3. BIRDLISTS NORFOLK AND FRIESLAND AND A COMPARISON
Norfolk Friesland
Little Grebe
Tachybaptes ruficollis + +
Great Crested Grebe
Podiceps cristatus + +
Cormorant
Phalacrocorax c. sinensis + +
Bittern
Botaurus stellaris - +
Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea + +
>White Stork
Ciconia ciconia - +
>Mute Swan
Cygnus olor + +
>White-fronted Goose
Anser albifrons - +
>Greylag Goose
A. anser + +
>Bar-headed Goose
A. indicus - (+)
>Canada Goose
Branta canadensis + +
>Barnacle Goose
B. leucopsis - +
>Brent
B. bernicla + -
>Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiacus + +
>Shelduck
Tadorna tadorna + +
>Wigeon
Anas penelope + +
>Gadwall
A. strepera + +
>Teal
A. crecca + -
>Mallard
A. platyrhynchos + +
>Garganey
A. querquedula + +
>Shoveler
A. clypeata + +
>Pochard
Aythya ferina + +
>Tufted Duck
A. fuligula + +
>Marsh Harrier
Circus aeruginosus + +
>Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus + (+)
>Buzzard
Buteo buteo - +
>Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus + +
>Red-legged Partridge
Alectoris rufa + -
>Grey Partridge
Perdrix perdrix + -
>Ring-necked Pheasant
Phasianus colchicus + +
>Water Rail
Rallus rallus - +
>Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus + +
>Coot
Fulica atra + +
>Common Crane
Grus grus + -
>Oystercatcher
Haematopus ostralegus + +
>Black-winged Stilt
Himantopus himantopus + (+)
>Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticula + +
>Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarola + (+)
>Northern Lapwing
Vanellus vanellus + +
>Sanderling
Calidris alba + -
>Temminck's Stint
C. temmincki - +
>Dunlin
C. alpina + (+)
>Ruff
Philomachus pugnax + +
>Black-tailed Godwit
Limosa limosa + +
>Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus + (+)
>Curlew
N. arquata + +
>Redshank
Tringa totanus + +
>Wood Sandpiper
T. glareola - +
>Common Sandpiper
T. hypoleucos + -
>Turnstone
Arenaria interpres + -
>Mediterranean Gull
Larus mediterraneus - (+)
>Little Gull
L. minutus + -
>Black-headed Gull
L. ridibundus + +
>Common Gull
L. canus + +
>Lesser Black-b. Gull
L. fuscus graelsii/intermedius + +
>Herring Gull
L. argentatus + +
>Great Black-b. Gull
L. marinus + (+)
>Sandwich Tern
Sterna sandvicensis + -
>Common Tern
S. hirundo + +
>Little Tern
S. albifrons + -
>Black Tern
Chlidonias niger - +
>Rock Dove
Columba livia (feral) + +
>Stock Dove
C. oenas + (+)
>Wood Pigeon
C. palumbus + +
>Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaocto + (+)
>Turtle Dove
S. turtur + -
>Cuckoo
Cuculus canorus + +
>Barn Owl
Tyto alba + -
>Long-eared Owl
Asio otus - +
>Common Swift
Apus apus + +
>Great Spotted Woodpecker
Picoides major - +
>
>Skylark
Alauda arvensis + +
>Sand Martin
Riparia riparia + +
>Barn Swallow
Hirundo rustica + +
>House Martin
Delichon urbica + +
>Tree Pipit
Anthus trivialis + +
>Meadow Pipit
A. pratensis + +
>Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla flava + +
>Pied/White Wagtail
M. alba + +
>Wren
Troglodytes troglodytes + +
>Dunnock
Prunella modularis + +
>Eur. Robin
Erithacus rubecula + +
>Nightingale
Luscinia megarhynchos + +
>Bluethroat
L. svecica - +
>Black Redstart
Phoenicurus ochruros - (+)
>Redstart
Ph. phoenicurus + +
>Northern Wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe + -
>Eur. Blackbird
Turdus merula + +
>Song Thrush
T. philomelos + +
>Mistle Thrush
T. viscivorus (+) -
>Savi's Warbler
Locustella luscinioides - +
>Sedge Warbler
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus + +
>Reed Warbler
A. scirpaceus + +
>Marsh Warbler
A. palustris - +
>Icterine Warbler
Hippolais icterina - +
>Lesser Whitethroat
Sylvia curruca (+) +
>Whitethroat
S. communis + +
>Garden Warbler
S. borin + +
>Blackcap
S. atricapilla + +
>Wood Warbler
Phylloscopus sibilatrix - (+)
>Chiffchaff
Ph. collybita + +
>Willow Warbler
Ph. trochilus + +
>Goldcrest
Regulus regulus + -
>Spotted Flycatcher
Muscicapa striata - +
>Pied Flycatcher
Ficedula hypoleuca - +
>Bearded Reedling
Panurus biarmicus + +
>Long-tailed Tit
Aegithalos caudatus + (+)
>Willow Tit
Parus montanus + +
>Blue Tit
P. caeruleus + (+)
>Great Tit
P.major + +
>Nuthatch
Sitta europaea - (+)
>Short-toed Treecreeper
Certhia brachydactyla - +
>Jay
Garrulus glandarius - (+)
>Magpie
Pica pica + +
>Jackdaw
Corvus monedula + +
>Rook
C. frugilegus + +
>Carrion Crow
C. corone + +
>Starling
Sturnus vulgaris + +
>House Sparrow
Passer domesticus + +
>Tree Sparrow
P. montanus - (+)
>Chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs + +
>Greenfinch
Chloris chloris + +
>Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelis + +
>Linnet
C. cannabina + +
>Yellowhammer
Emberiza citrinella + +
>Reed Bunting
E. schoeniclus + +
>
>The crosses in parenthesis concern birds that were seen in England, cq
Nederland, during this holidays, but not in Norfolk or Friesland.
>
>Comparison:
>Basically the two lists are very similar, no wonder as both are from
low-lying wetland areas on the shores of the North Sea basin. A number of
the differences are in addition quite accidental: of course there are Jays
in Norfolk and Blue Tits in Friesland. As so often before, I stand in
danger of concluding from a too meagre material. Still, it is fun to
compare the two lists.
>The Norfolk marshes are much more coastal, and this accounts for the
presence there of coastal shorebirds (Turnstone, Sanderling, Grey Plover,
Avocet) and terns (Little tern, Sandwich tern), as well as the Brents.
Red-legged Partridges do not occur in Nederland (and have been introduced
to Britain in historical times).
> On the other hand the rich meadow avifauna of Friesland differs from
similar areas of Norfolk in the common occurrence of Black-tailed Godwits
and inland Oystercatchers, as well as the return of the White Stork as a
breeding bird. There also appear to be a number of songbirds that are quite
common in Nederland but that never reached Britain as regular nesting
birds, examples are Bluethroat, Savi's Warbler, Marsh Warbler and Icterine
Warbler. The Black Tern and the White Stork are in the same category.
>
>Some differences do not show on the list, as it gives simply
presence-absence. As earlier mentioned, it seems as if the British are
cranking out pheasants in enormous numbers ; this is a common bird in
Friesland too, but not in those amazing numbers. On the other hand, I got
the definite impression that at least in the areas I visited (Cambridge
suburbia in addition to Norfolk) the Chiffchaff was much less numerous than
it is in Holland, where its song can be heard almost everywhere, even in
small village gardens as Riet's. Tine to stop, before I draw too many
conclusions from too few data!
>
> A few old friends get
> more and more hard to find. The Great Reed
Warbler used to be a quite common bird in the right habitat in the
Netherlands. No longer! Skylarks, while still joyfully numerous in the
Norfolk coastal areas, are now patchily present only in the Friesland
meadows. And although the Yellowhammer is on both lists, it is on the basis
of one observation in each country only, and during an afternoon of
bicycling in the village of my youth in Zeeland, where Yellowhammers used
to be among the most numerous songbirds, I did not hear or see any trace of
them at all.
>
>
>There are also many positive developments, though. Here I can only talk of
the Netherlands, where I grew up. in my youth Buzzards were uncommon and
declining, because of poisoning i.a. by seed dressings. Now almost every
coppice has its nesting pair of Buzzards, and their mewing is a common
sound everywhere in the country. Similarly, after the IJsselmeer polders
and the Delta works created many new wetlands and large reedy areas, birds
like Marsh Harriers, Bluethroats and Bearded Reedlings have become much
more common, and geese have once more started to nest many places in the
country. Only the Greylag is indigenous here, but other species clearly are
developing feral populations, and especially the Egyptian Goose is rapidly
becoming a nuisance.
>
>Still, with more than 14 million people on such a small piece of real
estate, it is truly amazing that the Netherlands still has managed to
maintain such a rich and diverse avifauna. They have all reason to be proud
of their successes in nature protection and the creation of new wildlife
areas, even in the teeth of the ever increasing pressures of too many
people and too much manure.
>
> Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
> 9037 Tromsø, Norway
>
>
>
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