warren, The County Recorder, 37 Dellwood Avenue, Felixstowe, Suffolk IP 11 9HW. It would also be helpful if descriptions of National Rarities are channelled to the British Birds Rarities Committee via the County Recorder. Acknowledgements Suffolk ornithologists are once again indebted to Bob Warren, our County Recorder for his sterling work in initially processing the thousands of individual records which form the basis of the systematic list. Thanks are also due to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Suffolk Ornithologists' Group (SOG), Landguard Bird Observatory (LBO) and the Dingle Bird Club for providing records from their logs, to the participants in the BOEE and to all the individual observers whose combined records make this report possible.
SYSTEMATIC LIST Red-throated Diver: Numbers during the first winter period were much lower compared with recent years. Apart from 55 unidentified divers flying north off Covehithe Jan. 26th, which were almost certainly of this species, the maximum number was only 15 off Minsmere in January. The last of the winter was noted off Sizewell Apr. 25th. Much larger numbers occurred in the second winter period commencing with exceptionally early records in August: three flying north off Covehithe, Aug. 18th (DC); and singles off Southwold and Minsmere, Aug. 31st (RSPB).
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