What do bufflehead, collared pratincole, white-throated needle-tail and desert wheatear have in common, apart from the fact that they are all birds?

Surprisingly they have all been added to the list of birds seen in the West Midlands in the last 22 years. Other ‘newcomers’ include several warblers and gulls, belted kingfisher and great white egret. I know this courtesy of a new Checklist of the Birds of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands, published by the West Midlands Bird Club.

The publication, supported by Focus Optics, packs a tremendous amount of information into its 36 pocket-sized (A6) pages. It lists all 342 species of birds recorded in the four counties, their breeding status and when, where and how likely it is that they may be seen. All this and there is still space for up to 10 personal checklists. Don’t expect to see a golden eagle though – the last record of this species was in 1873 in Staffordshire. More positively, avocets have been seen in all four counties and have bred in the region, as have – for the first time since the 1800s – red kites and dartford warblers. Two other majestic birds, buzzards and ravens, have greatly increased in number. Buzzards are now truly urban birds, frequently seen for instance around the Sandwell Valley and along the M6 motorway.

The West Midlands Bird Club is now in its 82nd year. Started by four people in 1929 as the Birmingham Bird Club it originally had a membership restricted to 12. This was because at meetings every member gave an account of their observations and any more would have made the meetings too long. By 1939 there were still only 15 members but there were 60 associates; presumably the latter did not have to speak. In 1991 Bill Oddie became a vice president, and today the membership is more than 2,000. The club’s publications are widely respected, as is its work on encouraging people to take up bird-watching and its assiduous recording and publishing. It also manages or controls access to five reserves, including Harborne Nature Reserve in Birmingham.

The publication of the checklist is well timed as this is one of the prime times of the year for watching birds. The autumn migration is in full swing as summer visitors to north-west Europe move out and wintering birds arrive. Coupled with the storms of autumn these movements often result in birds turning up in the ‘wrong’ places. As an example, the four birds mentioned at the start of this piece live respectively in North America, southern Europe, Asia and Africa, central Asia, and the Sahara and Arabia. So you never know what you might see in your local park or nature reserve.

If you want to learn more about the club, how to submit records and sightings, or obtain a copy of the checklist (£1.50 including postage and packing) visit the club’s website www.westmidlandbirdclub.com.