Suffolk shore birds

14

SHORE

BIRDS.

another specimen was undeniably taken Aying on the Downs at Dover (Zool. 1856, p. 5001) and yet another seen about 1850 at Hanwell (I.e., p. 5109).

Humphreys (pl. vii., fig. i.) and Westwood (1855, p. 133) reject the species' record from the Hebrides as erroneous, though not the later assertion by Duncan that it had been seen on the west coast of Scotland.

Coleman, who places it among his " reputed British " kinds though making reference to no previous occurrences, in 1888 had " good reason for believing that a specimen of the splendid Alpine Apollo was captured in this country lately, and it may some day be found on our north mountains."

Our modern authors, South and Frohawk, etc., altogether omit the species ; it certainly does not breed with us, but its mere occurrence is of considerable interest, no matter how accidental this may be.

SUFFOLK BY

CHESTER i.

SHORE G.

BIRDS.

DOUGHTY,

A L I V E AND

B.A.

DEAD.

THE Suffolk sea-shore, consisting as it does of long stretches of shingle and elsewhere of equally long stretches of highly mobile sand, appears uncongenial to wading birds ; hence, on the Gorleston beach which is sandy, the only bird one can expect to find, and that only during the winter months, is the extremely nimble and generally tame Sanderling (Calidris arenaria, Linn.). This may be seen singly, or in small flocks up to seven in number, or occasionally in flocks that run up to double figures. Oyster-catchers (Hcematopus ostralegus, Linn. ; locally called the Olive and the Mere-pie in our County) are very rarely seen ; but they were exceptionally numerous in the cold weather during February of this year, when several Turnstones (Sirepsilas iuterpres, Linn.) also frequented the beach where I have never noticed the species before.

On 31st August, 1916, a beautiful Oyster-catcher was feeding right at the bottom of the cliff, far from the tide-line : a vast number of the large Weevil-beetle (Hypera punctata, Fab.) were upon the shore at the foot of the cliff, presumably blown over from the top by the wind ; and I cannot help thinking that the bird was feeding upon these beetles, and that it was a wonderful instance of the " food-sense " in birds. An occasional Ringed Plover (Mgialitis hiaticula, Linn., locally called Stone-hatch inland and Stone-runner on the coast) is also seen on the beach, generally in the spring.

Upon the shingle-beaches near Southwold, I have frequently put up flocks of Dunlin (Tringa alpina, Linn..locally the Oxbird);

SHORE BIRDS.

15

but I believe these had invariably resorted to the shore for rest during high water in the river, and not for food.* But the chief interest in the beach, from an ornithologist's point of view, centres in the dead birds found there after storms.

Some years pass without any onshore gales to kill and wash them ashore ; but, during my fourteen years' residence at Gorleston, I have handled a large number of dead birds and, perhaps, a few of the most interesting ones may be worth recording here.

In general, I think, it may be said that if we get bad weather in October the commonest species on the shore is the Razorbill (Alca torda, Linn.) with the Guillemot (Uria troile, Linn.) a fair second ; in November and December the Guillemot is the most frequent and the Razorbill quite uncommon, whereas in the first three months of the year the Scoter ((Edemia nigra, Linn.) is by far the commonest bird.

In such a computation I am, of course, leaving out of consideration drownedmigrants, such as Rooks (Corvusfrugilegus, Linn.), Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris, Linn., called the Fulfer and the Dow-fulfer in Suffolk), Redwings (T. Iliacus, Linn.), Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, Linn.), etc., whose remains are sometimes found in great numbers after storms.

My more interesting finds consist of the Fulmar Petrel (Fulmarus glacialis, Linn. : recorded in Suffolk only from Sizewell in 1862), three at Southwold and one at Gorleston, where all the following occurred ; stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica, Linn.), one ; Leach's fork-tailed petrel (Oceanodroma leucorrhoa, Vieil.), one ; the great shearwater ( P u f f i n u s gravis, Reil.: but once taken and once seenin Suffolk), one ; woodcock (Scolopax rusticula, Linn.), several ; purple sandpiper (Tringa striata, Linn.), one ; grey plover (Squatarola Helvetica, Linn.), one ; golden plover (Charadriuspluvialis, Linn.), one ; Slavonian grebe (Podicipes auritus, Linn.), five; red-necked grebe (P. griseigena, Bod.), three ; great crested grebe (P. cristatus, Linn.), one ; little grebe seu dabchick (P. ßuviatilis, Tun.), one ; little auk (Mergulus Alle, Linn.), several; puffin (Fratercnla arctica, Linn.), several; the red-throated diver (Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn. ; locally called Sprat-loon), several; red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator, Linn. ; locally Saw-bill *A small flock of Dunlin was wading very slowly and feeding very obviously and busily, less likely upon Mollusca than upon the amphipod crustacean Corophium volutator, Pal., whose tubulär galleries are abundant m the mud of all our tidal swamps, in Covehithe Broad on 14th September last.

So contented was their aspect t h a t we succeeded, by gentle manoeuvring, in approaching to within four yards before the birds took to flight; then they whirred off seaward a t a great pace, but, after turning the Shoulder of a sand-dune, we came upon them sitting on the top of the beach calmly, as though they had never been elsewhere !— Ed.

SHORE

16

BIRDS.

seu Saw-bill Daver), one ; gannet (Sitla bassana, Linn.), several and mostly mature birds, which old white birds are very rare with us ; velvet scoter ((Edemia fusca, Linn.), several and also seen at Covehithe in September; short-eared owl (Asio accipitrinus, Pal. ; locally Sedge- or Woodcock-owl), two ; buzzard (Buteo vulgaris, Lch), one and coots (Fulica atra, Linn.), several.

A scaup or, locally, Mussei Duck (Fuligula Marila, Linn.) and pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhvnchas, Bail.), found upon the beach, were probably victims "of gun-shots. Four of the Slavonian, with one of the Red-necked, and the Great-crested, Grebes were all noticed in the month of February, 1922. The Great Shearwater, of which I believe there are only two previous records for Norfolk and Suffolk, was found on 7th January of this year upon Gorleston beach. ii.

O I L POLLUTION AND S E A

BIRDS.

We read, from time to time in the newspapers, reports of the wholesale destruction of Sea-birds by oil.

The late E . Kay Robinson, perhaps in some respects the ablest all-round naturalist that ever lived, was very sceptical on the subject.

He pointed out that, from time immemorial there has been a wholesale destruction of Sea-birds whenever prolonged bad weather has prevented them from obtaining their food ; and, whilst not denying that a bird might occasionally be killed by oil, his view was, as I understand it, that the birds we find dead and oiled on the beach in such quantities from time to time are birds starved to death which, when dead or dying and drifting towards the shore, have come in contact with the oil also drifting towards the shore ; but that the oil has in no way, either directly or indirectly, contributed to their death.

The following experiences seem to me worth recording, not for one moment as definitely settling the question one way or the other but rather, as suggesting that the wholesale destruction of Sea-birds by oil may have been taken too much for granted.

For very many years past, I have spent the greater part of October at Southwold ; and, when there and the tide permits, I have a favourite Sunday walk that leads to Dunwich by the sea-shore and back to Southwold along the sandy lanes, across the heaths, through the woods, and over the marshes.

One Sunday in the middle of October, 1927, I started out upon this walk and, directly I got down to the Southwold beach, I noticed the shore was plentifully sprinkled with patches of crude oil; but I was able to avoid these, more or less, without devoting the whole of my attention to where I was placing my feet.

When I had crossed the ferry and dropped down to the Walberswick beach, the oil was simply everywhere and I had no alternative but to abandon the walk or go straight

SHORE BIRDS.

17

ahead as if the beach were perfectly clean.

I chose the latter; and, by the time I reached Dunwich, I was carrying between two and three pounds (and quite possibly more) of oil on each of my boots. If I could have come straight from that walk to a Meeting of the Suffolk Naturalists' Society and had taken off my boots and placed them upon the table, they would have made a most imposing Exhibit.

But how many dead and oiled birds did I find along that four miles' Stretch of oil-strewn shore ? It must be remembered that the winds and tides, that had brought all the oil ashore, would have brought the dead birds too ; further, that at this season of the year these diving birds are most numerous off our Suffolk coast. Yet, not one was seen ! Of course not, Kay Robinson would have said, because there had been no bad weather to kill them.

Again, on 13th February, 1929 in bitter weather, I found on a short Stretch of Gorleston beach four Scoters (CEdemia nigra) and two Guillemots (Uria troile), all smothered in oil.

But, interspersed with these birds and on the same tide-line, I found also a Curlew (Numenius arquata, Linn.), a Rook (Corvus frugilegus) and a Redshank (Totanus calidris, Linn.) similarly smothered, though the Redshank was the least so because I could just see it had orange-red legs. Now, surely nobody is going to suggest that these latter birds had been killed by the oil: presumably they dropped dead into the sea, or possibly into the river and were carried thence out to sea on the ebb, and there became covered with oil.

Is it not more than likely that the other, former, birds were also killed by the weather ? At any rate, I feel convinced that a bird smothered with oil never got into that State when alive.

A Guillemot, that I found oiled upon Gorleston beach on 8th September, 1929, was alive ; but, when once they take to the shore, I am afraid there is no hope of their recovery.

Clearly bad weather had had nothing to do with this bird's condition.

In Company with two other Members of the Society on 14th September, 1929, I found a Guillemot dead on Covehithe beach : again, clearly bad weather was in no way responsible ; but then neither was oil, for the bird was perfectly clean.

The same remark applies to an immature Razorbill (Alca torda), found dead upon Corton beach on 28th September, 1929.

I have had only one experience of oil at sea. Twice on one afternoon oil came under Southwold Pier, borne on the ebb tide. When seen in the distance, it looked like a large quantity of net-corks of different sizes, floating upon the water and separated from each other by varying intervals.

The oil

18

CEDARS

AT CAMPSEA

ASH.

in the water was in more or less globular masses; and, when stranded, it would subside into the flat pats found upon the beach.

Surely a diving bird comes to the surface of the water by mere force of buoyancy, with its beak upwards and eyes open, in which most natural condition of wariness it would have no difficulty in avoiding such opaque globular masses as oil forms. The kick of a leg or the flip of a wing would appear to be all sufficient to secure such a diver's safety.

CEDARS

AT

CAMPSEA

ASH.

B Y LORD ULLSWATER, G . C . B . , L L . D . ,

D.C.L.

are a number of fine Cedars in the garden at Campsea Ash : four on the south side, four on the west, two near a piece of water and five in a group near the gardener's house.

Mr. C. Haukins, now of the Forestry Commission, who inspected them in 1913, reported that " the highest Cedar measures about 103| feet and has a girth of eighteen feet at breast height. The other specimens measure eighteen feet five inches, and nineteen feet eleven inches, respectively at breast height. All appear to be perfectly healthy.

These magnificent Cedars are evidently amongst those of the earliest introduction into this country.

At the south-east corner are five Cedars standing in a group a few feet apart, which have grown to a great height, the bole of each tree leaning outwards and with mostly very clean stems.

Local history says that these fine Cedars were amongst the earliest introduced into this country, and were ' heeled in ' on arrival, and left there. The Cedar of Lebanon was introduced before the year 1683." I may add that all of the Cedars, save one, have clean boles up to about twenty to thirty feet, but one has two huge branches which leave the main trunk at or just above ground-level; and that the largest, though not the tallest, Cedar has a girth of twenty-four and a half feet at five feet from the ground.

THERE

When were these Cedars planted ?

I cannot find any record of them in such archives of the estate as are open to me. According to Bean, Cedars of Lebanon were introduced probably between 1670 and 1680.

Evelyn in his " Sylva " published in 1670 says of the Cedar: " I have frequentlv raised it of the seeds. B y Nature it is almost eternal but is like to be destroyed by our negligence."* From this *Page 135 of the 1729 Edition, our copy of which is inscribed " J. Rodwell, Alderton Hall 1811 ; Claydon 1 8 6 1 . " I t was acquired from Framsden Mill-house a few years ago, and is badly bored by that appallingly destructive beetle, Hypothemus eruditus, Westw., which obviously occurs in Suffolk, consequently.—Ed.