2012
September-October 2012/ Issue 301 A look at the work and strategy of the British Trust for Ornithology
ENVIRONMENT conservation POPULATION Partners POPULATION Atlas counts Afric volunteers volunte science conservation ENVIRONMENT Atlas
species species survey partners
science
data Maps nes soss
breeding
woodland eco survey research
Migration results breeding
birdtrack
Annual Review
2012
BTO News 301/September–October 2012
The fieldwork phase for Bird Atlas 2007–11 was completed in July 2011, and attention then turned to validation and incorporating
welcome
information from other BTO schemes and allied organisations.
From the Chairman
Once more, the Regional Network Committee could focus on the BTO’s core surveys, such as the Breeding Bird Survey, which received additional funding from OPAL. With support from JNCC, we are simplifying on-line data entry for ringing and nest recording, providing improved facilities for both volunteers and staff. Outputs from the new system will feed into the BirdTrends report (www.bto.
This Annual Review provides an opportunity to reflect on
org/birdtrends), which was much improved during the year. Looking
the Trust’s achievements during the year ending 31 March
ahead, Ringing Committee and staff have developed a Demographic
2012. The full report and accounts for 2011/12 (see www.bto.
Targeting Strategy which identifies target species for improved
org/about-bto/accounts) has space for only a few headline
monitoring (page 22).
achievements but this Review provides opportunities to expand on key developments. Fittingly, in a year when five Cuckoos turned a
Communication is at the heart of what we do, and now
welcome spotlight on the work of the BTO, we start with an article
includes regular e-newsletters and blogs, as well as ringing and
about tracking. This complements the Ghanaian aspect of our
BirdTrack Apps for smartphones. Already, over 10,000 BirdTrack
research relating to migrants (pages 18/19) and a review of the
records per month are being submitted by phone (pages 10/11).
population trends for species wintering in different habitat zones
Our YouTube channel has received nearly 120,000 views, the
within western Africa (page 25).
majority targeting the bird identification videos. In 2011 the end-ofyear membership total rose by 4%, with the highest increases of
Migration research is just one strand within the BTO Strategy.
5.4% in Wales and Northern Ireland.
During the year we were pleased to open a new office in Bangor, to develop survey capacity and forge links with research partners
The breadth of the BTO’s fundraising has been growing for some
and decision-makers in Wales. We completed a project for Natural
years (page 35), but we urgently need additional unrestricted income
England re-assessing the impacts of Entry-Level Stewardship
to support our work, especially for research based on Atlas data and for
on farmland birds, producing the first evidence of national-
key long-term monitoring projects which make vital contributions to the
scale positive effects of ‘broad and shallow’ agri-environment
conservation of birds and other biodiversity. This is the biggest challenge
schemes. BTO scientists embarked on a major Defra- and Forestry
for 2012–13 and beyond, especially given the pressures of the economic
Commission-funded project investigating the influences of woodland
environment. I am hopeful that we will be able to secure the resources
management practices and deer browsing on birds (pages 20/21).
we need to continue to support our growing pool of skilled volunteers
Over the course of the last year, a series of climate-change articles
and further to develop the quality, breadth and relevance of our science.
has appeared in BTO News, and there is further evidence of this research on page 8.
BTO Chairman Professor Ian Newton FRS, OBE
Annual Review of the British Trust for Ornithology CONTACT US
BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk. IP24 2PU
Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01842 750050 Facsimile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01842 750030 E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . btonews@bto.org Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.bto.org BTO Scotland, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling. FK9 4LA
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The BTO promotes and encourages the wider understanding, appreciation and conservation of birds. Registered Charity No. 216652 (England & Wales) No. SC039193 (Scotland)
Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT President Baroness Young of Old Scone Chairman Ian Newton Honorary Secretary Neil Bucknell Honorary Treasurer John Osmond
BTO Cymru, Thoday Building, Deiniol Rd., Bangor, Gwynedd. LL57 2UW
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2
When you have finished with this magazine, pass it to a friend or recycle it.
ISSN 0005 – 3392 BTO PRODUCTION Editors Graham Appleton, Su Gough Editorial Board Andy Clements, Graham Appleton, Jeff Baker and Ieuan Evans
Layout, design, imagesetting and typesetting O’Connor Design Consultants Printing Breckland Print, New Road, Attleborough, Norfolk. NR17 1YE The views expressed by the contributors to this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor, the Council of the BTO or its committees. © BTO 2012. Quotations should carry a full acknowledgement.
2013 BTO Membership Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £32 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £42 Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £800 Fellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £54 Family Fellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £64 Life Fellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £1,350 Monthly membership subscription options are also available. Fellows receive Bird Study journal. All membership subscriptions due 1 January and run for the calendar year.
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Contents Inside this special issue of BTO News
pg10
David tipling/Steven Round/david kjaer/Northeastwildlife.co.uk
pg4
pg20 pg8
pg28
pg32 Changing times for woodland birds
Out of Africa: towards solving the migrant mysteries
20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 34
An exciting piece of collaborative work in Africa
36
Acknowledgements & BTO partners
02
A message from the BTO Chairman
04 06 08 10 12 14 15 16 18
Birds on the map We reflect on the successes and future directions of atlases
The year of the Cuckoo Unravelling some of the mysteries surrounding this species
Scientific research in 2011 & 2012 Some fascinating findings from recent BTO papers
Great for your records and great for birds Conservation benefits of BirdTrack records
It’s all a matter of scale Adding a local dimension to Bird Atlas 2007–11
BTO people Tireless individuals who give their time to the BTO
A Coalition for conservation BTO and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI)
Birds and offshore wind power The potential impact of offshore wind power
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
We review the status of deer and other wildlife
Bringing it all together Demographic targeting: studying bird life cycles in a unified way
Scientific research in 2011 & 2012 More fascinating findings from recent BTO research
BTO Accounts 2011/12 Presenting the annual accounts
Partnerships Helping to spread the BTO’s message
Corporate Support Corporate support for BTO surveys and research
News from Northern Ireland Cockle Island seabirds and cameras
Raptor trends in Scotland Monitoring birds of prey and the diverse groups that study them
The BTO in print Snippets from recent research papers
3
Birds on the Map With Bird Atlas 2007–11 data now checked, maps in production and many first-draft species accounts written, Dawn Balmer, Simon Gillings and Graham Appleton reflect on successes and future directions.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The big story that came out of the last
atlas in 1988–91? Are there other groups
breeding atlas was that farmland birds
of species, linked by different habitats,
were in trouble. It was not until 1999 six
that are showing similar patterns of range
years after publication however, that we
change, such as those that are dependent
learned that the northern edge of species’
on upland grassland, for instance? Maps
distributions were moving further north.
seem to show that some species predicted
With continuing changes to both habitats
to extend their range in response to climate
and weather patterns it is important that, this
change are actually contracting – so what
time around, full and early use is made of the
does this tell us about the relative roles of
new set of research resources available to us,
climate change versus land-use change in
thanks to the forthcoming Bird Atlas 2007–11.
shaping distributions? Some have suggested
In response to specific requests, data
that species distributions need to change
have already been supplied to address
to match changing climatic conditions. If
urgent conservation issues affecting
this is the case, are there clues from the
individual species but it will be a few more
way that densities of individual species are
months until the final dataset is complete
distributed as to whether they actually have
and hence available for use. At this point
the dispersive capability to move to what
BTO scientists will be able to work, often with
may become more suitable areas? And,
academic, NGO and government partners,
underpinning these investigations, there is a
to make best use of the information that has
range of novel spatial mapping techniques
In a recent meeting with a team working
been collected by volunteers.
that can be developed with atlas data. These
on an atlas in another part of the world, we
data will be able to provide answers as well
were asked to explain the success of Bird
at. What has been happening to farmland
as raise many new questions to guide our
Atlas 2007–11. It was interesting to reflect
specialists since the last breeding bird
research in the coming years.
upon things that had gone well – either
There is a whole range of topics to look
ALL ABOUT Planning
because of sound planning or simply as a result of good fortune.
PREVIEWS OF ATLAS RESULTS
Although organisation is always important, it was the fact that sufficient funding was available throughout the course of the project that enabled us to work with thousands of birdwatchers to make the atlas a success. The BTO’s legacybased fund Birds in Trust and a specific legacy of £250,000 from the estates of Joy and Ted Danter gave BTO Council the confidence to make a commitment to Bird Atlas 2007–11 in 2004. This meant that Rob Fuller could continue discussions with our partners, SOC and BirdWatch Ireland,
Production of the Atlas is on track, with publication scheduled for August 2013. If you can’t wait to see some of the results make sure you look out for the Atlas species of the month on the website (www.bto.org/bird-of-themonth) – this month it’s Redwing
and October’s species will be Curlew. Rob Fuller, Dawn Balmer, and Simon Gillings will all be giving Atlas talks at the BTO annual conference, over the weekend 7–9 December and there will be a joint SOC/BTO conference with an Atlas focus in Edinburgh on 16 March.
which had started in 2002, and we could inform bird clubs of our plans.
BTO supporters have been behind the project from the start; setting up standing orders, undertaking sponsored events, selling books, foregoing their ring subsidies etc., but six additional pieces
4
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
DATA COLLECTION
In Brief
David Tipling davidtipling.com
Facts & Figures
of good news arrived like a warm wind
Curlews will be the focus of one of the talks at the BTO Conference at Swanwick, Derbyshire, this year, as Alan Lauder shares concerns about Irish waders.
to fill the sails. Firstly, we were delighted when the Garfield Weston Foundation provided £50,000 in set-up costs, before we were in a position formally to launch the successful appeal. In 2007–08 there were three positive responses from trusts to requests to cover salary costs for the organisers in Thetford and Scotland, as well as a tremendous response to our species sponsorship initiative. Finally, in March 2009, with an economic crisis looming, we received a donation of £250,000 for general funds from a BTO member – about five times as big as any gift in the previous 20 years. With money flowing in, we could apply additional staff resources in areas where local birdwatchers needed help – which is why there are so few gaps
Online recording for Bird Atlas 2007–11 proved extremely popular. Elements from this system will be used in future online surveys.
in the maps.
FUNDING FOR THE ATLAS
We still need just under £100,000 for the Atlas
project. The appeal target of £1.4 million has just about been achieved but there are unexpected costs associated with keeping the web application open for a small number of local atlases and extra work to validate data. With the help of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, we have extended the contract with Bob Swann; his role in Scotland had previously been funded by the AEB and J & JR Wilson Charitable Trusts. We continue to be grateful to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation which has supported Dawn Balmer’s position since 2008 and to everyone else who has been involved in the field or financially.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
Over 20,000 birdwatchers have scoured the British and Irish countryside for the last four years to compile what is arguably the world’s most comprehensive ornithological atlas. With counts of over 240 million birds of over 550 species, 180,000 effort-controlled estimates of abundance in 50,000 2×2km squares, plus four million casual sightings from every 10×10km square of Britain and Ireland and a similar number of records from BirdTrack. Additional information to help fill gaps has been provided by a range of other organisations, including bird clubs, specialist raptor and owl groups and RSPB. A final top-up of records from all of the monitoring schemes run by BirdWatch Ireland and BTO, together with information from the Ringing Scheme, Nest Record Scheme and BTO Garden BirdWatch. At least 40,000 birdwatchers have made contributions.
Continuing fieldwork Some of the 40 local atlas projects which have been taking place in parallel with Bird Atlas 2007–11 are still ongoing. You can help to fill gaps this winter and next breeding season in Devon, Shropshire, South-east Scotland and Lanarkshire. Alternatively (or additionally) we hope that you will enjoy the Winter Thrushes Survey and that many people will wish to continue recording the birds seen on their local patches by using BirdTrack.
5
The year of the Cuckoo CHRIS HEWSON, PHIL ATKINSON and PAUL STANCLIFFE reveal just how much impact Cuckoo tracking work has had on perceptions of the BTO within the wider birdwatching community.
Although 2011–12 was another year
just a few kilometres from where the 1930
of surveys and atlas work for most BTO
bird was found, the other four revealed
members, in the minds of the public it
that Ghana and Ivory Coast are important
was the year when the BTO unveiled the
spring fattening areas. In the course of eight
migratory secrets of Cuckoos. In just a few
months in the vast continent of Africa we
months we went from having one ringing
know that our birds visited eighteen different
recovery of a Cuckoo in Africa – a bird taken
countries. Drilling down into the data for
for the pot in Cameroon way back in January
individual birds, it is clear that some birds
1930 – to creating links to 18 different African
rely heavily on remaining fragments of
countries across a wide range of habitats.
forest, spending long periods in the same
We also added a second migration pathway
areas and apparently making feeding trips
through Spain and western Africa to the
into the wider farmland which surround
recognised major flyway via northern Italy that
them. We lost touch with Martin in Spain,
had been deduced from a century of ring
following spring hailstorms, and Kasper in
recoveries.
Algeria. However, Chris and Lyster made
Much has been written about the stories of the five male Cuckoos – Chris, Clement, Kasper, Lyster and Martin. We were amazed
it back to East Anglia – and have since returned to Africa. The beauty of the Cuckoo tracking project
when Clement departed so early, on 3
is that it’s not just about scientific discoveries
June, but that Lyster stayed in Norfolk for a
of potential significance for the species’
further six weeks, presumably using the time
conservation. This is also a great story. Here
to secure extra mating opportunities. Birds
is a way to connect with birdwatchers and
made significant stopovers at a wide range
other people who like to unravel mysteries –
of European sites, from the docks in Antwerp
and these are people who share the same
to the Po Delta, took hugely different routes
fascination with birds as traditional BTO
through Africa and yet all ended up in the
members. Long-standing and new BTO friends
Congo rainforest. They all left the Congo and,
were keen to sponsor the ‘famous five’. Scores
although we soon lost Clement, ironically
of people became members and three of the
in detail: Kasper the Cuckoo’s African movements… 1. Kasper’s movements during October 2011 Whilst staging in Nigeria, it appears that this bird is using a forest reserve and neighbouring farmland. Kasper subsequently migrated further south to the Congo rainforests. On his return journey he spent time in Ivory Coast before crossing the Sahara. His last transmission was on 9 April from Algeria. 2. african habitat It appears that Cuckoos make use of a variety of habitats on their wintering grounds. Most of these habitats, including this Guinea Savanna, experience a number of pressures, such as grazing.
6
1.
2. BTO Annual Review | 2 012
cuckoo
&
Facts Figures 63%
Decline in Cuckoo numbers in England between 1995 and 2010, compared to 34% in Wales and just 2% in Scotland, according to figures collected by BBS volunteers. It will be interesting to see if Scottish birds have different overwinter strategies to those that made the trip from Norfolk in autumn 2011.
www.davidkjaer.com/mark hulme
Although there is evidence that habitat change in Britain may be contributing to the decline of the Cuckoo, the satellitetracking project is providing information that will help us assess whether what’s going on elsewhere in the world could be playing a significant part.
people who had had no contact with the Trust
from the BTO; these numbered 6.9 million
beforehand went on to donate £3,000 each to
in May 2011 and a staggering 79.8 million
name their own Cuckoos in 2012.
in June.
The media interest in the story was
We have learned a lot from the Cuckoos and we would like to develop the project
The Independent. He was awarded the BTO’s
further, given sufficient funding. Rarely do a
Dilys Breese Medal in recognition of his ability
few days go by without there being another
to promote BTO research to new audiences
surprising revelation and yet another blog for
and Victoria Gill of BBC Science On-line. On 7
Chris Hewson or Rachel Gostling to write.
June 2011, BBC News, Springwatch and The
You can catch up with latest news at www. to become hooked and to find yourself
Atkinson and Paul Stancliffe, the BTO’s Media
checking out the blogs on a daily basis.
size of the ‘Cuckoo effect’ is the number of
e return this
Record Numb
er:
slip to BTO
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I have sold ......... ticket s @ £2 each I would like = to make an additional donation of .................. .................. OR I have ....... not like to make sold tickets but would a donation of ................ TOTAL PAID .................. .................. ....
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Raffle 2012.ind
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for your supp
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£ £ £ £
3rd prizes:
Nunnery, Thetf
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with all your I enclose a raffle ticke cheque/pos t stubs and tal order made payment befor OR Pleas payable to ‘Britis e 1 February e charge my h Trust for Ornit 2013 Visa/Mastercar hology’ Card Number: d/Maestro (tick box). Card:
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5 x £100 of
42 Opticro n Verano Bin oculars Ernest Cha rles birdfoo d
Return date : 1 February 2013 Draw date : 8 February 2013
1st prize:
2nd prize: 3rd prizes:
A 7-night BW WC break in the Highlan A pair of 8 ds x 42 Opticro n Verano Bin 5 x £100 of oculars Ernest Cha rles birdfoo d Return date : 1 February 2013 Draw date : 8 February 2013
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
£2
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visitors to websites containing information
Acknowledgements Thanks to BBC Wildlife Fund, Essex & Suffolk Water and all the Cuckoo sponsors and raffle ticket purchasers for funding this project. We are very grateful to Kasper Thorup, Mikkel Kristensen and Raymond Klaassen for providing technical advice and assistance and to Microwave Telemetry Inc. who supplied the tags.
PLEASE KEEP THIS PORTIO RAFFLE ENTRY N AS IT BEARS YOUR NUMBER
the story in other places. A measure of the
2012/13 1st prize: Last year the A 7-night BW raffle help ed to UK Wintering WC break 2nd prize: in the Highlan Thrushes Surv raise an amazing £26, A pair of 8 gathering cruci 000, which ey. It starts ds x 42 Opticro we’v al evidence this autumn 3rd prizes: Fieldfare. on the impo n Verano Bin and there are e used to build a new rtance of our 5 x £100 of system read lots of ways oculars country’s habi y for the first Ernest Cha for you to Four of the get comprehensive tats for the rles birdfoo involved! six survival of d wintering thru BTO volunteers will be that we learn species we will be mon itoring are more abou shes like Redw Return date landscapes on the red t ing and : 1 February or amber list of the UK have them. The survey will 2013 Draw date look at thrushes; Blac of birds of changed dram : 8 February conservation kbird, Song atically over thrush numbers, habi 2013 implicated concern, so Thrush and tats the past four as a cause it’s impo Mistle Thru decades, as and food resources in for the decli have the the countrysi rtant nes. Are berr sh. All of these birds Weather each de. The struggle durin fortunes of the three ies the key for these spec key UK bree g prolonged Please supp winter can vary huge ies and our ding winter weat ly, so we need ort this proje winter visito her, which to the Bird ct by takin 1st prize: has been rs? g part in the to run the survey for Watching & A 7-night BW two Wildlife Club raffl (BWWC) , Opti e or by including a donayears. This means that WC break 1st Prize : 2nd prize: we need to in the Highlan cron and Erne A seven-nig tion to the A pair of 8 raise more Wintering ht wildlife 2nd Prize: st Charles ds x 42 Opticro money. Thru break for two for donating A pair of 8 3rd prizes: x 42 Verano people at the the following shes Appeal. A big than n Verano Bin 3rd Prizes: BGA HD bino 5 winners 5 x £100 of Grant Arm ks prizes: oculars will each win s Hotel in the culars Ernest Cha £100 of bird Cairngorm rles birdfoo Tickets are s National food just £2 each d Park , Scotland . If you wou 01842 7500 ld like furth 50. Further Return date er tickets for details on Good luck! : 1 February the prizes, yourself, frien 2013 Draw date how to requ ds or family, : 8 February est tickets then Thank you, and terms 2013 and condition please call our Fundraisi s are available ng Team on at www.bto. org/raffle. Ieuan Evan 1st prize: s A 7-night BW Head of Mem bership & Volu WC break 2nd prize: nteer Enga in the Highlan gement A pair of 8 ds Pleas x
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landing pages and many others are following
survey for
7
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bto.org/cuckoos but, be warned, it’s easy
funding new
A 7-night BW WC break in the Highlan A pair of 8 ds x 42 Opticro n Verano Bin 5 x £100 of oculars Ernest Cha rles birdfoo d Return date : 1 February 2013 Draw date : 8 February 2013
If undeliver ed Thetford, Norf please return to: BTO , The Nunnery olk, IP24 2PU ,
BTO Raffle
tracking project, featuring Chris Hewson, Phil
different people have visited the Cuckoo
1st prize:
2nd prize: 3rd prizes:
Dear
Independent all ran stories about the Cuckoo
the huge spike in interest – over 50,000
£16,900
The amount raised BTO Raffle 2012/13 in sponsorship for the team of £2 five Cuckoos BTO Raffle 2012/13 in 2011/12, providing the £2 top-up we BTO Raffle 2012/13 needed for funding from £2 the BBC Wildlife Fund, Essex & BTO Raffle 2012/13 Suffolk Water and the BTO’s Raffle. We continue to seek funds for this £2 exciting research; £24,000BTOhas Raffle already 2012/13 been received for the class of 2012.
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immense, ably led by Michael McCarthy of
Manager. Our website struggled to cope with
16,000km
Martin made the shortest journey south, at 6,700km, with Clement skirting around the western edge of the Sahara and clocking up 9,950km – half as much again. Chris and Lyster travelled 8,250km and 7,500km respectively on their journeys north, suggesting a round trip of typically around 16,000km.
Tel No:
Tel No:
B
Tel No:
BTO
Tel No:
Tel No:
BTO Raffl
Scientific Research in 2011 & 2012 There have been many papers published by BTO scientists during the past year, and here we highlight just three of the fascinating stories that have emerged.
1. Climate change & bird trends
2. a new study of
James Pearce-Higgins shows how climate change is having a complex effect on bird communities.
BTO and mammal monitoring. Mike Toms explains.
Long-term monitoring is required to
more similar to each other. This is shown by a
Although the Hedgehog is widespread
identify the potential effects of climate change
second cross-European analysis of breeding bird
and locally common within the UK, concerns
on wildlife. Recent papers using BBS data
data, including BBS, which shows that generalists
expressed about its changing status have
provide the latest evidence for these impacts
are increasingly dominating bird communities.
resulted in the species being included in the
occurring. In one of the largest studies of its
jill pakenham/www.davidkjaer.com/David Tipling davidtipling.com
8
UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
It is important not to give the impression
Information on Hedgehog populations is
across Europe describe recent changes in
that climate change is the only factor driving
collected by a number of organisations, across
European bird communities. Changes during
these changes. Recent analysis of farmland bird
a suite of habitats and for varying purposes,
1990–2008 have been rapid and largely
population trends by Sarah Eglington at BTO
although none of these datasets has been used
consistent across the six countries and regions
shows that, for this declining bird community,
independently to derive robust measures of
studied (Catalonia, Czech Republic, France,
climate change has had relatively little impact.
population change. A new study, funded by the
Netherlands, Sweden, UK), with species
Indeed, whilst we would have expected
People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
associated with warmer temperatures showing
populations of many species to have increased
and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society
more positive population trends than those
slightly in response to milder winters and warmer
(BHPS) and carried out by BTO, has assessed
associated with cool temperatures. The authors
breeding seasons, they have not done so,
the feasibility of generating national and regional
also show this shift is less than the change
because they have been limited by intensive
trends for Hedgehogs from seven existing
shown by butterflies, and also less than
agricultural management. Climate-change
schemes. These schemes include the BTO
expected from the degree of warming, which,
impacts on bird communities may therefore be
Garden BirdWatch (which collects weekly data on
they argue, may be a sign of problems to come
greatest in habitats where human impacts are
Hedgehogs in gardens), the BBS, Mammals on
for birds.
relatively low.
Roads (an annual survey of mammal carcasses
kind, Vincent Devictor and colleagues from
Some evidence that population changes may be linked to warming comes from more detailed analysis of BBS data by BTO that was led by Cath Davey. In warm years, widespread generalist species tend to be more abundant, leading to observers recording a greater diversity of birds in each square. In contrast, habitat specialists become relatively less common. Rising temperatures may be one of the causes of what appears to be a widespread phenomenon of bird communities becoming
recorded during car journeys and organised by Find out more Davey, C.M., Chamberlain D.E., Newson S.E., Noble, D.G., Johnston, A. 2012. Rise of the generalists: evidence for climate driven homogenization in avian communities. Global Ecology and Biogeography 5: 568–578. Devictor, V., van Swaay, C., Brereton, T. et al. 2012. Differences in the climatic debts of birds and butterflies at a continental scale. Nature Climate Change 2: 121–124. Eglington, S.M. & Pearce-Higgins, J.W. 2012. Disentangling the relative importance of changes in climate and land-use intensity in driving recent bird population trends. PLoS ONE 7: e30407.
PTES) and HogWatch (a joint PTES/BHPS survey carried out from 2005 to 2007). BTO researchers carried out analyses to estimate trends for Hedgehogs and determine the statistical power of each survey to detect population declines of between 10% and 50% over periods of 10 and 25 years, the latter being a commonly-used time period for assessing population trends when assigning conservation status. The analysis revealed evidence of decline BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Behind the Images… 1. Pied Wagtail Evidence suggests that, as bird communities adjust to changing climate, it is the generalist species, such as this Pied Wagtail, that do well, at the expense of specialists, which become relatively less common.
Hedgehogs
2. Hedgehog BTO analysed data on Hedgehogs to derive robust estimates of population change for the first time. Results show that populations are declining, as well as demonstrating how best to monitor Hedgehog numbers in the future.
3. Swallow Swallows migrate during the day and can feed en route but they still fatten before making the crossing of the English Channel. On reaching the south of Europe they fatten again before tackling the crossing to Africa.
3. Fattening for migration Jacquie Clark explains how a Europe-wide ringing project has helped us to understand Swallow fattening.
in both the wider countryside and human-
As summer visitors prepare to leave our
dominated habitats, like gardens, supporting
shores in autumn, they fatten up in order to
Ireland have a much shorter initial Channel
earlier suggestions that Hedgehog populations
have fuel for the long journey south to their
crossing to the Continent, this study showed
were in difficulty. The work also highlighted the
wintering grounds, crossing obstacles such as
for the first time that the birds stage in
potential of many of the schemes for monitoring
mountain ranges, seas and deserts. Swallows
southern Britain and fatten before making
long-term changes in Hedgehog numbers and
make the longest journey amongst our small
the crossing. Juveniles put on about 2g of fat
highlighted the number of survey sites required
passerines, eventually reaching South Africa in
(c. 10% increase in body weight) and the
within each scheme to generate the necessary
the middle of our winter, but they are unusual
more experienced adults 2.8g (c. 15%) prior
measures of population change. Mammals on
in that they travel during the day, feeding on
to migration. The birds then reach southern
Roads and BTO Garden BirdWatch performed
aerial insects and thus reducing their need to
Europe before further fattening occurs, to carry
best overall and, importantly, had sufficient
fatten up before they leave.
them across the Mediterranean and into Africa.
statistical power to detect 25% declines across
A Europe-wide ringing project organised by
Although Swallows breeding in Britain &
The pattern of mass increase of Swallows in
all of the regions (England, Scotland and Wales)
EURING (Union of European Ringing Schemes)
Britain & Ireland in autumn was similar to that
included in the study.
has shown that Swallows do in fact fatten
in southern Europe, starting with a period
before migration, despite this ability to feed
when their weight was stable followed by a
While the results of this work don’t tell us why
en route. The study allowed us to understand
rapid increase. However, the period of rapid
Hedgehog numbers are in decline, they do
where, when and how the birds fatten,
weight gain started earlier and the increase
demonstrate that we have the tools available to
revealing some fascinating new information.
was smaller than in southern Europe.
monitor Hedgehog populations. This information
Ringers across Britain and Europe concentrated
Within Britain, Swallows caught at the more
can be used to identify areas of future research
on catching Swallows at autumn roosts to find
southerly roost sites carried more fat than
and, perhaps most importantly, to assess
out what these birds are doing. Analysis of
those caught in the north, suggesting that
the effectiveness of conservation measures
data collected in Italy and Spain, for instance,
our Swallows move to the south and then
employed to aid the recovery of the Hedgehog
showed that the amount of fat that Swallows
fatten again befo re crossing to the Continent,
population once we know what is behind the
gain in these countries is directly related to the
and emphasising the importance of these
observed decline.
width of the ecological barrier they will have to
south-coast roost sites for Swallows breeding
cross as they leave on the next stage of their
throughout our islands.
Find out more Roos, S., Johnston, A. & Noble, D. 2012. Hedgehog datasets and their potential for long-term monitoring. BTO Research Report No. 598. Toms, M.P. & Newson, S.E. 2006. Volunteer surveys as a means of inferring trends in garden mammal populations. Mammal Review 36: 309–314.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
journey. Birds which had to cross a wide stretch of the Mediterranean followed by the Sahara were found to put on more weight than those with a shorter sea crossing before reaching the Sahara.
Find out more Coiffait, L., Robinson, R.A., Clark, J.A. & Griffin, B.M. 2011. Fattening strategies of British & Irish Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica prior to autumn migration. Ringing & Migration 26, 15–23.
9
Great for your records and great for birds It’s good to know that BirdTrack records contribute to an increasing amount of scientific research and survey planning as well as providing you with exciting and rewarding ways to interact with your observations. Nick Moran explains.
BirdTrack and Conservation
also unique in its ability to generate year-
A core aim of BirdTrack is to capture
The seasonal dimension is particularly
information about arrival and departure times
powerful for research, offering the potential
of migratory bird species in both spring and
for insights into avifaunal dynamics
autumn. New research is under way at BTO to
throughout the year.
round patterns for a broad range of species.
‘Another recent study using BirdTrack data looked at changes in arrival timing of several longdistance summer migrants.’
BirdTrack plays an increasingly important
compare the timing of migration as indicated by the BirdTrack dataset with that of the
role in informing survey design. Whenever
observe and record birds is a key part of
Inland Observation Point (IOP) survey. The
planning a specific survey to focus on one
the process of designing and implementing
latter was a BTO survey that ran in the 1960s,
or a small group of species, a number
surveys that both deliver robust results, and
through which observers collected daily bird
of questions must be answered. What
are realistic and accessible for participants.
lists from 299 locations around Britain. A
is the current distribution of the species
Status reviews of several scarce and/
comparison of the two datasets offers the
concerned? Are there particular periods
or declining species have also employed
prospect of revealing significant changes to
of the year when they become difficult to
BirdTrack data. Whilst the status of our most
the timing of bird migration over a 50-year
detect? Which aspects of their movements,
numerous species are well understood, thanks
period – at once exciting, alarming and,
behaviour and habitat use are easy to
to large-scale monitoring schemes such as the
potentially, very powerful.
observe and record? The BTO’s 2012
BBS and WeBS, and the rarest species are well
Nightingale survey used BirdTrack records to
monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel
data looked at changes in arrival timing of
help establish the known current range of
(RBBP), there is a ‘middle’ group of species
several long-distance summer migrants.
the species, identifying tetrads which were
where BirdTrack records can add a great deal
This suggests that arrival dates are indeed
newly occupied since the 1999 survey.
of contextual information. A recent update of
advancing, and that the biggest changes
This ensured that tetrads known to be
Waterbird Population Estimates was largely
appear to involve early-arriving species such
occupied by Nightingales were given high
based on WeBS data, but BirdTrack records
as Wheatear. Importantly, such shifts in
priority for coverage. BirdTrack also trialled
were valuable for shedding light on scarcer
arrival times may not be great enough to
some potential elements of the forthcoming
species such as Ruff, Slavonian Grebe, Smew
counteract the rate at which the seasons are
Winter Thrushes Survey, by exploring the
and Snow Goose. BirdTrack data made a
advancing, thus reducing the available time
capacity of birdwatchers to record extra
significant contribution to a paper estimating
for returning migrants to replace depleted
information on the activity, habitat usage
the number of Bitterns wintering in the UK, to
resources and secure a mate before the
and local movements of Redwings and
update a report on roosting and feeding areas
onset of the breeding season. BirdTrack is
Fieldfares. Understanding how birdwatchers
for Pink-footed Geese, and fed into the RSPB’s
Another recent study using BirdTrack
2012 Spotted Crake survey.
Cuckoo
Atlas results are already exposing some striking changes. A recent paper, focusing on Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, highlighted that this species now occupies 30% fewer 10-km squares than in the 1988–91 Atlas, qualifying it for RBBP monitoring from
-5
2011 onwards. Conservation action must necessarily be evidence-based; indeed, the importance of adding records to BirdTrack for
-10
the conservation of scarce species like Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is underlined by the authors’ closing statement: “By submitting
-20
their records… birdwatchers can make a Sand Martin
-25
big contribution to our knowledge base, and, in due course, to the development of conservation measures.”
10
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk/northeastwildlife.co.uk
million BirdTrack records, and preliminary Turtle Dove
Spotted Flycatcher
Garden Warbler
Swift
Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Wheatear
House Martin
Blackcap
Swallow
Sand Martin
0
Difference in median arrival date
Some species are advancing their arrival dates at a faster rate than others. It is noticeable that species that are doing well, such as Sand Martin, are keeping pace with advancing seasons, whereas declining migrants, such as Turtle Dove and Cuckoo, are becoming increasingly out-of-sync.
Yellow Wagtail
Bird Atlas 2007–11 has incorporated 4.6
Keeping pace with the Seasons...
Shedding light on scarcer species... Slavonian Grebe is a beautiful but declining breeding bird in the Scottish Highlands. The picture in winter is more mixed however. Information from a wide variety of sources, including WeBS and BirdTrack, suggests that declines in the southeast are more than compensated for by increases in the northwest, with an estimated 1,100 birds now spending the winter in the UK. This may indicate that different factors are operating on birds migrating here from Iceland and Fennoscandia.
BirdTrack for Bird Clubs A long-standing aim of BirdTrack is to enable a better, more manageable flow of records from the ever-increasing number of birdwatchers to local bird recorders, report editors and database managers. Several facilities, such as a filterable record download system and a validation system, were recently added to BirdTrack to assist with this process. Many of these valuable new tools were developed via an SNH-supported project, conducted in collaboration with the SOC and 2 012 | BTO Annual Review
the Scottish Bird Recording community. A number of regional organisations, such as Bedfordshire Bird Club, are already actively encouraging their members to submit their records via BirdTrack. One significant advantage of this approach is that these observations are available to local recorders in a single, standardised format, saving them the time-consuming task of adapting each observer’s records to fit the local database structure.
Find out more To explore the wide range of features available, or to register to use BirdTrack, visit www.birdtrack.net
11
It’s all a matter of scale
Bird Atlas
SIMON GILLINGS and GORDON KIRK, the Local Atlas Organiser for Gloucestershire, show how much clearer some of the atlas stories become when viewed at local scales.
sketch out the distribution of a bird species across the whole of Britain & Ireland? That’s exactly the resolution of the maps in the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds. If, in your imagination, you open up the map, zoom in and leap forward ten years or so to Bird Atlas 2007–11, you’ll see 3,800 dots begin to appear, each one of which represents a 10-km square. Then patterns, such as the association of Magpies with large conurbations, start to emerge. But why stop there? We use the EBCC scale to look at global patterns but that’s not the scale at which these patterns are created. The processes that generate the distribution maps operate at the scale of the individual, the pair, the territory and the flock. Look again at the European Atlas and you’ll see that the distributions of Bonelli’s, Wood and Willow Warblers are progressively more northerly in distribution. At the UK-scale, in Bird Atlas 2007–11, we can see that Willow Warblers are more northerly than Chiffchaffs and, using comparisons to previous atlases, the ‘centre of gravity’ for both species is moving northwards. This is not because individual birds are moving north, however; processes such as differential productivity, survival and dispersal are causing the changes.
When it is published, next summer, the new Bird Atlas will show distributions and abundance at the 10-km scale but the
Yellowhammer an interesting story…
1.
1. COMMON SPECIES The Yellowhammer story is interesting. Maps show further shrinkage of the species’ distribution since the last atlas but there have been additional, significant changes in abundance in local areas, with major losses in the counties forming the boundary of England and Wales. This redlisted farmland species has been the focus of agri-environment schemes so it will be interesting to see how mitigation measures are influencing local numbers. 2. NATIONAL YELLOWHAMMER MAP At the 10-km scale, the distribution map of Yellowhammers in Gloucestershire is very similar to the one for Nuthatch, despite their completely different habitat requirements. The relatively heterogeneous mix of habitats within the county provides suitable woodland patches for Nuthatches and areas of farmland for Yellowhammer within most 10-km squares. 3. INCREASING RESOLUTION The abundance map for Gloucestershire, showing the number of birds per hour recorded during timed tetrad visits, reveals that Yellowhammers’ favoured areas are in the east, on the higher Cotswold farms where cereals predominate. They are far less likely to be found in the low-lying Severn Vale (mainly pasture/silage) and of course are largely absent from the dense woodland of the Forest of Dean in the west and from urban areas (shown in purple).
Northeastwildlife.co.uk/Gloucestershire Map: Phil Davis
Can you imagine how much information would be lost if you had only 182 dots to
&
Facts Figures
underlying data are far more powerful. If you could zoom in again, to the local atlas
birds will help to push at the edge of the
the online facilities enabled the local atlas
tetrad resolution, you’d see about 85,000
distribution map for that species.
team to monitor progress and validate the
tetrads. And there are more data to use too.
12
One of the major advances for Bird Atlas
records submitted by hundreds of volunteers.
Zoom in again and you’d see the clusters
2007–11 has been the partnerships that
of registrations on Common Birds Census
were developed with local bird clubs and
Gloucestershire has several local
maps that indicate territories. Zoom in again,
consortia. Local organisers have been able to
bird clubs rather than a single county-wide
apply some technology, and radio and GPS
manage coverage and submit data through
organisation, so a co-ordinating committee
tags can trace the movements of individual
the BTO website and have been provided with
led the atlas project, chaired by the BTO’s
birds. It’s all a matter of scale. If a pair of
data in raw and part-analysed form every six
Regional Representative, and including
Nuthatches nesting in a Scottish oakwood
months. An online forum has facilitated the
representatives of bird clubs, RSPB, WWT
can increase the probability that both will
exchange of ideas and given direction to the
Slimbridge, the county Wildlife Trust and the
survive the winter, simply by feeding on
developments that have been made to the
Naturalists’ Society. This broad membership
peanuts in a local garden, then those two
website. In Gloucestershire, just as elsewhere,
meant not only that everyone felt involved, BTO Annual Review | 2 012
1.
58
Atlas data have come from an array of recording schemes and organisations, including 58 county and regional bird clubs, to ensure maps are as complete as possible.
73,112
The number of tetrads across Britain & Ireland for which data were received, out of a possible 85,000, with most being visited in both winter and summer.
2
In addition to Bird Atlas 2007– 11, BTO Books will be publishing two county atlas avifaunas (in 2014): Nottinghamshire Avifauna and The New Birds of Sussex.
298
The number of species accounts that have been written for the forthcoming Bird Atlas 2007–11, including regular breeding and wintering species as well as rarities.
2.
3.
but also that the bodies with responsibilities
move by Yellow Wagtails to arable farmland.
next year’s book, across Britain & Ireland,
for conservation in the county were made
Dippers provide one of the most fascinating
local authors will be revealing a whole
fully aware of the results. The collaborative
stories, with a decline in the hillier areas but
raft of new stories, hinting at how species
approach certainly worked in Gloucestershire
no losses in lower areas or near towns. Two
as diverse as Redstart, Redwing and Red
– 100% tetrad coverage was achieved and
potential theories have been put forward;
Grouse might be being affected by the
The Birds of Gloucestershire will be published
further downstream, populations may not
changes to which they are subject, both
in autumn 2013: a full county avifauna as
be as affected by run-off as they are in
directly by man and through the indirect
well as Gloucestershire’s first bird atlas.
agricultural areas or there could be lower
effects of climate change. At a larger
water tables, a change which would have a
scale, the Bird Atlas data that thousands
larger effect further upstream.
of people have collected will help to plot
As well as reflecting national trends, such as the steep decline in Cuckoo and
the changing fortunes of species across
almost complete loss of Grey Partridge, in Gloucestershire there are local changes,
Whilst the BTO team is bringing
Europe, setting the conservation agenda for
such as the spread of Cetti’s Warblers and a
together the stories that will appear in
the next twenty years.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
13
BTO People We’ve had some great opportunities to celebrate members, volunteers and BTO friends who contribute to our work and our knowledge of birds. We value these occasions, allowing us to thank those who have helped so much.
Longest-serving BTO Reps Celebrate in style BTO is fortunate to benefit from the
capacity for at least 25 years, with the
skills and experience of a large number
longest in post having reached 39 years’
of volunteer Regional Representatives
service! It was a great pleasure for us to
(RRs) who organise surveys and promote
welcome these remarkable volunteers
the work of the Trust across the whole
at a reception with the Minister for the
of the UK. In 2011 we awarded the BTO
Environment, Richard Benyon, and then
Regional Network Long-Service Award to
at a behind-the-scenes tour of the
Peter Overton who has served as RR for
Houses of Parliament led by our very own
West Lincolnshire since 1996. We also
president, Baroness Young. Celebrations
celebrated the amazing contributions of
like this are a reflection of the gratitude
a growing band of even-longer-serving
we feel for the hard work and dedication
RRs. In 2011, there were 13 RRs who
from across our entire network of over 130
had served the BTO in an organisational
volunteer RRs and survey organisers.
Last autumn we worked with renowned photographer David Tipling and University of East Anglia Ringing Group to provide us with some fresh new people images for our image library.
The Welsh Council for Voluntary Action recognised the outstanding contribution that BTO’s RR for Brecknock and Honorary Wales Officer, John Lloyd, has made to ornithology in his community over the years, when they presented him with a ‘highly commended’ at their annual awards ceremony last November. John’s contribution to the BTO spans all aspects of our work from ringing and nest recording to chairing our Regional Network Committee and contributing to BTO Council. BTO supporters honoured Spotlight on BTO Medal winners
John Bonell is a man on a mission. In
recording and through his training of and
the last few years he has taken on the
collaboration with others. Mike has been
daunting task of converting old paper-
the main contributor to the monitoring
based ringing records into electronic
of raptors (particularly Golden Eagles
format. John has so far input the details
and Peregrines) in the county of Angus
of just over three million birds. In addition
since the 1970s and helped form the
to helping the Ringing Scheme get its
first raptor study group in 1981.
older records into the 21st century, this
In many ways, Mike’s greatest
effort has made a variety of additional
contribution is measured
analyses possible, such as a recent study
by the number of people
of Oystercatchers (right) on the Burry Inlet.
who have learned
At the 2011 Annual Conference John
conservation through
committed devotion to the trust. At
the time spent in his
the same conference we awarded the
company.
Trust’s Bernard Tucker Medal to Mike Nicoll, who has been a pivotal influence in ornithology in Scotland for over four decades, through his own ringing and bird
14
about ornithology and
was awarded BTO’s Jubilee Medal for
At our annual BTO Medal & Awards Reception we celebrate those who have made a significant contribution to ornithology and communicating BTO science. In 2011 the Dilys Breese Medal went to The Independent’s Environmental Editor, Michael McCarthy. The Marsh Award for Ornithology was won by Dr Ian Hartley, while Henfield Birdwatch received the Marsh Local Ornithology Award. The ceremony was hosted by the Society of Wildlife Artists at the Mall Galleries, London. BTO Annual Review | 2 012
A Coalition for Conservation
1.
On his first day as BTO Director, Andy Clements was handed a letter from Cambridge University inviting BTO to become a founding member of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI). Here, he takes up the story.
It was at this point that I first realised that
2.
Cambridge and its surroundings (yes, even out as far as Thetford and Sandy) is home to one of the world’s largest clusters of people and institutions working to conserve global biodiversity. Cambridge University, together with nine conservation organisations and networks founded CCI, a coalition of scientific researchers, policy experts and practitioners who have come together to change the way we work, through collaboration.
collaborative advantages Each CCI partner already has an established programme of conservation and scientific work, so what are the benefits of coming together? If we only do what we always do, we’ll only get
3.
what we always get and, as the state of global biodiversity decline currently shows, that is not
african aspects...
enough. Together we can tackle new and existing issues with innovative approaches, and across disciplines, in ways that one of us cannot achieve alone. Take for example the BTO/RSPB migration studies on the ground in West Africa. The survey
David Tipling davidtipling.com/Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk/Mike Atkinson/Mark Hulme
and ringing methodologies are well-known expert areas for us, and we are more than capable of building the capacity of local partners, such as Naturama in Burkina Faso, to undertake more of this work to understand the ecology of Palearctic migrants in winter. Add to that BTO’s own tracking of Swift and Nightingale and we have most of the picture. A collaboration through CCI, in part funded through the CCI Collaborative Fund, adds a new dimension. Working with Geography and Land Economy Departments in the University
‘CCI and the proposed campus will facilitate and sustain the flow of conservation research and practical solutions, enhance global conservation capacity and leadership, and help to transform public understanding of nature.’ Dr Mike Rands, Executive Director, CCI
we have jointly designed and undertaken social science research to explore the relationships
solutions. BTO staff teach on the Masters course
between ecology and land-use change driven by
in Conservation Leadership, where international
people’s development. We won’t get traction in
students benefit from experienced conservation
society for the needs of wildlife in sub-Saharan
leaders in terms of science content and how best to
Africa unless we set it in the context of human
lead conservation organisations. And there will be a
land-use needs. CCI has enabled us to broaden
new CCI campus in the University where BTO will
the impact of our science.
retain a foothold through a small number of desk spaces, further assisting our collaborative working. I
BTO involvement
believe that when we all come together in a positive
BTO is directly involved in three CCI programmes.
collaborative environment provided by CCI, we are
For a small financial outlay we jointly fund a post
innovative, powerful and influential. CCI extends the
to watch for new environmental issues coming
reach of BTO science, internationalises our work,
over the horizon, and to work together in thinking
and sharpens the relevance of our knowledge of the
about the right responses as we look for positive
status of global biodiversity.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
1. Garden Warbler Surveying and ringing are some of the skills BTO brought to the multi-disciplinary work that is being carried out in the wintering grounds of many of our migrants. 2. African Scene A collaboration between UK and African organisations has led to new insights into the wintering habitats of migrant birds throughout a range of habitats in Africa. 3. Swift Recent developments have allowed us to follow some of these migrants on their journeys including, last year, tracking Swifts for the first time.
CCI Details CCI partners: BirdLife International, BTO, Cambridge Conservation Forum, Fauna & Flora International. IUCN, RSPB, Traffic International, Tropical Biology Association, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, University of Cambridge.
15
Birds and Offshore Wind Power Lucy Wright explains how, as The Crown Estate announced the most ambitious marine renewable energy programme in the world, it highlighted the urgent need to better understand the potential impact of offshore wind power on birds.
Offshore wind farms are one of the
aim of addressing these uncertainties and
principal methods of generating power without
building on our knowledge about the effects of
using fossil fuels, but they can cause problems
offshore wind farms. Work was funded by The
for birds, either directly (birds may collide
Crown Estate, and guided by a steering group
with them), or indirectly (constructing wind
including representatives of regulators, statutory
farms might change the habitat and, therefore,
advisory bodies, the RSPB and all UK offshore
the species that can live there) and little is
wind developers. BTO’s role was to coordinate
currently known about these impacts. Currently
the group, provide impartial scientific advice
assessments follow the precautionary principle
and conduct some of the work, with support
and focus on a ‘worst-case scenario’ to ensure
from Bureau Waardenburg (specialists in
all possible impacts are captured. In practice,
using radar to monitor birds) and the Centre
this means that the predicted impact may
for Research in Ecology and Environmental
be higher than the real, but this uncertainty is
Modelling (CREEM) at the University of St
risky for everyone: it poses a financial risk to
Andrews.
developers, who may not get planning consent,
Perhaps the most obvious risk of wind
may have to make design changes that reduce
farms to birds, both off and onshore, is that of
power output, or may have planning consent
potential collision with the turbines. As part of
delayed; it poses a political risk to meeting
the project, a new tool for modelling collision
government targets for renewable energy
risk at offshore sites has been developed by
capacity; it poses an environmental risk by
Bill Band (a collision modelling expert). To
making it difficult to know how and where to
understand the risk you need to know the
build wind farms while minimising the risk to
proportion of birds flying at the height of the
birds.
rotors and the proportion of birds that will take
SOSS (the Strategic Ornithological Support Services group) was set up in 2010 with the
action to avoid turbine blades (‘avoidance
Seabirds, like this Sandwich Tern, can potentially be affected by wind farms in a number of different ways including collision, displacement or even attraction to the structures. The fourth SOSS study modelled the effect different collision rates would have on the population of Gannet and developed the methods needed to model the impacts of all existing and consented wind farms on other seabird populations.
rate’). Previously, many surveys of potential wind farm sites recorded birds in height bands related to the specific rotor height planned. BTO has developed generic models of birds’ flight height distributions which can be used to assess the effects of different turbine designs. Results point towards avoidance rates being at least 99% for some species but this is based on limited evidence which is not considered sufficient to change current recommendations. To increase the confidence in these results, Bureau Waardenburg investigated ways to provide better evidence of avoidance and collision rates, which are hard to measure. Collisions are rare and they are more likely to happen in bad weather or at night, when surveys cannot be conducted. Several remote systems are available to detect collisions, using
Migrating birdS
16
Migration involves large numbers of birds but occurs during
cameras and microphones, but these must be
a short time-window, sometimes in bad weather and often at night, making it difficult to
combined with other methods that record the
monitor. Each species also varies in its migration strategy. Oystercatchers, for example,
number of birds passing the area and taking
migrate between breeding sites in Norway and wintering sites on The Wash, but we don’t
avoidance action. To provide robust evidence,
know whether they fly directly or minimise the North Sea crossing distance and, hence, spend
monitoring of collisions and avoidance needs
more time following the coast. This strategy would lead to more encounters with wind farms.
to be conducted at a number of sites. SOSS has BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Wind power
&
Displacement: how to measure it
Facts Figures
Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk/david Tipling davidtipling.com
It is thought that some birds will stop using an area after a wind farm is built while others may be attracted to the site (e.g. turbine bases are popular perches for Cormorants). In an attempt to measure how different species respond when wind farms are built, experts from the University of St Andrews analysed data from an existing wind farm where bird surveys had been conducted before and after construction. The project found that the data collected were not effective in measuring displacement. The group has provided recommendations on how to distribute survey effort (without spending more money) to get better measures of displacement in the future.
identified this critical gap in the understanding
Operational
of collision risk and avoidance rates.
Consented/under construction
As a result of this key recommendation from SOSS, The Crown Estate is now in the initial stages
Proposed Refused
of developing a large-scale field project, using existing wind farms to test equipment and gather expertise from many organisations, including BTO. If we can better understand the avoidance rates and collision risk to birds from offshore wind farms it will help achieve the goal of reducing climate change through renewable energy production without compromising bird populations.
Find out more To find out more, visit www.bto.org/soss
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
25
The number of organisations involved with SOSS. While managing the steering group consisting of those 25 organisations presented its own challenges, the combined expertise and approaches of members was extremely valuable, with stakeholders bringing different perspectives to discussions, sharing information and agreeing solutions that were based on the best available evidence.
1%
data. Such a project requires support, funding and
Acknowledgements Thanks to The Crown Estate for funding, our collaborators who did some of the work (Bureau Waardenburg, CREEM, WWT Consulting, MacArthur Green, RPS, Bill Band) and all members of the SOSS steering group who contributed ideas for projects, guided the work and commented on early drafts of reports.
5
The number of research projects conducted as part of SOSS. These projects addressed uncertainties relating to the displacement of birds from wind farms, the assessment of potential population-level impacts, the estimation of risks to migrating birds and collision risk (two projects). These all had the aim of increasing our understanding of the impacts of offshore wind farms on birds and thus reducing uncertainties in decision making.
Map showing the locations of all existing (blue) and potential wind farms. Operational, consented and refused dots are enlarged and show location but not extent. Proposed sites (green) show both location and extent.
There is debate among ornithologists as to whether to change the acceptable avoidance rate from the currently recommended 98%. It is argued that 99% or more should be used as a ‘realistically precautionary’ estimate of avoidance rate. Increasing the acceptable avoidance rate by 1% in this way for some species would halve the numbers of birds estimated to collide. We recommended that collision risk predictions based on a range of avoidance rates, including 98% and 99%, are presented in assessments, and, crucially, that further work to measure avoidance rates is a high priority.
17
Out of Africa: solving migrant mysteries Phil Atkinson, Chris Hewson, Mark Hulme (BTO), Danaë Sheehan, Chris Orsman, Graeme Buchanan, Juliet Vickery (RSPB), Augustus Asamoah (Ghana Wildlife Society) and Georges Oueda (Naturama) describe the exciting collaborative work being carried out in Africa.
Over the past three years, BTO and the
migrants, but some, such as Wood Warbler,
RSPB, in collaboration with the Ghana
Spotted Flycatcher and Garden Warbler,
Wildlife Society and Naturama (the BirdLife
were found only in very small numbers. We
partners in Ghana and Burkina Faso) have
therefore spent the second winter visiting
been working together on an exciting
a number of new areas where we thought
project on migrant birds in Africa. Many
we might find these species. In the first
of the UK’s long-distance migrants are in
winter, we had spent our time in the four
rapid decline and the recent analyses led
main vegetation zones from the Sahel to
by Nancy Ockendon (page 25) provided
the humid rainforest. What we didn’t do,
much of the evidence-base for our work in
however, was spend time in the ‘transitional’
Africa. The direction of a species’ population
zones – the sometimes quite narrow, but
trend (increasing or decreasing) is related
very characteristic, areas of habitat between
to where the birds winter in Africa and
the main habitat zones. The results from
which habitats they occupy whilst there.
the transitional zone between the humid
Populations of birds wintering in the arid
rainforest and the Guinea savanna were
habitats of the Sahel tend to be stable or
impressive – we found good numbers of
increasing (with the notable exceptions of
Wood Warblers, but also Garden Warblers,
Turtle Dove and Yellow Wagtail), whereas
Nightingales and Spotted Flycatchers. Habitat
those wintering in the humid zone, such as
within this ‘transitional’ zone retains features
Nightingale, Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler
of the two main habitat zones and in places
and Cuckoo, tend to be in decline.
resembles parkland – tall mature trees with
Although much is known about habitats
1.
a relatively open habitat below them. Wood
during the breeding season for these
Warbler and Willow Warbler were both
species, we know very little indeed about
frequently recorded, feeding in the crowns
where they winter. Even basic, but essential,
of the mature trees alongside resident
information such as what habitats the birds
African warblers. We are now combining
use at different stages of the non-breeding
these ‘roving records’ with those from the
period was unknown. To find out more we
first-year transects in an exciting piece of
set up five sampling areas in the winter
new modelling work (maximum entropy
of 2009/10, arranged from the Sahel in
modelling), led by the RSPB, that overlays
northern Burkina Faso southwards through the Sudan and Guinea savannas to the Guinea forest in southern Ghana (Fig. 1).
The five sampling areas in west africa…
The five areas represented all the major vegetation types in the region, working along a dry to wet gradient and from the arid zones
Oursi, Burkina Faso Sahel, arid
in the north through to the rainforest in the south. Logistically, this took some doing and necessitated operating two teams, one in each country. We visited the five sampling
Nazinga, Burkina Faso Sudan savanna, semi-arid
Damongo, Ghana Northern Guinea savanna, semi-humid
areas four times through the winter – twice before Christmas and twice after. As well as undertaking bird counts along many kilometres of transects in each sampling area, we also used mist nets to try to catch species
Kakum, Ghana Semi-deciduous /evergreen forest transition, humid
Kogyae, Ghana Southern Guinea savanna, sub-humid
such as Nightingale and Garden Warbler that would otherwise be difficult to detect. After the first winter of fieldwork we had information about most of our familiar
18
Stretching from the arid Sahel in Burkina Faso in the north through to the lush Guinea forest in Ghana in the south. Four visits were made to each site, looking for wintering migrants.
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
A closer look at African Migrants… 1. Pied Flycatcher Amber-listed due to a steep population decline, Pied Flycatchers showed a strong preference for the more southerly, lusher habitats during the whole of the wintering period.
2. Willow Warbler A species that is declining in England but stable further north, is shown making use of the more arid habitats in Africa at the start of the winter period before moving further south as the season progresses.
Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk/© google maps
2.
3.
the count data for each species onto satellite
fieldwork on Nightingale and Wood
images, to produce maps giving a predicted
Warbler. In the third winter (2011/12), we
distribution of the species within the wider
began working at sites within the Guinea
landscape. As this work progresses the maps
forest/savanna transition zone on research
will become more refined and, since satellite
aimed at understanding more about the
images go back at least 15 years, will enable
detailed winter ecology of these two
us to explore the impact of recent habitat
species, and how and why habitat within
change on species distribution.
this region has changed. This latter piece of research is going to mean a whole new
The first two winters of fieldwork have
approach to our work and will require
given us a much clearer picture of how
forging new partnerships with social
birds use habitats in West Africa and
scientists and the development sector
also provided a great deal of new large-
(page 15). It is an exciting project, and
scale information about habitat use and
the work has been made possible only
seasonality. They showed us the potential
through dedicated internal funding and
importance of the transitional zones for
the support of members and sponsors of
some of our target migrant species and
the BTO and the RSPB, to whom we are
provided a baseline for us to plan detailed
extremely grateful.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
3. Spotted Flycatcher Initial fieldwork failed to find significant numbers of this species in the habitats sampled but, during the second winter, surveys were conducted in transitional habitats where good numbers were found.
‘Although much is known about habitats during the breeding season for these species, we know very little indeed about where they winter. Even basic, but essential, information such as what habitats the birds use at different stages of the non-breeding period was unknown.’
19
Changing times for woodland birds Since 1970, there has been a drop of 32% in the UK index of specialist woodland birds. ROB FULLER reflects on some of the issues facing species such as Nightingale and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and options for the people managing the habitats that sustain them.
During 2011 and 2012 there has
ways. There will also be ongoing changes in
been unprecedented debate about the
predation pressure from both mammals and
future of our woodlands and forests. The
birds. Many of our widespread woodland
Independent Panel on Forestry, which
residents have increased substantially in
reported in July 2012, addressed many
recent decades and this may have resulted
of the issues in an English context and
in increased predation, or competition for
identified the wide range of functions
nest sites or food.
– environmental, social and economic
Woodland management profoundly affects the quality of habitats available for birds. This is emphasised by results from the BTO’s Scarce Woodland Bird Survey. There were considerable differences in the habitat associations of 28 species. Tree species composition, woodland growth stage and foliage density were amongst important predictors of species’ occurrence, with the exact combination of features varying across the species. All of these habitat features are strongly affected by management decisions. It is essential to learn more about how birds and other wildlife respond to woodland management in order to make the most of the proposed expansion in woodland area. If we wish to integrate high-quality wildlife habitat into future woodland, we need to develop a better understanding of the resources needed by different species and how contrasting management approaches affect these resources. This is the subject of a new project led by BTO and funded by Defra and the Forestry Commission.
There is currently much interest in
– provided by woodland. There are
managing woods to produce woodfuel. One
ambitious plans for forest expansion in
of the potential benefits is the creation of
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and
habitat for species that use young woodland
Wales. Furthermore, the importance of
and other stands with dense regeneration.
managing woodlands in appropriate ways
Whether these benefits will actually
is increasingly appreciated.
materialise depends critically on details of
Approximately a third of woodland bird
Management matters
management. If large areas were to revert
species have declined in population size
to coppicing there may well be considerable
and/or contracted in range over the past
gains for birds, providing that deer impacts
two or three decades. The potential causes
were not large. However, if much of the
are numerous. One factor that has probably
woodfuel is generated from thinnings, which
affected several species has been reduction
is currently the situation, there may be little
in the complexity of understorey vegetation
improvement in habitat quality.
escalating numbers of deer, coupled with
Foresters are concerned about the
lower levels of woodland management.
increasing numbers of tree diseases. There
Increases in browsing pressure and canopy
is much discussion about how best to make
shading can both reduce the density of low
woodland resilient to climate change. The
vegetation upon which many birds depend
coming decades will doubtless see new
for nesting and feeding sites. BTO research
trends emerging in the choice of tree species
shows that deer can have an effect on
and management systems as efforts are
habitat quality for some bird species.
made to maintain yields from our forests. This
Experimental comparisons of browsed
will present new challenges for conservation.
and unbrowsed coppiced woodland
The BTO has an important role in monitoring
indicate that Dunnocks, Garden Warblers,
how birds use these future forests and in
Nightingales and overall densities of
researching how they can accommodate
breeding migrant birds can be substantially
abundant and diverse bird populations.
reduced by heavy deer browsing. Analyses of BBS data demonstrate that several species dependent on the understorey, including Nightingale and Willow Tit, have declined the most in those areas where deer have increased the most. Deer and lack of woodland management are not the only factors involved. It is difficult, for example, to believe that they have driven the declines of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker or Hawfinch. Changing climate will have interacted with the availability of invertebrates and seed resources in complex
20
Find out more Hewson, C.M., Austin, G.E., Gough, S.J. & Fuller, R.J. 2011. Species-specific responses of woodland birds to stand-level habitat characteristics: the dual importance of forest structure and floristics. Forest Ecology & Management, 261, 1224-1240. Holt, C.A., Fuller, R.J. & Dolman, P.M. 2011. Breeding and post-breeding responses of woodland birds to modification of habitat structure by deer. Biological Conservation, 144, 2151-2162. Newson, S.E., Johnston, A., Renwick, A.R., Baillie, S.R. & Fuller, R.J. 2011. Modelling large-scale relationships between changes in woodland deer and bird populations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 49, 278-286.
david Tipling davidtipling.com/amy lewis/Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk
within many woods. This has resulted from
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
1.
2.
3.
cause & effect: woodland habitat 1. Expanding populations of Roe (above), Fallow, Red, Sika and Muntjac Deer in lowland Britain have led to a dramatic change in the structure of much woodland, with a very obvious browse line occurring at deer-head height and well-grazed ground beneath, often lacking bramble and saplings. 2. Nightingales in the UK need a particular habitat structure to thrive, with dense thicket growth and bare ground beneath. Heavy grazing by deer can prevent this structure forming and has reduced habitat quality for the species in some regions. 3. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have declined so seriously in Britain that they have been added to the red list of Birds of Conservation Concern. The exact causes remain unclear and are not related in any obvious way to habitat change.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
21
Bringing it all together Each BTO survey is designed to provide information on a particular aspect of birds’ lives. A key task for our analysts is fitting these pieces together to monitor the true health of their populations. Rob Robinson tells us how we go about it.
When was the last time you saw a
but which has needed to wait for recent
House Sparrow? Or Little Egret? We notice
advances in computing power to be
changes in the number of birds around us
practical to implement. Bayes’ technique
all the time, changes BTO volunteers track
allows us to combine different types of
by surveying their BBS square, contributing
data in one analysis, meaning we can get
records to the Alas or sending in their
much more from them, especially when
sightings to BirdTrack. But what causes
we have only a few observations.
them? Why are some species doing well, whilst others seem to be fast disappearing?
Our goal is to be able undertake such
Step forward the ringer and the nest-
analyses for a wide range of species, so
recorder. These dedicated souls spend
we can improve the advice we provide to
hours and days getting up close and
conservation bodies, such as the RSPB,
personal with our birds. By watching a
government agencies, such as Natural
Willow Warbler back to its nest, or catching
England or Scottish Natural Heritage, and
a Blue Tit which has previously been
anyone else interested in the health of
ringed, they contribute vital information
our bird populations. Key to the success
to allow us to understand how and why
of this will be having sufficient data. For
our bird populations are changing. Just as
some species, ringers and nest recorders
government statisticians record our births
are already collecting quite a lot of data,
and deaths, so ringers and nest-recorders
for example, on Blackbirds through the
tally the number of young fledged and
Constant Effort Sites scheme (CES), or
observe how well they subsequently
Pied Flycatchers through the Retrapping
survive.
Adults for Survival scheme (RAS).
Birds lead hazardous lives. By following
Over the last year we have developed
them in detail we can work out where
a strategy to guide ringers and nest
any problems might lie and, hence, where
recorders on those species for which extra
future research or conservation action
data would be most helpful. This includes
might be required. So, we need to know
species like Tree Sparrow and Stonechat
which individuals breed, how many eggs
which can be the focus of good RAS
they lay, how many of these eggs hatch
projects, Meadow Pipit and Reed Bunting,
and chicks fledge, how well do they
where more nest records are needed, and
survive – both in the first few weeks of
Redshank and Herring Gull, where more
life and then subsequently when they are
ringing will help. These data and analyses
more experienced at avoiding predators
will help improve the advice we give
and finding food. Thanks to the efforts
through the BirdTrends website (page 23).
So, How does bayes’ method work? To see how his method works, consider that we generally have good data on breeding numbers (from BBS, for example) and chicks fledged (from the Nest Record Scheme), but often poorer information on survival (simply because it is harder to measure). Given that population change is, in essence, the sum of productivity and survival, then any difference between the counts and productivity data should reflect changes in survival; each dataset supports the other. The beauty of Bayes’ insight (see main text) was being able to do this combining in a simple but statistically robust way. A recent analysis of Blackbird data, for example, showed that changes in adult survival were particularly important in driving population changes over the period studied. Furthermore, in western Britain, Blackbirds were better able to cope with cold weather in winter, perhaps because landscapes are less intensively managed, or there is more grassland habitat in which to forage.
of its volunteers, the BTO is in a unique numbers, productivity and survival in this way, to inform conservation and policy more generally.
Acknowledgements This work is funded through the BTO–JNCC partnership.
Analysts at BTO HQ have been collaborating recently with statisticians from the Universities of St Andrews, Kent and elsewhere to improve the ways we analyse these data. This involves application of a method devised as long ago as 1760 by the Rev’d Thomas Bayes (a contemporary of another church minister, Gilbert White),
22
Find out more Robinson, R.A., Baillie, S.R. & King, R. 2012. Population processes in European blackbirds Turdus merula: a state-space approach. Journal of Ornithology 152: S419–S433. Getting more out of Ringing and Nest Recording: www.bto.org/targeting-strategy.
Birds can suffer mortality at any stage of their lifecycle, but analysing all of these different datasets together can help identify which stage drives population decline to focus further research and conservation effort.
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
northeastwildlife.co.uk/Mark Grantham
position to bring together data on bird
‘Birds lead hazardous lives. By following them in detail we can work out where any problems might lie and, hence, where future research or conservation action might be required.’
Look beyond Little Egrets @ BirdTrends... Populations of birds are dynamic, responding to everchanging conditions. No one can have failed to notice the arrival of Little Egrets into the UK, with the birds a real rarity as late as the 1980s, then breeding for the first time in 1996. Nowadays, the species is found around the country, with new breeding locations arising every year, but not all birds are as obvious and easy to monitor as Little Egret; are we as likely to notice changes in the numbers of a skulking warbler, for instance?
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
The BirdTrends site (www.bto.org/birdtrends) has become the key place for people looking for information on the status of our bird populations. Over the coming years we will increase the amount of information on productivity and survival included, to provide a better picture of their health. Data collected by BTO surveyors, ringers and nest-recorders continue to be at the heart of formulating effective evidence-based conservation policies.
23
Scientific Research in 2011 & 2012 In the triptych below GAVIN SIRIWARDENA, JAMES BRAY and PHIL ATKINSON present more fascinating stories that have emerged from BTO work in 2011, demonstrating the wide range of research in which BTO scientists are involved.
1. farmland environment & birds
2. what Whinchats
It’s not just the crops that are important for farmland birds.
Surprising results from a Scottish Whinchat study.
Populations of many species of farmland
constrained by the features of the landscapes in
Whinchats, have declined as breeding birds
bird have declined in recent decades because of
which they are found.
across Europe as agricultural practices have
Rebecca Nason/David tipling davidtipling.com/Steven Round stevenround-birdphotography.co.uk
agricultural intensification, changes in cropping
24
intensified and they have become increasingly
patterns, loss and deterioration of hedgerows
Among the specific habitat influences tested,
restricted to abandoned agricultural land and
and landscape simplification. Management to
the presence of hedges with trees, which
upland areas.
enhance farmland bird populations could aim to
provide nesting habitat and song-posts as well
With funding from Forest Research and
influence any of these, but which set of factors is
as rich insect diversity, was positively associated
the Perth and Kinross Quality of Life Trust,
the most important? BTO’s Land-Use Research
with the abundance of several species, such
BTO Scotland examined the associations
Team and the University of Cambridge, using
as Swallow, Yellowhammer and Bullfinch. High
of Whinchat territories with habitat and
the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s Land
levels of landscape and cropping heterogeneity
landscape attributes within a study area in
Cover Map, has investigated this question.
were also generally positive. These latter features,
central Scotland that supports a relatively
which represent patchier, more mixed gross
dense breeding population. The 410ha study
species, variation in abundance within farmland-
Using BBS data, they showed that, for most
habitats (woodland, arable, etc.) and crop types,
area, managed by the Woodland Trust, in the
dominated BBS squares was best predicted by
respectively, boost habitat and resource variety
Ochil Hills in central Scotland supported 36
landscape structure, followed by field boundary
and therefore the number of individuals and
Whinchat territories in 2010 (more than 8
composition and finally crop types. This means
species that can be supported.
per km2). With an altitude range of 225–610
that landscape features, such as the presence
This study has important conservation
of woods, villages or the mixture of grass and
implications as it shows the general potential
extensive upland pasture where grazing had
arable farming, have the strongest influence
of management of different components of
been excluded and which had been planted
on farmland bird populations. These features
farm landscapes, including what is practical
with native broad-leaf trees seven to eight
are hard to modify because they are beyond
under national agri-environment schemes and
years before the study. With developing grass
the scope of farm management or are more-
the Common Agricultural Policy, to contribute
and ericaceous ground vegetation (equivalent
or-less permanent features of the landscape.
to bird conservation. It also demonstrates the
to abandoned pasture) and young trees
Field boundary types (e.g. hedges or ditches)
overriding importance of landscape structure in
(equivalent to developing scrub), the area
and, especially, crops can both be changed
determining bird community composition, even
supports a considerably higher density of
more easily and have changed more over time
within landscapes dominated by farmland.
breeding Whinchats than the majority of the
than landscape features, and so have a key role to play in driving farmland bird population trends. This also makes them realistic targets for management action, although the extent to which modifications can affect change will be
metres above sea level, the area is former
Ochil Hills where grazing continues (typically Find out more Siriwardena, G.M., Cooke, I.R. & Sutherland, W.J. 2012. Landscape, cropping and field boundary influences on bird abundance. Ecography 35, 162–173. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2011.06839.x
less than 0.5 per km2 in areas of similar topography and altitude). No significant influences of vegetation type or structure were apparent, suggesting BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Behind the Images… 1. Bullfinch & Farmland The presence of hedges with trees, which provide nesting habitat, song-posts and rich insect diversity, was positively associated with the abundance of several species.
want
2. Scottish Whinchat Study Whinchats favoured warmer south- and eastfacing breeding sites, which can support birds at higher altitudes than cooler north- and west-facing sites.
3. Wood Warbler & other migrants Migrants wintering further south in Africa were much more likely to be declining, whereas those wintering further north have generally stable or increasing populations.
3. African conundrum Why are some African migrants increasing, while others are decreasing?
that most combinations of sparse shrubs and
Many people remember (or at least
were clear cut: the key thing that determined
a developing ground vegetation provided
have heard of!) the spectacular crash in
whether a species was increasing or declining
favourable conditions, but there were marked
populations of Sand Martins, Whitethroats
was not just the bioclimatic zone in which it
influences of both altitude and aspect. The
and Sedge Warblers in the late 1960s,
wintered (dry or wet essentially) but also the
research found that Whinchats favour warmer
caused by drought in their west African
specific habitat it wintered in.
south- and east-facing sites, which can support
wintering areas. These populations are
birds at higher altitudes than cooler north-
recovering slowly as, since the 1980s, the
(the band immediately south of the Sahara
and west-facing sites. Territory size increased
Sahel has been getting wetter and rainfall is
Desert) were generally stable or increasing
with altitude, which, along with a reduced
now back at the long-term average. Although
whereas most species wintering in the more
likelihood of Whinchats being found on higher
Whitethroat numbers have been increasing,
southerly humid zone (the Guinea savannas
ground, provides further evidence of altitudinal
the population is still only a fraction of what it
and rainforest zone) tended to be in decline.
constraints.
was before the crash.
Woodland species in particular were shown
In contrast to the recovering populations
Birds in the dry Sahel and Sudan savannas
to be especially affected. These correlations
Within upland areas Whinchats are
of Whitethroat, Sand Martin, Redstart and
suggested that regional changes in climate
constrained at their lower altitudinal limit by
Sedge Warbler, we are now concerned about
or land-use in the humid tropics, are driving
intensive agricultural land use and at their
other African migrants such as Wood Warbler,
declines in many long-distance migrant species.
upper altitudinal limit by environmental
Nightingale and Spotted Flycatcher, all of
restrictions on their breeding biology. As
which are now in very rapid decline. Is it
This paper really draws a line in the sand
uplands represent a refuge for a number of
caused by climate change on their breeding
and gives an up-to-date picture of what is
declining bird species, the management of
grounds, conditions on their wintering
happening to African–Palearctic migrants
the hill margins has important conservation
grounds or something else?
that breed in the UK. This analysis has been
implications. Consideration of aspect and
This paper set out to answer some
used as a base for our work in Africa to try to
altitude in targeted habitat management could
of these very broad questions and set
understand what is happening to migrant birds
help to optimize the breeding sites available
a baseline for future research – why are
and their habitats in the humid tropics.
for Whinchats and other vulnerable species.
some migrant species that winter in Africa increasing whilst others are declining? We
Find out more Calladine, J. & Bray, J. 2012. The importance of altitude and aspect for breeding Whinchat Saxicola rubetra in the uplands: limitations of the uplands as a refuge for a declining, formerly widespread species? Bird Study, 59:1. 43–51
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
investigated whether regional factors on wintering grounds, phenological change (changes in arrival time in spring), or habitat on breeding or wintering grounds were related to population change. The results
Find out more Ockendon, N., Hewson, C.M., Johnston, A. & Atkinson, P.W. 2012. Declines in British-breeding populations of Afro-Palaearctic migrant birds are linked to bioclimatic wintering zone in Africa, possibly via constraints on arrival time advancement. Bird Study, 59:2. 111–125.
25
BTO Accounts 2011/12 Council is seeking to secure the resources needed to continue to support our growing pool of skilled volunteers and further to develop the quality, breadth and relevance of our science.
The trustees aim to maintain unrestricted reserves of three months’ operating expenditure, equivalent to £1,274k at 2012/13 budgeted costs, in order to deal with any unexpected falls in income or other unforeseen circumstances. Unrestricted funds excluding tangible fixed assets and pension fund liability at 31 March 2012 totalled £1,336k, of which approximately £60k is committed to existing BTO-funded projects, and £200k is earmarked for the third pension fund deficit payment. New funding ideas were developed, with the aid of a Strategic Funding Working Group, and these will be driven forward during 2012/13. In order better to be able to raise funds for specific projects and for our core work, from our growing group of supporters and potential donors, Gary Conway was appointed as Head of the Fundraising Team. It is anticipated that, by strengthening this area of our operations, we will deliver significant benefit in the medium term. Successful initiatives during 2011/12 included the Nightingale Appeal, a raffle in aid of the Winter Thrushes Survey and an auction of remaining Atlas species. The generosity of individuals helped to balance reduced income from Trusts and a relatively slow year for legacy income.
Summarised Accounts 2011/12 There was a net operating deficit of £192k for the year (2011: £87k deficit). The principal funding sources continued to be research and surveys (£1,677k), membership and communications (including BTO, Garden BirdWatch and the Ringing Scheme) (£1,111k), and trading and consultancy (including BTO Services Ltd turnover) (£948k). Appeals raised
Incoming resources General donations
We have examined the summarised financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2012 set out [right]. The Council Members are responsible for preparing the summarised financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and the recommendations of the Charities SORP. Our responsibility is to report to you our opinion on the consistency of the summarised financial statements with the full annual financial statements and the Council Annual Report. We also read other information contained in the summarised annual report and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the summarised financial statements. We conducted our work in accordance with Bulletin 2008/3 issued by the Auditing Practices Board. In our opinion the summarised financial statements are consistent with the full annual financial statements and the Council Annual Report of the British Trust for Ornithology for the year ended 31 March 2012. LOVEWELL BLAKE LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Bankside 300, Peachman Way, Broadland Business Park, Norwich. NR7 0LB 22 August 2012
26
2011/12 2010/11 £'000 £'000 Restated
75
53
346
237
Legacies
215
444
Trading and consultancy
948
705
Royalties and copyright
123
164
21
26
Appeals
Corporate membership and sponsorship Other income Investment income
Independent Auditor’s Statement to the Members of the British Trust For Ornithology
£346k, and £215k was received from legacies. A total of £3,858k was spent during the year on carrying out, supporting and communicating ornithological research. There was a small loss in the market value of investments, but the unusual conditions in the bond markets meant a significant deterioration in the FRS17 pension fund valuation.
Membership and communications
4
3
35
48
1,111
1,042
Research and surveys
1,677
2,042
Total incoming resources
4,555
4,764
Costs of generating voluntary income
142
104
Costs of activities for generating funds
711
591
Membership, volunteers and communications
1,400
1,290
Research and surveys
2,457
2,829
Resources expended
Governance costs
Total resources expended Net outgoing resources Other recognised gains and losses
Net movement in funds
37
37
4,747
4,851
-192
-87
-1,497
355
-1,689
268
2,002
1,734
313
2,002
Fixed assets
1,638
2,070
Net current assets
1,198
1,547
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Represented by: Other creditors Pension fund liability
TOTAL
-22
-23
-2,501
-1,592
313 2,002
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Accounts
‘There is a growing need for unrestricted income to support the general work of the Trust, especially our contributions to the JNCC partnership and to projects such as BBS, WeBS and BirdTrack.’
&
Facts Figures
JOHN OSMOND, HON. treasurer
income 2011/12 37% Research & surveys
2% General donations
Expenditure 2011/12
7% Appeals
1% Governance costs
3% Costs of generating voluntary income 15% Costs of activities for generating funds
5% Legacies
21% Trading & consultancy 3% Royalties & copyright 0% Corporate membership & sponsorship
24% Membership & communications
1% Investment income
0% Other income
income 2010/11 43% Research & surveys
1% General donations
230
29% Membership, volunteer and communications
The number of garden centres around the country that stock some, or all, of the Gardman BTO-branded bird care products and food.
52% Research and surveys
5.4%
The biggest growth in BTO membership was in Wales, where a new office was opened for BTO Cymru within Bangor University.
Expenditure 2010/11
5% Appeals
1% Governance costs
2% Costs of generating voluntary income 12% Costs of activities for generating funds
9% Legacies
15% Trading & consultancy 3% Royalties & copyright
27% Membership, volunteer and communications
1% Corporate membership & sponsorship
22% Membership & communications
1% Investment income
0% Other income
250,000
58% Research and surveys
There have been over a quarter of a million unique views of the main map on the Cuckoo Tracking front page on the BTO website, with over 700,000 views of all the maps.
Further Information
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
£8,000
Nightjar research was funded through a legacy and donations. Birds tagged in 2011 returned with valuable data collected during the previous year. contain a statement either under section 498(2) of the Companies Act 2006 (accounting records or returns inadequate or accounts not agreeing with the records and returns) or section 498(3) (failure to obtain information and explanations).
david tipling davidtipling.com/paul stancliffe
These summarised accounts have been extracted from the Trust’s annual accounts. They may not contain sufficient information to provide a full understanding of the financial affairs of the Trust. For further information, the full accounts, the auditor’s report and the Council (Trustees’) Report should be consulted. These are available on the BTO website (www.bto.org/about-bto/ accounts) and hard copies are available on request from the Director of Services, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU. The annual accounts were approved by Council on 11 July 2012 and have been submitted to the Registrar of Companies, the Charities Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The accounts include the auditor’s report which is unqualified and does not
The corporate membership scheme has delivered income of £8,000 to support the WinterThrushes Appeal. Each year we shall be choosing a core project to benefit in this way.
13
We were notified of 13 legacies during 2011–12, of which 10 were from BTO members or former members. This is an increasingly important source of income.
27
Partnerships Helping to spread the BTO’s message by working with charity and academic partners. Each provides a way to put our conservation and research messages in front of new audiences.
1. Boosting BTO Scotland
BTO’s long-standing partnership with SOC pays dividends.
2. Need a HINT?
Bird ID gets a helping hand.
You never stop learning bird identification, making it both an enjoyable and, at times, frustrating pursuit. Being able to identify a bird from a good, clear view is one thing, but would you be so confident if you just caught a glimpse, obscured by vegetation, or heard a brief snatch of song? What does ‘intermediate’ or ‘advanced’ level really mean? Set up by Nord-Trøndelag University College and supported by BTO in the UK, the Hint ID website is one of the most helpful online tools. Take the training quizzes, arranged in six levels of photos or sounds of increasing difficulty – choose the correct ID from a number of possible confusion species offered for each. Level 1 is for complete beginners, Undertaking fieldwork himself and enthusing a huge number of volunteers to take part in Bird Atlas 2007–11, Bob Swann, Atlas Co-ordinator, supported members of BTO and SOC.
level 3 will bring you to the standard required to take the formal test in your chosen country, level 5 is for the whole of the Western
Across the UK, the BTO promotes local
through its members’ branches, Local
Palearctic and level 6 a real challenge! Work
partnerships with birdwatching societies
Bird Recorder network, and superb
towards the two formal quizzes, which are free
in order to organise surveys and there
publications like the Birds of Scotland,
of charge, and if you pass you will receive a
are even broader potential benefits at the
is absolutely invaluable. Together we
validated certificate at higher education level.
country level, as our work with the Scottish
provide training opportunities to involve
BTO is helping to develop the site further, with
Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) illustrates.
more birdwatchers in recording birds in
videos and multiple birds singing the next
Scotland and expanded coverage for
step. Give it a go: www.birdid.no
Bird Atlas 2007–11 is one tremendous example of successful cooperation
long-term monitoring programmes. Recent
in Scotland, with BTO looking after
major projects have been ‘Building Bird
fundraising, overall organisation and
Monitoring in Scotland’, funded by SNH
website development for the project
and the Gillman Trust, that has introduced
and with Bob Swann enthusing Scottish
almost 400 new people across Scotland
birdwatchers by using the networks of
to bird recording, and the promotion and
both SOC and BTO. The resulting tetrad
development of BirdTrack, of which SOC
coverage for Scotland is virtually as
is now a formal partner. Plans are well
complete as for England, which is amazing
developed to run another ambitious joint
given the distances to walk, the number
project focusing on upland birds over
of birdwatchers and the smaller reward in
the next three years. We thank the SOC
terms of species diversity, especially during
in particular, and all our other partners in
winter visits.
Scotland, for making it such a pleasure to
The SOC (www.the-soc.org.uk) has been Scotland’s bird club for more than
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be part of the Scottish biodiversity scene. Join us at Our Dynamic Earth in
75 years, bringing together experienced
Edinburgh on 16 March 2013 for the next
birders and those keen to learn, in order
joint BTO and SOC conference, which
to foster the recording, study and pure
will celebrate the success of Bird Atlas
enjoyment of birds. Local knowledge,
2007–11 and reflect on the changing
established and maintained by the SOC
landscape for Scotland’s birds.
Bewick’s or Whooper? Use the Hint ID website to test your ID skills – this is a Whooper Swan – and progress towards formal qualifications.
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
‘Across the UK, the BTO uses local partnerships with birdwatching societies in order to organise surveys but there are even broader potential benefits at the country level, as our work with the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club illustrates.’
Partnerships
&
Facts Figures
3. An ACADEMIC partnership How can we understand Willow Warbler declines?
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The number of people who attended centrally-organised training courses in 2011/12. Attendees receive a newly-mastered set of three CDs, thanks to sponsorship from Swarovski, who continue to support the annual conference at Swanwick. Courses are also organised by BTO Cymru, BTO Scotland, scheme organisers and Regional Representatives. Population trends in Willow Warbler vary widely across Britain & Ireland. One BTO-supported PhD looked at the causes of these variations, using data from a number of BTO surveys.
A great way to increase the amount the
could also be linked to conditions during
BTO can do – and to be cost-effective – is
winter or on migration.
Luke delve/David Tipling davidtipling.com/CARL BARIMORE
to get involved in graduate-level research
To explore the causes of these patterns in
with academic partners. BTO’s Jacquie Clark
population change, Cat also used CES data
and Rob Robinson, along with Jennifer Gill
to compare Willow Warbler survival between
of University of East Anglia, did just this with
the regions and, with Dave Leech, used Nest
Catriona Morrison’s PhD on the causes of
Record Scheme data to compare regional
population changes of Willow Warblers.
differences in productivity. Finally, and thanks
This study used the records of up to 5,000
to dozens of bird ringers who snipped off a
birdwatchers who had seen a Willow Warbler
tiny bit of an individual feather when they
on a BBS visit, recorded the contents of a
caught an adult, Cat was also able to use
nest or ringed an individual, and also those
stable isotope analyses to compare the
who failed to see or catch a Willow Warbler,
feather composition of Willow Warblers from
thus providing those valuable zeros that are
different areas of Britain, to assess whether
needed to identify and understand change.
they may use different locations or resources
Cat used national survey data from Britain
during winter and on migration.
& Ireland (BBS and its Irish equivalent, CBS) to model the variation in Willow Warbler
The BTO’s contribution to this work, about
population trends. Across Britain & Ireland,
£4,000 per year over four years, was funded
these trends follow a gradient from sharp
from the Young Scientists’ Fund and the ‘Out of
declines in the south and east of England
Africa’ Appeal. This is a great way to make sure
to shallow declines and/or slight increases
that individual donations are used effectively.
in parts of north and west England, across Scotland and in Ireland. The gradient in breeding-season trends suggests regionalscale drivers of population change across different parts of Britain & Ireland, which 2 012 | BTO Annual Review
Find out more Morrison, C.A., Robinson, R.A., Clark, J.A. & Gill, J.A. 2010. Spatial and temporal variation in population trends in a long-distance migratory bird. Diversity & Distributions 16, 620–627.
5
STOP PRESS: The Welsh Ornithological Society has become the fifth BirdTrack partner, joining BTO, RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. This was another good excuse to cut a celebratory cake at Bird Fair in August.
18
Our partnership with BirdGuides provides access to video clips that are used in BTO bird identification training videos, available via YouTube and the BTO website. 18 videos have already been produced, focusing on topical species and upcoming surveys, with more being added regularly. There have been almost 120,000 views of these useful materials and the number will grow as new resources come on stream.
29
Corporate support
Nightingale
This year marked the launch of a new corporate membership scheme to further enhance working relationships with businesses, reveals GARY CONWAY, BTO’s new Head of Fundraising.
CORPORATE FUNDING FOR BTO RESEARCH CUCKOOS
THRUSHES SURVEY
The BTO’s Cuckoo-tracking work has caught
The 2011 raffle, for which Ornitholidays, Zeiss
the imagination of thousands of followers,
and Gardenature provided prizes, was in aid of
not least our corporate partners. In the
the upcoming Winter Thrushes Survey. This is
first year, Essex & Suffolk Water provided
a key BTO project this winter and will engage
significant funding, alongside the BBC
people who enjoyed winter Atlas fieldwork.
Wildlife Fund, and are continuing to
With no dragonflies, bats and butterflies to
support the project both financially and
count, there’s more time to look at birds! You
through promotional work with employees.
can help the project funding by buying raffle
Swallowtail Print printed the Cuckoo text-
tickets. Please phone Rachel Gostling on
giving cards, the Grant Arms Hotel and Zeiss
01842 750050 and she will send you some if
provided the prizes for the 2010 Cuckoo
you want more. This year’s raffle is supported
raffle and Opticron, Wildsounds, Vine House
by BWWC at the Grant Arms Hotel, Opticron
Farms, Heatherlea and Sound Approach all
and Ernest Charles. The Winter Thrushes
helped with the fundraising or sponsored
Survey is the annual corporate membership
Cuckoos.
project. Thank you to all BTO Corporate Members who have supported this vital
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
survey through their membership this year.
Many of the companies which support the BTO take part in the biennial Business Sites
BTO FUNDING
Challenge, where we look for the sites that
We are pleased to acknowledge the huge
champion birds, conservation and local
support we receive from Gardman and Ernest
communities. The awards ceremony for
Charles, with whom we continue to develop
the 2010 challenge, which was sponsored
birdcare products. Ernest Charles is the
by EDF Energy, took place at Heysham
distributor of BTO sales items (except ringing
Power Station in June 2011. NatureCounters
sales), thereby providing significant cost
supplied the prizes to the winners.
savings for us. Financial and practical support
Unfortunately, we were unable to find a
also come from Jacobi Jayne (National Nest
sponsor for the competition in 2012 but will
Box Week), with Ark Wildlife and BirdBox
look for opportunities to reinstate it in 2014.
Cameras promoting BTO through their sales.
Night-night 2012… The recently-completed Nightingale Survey is just part of a programme of new work being planned for this iconic species. Anglian Water is once again our project partner for this work, which is appropriate given their efforts to conserve the species within the company’s own landholdings. National survey work will be complemented by research to help develop ways to attract Nightingales to restored habitats and tracking work in the UK and in Ghana. Another nocturnal species is benefiting from business support, this time from Biotrack who are involved with ongoing tracking of Nightjars that breed in Thetford Forest (see July/August BTO News).
BTO CORPORATE MEMBERS…
Carl Zeiss Ltd EDF Energy
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Gardman Ltd JustAddBirds Nature Counters Opticron Swarovski UK Ltd The Birdtable Ltd Unilever R & D Colworth Silver Members: Bird Box Cameras Ltd
Bronze Members: Anglian Sports & Schoolwear Ltd Birdwatching & Wildlife Club, Grant Arms Hotel British Airways Ernest Charles Essex & Suffolk Water Frontier Holidays Ltd
Gardenature Heatherlea Jacobi Jayne & Co John E Haith Ltd Northumbrian Water Paddocks Farm Partnership Ltd Parkhill Nurseries & Garden Centre Ltd
Porzana R & E Bamford Ltd Scarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems Ltd Swallowtail Print Ltd Syngenta Tendley Quarries Ltd Thames Water Utilities Ltd
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
Edmund fellowes
Gold Members: Anglian Water Ark Wildlife Biotrack Ltd BirdGuides Birdseye / Iglo Food Group
Northern Ireland The recruitment of new volunteer surveyors to enhance the coverage of our regular surveys has been a priority in Northern Ireland. Shane Wolsey, BTO Northern Ireland Officer, describes the different ways he is getting people involved.
Over 400 pairs of Sandwich Tern bred successfully on Cockle Island in 2012, with some of the activity on the island watched on remote cameras from the mainland.
Cockle Island Success A new initiative to engage with people,
installing the system has been technically
and potential new volunteers, has been the
difficult, but we have been helped by two
establishment of Cockle Island Seabird Centre,
young electronic whizz-kids who set up a new
in the village of Groomsport, Co Down. Cockle
company, Spark4, to deliver this project.
Island is a tiny island which holds 800+ pairs of breeding seabirds – mostly Sandwich, Arctic
Operating the Centre has resulted in
and Common Terns, and Black-headed Gulls.
great volunteer involvement, and at the time
It is an ASSI (Area of Special Scientific Interest)
of writing has resulted in about a thousand
owned by National Trust and is very close
visitors viewing the nesting birds and hearing
to shore, but little recognised by the local
about the BTO. The images are network-based
community. This project was led by BTO in
video and are therefore ready for viewing on
partnership with the National Trust and North
the Internet – this will be next year’s challenge!
Down Borough Council. Using a grant from the NIEA Challenge Fund (administered by Northern Ireland Environment Link) BTO was able to establish Jill Pakenham/Mark R Taylor/LUKE delve
two cameras on the island. To avoid disturbance associated with the changing of batteries, or an unsightly solar array, we hardwired electric power from the local harbour streetlight supply. Images are sent ashore using a long-range Wi-Fi connection and the panning, tilting and zooming of the cameras controlled by the same connection. Viewing screens were installed on the mainland in Cockle Row Cottages (owned by North Down Borough Council). Designing and 2 012 | BTO Annual Review
About 50 pairs of both Common and Arctic (above) Tern bred in 2012, but sadly none were successful because of the dreadful weather.
Provision of short, one-day, training courses has proved particularly popular and successful in Northern Ireland. A WeBS training day held at WWT Castle Espie in October attracted 30 people, with most agreeing to take on some survey work (not just WeBS). A programme of 12 courses during 2012 was publicised in December 2011, including six BBS training days in the first three months of the new year. These were delivered in localities across Northern Ireland and were all well attended, and resulted in 33 new BBS squares being taken up. The training programme also included a nest finding course – the first to be run in Northern Ireland. Ten people participated and we hope to see more nest records being submitted. 31
Raptor trends in Scotland CHRIS WERNHAM and ANDY DOBSON explain major developments in raptor trends and indicators in Scotland in 2011 and why they are increasingly important for biodiversity management.
Healthy raptor populations are
for reporting this information needed
considered indicative of healthy ecosystems,
development, partly because of major
particularly when stable populations of
sensitivities over sharing information
a range of different species occupying
(because of risks to the conservation of
different ecological niches co-exist. In the
species if breeding locations were divulged).
past, some species have come into conflict
The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme
with humans over their game bird, livestock
(SRMS) was set up in 2002 through an
and game fish prey, or experienced declines
agreement between seven partners (the
due to the effects of organochlorine
Scottish Raptor Study Groups; Scottish
pesticides. In more recent years, many
Natural Heritage; BTO Scotland; RSPB
species have fared much better as a result
Scotland; Scottish Ornithologists’ Club;
of legislative change, changed attitudes and
Rare Breeding Birds Panel; and JNCC)
proactive reintroduction schemes, leading
with the aim of building trust, increasing
to renewed concerns over their effects on
data-sharing and mobilising information on
some human activities, including game
raptor breeding numbers and demography
and livestock rearing and pigeon racing.
in Scotland. Data submission began in
Meanwhile, the conservation status of some
2003. Partnerships take time to develop
species is still in jeopardy in some areas,
but Brian Etheridge, the Raptor Monitoring
and a whole range of environmental and
Officer currently employed by BTO on
anthropogenic factors continues to influence
behalf of the SRMS, has great empathy with
2003. BTO Scotland led on this work in
populations across the UK.
the raptor volunteers and the volume of
collaboration with RSPB Scotland, Haworth
There is an ever-increasing need for
in the balance The Kestrel is just one of the raptor species in Scotland for which long-term studies by dedicated, volunteer raptor workers are making important contributions to the evidence-base of information on population changes and demography being collated by the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme.
data submitted to the scheme has grown
Conservation and other partners to the
knowledge about how raptor populations
year-on-year. In 2009 the SRMS won a
SRMS. Together, we were able to produce
are changing to enable their effective
prestigious ‘Best Practice Award’, given
trends for at least the period 2003–09
conservation management. Centralised,
annually by the Institute of Ecology and
in breeding numbers and/or breeding
accessible and timely information on trends
Environmental Management (IEEM).
success for 12 raptor species. For applied
has been less available than for other
conservation purposes, such as assessing
widespread terrestrial species and other
By 2011, the SRMS was in a position
the cumulative effects on bird populations
groups, like seabirds. Many skilled raptor
to review its data holdings and produce
of onshore wind farms, SNH often uses
workers collect high-quality information
a preliminary set of trends in breeding
a series of 21 biogeographical regions
on raptor numbers and breeding success
numbers and breeding success for species
or Natural Heritage Zones (NHZs), and
across the UK annually but the process
with sufficient monitoring information since
wherever possible trends were produced at
Uses of Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme data
Information collated by the SRMS is important for many other purposes as well as assessing changes in raptor population size and breeding success. Every year, information on breeding locations and breeding success is used by government organisations and NGOs for specific casework purposes, such as appraising the likely effects on biodiversity of windfarm development applications and
32
planning the sensitive management of state forests for biodiversity. Illegal disturbance and killing of raptors still occurs in some parts of Scotland, and the SRMS has an important role to play here too by supplementing evidence on incidents and causes of breeding failure collected via other routes and making them available in a timely manner to those organisations working to eradicate wildlife crime.
Shot Goshawk Unfortunately, raptors are still subject to persecution, such as illegal shooting, poisoning and nest destruction.
BTO Annual Review | 2 012
RAPTOR
&
Northeastwildlife.co.uk/Su Delve/amy lewis
Facts Figures
that scale, as well as nationally for species
The work to review the raptor data and
where monitoring coverage was sufficiently
produce initial trends means that the SRMS
broad and representative of the Scottish
is now well informed about current gaps in
population. At the moment, the trends for
survey coverage. Ideas for involving more
many species are preliminary because of
volunteers to expand monitoring coverage,
the modest time series involved. For some
particularly of the more widespread
species that are still of high conservation
species, are in development. It is hoped
concern, like the Hen Harrier, trends that
that the SRMS and the evidence-base that
cover the most recent 10 years cannot tell
it is delivering for Scottish raptors can be
the whole story because, as the numbers
used as a model for developing raptor
of breeding pairs decrease (to zero in some
monitoring in other parts of the UK.
100
The number of failed Peregrine breeding attempts reported during the first six years of the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme that point towards deliberate human interference. These represent 56% of failures with a known cause, 23% of all failures reported and 6% of all breeding outcomes reported. The SRMS also holds important objective information on human interference for the other raptor species in Scotland.
5,000
The approximate number of nest sites or home ranges of breeding raptors of 19 species that are checked for occupancy by volunteers in Scotland each year and submitted to the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme. Around 2,800 of these nesting attempts are also followed.
geographical areas), sample sizes are too small to produce trends. This can mean that a national trend will be biased if knowledge from these areas is not incorporated adequately. As the SRMS continues to collate the annual survey information from raptor workers across Scotland, the value of these trends will increase year-on-year. The SRMS is now also in a position to start collecting pre-2003 data from its volunteers (many of whom have been carrying out longer-term surveying in their study areas), which, when added to the recent trend information, will provide a much more comprehensive picture of changes across Scotland. That we are now in a position to request and receive this past information from raptor workers is testimony to the great success of the Scheme in building a trusting partnership. 2 012 | BTO Annual Review
Acknowledgements The SRMS is funded by SNH grant-aid and in-kind contributions from all the partners. The 2011 trends and indicators work was funded by SNH. We are grateful to all the SRMS partners for their huge contributions since 2002, particularly the many SRSG volunteers who collect the majority of the data. Our special thanks go to Staffan Roos (now RSPB Scotland), Simon Foster, Andrew Stevenson and Des Thompson (SNH), Helen Riley (SRMS Secretariat), Brian Etheridge, David Noble and Anne Cotton (BTO), Paul Haworth and Alan Fielding for major contributions to the trends project. Find out more Etheridge, B. et al. 2012. Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme Report 2010. Scottish Raptor Monitoring Group. (www.scottishraptorgroups.org/media/ SRMS_Report10.pdf) Roos, S. et al. (In press) Raptors in Scotland – developing trends and indicators. SNH Commissioned Report.
170+
The number of breeding pairs of Red Kite (above) in Scotland today, following the first successful breeding of the reintroduced birds in 1992 on the Black Isle (Ross-shire). Thanks to comprehensive monitoring of this species, trends in numbers and breeding success can be produced back to the time of the first reintroductions and national trends can be reported.
33
The BTO in print 44 staff-authored peer-reviewed papers were published in 2011 and a further seven were presented at the Seabird Group International Conference. Here we highlight some of the interesting results from last year.
Looking at some BTO PAPERS... Disease spread
Helping Sparrows
BTO ringing data have
Gardens are the
been used to chart the
preferred habitat for
Survey has revealed how
spread of an emerging
House Sparrows within
birds show species-specific
disease affecting
urban landscapes, with
responses to the structure
finches across Britain
allotments becoming
and composition of
and into other parts of Europe. The research
important in the suburbs. Mitigation measures
woodland. This knowledge should prove a key
suggests that migrating Chaffinches carried
to prevent colony loss should concentrate on
element in future forest conservation planning.
trichomonosis disease to Fennoscandia, from
increasing the habitat quality of gardens.
Woodland birds The Scarce Woodland Bird
Lawson, B., Robinson, R.A. et al. (2011). Evidence of spread of emerging infectious disease, finch trichomonosis, by migrating birds. EcoHealth 8 (2): 143–153.
Shaw, L.M., Chamberlain, D.E., Conway, G.J. & Toms, M. (2011). Spatial distribution and habitat preferences of the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus in urbanised landscape. BTO Research Report No. 599.
Hewson, C.M., Austin, G.E., Gough, S.J. & Fuller, R.J. (2011). Species-specific responses of woodland birds to stand-level habitat characteristics: the dual importance of forest structure and floristics. Forest Ecology & Management 261: 1224–1240.
Understorey browsing
Competition for cavities
Confidence in indicators
Large-scale analyses of
A Belgian study suggests
Ecological indicators
BBS bird and deer data
that Ring-necked Parakeets
are increasingly used to
show that deer-related
potentially reduce the
monitor the state of the
habitat modification
abundance of Nuthatch
environment. We assessed
may be affecting some bird species that are
through nest site competition. We found no
wild bird indicators objectively, by examining
associated with dense understorey habitats on
evidence for a significant impact on Nuthatch or
the effects of changing the criteria for species
far larger scales than previously appreciated.
any other cavity-nesting species in the UK.
inclusion, and show that they are fit for purpose.
Newson, S.E., Johnston, A., Renwick, A.R., Baillie, S.R. & Fuller, R.J. (2012). Modelling large-scale relationships between changes in woodland deer and bird populations. J. Appl. Ecol. 49: 278–286.
Newson, S.E., Johnston, A., Parrott, D. & Leech, D.I. (2011). Evaluating the population-level impact of an invasive species, Ring-necked Parakeet Psittacula krameri, on native avifauna. Ibis 153: 509–516.
Renwick, A.R., Johnson, A., Joys, A., Newson, S.E., Noble, D.G. & Pearce-Higgins, J.W. (2012). Composite bird indicators robust to variation in species selection and habitat specificity. Ecological Indicators 18: 200–207.
where it then spread to Germany.
Making waves: BTO at the Seabird Group International Conference... BTO’s marine research has developed rapidly over the last few years, and certainly made a splash at the Seabird Group’s biennial International Conference at Plymouth University in September 2011. Four members of the BTO’s Wetland and Marine Team attended the conference, and between them presented seven pieces of work describing research by 11 staff members. These presentations demonstrated the strength and depth we have achieved in this important and growing area of research.
Cook A.S.C.P., Parsons M., Mitchell I. & Robinson R.A. Reconciling policy with ecological requirements in biodiversity monitoring (poster). Cook A.S.C.P., Wright L.J. & Burton N.H.K. Flight heights and avoidance rates of seabirds in relation to offshore wind farms (poster). Cooke F., Cook A.S.C.P., Barker S., Andrews J., Wright L.J. & Burton N.H.K. Standardised sea-watching measures the influence of environmental variables and season on bird abundance (poster). Ross-Smith V.H., Thaxter C.B., Clark N.A., Conway G.J., Rehfisch M.M., Bouten W. & Burton N.H.K.
Understanding migration strategies of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with GPS telemetry (talk). Thaxter C.B., Ross-Smith V.H., Clark N.A., Conway G.J., Bouten W. & Burton N.H.K. Seabird-windfarm interactions are revealed through GPS telemetry (talk). Wright L.J., Cook A.S.C.P., Thaxter C.B., Moran N.J., Musgrove A.J., Cooke F., Barker S., Andrews J. & Burton N.H.K. The value of sea-watching in monitoring seabirds (poster). Wright L.J., Ross-Smith V.H., Cook A.S.C.P. & Burton N.H.K. Strategic Ornithological Support Services for the Offshore Wind Industry (poster).
Lesser Black-backed Gull is one of the species that developing technology has allowed us to track, increasing our understanding of their migrations.
Find out more A full list of the BTO papers published in 2011 can be viewed at www.bto.org/staff-publications-2011.
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BTO Annual Review | 2 012
BTO funding in 2011/12 We are very grateful for the generous support that we have received, both in time and money, in the past year. In addition to members and other fieldworkers, there are many other individuals, companies and charitable trusts providing financial support for the BTO.
Corporate Membership 2011/12 Anglia Sports & Schoolwear Ltd, Anglian Water, Ark Wildlife, R & E Bamford Ltd, Biotrack Ltd, Bird Box Cameras Ltd, BirdGuides, Birdseye, The BirdTable Ltd, Carl Zeiss Ltd, EDF Energy, Ernest Charles, Essex & Suffolk Water, Gardenature, Gardman Ltd, Grant Arms Hotel, Heatherlea, John E Haith Ltd, Jacobi Jayne & Co, Nature Counters, Northumbrian Water, Opticron, Paddocks Farm Partnership, Park Hill Nurseries & Garden Centre Ltd, Porzana, Scarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems Ltd, Swallowtail Print, Swarovski UK Ltd, Syngenta, Tendley Quarries Ltd, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Unilever R & D Colworth.
Lorem dolar Nightjar ed esent iusto con ulput nim nim er se tion eumsandigna con utpat, sit eu faccum ex estrud.
Trusts 2011/12 A S Butler Charitable Trust, The H B Allen Charitable Trust, British Birds Charitable Trust, The Benham Charitable Settlement, The Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust, The Child-Beale Trust Estate, The Downton Banister Trust, The E G & M A Bousfield Charitable Trust, The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Harris Charitable Trust, The William Haddon Charitable Trust, The Marsh Christian Charitable Trust, Lord Medways Charitable Trust, The Mercers’ Charitable Foundation, The Mijoda Charitable Trust, The Mitchell Trust, The Overwood Trust, The Slater Foundation, The Tasso Leventis Foundation, The Emily Weircroft Charitable Trust, J & J R Wilson Charitable Trust, The Udimore Charitable Trust, The Wetland Trust, The Whaites Charitable Fund.
Legacies 2011/12 Yvonne Mary Rose Bishop, Barbara Ann Carver, Marion Catton, William John Farley-Hills, Kathleen Joyce Francis, Gloria Griffiths, James Bruce Henry, Vera Winifred Lingley, Mrs M Phippen, Gwendoline Anne Read, Gladys Helen Roscoe, Trevor Beresford Silcocks, Joan Eunice Smith, Joseph Alfred Soddy.
In memoriam 2011/12 Douglas Eric Barker, Philip Cooper, Stephen Hilo Davies, Dr Jim Fowler, Dale Berenice Hanmer, William Hardiman, Leslie John Hodgetts, Hazel Johnson, Brian Jones, Robert James Kirk, Betty Ailsa Moore, Mary Nelder, Mrs M Phippen, Graeme Noel Taylor, Ruth Wootton, James Arthur Waller, Bernard Wright.
david tipling/Luke delve/mike weston/Jill Pakenham
Funders of BTO Work 2011/12 AEWA (African–Eurasian Waterbird Agreement); Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board; Anglian Water Group; APEM Ltd; Bayer CropScience; BBC Wildlife Fund; BiOD Ltd; BirdLife International; Birdseye Wall’s Ltd; BirdWatch Ireland; Black & Veatch Ltd; Boughton Woodlands; Breckland Council; Broads Authority; Butterfly Conservation; Cambridge Conservation Initiative; Cardiff Harbour Authority; CEFAS; Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; Coombe Farm; Co-Operative Society; Countryside Council for Wales; Country Innovation; COWRIE (Collaborative Offshore Wind Research Into The Environment); The Crown Estate; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department of Energy and Climate Change; DHI Water & Environment; Dstl; EDF Energy; Emap Active Ltd (Bird Watching Magazine); Environment & Heritage Service in Northern Ireland; Environment Agency; Environment Wales; ESRC; Essex & Suffolk Water; FERA; Forewind Ltd; Forestry Commission; Forestry Commission Scotland; Forest Research; Foster & Partners; Gardman Ltd; Jacobi Jayne & Company; Joint Nature Conservation Committee (on behalf of Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland); The Leverhulme Trust; Make Architects; Manor House Estates; MOD; National Forest; Natural England; NERC; NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife; NIEA; Norfolk Ornithologists’ Association; Normandeau Associates; North East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre; Northumbrian Water Ltd.; Opticron; Origin Energy; People’s Trust for Endangered Species; Perth & Kinross Quality of Life Trust; Rothamsted Research; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; RSWT; RWE nPower Ltd; Scottish Coal; Scottish Government; Scottish Natural Heritage; Scottish Raptor Study Group; Scottish Renewables; Serco Ltd; Snowdonia National Park; OPAL Grants Scheme; SOC; Stanny House Farm; State of Delaware (DNREC); Swarovski UK Ltd (Swarovski Optik); Syngenta; Tasso Leventis Foundation; Unilever Ice Cream & Frozen Foods; Unilever Research; University of Cambridge; University of East Anglia; University of Edinburgh; US Fisheries & Wildlife; Welsh Government; Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust; Wildlife Trust; Zoological Society of London.
2 012 | BTO Annual Review
Nesting Redshank
WADERS should benefit from legacy Over the course of the next five years the BTO’s Nunnery Lakes nature reserve will be further developed using landfill tax funding from WREN. As with many such projects, this is a team effort, with support also coming from Thetford Town Council, the local angling syndicate and from BTO funds: The WREN grant of £197,583 will target 81 hectares of the reserve adjoining BTO Headquarters, with a significant part of the money being used to create a biodiversity-rich grazing marsh by restoring seasonal flooding. This should suit breeding waders such as Lapwing and Redshank. The grant will also support on-site monitoring and survey work, largely carried out by volunteers, from which national guidelines on the management of fringing reed beds can be developed. As part of the work to enrich the variety of birdlife and birdwatching opportunities, the scrape and shallow pool directly in front of the hide will be extended. Once completed, this will be known as the Terry Smeeton Scrape, in memory of a former BTO Council member who loved birdwatching in Norfolk and provided a significant legacy to the Trust. The Nunnery Lakes, the Trust’s only reserve, is home to a wide range of wildlife, including about 60 species of breeding birds. Several scarce Breckland plants occur on the site, including Tower Mustard and Mossy Stonecrop. The reserve is open daily during daylight hours. Most paths are unsuitable for wheelchairs, but special arrangements can be made for disabled visitors.
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JNCC
Welsh ornitho
heritage
RSPB
Cymru scottish ornithologist
Council for Nature Conservation
ern Ireland environmen
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Annual review 2012 Partnership “The BTO has a vision of a world in which nature conservation and sustainable development are founded on evidence-based decision making, and in which society understands, values and contributes to that process.” Much of the work referred to in the Annual Review relies on volunteers and is undertaken with other organisations, particularly through the BTO’s partnership with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). JNCC delivers the UK and international responsibilities of the four country nature conservation agencies – Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage. The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a partnership of BTO, JNCC and RSPB. The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) is a partnership of BTO, RSPB and JNCC, in association with WWT. RSPB, the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, BirdWatch Ireland and the Welsh Ornithological Society are partners in BirdTrack. BirdWatch Ireland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club are partners in Bird Atlas 2007–11. BTO Cymru is supported by the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Wales (on behalf of Welsh Government), Welsh Ornithological Society and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. BTO Northern Ireland receives funding from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. We are immensely grateful for all our partners’ support.
© British Trust for Ornithology 2012. BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU. E-mail: info@bto.org Web site: www.bto.org Registered Charity no. 216652 (England & Wales) no. SC039193 (Scotland). Cover and back cover images: david kjaer www.davidkjaer.com