'Tit-bits from Temperley' - Durham Bird Club

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Tit-bits from Temperley The Birds of Durham Heritage Project ‘Bringing the wildlife of the past, to the people of tomorrow’ species from the continent. In the preceding months birds had been noted in Norfolk, Essex and Kent. Nightjar It was called a “summer resident; not numerous and very local in its distribution” by Temperley. He said, “breeds about the fringes of the moorlands in the western part of the County”, “less frequently on scrubby open ground, amongst heather, gorse or young trees”, in the east. He said that it was probably more common in Hutchinson‟s time (1840s) but George Temperley thought it unlikely to have been common in the previous 150 years. A nightjar breeding on the outskirts of South Shields in 1933 and 1943 was seen every night within three miles of the town. Temperley also said that on the Derwent it can still be found at favoured spots a few miles from its confluence with the Tyne. Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Meriops superciliosus philippinus) This species was recorded by Hancock as having been shot near Seaton Carew in 1862, but Temperley said that it was not admitted to the British list and he believed that the specimen was shot at Branch End on the Yorkshire side of the Tees, presumably an escaped bird or a deliberate hoax? This sub-species is native to India, south east Asia east to New Guinea and has not been recorded in Britain. Roller There were two records in the Victorian period. One, according to Selby (1831) was shot near South Shields, sometime before 1831. The second record, was also of a bird that was shot, in the Hunwick Estate, in the Wear valley, on the 25 th or 26 th May 1872, by H. Gornall of Bishop Auckland. Kingfisher Temperley said, “A resident, more common than is usually supposed”. He mentioned its moving to the coast in the autumn and winter, and records sightings of, presumably dispersing juveniles, in autumn at unusual locations such as Hebburn Ponds, Saltwell Park Lake (Gateshead) and Darlington South Park Lake. A bird found on Back Redheugh Road, Gateshead on September 1943 had been ringed at Kirkley Mill near Ponteland, Northumberland. Green Woodpecker George Temperley said of it a “not uncommon resident in wooded districts”. He recorded a change in its status during his „recorded times‟. Until the early 1800s, he thought that it must have been a common and widespread species, this was followed by a severe decline, after which it was considered „rare‟ for quite a period of time. Not until well into the 1900s did a significant increase in numbers occur again, and, from then on, the species spread quickly after its first burst of population expansion during the first two or three decades of the 20 th century. Great Spotted Woodpecker George Temperley said that it was rare in the early part of the 1800s, and it was not included in some early catalogues of species, e.g. Hogg (1824) had never seen one in north Cleveland, indicating that it was genuinely scarce in that area. Edward Backhouse thought it less plentiful than green woodpecker Picus viridis which was then not uncommon. Hogg (1840) stated that it was “an exceedingly rare bird in the County”. Sclater, at Castle Eden, saw one there on 10 February 1876, only the third
Tit-bits from Temperley The Birds of Durham Heritage Project ‘Bringing the wildlife of the past, to the people of tomorrow’ he had noted in that area in 16 years. By Hancock‟s, time of writing, it appeared somewhat more common, and by then he thought it more common than the green woodpecker. From specimens in the Hancock Museum, it is clear that it bred at Maiden Castle, Durham City in 1863 and at Cleadon (a juvenile) by 1880. By 1905, Tristram reported that it was “occasionally met with at all times of the year in the wooded parts of the County and breeds regularly in some localities”. Temperley thought that this was the beginning of the spread of the British race into County Durham, where it was established in the Derwent valley during the early 20 th century. Temperley, himself, first saw it at Ravensworth in 1921 and by the early 1950s; it was found in all of the County‟s major woodlands. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker It was documented as a „very rare visitor‟, with „one record of breeding‟. “One shot ‘some years ago’ at Stockton Bridge”, according to Hogg 1845. Robson recorded one that one had been obtained in Gibside, with no definite date, but „about 1888‟. There were anecdotal reports of birds in Gibside and Bradley Park during the mid 1880s. Temperley‟s only breeding record was of a pair nesting in West Cemetery, Darlington in 1934. Wryneck George Temperley thought it “now a rare casual visitor”, though it was formerly a summer resident. “Used to be pretty common”, said Selby in 1831. Hutchinson (1840) said that woods near Durham were a „favourite resort‟. A number of authors recorded it being persecuted in the northeast. Edward Backhouse (1835) said it was „not uncommon‟ in the Sunderland area. Hogg (1845) thought it „not uncommon‟ in south east Durham, and still not uncommon around Durham in 1846 (Proctor, 1846r). The species bred in a garden in Cleadon House between 1813 and 1818, and it also occurred as a passage migrant around South Shields/Whitburn/Cleadon at the time. Robson (1896) said it was common in the lower Derwent valley up to 1842, breeding took place in 1834 at Swalwell, with a male shot in 1836 in Axwell Park. From the middle 1800s, it was much less common as a passage migrant The last records in Temperley refer to its loss as a breeding bird in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, and of its being much less common even further south. Snowy Owl One record in Temperley, courtesy of Hancock, who said that on 7 November 1858, „a fine specimen‟, was shot at Helmington near Bishop Auckland, and it was in the possession of Henry Gornall „of that place‟. Tengmalm’s Owl There were three records of this species for the County documented in Temperley. Hancock reported buying a fresh specimen in a poulterer‟s shop in Newcastle, which had been shot near Whitburn on 11 th or 12 th October 1848. This was reported in the Zoologist of 1850, as being killed on the sea coast near Marsden in October 1848. The specimen is in the Hancock Museum. Hogg recorded that one was shot in November 1861 near Cowpen, to the northeast of Norton. One was shot at North Hylton on 4 October 1929. This specimen was presented to the Natural History Society and the specimen is in the Hancock Museum.
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'Tit-bits from Temperley' - Durham Bird Club

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