8
failures. Snipe, Redshank and Lapwing have
declined due to habitat loss. Little Ringed
Plover has benefitted from gravel pit
production and larger wintering populations of
Ruff (90 at Holland Haven in 1987/8) and
Black-tailed Godwit (1500 in Hamford Water and
the Stour) give hopes for breeding in the
county - perhaps at Langenhoe or Old Hall
Marshes. The reed beds at coastal marshes and
gravel pits have also seen the Bearded Tit
establish itself as a breeding bird since 1962.
In 1866 the first British record of Mediter-
ranean Gull was of a bird shot at Barking. In
1986 there were at least 39 different birds
seen in the county, many of them seen near the
Thames rubbish dumps at Leigh (the cockle—sheds
are a favourite haunt), Pitsea, Mucking, Rain-
ham and Barking. The popularity of gull-
watching has produced increased numbers of
records of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, the
first record of the American Ring—billed Gull
and has drawn attention to the number of the
Yellow—legged Herring Gulls present in Essex in
late summer.
The Collared Dove was first seen in Essex at
Tollesbury in 1957. It bred in Clacton in
1960 and by 1964 flocks of up to 200 were
present. In contrast the Barn Owl has
declined from about 500 pairs in 1932 to about
25 in 1986. Loss of feeding areas, breeding
sites and the use of insecticides have all
taken their toll.
Of the smaller birds, the Nightingale has
declined - a victim of scrub-clearance and