Common Scoter Melanitta nigra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Very scarce, passage migrant. May occur in any month, especially July.

  1. pre-1907 (D. Carr). See note 1 below.
  2. Two, a pair, not aged (shot), 29th Dec. 1911 (per B.W. Tucker).
  3. Present, winter 1920-21 (D. Carr per B.W. Tucker).
  4. One immature or female, 4th Dec. 1927 (per B.W. Tucker).
  5. One male, adult, 17th March to 4th May 1929 (B.W. Tucker, L.A. Hawkins, C.R. Stonor).
  6. Two, a pair, not aged, 8th April 1930 (F.L. Blathwayt, A.C. Leach, B.W. Tucker).
  7. One male, adult, 14th April 1940 (H.H. Davis).
  8. One male, adult (dead), 13th April 1941 (H. Tetley, H.H. Davis). See note 2 below.
  9. One male, adult, 13th Jan. 1946 (R.E. Alley, G. Edwards).
  10. Two, a pair, not aged, 10th March 1946 (A.V. Cornish).
  11. One female, adult, 12th-14th April 1947 (A.C. Leach, H.J. Boyd).
  12. Two females, not aged, 13th Nov. 1948 (M.J. Wotton).
  13. One female, adult (oiled, dead), 22nd Jan. 1949 (M.J. Wotton, B.J. Bailey).
  14. One male, adult (dead), 6th March 1949 (B. King).
  15. Two females, not aged, 29th Jan. 1951 (W.L. Roseveare).
  16. One male, adult, 22nd July 1951 (P.J. Chadwick).
  17. Three males, not aged, 16th June 1958 (B. King).
  18. One male, adult (thought to be oiled), 5th-6th Dec. 1964 (R.J. Prytherch, D.E. Ladhams).
  19. Three males, not aged, 7th May 1972 (A.H. Davis).
  20. One, not sexed or aged, 7th Dec. 1974 (per T.B. Silcocks).
  21. Two, not sexed or aged, 14th Sep. 1985.
  22. Sixteen (13 males & three females), not aged, 12th July 1989 (A.M. Dibble). See note 3 below.
  23. One female, not aged, 21st July 1991.
  24. One female, not aged, 19th Sep. 1992. See note 4 below.
  25. Six males, not aged, 31st July 1993. See note 5 below.
  26. One female, not aged, 15th Aug. 1993.
  27. One male, adult, 6th-16th Nov. 1993.
  28. One female, not aged, 7th Aug. 1994.
  29. One female, not aged, 3rd Aug. 1999.
  30. Four, female or juvenile, 29th Oct. 2000 (N.R. Milbourne).
  31. One male, immature, 19th-20th June 2004 (N.R. Milbourne).
  32. Four, not sexed or aged, 23rd July 2004.
  33. Forty-three, 29 males & 14 females, not aged, 31st March 2005 (N.R. Milbourne, photographed).
  34. Two, not sexed or aged, 8th June 2008.
  35. One male, adult, 7th Sep. 2008 (N.R. Milbourne).
  36. Eleven (4 males & 7 females), adults, 25th July 2010 (N.R. Milbourne).
  37. One female, adult, 6th-16th Jan. 2015 (P.Bowdler, N.R. Milbourne et al.).
  38. Seven males, adult, 27th June 2015 (N.R. Milbourne).
  39. Four, three males & a female, adult, 23rd July 2015 (M. Davis).

Note 1: Donald Carr wrote that Black Scoter had been recorded once at the lake in his list dated 21st April 1907.

Note 2: Conflicting dates are given for this bird that was found dead. An adult drake found dead at BL on Apr. 13 (H.T. & H.H.D. in Som. Report). An adult male was found dead at Blagdon on Apr. 8 (H.H.D. in Bristol Report).

Note 3: This record was found in the Top End hide log (now in the care of Sarah Lambert, Ubley, who let me borrow it – she is daughter of the late Roger Lambert, also of Ubley, who provided the hide log book around the years 1989-1992). Andy Davis (in litt.) doesn’t think this record was ever submitted for consideration by the AOG Rarities Committee.

Note 4: BL – a female on 19th Sep. was only the sixth record for the site (ABR, 1992). This statement is clearly incorrect!

Note 5: BL – a record count of six males on 31st July (ABR, 1993), but not if the record for 12th July 1989 is to be believed.

 

 

Bibliography (sources of information):

  1. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1927. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  2. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1929. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  3. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1930. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  4. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1940. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  5. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1941. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  6. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1946. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  7. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1947. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  8. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1948. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  9. Blaythwayt, Rev F.L. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1949. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  10. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1991. Avon Ornithological Group.
  11. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1992. Avon Ornithological Group.
  12. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1993. Avon Ornithological Group.
  13. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1994. Avon Ornithological Group.
  14. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1999. Avon Ornithological Group.
  15. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2000. Avon Ornithological Group.
  16. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Ornithological Notes Bristol District, 1941. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  17. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Ornithological Notes Bristol District, 1946. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  18. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Ornithological Notes Bristol District, 1947. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  19. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Ornithological Notes Bristol District, 1948. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  20. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Ornithological Notes Bristol District, 1951. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  21. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Bristol Bird Report, 1958. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  22. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Bristol Bird Report, 1964. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  23. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Report on Somerset Birds, 1958. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  24. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Somerset Birds, 1964. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  25. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Somerset Birds, 1972. Somersetshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc.
  26. McGeoch, J.A. (ed.). Somerset Birds, 1974. Somerset Ornithological Society.
  27. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2004. Avon Ornithological Group.
  28. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2005. Avon Ornithological Group.
  29. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2008. Avon Ornithological Group.
  30. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2010. Avon Ornithological Group.
  31. Taylor, S.M. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1985. Avon Ornithological Group.

Last update: 5th December 2024