EDITORIAL

The Bulletin has been issued at a later date in the year to take into account the publication of the Osprey. I trust it has been worth waiting for. There were no Letters to the Editor from the last Bulletin so I can shoulder the blame for mistakes this year and let the contributors bask in praise for submitting articles[1]. Our members do get out and about as you can see from the various reports included from around the world. This publication does span the world with an impressive number of bird listings. It never ceases to amaze me the expertise we have within our Society. I for one have benefited immensely from articles and talking to the individuals. The more I find out the more that my appetite is wetted. We all have to balance our commitments but birding does have a way of taking over; I now travel with a small pair of binoculars and a guide book, just in case.

In this year’s Bulletin there is an article from Ascension. The more technical aspects of the different surveys will feature in the next Osprey. The highlight was the Brown Noddies on the fair. Though they were not successful in breeding it was an encouraging start and I feel that the AOS can look back on the work it has done with a self satisfied pat on the back. The other main AOS expedition was to Penang in Malaysia. Again Tim Hallchurch has organised another bird feast in a fantastic part of the world. Our world traveller, Hilary Nash has provided us with a taster from different habitats. I am already preparing my list for a trip to Canada next year. Our Africa correspondent, Anne Nason, again provides an insight to the wonderful bird life that abounds on that continent. Mark Easterbrook provides a list from another part of the sub-continent that will interest many of our membership. There are articles from AOS weekends to Holland, Somerset and Portland. There is a series of local articles from our Chairman. I always enjoy reading local articles and remember the readers’ articles on their back gardens for the Millennium edition. I have also added ‘My favourite walks’ to the must ‘do when in the area’ list. I encourage members to submit articles on a local theme. Finally there are some observations about the Long Eared Owl from Simon Strickland. Again if you have any interesting aspects about a bird local to you but restricted in distribution I will be pleased to publish them. A guidebook provides only basic information but it the observations of individuals that are often crucial to identification.

The editor resting at the top of Broken Tooth Crater, Ascension Island.

As you will see the Bulletin covers many aspects all with birds as its theme. The strength of this Bulletin is the mix of articles and styles. I am sure that all our members will find something interesting in them. I know that I keep stating it but this is a very friendly Society. Everyone is encouraged to write an article whether it is a private trip home or abroad, with another organisation or local. If you need some help please ring me and I can always find a ‘ghost’ writer if needs be. Finally I would like to take the opportunity to thank my friend Paul Holder for various photographs. We went to Portugal for the European Football Cup in June and I dragged him out bird watching a few times as he had the car. He was kind enough to take photographs for me, some of which are re-produced in the Bulletin.

BELIZE BIRDING IN 2003

(Hilary Nash)

I was fortunate enough to join a sub-aqua adventure training exercise to Belize from 16 November to 8 December last year. We were based at the British Forces Adventure Training Centre on St George’s Caye. The Caye is almost due east of Belize City, a 40-minute run in a water taxi. As with the AOS trip, we flew out with an overnight stop at Houston, but continuous rain during out stay meant no birds were sighted.

St George’s Caye is small and pretty heavily built upon, so there was not a great range of birds to be seen. Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns loafed in groups on the many private jetties, whilst Magnificent Frigatebirds soared overhead. On land, Great-tailed Grackles were everywhere, and a Palm Warbler would hop round the dining huts pecking at crumbs.

Along the shore you could see both Great and Little Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers and Black-bellied (Grey) Plovers. Other birds seen in St George’s Caye included a pair of Red-breasted Woodpeckers inspecting a nest hole in a palm tree and both Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts.

Aboard the diving boat there were fewer opportunities to bird-watch, though we saw Magnificent Frigatebirds and several juvenile Brown Boobies. A lunch break taken on Goff’s Caye, a postcard coral island beloved of cruise ships, produced 7 Ruddy Turnstones and 2 Sanderlings.

On my day off, a degassing day (no diving), I arranged to visit Jim and Dorothy Beveridge on Caye Caulker. Jim was our guide on the AOS trip to Belize in 2002. They kindly fixed a hotel for me and the following day I had a guided tour of their patch. As you can see from the attached list, that day on Caye Caulker features regularly. I suppose the highlight must have been Jim feeding his ‘flock’ of Rufous-necked Wood-rails, with 18 so close that I could not even get my binoculars to focus on them. Most birders would happily settle for a glimpse of one skulking in the Mangroves. They were joined by a Common Yellowthroat and a delightful Ovenbird, the latter always reminds me of a miniature Thrush. We also caught up with other local rarities such as the Caribbean Elaenia and the Black Catbird. I also got good views of a Bananaquit, a bird I had great difficulty seeing on the AOS trip. Other good sightings were a Marbled Godwit and the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.

We hired a liveaboard to visit and dive the famous "Blue Hole" and the walls of Lighthouse Reef. We moored up on Half Moon Caye for an overnight stop; It is a nature reserve and holds a very large colony of Red-footed Boobies. Most were the classical White Morph though there were 3 or 4 pairs of the White-tailed Brown Morph. Magnificent Frigatebirds, always ready to steal a Boobies’ catch haunted the colony. The Caye also held a pair of Ospreys breeding in the ruins of the old lighthouse and several Yellow-rumped Warblers flitted around the base of palm trees.

We took a day off at the end of our stay to visit the Mayan ruins at Lamanai. To get there we traveled by boat up the New River and though it was not a birding trip, our guide did point out a Lesser Nighthawk sitting on a branch and a Snail Kite. There was also a beautiful Violaceous Trogon in the ruins themselves.

On our final day we departed at midday so I spent some of the morning wandering around Price Barracks. There I caught up with a Bat Falcon and a brilliant Hooded Oriole. My final bird list was 69 species. Good for a diving trip, where I also identified 92 species of fish.

EXERCISE MAYAN DIP TO BELIZE

17^TH NOVEMBER TO 7^TH DECEMBER 2003

BIRD CHECK LIST

English Name	Scientific Name	Remarks
Brown Pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis	Common round St George’s Caye
Magnificent Frigatebird	Fregata magnificens	Common round St George’s Caye & large numbers on Half Moon Caye
Double-crested cormorant	Phalacrocorax auritus	Common round St George’s Caye
Neotropic Cormorant	Phalacrocorax brasilianus	Small numbers seen on the New River 6 Dec
Anhinga	Anhinga anhinga	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec
Brown Booby	Sula leucogaster	2 or 3 seen most days around St George’s Caye. All juveniles
Red-footed Booby	Sula sula	Large numbers at the Caye Half Moon colony. 2 or 3 pairs were the dark morph Seen on 3 & 4 Dec
Great Blue Heron	Ardea herodias	One on St George’s Caye and one on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Great Egret	Ardea alba	6 to 8 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Snowy Egret	Egretta thula	c15 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Tricoloured Heron	Egretta tricolor	3 or 4 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov
Little Blue Heron	Egretta caerulea	One on St George’s Caye and 3 or 4 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	c20 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Green Heron	Butorides virescens	4 or 5 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	Nyctanassa violacea	3+ on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
White Ibis	Eudocrimus albus	8 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Roseate Spoonbill	Ajaia ajaia	6+ on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Turkey Vulture	Cathartes aura	Common along the New River on 6 Dec.
Black Vulture	Coragyps atratus	c.6 seen along the New River on 6 Dec.
Snail Kite	Rostrhamus sociabilis	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec
Common Black Hawk	Buteogallus anthrcinus	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec
Osprey	Pandion haliaetus	One pr on St George’s Caye, 2 Prs on Cay Caulker on 27 Nov and one pr with 2 juv on Half Moon Caye on 4 Dec
American Kestrel	Falco sparverius	One on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Bat Falcon	Falco rufigularis	One at Price Barracks on 6 Dec.
Rufous-necked Wood-rail	Aramides axillaris	18 incl 4 juvs on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Northern Jacana	Jacana spinosa	c.10 seen on the New River on 6 Dec.
Black-bellied Plover	Pluvialis squatarola	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Greater Yellowlegs	Tringa melanleuca	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Willet	Catptrophorus semipalmatus	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Spotted Sandpiper	Actitis macularia	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Marbled Godwit	Limosa fedoa	One seen on Caye Caulker on 26 Nov.
Ruddy Turnstone	Arenaria interpres	7 on Goff’s Caye on 21 Nov 03.
Sanderling	Calidris alba	2 on Goff’s Caye on 21 Nov 03.
Short-billed Dowitcher	Limnodromus scolopaceus	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Laughing Gull	Larus atricilla	Common around all the Cayes
Royal Tern	Sterna maxima	Common around all the Cayes
Pale-vented Pigeon	Columba cayennensis	Medium sized flock at Price Barracks on 7 Dec 03
White-winged Dove	Zenaida asiatica	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Aztec Parakeet	Aratinga astec	Small flock seen at Price Barracks on 7 Dec 03
White-fronted Parrot	Amazona albifrons	Flock of c20 seen at Price Barracks on 7 Dec 03
Lesser Nighthawk	Chordeiles minor	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec
Violaceous Trogon	Trogon violaceus	One seen in the ruins at Lamanai on 6 Dec.
Ringed Kingfisher	Ceryle torquata	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec.
Belted Kingfisher	Ceryle alcyon	Seen on both Caye Caulker and St George’s Caye
Green Kingfisher	Chloroceryle americana	One seen on the New River on 6 Dec.
Red-vented Woodpecker	Melanerpes pygmaeus	One on Caye Caulker and a pair at a nest hole in a coconut palm on St George’s Caye
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Sphyrapicus varius	2 on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Vermillion Flycatcher	Pyrocephalus rubinus	One female at Price Barracks on 7 Dec.
Tropical/Couchs Kingbird	Tyrannus sp	Seen on Caye Caulker on 27 Nov.
Social Flycatcher	Myiozetetes smilis	Several at Price Barracks on 7 Dec.
Greater Kiskadee	Pitangus sulphuratus	2 at Price Barracks on 7 Dec.
Caribbean Elaenia