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changes in agricultural practice - the removal
of hedgerows to create arable deserts or with
the loss of grassland or drainage of marshes.
There is also a large difference in today's
birdwatcher compared with his historical
counterpart. The gun has been exchanged for
the telescope and camera, optical equipment is
of a higher standard and greater mobility has
enabled more of the county to be more regularly
watched. Mist—netting and ringing has meant
that more migrants are recorded and new field
guides and identification papers have made the
separation of difficult species such as gulls
and warblers easier. The following are
examples of birds where the status has changed
in the last 100 years.
All three species of diver have increased
recently due to the rise in popularity of sea
watching particularly from the Dengie coast
(204 Red—throated Divers were seen here in
1980) and Southend Pier. In the 19th century
there were just 5 records of Manx Shearwater
with another 7 by 1966, yet in the next 15
years there were another 77 recorded again as a
result of sea—watching. Similarly the Fulmar
is now seen regularly and has in fact pros-
pected cliffs at Walton, although it should be
said that Fulmars have increased nationally at
the same time as sightings have risen in
Essex. ' Skuas were a difficult family of birds
for early naturalists to separate and recent
years have seen the addition of the Long-tailed
Skua to the Essex list and a large increase in
records of Pomarine Skuas particularly in the
Thames Estuary.
The Great Crested Grebe is a bird that has come