Many thousands of seabirds including grebes, divers, ducks, auks, gulls, cormorants and shags spend the winter at sea in the Channel Islands. Even in a good year it is possible that some of these birds may be found dead on our coastline. However, in periods of extremely bad weather or during pollution incidents many hundreds of birds may wash up on the beaches.
Earlier this year over 1,000 dead birds were found on our beaches following a period of extreme weather in the area. In 2013 we had the tragic experience of PIBs being discharged in the Channel and killing many seabirds.
The sight of dead birds like these is never pleasant but it is very important that we record the numbers of birds and their species in order to understand the extent of the incident and to predict what impacts there may be on already threatened seabird populations.
The birds may have rings or other identification devices and reporting these will increase our knowledge of the birds’ ecology as we can map where different species spend the winter or chose to moult and understand how long they can live.
If you find a dead seabird please report it immediately to Birds On The Edge at birdsote@gmail.com or phone Glyn Young at 01534 860032 or Cris Sellarés at 07700 337077 with the following important information:
1)The species of bird or size, colour of the head, body, beak and feet if species is unknown;
2) The date that you found the bird and your contact details if you are happy to share them;
3) Information on its location (e.g. which beach and nearest landmark such as slipway or café);
4) A picture taken from your phone or camera, if you can;
5) Any rings or other tags that it might have. If ringed, please write down the ring number and address.
Gulls tucking in to discarded food or flocking around landfills has become a familiar sight. Now data from the Pacific north-west of Canada spanning 149 years has shown that substituting fish with less nutritious food is linked to population declines and lower fertility in glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) a close relative of the herring and lesser black-backed gull.
Louise Blight from the University of British Columbia and her colleagues looked at 270 gulls’ feather samples from museums, taken between 1860 and 2009. Using the ratios of heavy isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, the team pieced together the dietary habits of these seabirds, all of which had lived in the Salish Sea region off the coast of south-western Canada and the north-western USA.
They found a decline in heavier carbon isotopes, indicating that the gulls shifted from a fishy source of carbon to a terrestrial source. A decline in heavier nitrogen isotopes implied that their diets had also shifted to a less nutritious staple; most likely lower marine invertebrates and corn-based organic food waste.
This change in diet coincided with over-fishing in the region in the early 1900s, after which the gull population dropped.
“The stable isotope work shows a decrease of fish in diet over the time frame where forage fishes have declined”, says Blight.
Fish or chips
Overfishing has meant that one of the gulls’ favourite fish species, the highly nutritious eulachon (a smelt species), is now considered threatened in the Salish Sea area. Another former staple, the Pacific herring, no longer forms the large aggregations that gulls once feasted on.
But between 1960 and 1986, the gull population increased, perhaps because more readily available rubbish, although less nutritious than fish, was helping to support the population. “Our field observations show that many pairs are feeding their chicks on sand lance and herring, and that some pairs feed their chicks on things like chicken or French fries,” says Blight.
This shift to a poor-quality, low-protein diet could be linked to reduced reproductive success in the gulls. A previous study by Blight showed that gulls have been producing smaller and fewer eggs over the last few decades, which she believes is consistent with a decline in diet quality around egg production time in the early spring.
“Rarely will you visit these garbage dumps without seeing multiple gull species. You will even see them at transfer stations or intermediate garbage staging areas,” says Joe Gaydos, Director and Chief Scientist at the SeaDoc Society, a Salish Sea research organisation based in Eastsound, Washington.
The glaucous-winged gull is a generalist feeder, meaning it can survive on a wide range of different food sources. While there is some evidence that switching to a trashy diet has helped gulls through tough times, overall, the data reveals a worrying decline in numbers. “Their populations should not decline as quickly as specialist feeders. The fact that generalists like gulls could be in decline is definitely worrisome,” says Gaydos.
This research will be published in Global Change Biology and the abstract can be read here
Paul Veron heads a Guernsey-based project (website and Birds On The Edge report) looking at long-term ecology of gulls in the Channel Islands. Paul is particularly looking at what will happen when the Chouet Landfill site is closed and the gulls across our Islands lose access to a major part of their food supply now that there are so few fish available to them.
The Jersey toad or crapaud has long been associated with the Island and Jersey Islanders – Jersey is the only one of the Channel Islands with any species of toad. Decades have passed, however, since toads have been present in “scarce credible” numbers “crawling over the rocks like an army” (as quoted by Frances Le Sueur).
In 2004, while with the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, I began a three-year PhD study on Jersey toads, investigating their ecology, populations and genetics – as well as anything else that might account for observed reductions in numbers on the Island. I found that they behaved very differently to toads in England and parts of France, breeding much earlier and using different (much smaller) ponds on average. A central reason for the toads’ decline in Jersey has probably been the shift away from traditional agricultural reservoirs to mobile stock watering tanks, coupled with the fact that demands on the Island’s water supply are heavier so any ponds dry up more quickly in the summer. Jersey toads are now almost completely dependent on Islanders’ garden ponds and occur mainly in parts of Jersey where people have suitable clusters of ornamental ponds in which they can breed. This also makes them susceptible to road mortality and isolation from nearby populations when new developments occur and/or roads are constructed.
I was asked by an old colleague if I had any genetic samples from Jersey as a new species of toad (Bufo spinosus) had been described that was found in parts of nearby France as far north as the Contentin Peninsula. With no expectation of anything other than contributing to an ongoing study, I sent off some “old” genetic samples from my PhD research to Pim Arntzen at the Naturalis Institute in the Netherlands, where much work on the conservation genetics of European amphibians is carried out…. Some while later, the news arrived that the samples had proved “interesting” and that a morphological study was needed to establish what species the Jersey crapaud really was! So, in Spring 2013, I returned to Jersey and, with the help of Department of the Environment staff, took measurements of toads from various parts of the Island…. all on the day before the dramatic snowfalls of that year that Islanders will certainly remember. Those morphological data were also sent to Naturalis and analysed along with data from the earlier DNA.
Fast forward to October 2014 and Pim, mine and colleagues’ paper revealing the Jersey crapaud as a new species for the British Isles was published in the Herpetological Journal. Toads in Jersey are indeed Bufo spinosus, a species that split from the usual “common” toad (Bufo bufo) some nine million years ago with the rising of the Pyrenees. The species evolved in Iberia and has since spread south into North Africa and north through Western France as far as Jersey – but nowhere else in the British Isles. So Jersey toads share more of their history with toads from Algeria and Spain than they do with English toads!
Bufo spinosus grows bigger than B. bufo, irrespective of latitude, and has evolved to take advantage of smaller ponds that dry out over summer (as are found in Iberia, for example) in dryer, often open habitats. B. bufo prefers large, deep permanent lakes and woodland areas. So when toads arrived in prehistoric Jersey and encountered dune slacks and maritime heaths, they would probably have been perfectly at home. Only recently have larger water bodies such as reservoirs become much of a feature in the Jersey landscape.
The ability of Jersey’s B. spinosus to adapt to smaller breeding ponds and open landscapes has probably been a factor in allowing them to use Islanders’ ornamental ponds for breeding. Armed with this new knowledge, we can better make decisions to help conserve the crapaud in Jersey and ensure that it is still around to be associated with many more generations of Jerseymen!
Download the paper A new vertebrate species native to the British Isles: Bufo spinosus Daudin, 1803 in Jersey here
A new study has shown that, as is widely known to readers here, bird populations across Europe have experienced sharp declines over the past 30 years, with the majority of losses from the most common species. However, what is less well known is that numbers of some less common birds have risen. The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, reveals a decrease of 421 million individual birds over 30 years. Around 90% of these losses were from the 36 most common and widespread species, including house sparrow, skylark, grey partridge and starling, highlighting the need for greater efforts to halt the continent-wide declines of our most familiar countryside birds.
One of the study’s authors, Richard Inger from the University of Exeter, said: “It is very worrying that the most common species of bird are declining rapidly because it is this group of birds that people benefit from the most.”
“It is becoming increasingly clear that interaction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human wellbeing and significant loss of common birds could be quite detrimental to human society.”
Birds provide multiple benefits to society. They help to control agricultural pests, are important dispersers of seeds, and scavenging species play a key role in the removal of carcasses from the environment. In addition, for many people birds are the primary way in which they interact with wildlife, through listening to bird song, enjoying the sight of birds in their local environment, feeding garden birds and through the hobby of bird watching.
The majority of the declines can be attributed to considerable losses from relatively few common birds, but not all common species are declining. Numbers of great tit, robin, blue tit and blackbird were all shown to be increasing. Populations of rarer species, including marsh harrier, raven, common buzzard and stone curlew have also shown increases in recent years: this is likely to be the result of direct conservation action and legal protection in Europe.
Head of Species Monitoring and Research at the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science Richard Gregory said: “The rarer birds in this study, whose populations are increasing, have benefited from protection across Europe. For example, white stork and marsh harrier receive among the highest level of protection in the EU – this is why their numbers have increased. The conservation and legal protection of all birds and their habitats in tandem are essential to reverse declines.
“This is a warning from birds throughout Europe. It is clear that the way we are managing the environment is unsustainable for many of our most familiar species.”
Conservation efforts tend to be focused on rarer species but the research suggests that conservationists should also address issues affecting common birds, for example those traditionally associated with farmland. The decline in bird populations can be linked to modern farming methods, deterioration of the quality of the environment and habitat fragmentation, although the relative importance of these pressures remains unclear.
This pattern has been highlighted in Jersey where the very high profile gains like the newly arrived marsh harrier, common buzzard and little egret, and returning species like peregrine and sparrowhawk, are offset by the losses like yellowhammer, reed bunting and cuckoo and declines in many others including stonechat, linnet and skylark.
The study brought together data on 144 species of European bird from many thousands of individual surveys in 25 different countries, highlighting the value of the different national monitoring schemes increasingly working together. The researchers suggest that greater conservation funding and effort should be directed to wider scale environmental improvement programmes. These could include urban green space projects, and effective agri-environment schemes, which, informed by lessons learned from past schemes, should aim to deliver real outcomes for declining bird species whether they are rare or common.
Well, it had to happen. After staying patiently around the release aviary at Sorel for several months, the choughs have begun to explore the Island’s coastline. On Monday (27th October) we received the first reports of choughs away from the north coast. At first slightly sceptical, it quickly became obvious that all 16 birds had left to do some exploring. It also, very quickly, became apparent that the birds were not all together.
The 10 young birds (all reared this year) had gone down to the Island’s south-west, to cliff sites where choughs once bred. The chough team had recorded all the birds at Devil’s Hole shortly after dawn so were surprised to hear that they were now several miles away. The older six birds had also gone on an expedition but only got about half way along St Ouen’s Bay before heading home. The team caught up with the very settled young birds and watched them head north again in time for lunch! All the birds remained at Sorel throughout the afternoon and roosted there.
Come Tuesday, we were interested to see what would happen. The 10 flew south again and were tracked quickly. Again they flew home for lunch. On Wednesday we lay in wait for them, watched them leave the north coast and saw them arrive in the south-west. We also timed them leaving and arriving back ‘home’ for their lunch. The pattern seemed set and we have a good idea of the route they were taking and the landmarks they were using. The commuting flights were taking around 15 minutes although an impressive 11 minutes was recorded on Thursday.
While the younger birds were roaming a little like a gang of teenagers the older birds were pretty well staying put. Except for a brief wander west along the north coast. The pattern seemed set. Until Sunday, when, in heavy early morning rain, no one moved! It will be interesting to see what happens next. We wondered exactly how the 10 found the traditional sites in the south-west when, thanks to the team, we knew roughly where the birds were each day and couldn’t see when they had had time to find the new spots. Then, we thought, if they soar (as they often do) above Sorel they can see all the Jersey coastline. Is that how they knew where to go? It makes sense too when you realise that the commuting flights are direct and not following the coastline.
We received several very important sightings of the birds during the week and would not have put the whole story together without them. We are grateful to everyone who sent in sightings through the website, by phone or through social media. The wanderings are, no doubt, going to increase from now on so please carry on with the sightings. Even with transmitters on the younger birds we can lose track of them if they are moving fast. Your sightings can help us piece together the birds’ activities and the routes taken. You can use the webpage here, through the Birds On The Edge email address birdsote@gmail.com, social media, directly to the team or through Jersey Birds.
Following the very successful Inter-Island Meeting, Birds On The Edge invited Vic Froome to contribute with news of concerns facing birds and the environment in the Bailiwick of Guernsey and to highlight the important Channel Islands conservation work being undertaken in the ‘northern isles’.
In his first posting here, Vic highlights some of his favourite groups of birds and habitats in the Bailiwick and the challenges his islands face.
Marine birds and other wildlife
Gannets have been studied on the Alderney colonies of Ortac and the Garden Rocks (Les Etacs) since 1947, the longest regular annual ringing of this species in the British Isles. The gannet population is currently estimated at more than 7,500 pairs and, while still increasing, is not without its constant threats, notably through discarded plastic, ropes and netting that often leads to horrible deaths in the colony.
Gulls too have been studied around our coasts for years and a new ringing station on Guernsey’s Refuse Tip has been in place for six years in association with the North Thames Gull Group (the London canon ringing group), and us Islanders. Large plastic, numbered, rings are fitted on the gulls that one can read by eye, binoculars, or telescopes. To date, 7,000 herring gulls, 3,000 lesser black-backed and 400 great black-backed gulls have been ringed.
100,000 gull sightings have been returned to Paul Veron making this a quite stunning project in the Channel Islands or anywhere.
On Alderney’s Burhou, nesting lesser black-backed gulls have been studied too for 20 years. This year this island has more than 1,300 pairs of lesser black-backeds, as well as good numbers of storm petrels and puffins. Shags and cormorants are also studied around our Islands, but it can be quite a messy job!
Sark, Herm, Jethou, and their islets, have puffin, razorbill, guillemot, fulmars, all the Channel Islands’ gull species and the only known colony of little egrets in the Bailiwick. The guillemot colony may even be increasing.
Rats are, unsurprisingly, present and represent a major threat to our seabird colonies. Following the success of rat eradication projects in the Isles of Scilly and on Lundy, we are now looking into a brown rat reduction plan. This problem is now so acute that some of the major islets are bare of breeding species, and we are sure that those well hidden species which nest in burrows are suffering as well.
One of my favourite birds is the kittiwake: they look magnificent when out in the big seas. This gull is synonymous with our oceans, but their food source is becoming worryingly depleted and declines in this delicate gull are being recorded throughout our area. Until recently easy to see, this lovely bird is now extinct as a breeding species in the Channel Islands.
Our seas around us have migration under the water as well with important numbers of cetaceans and fish. Dolphins, minke whales, seals, basking sharks, catfish and mullet are just a few we host.
The intertidal zone
Brent geese come back to our Islands for the autumn, winter and spring seasons. A major part of the diet of these geese is eel grass. Eel grass beds, like seaweeds, hold a habitat/world all of their own at high tides and many species live and breed here – a true paradise on their own.
Our Islands’ foreshore and intertidal zones have to be protected as they are so special. But, even locally, knowledge of these areas is poor and they are little studied or given publicity to educate the general public, government, and the media. Our Ramsar areas must be constantly researched and updated to alert us of any changes that are happening. We need much better information about our all our marine habitats before future electric generation plans come to fruition.
Wading birds
We, in Guernsey, have carried out 40 years of monthly beach wader counts for the BTO and collected a tremendous amount of scientific data. For me, these birds look beautiful, but sadly, through constant disturbance of many kinds, many species that we were famous for in Guernsey, winter visitors and breeding populations alike, are now EXTINCT, and we feel impotent to do anything about it.
Another problem of our coasts is “RECLAMATION” – this is often simply tarmac, where wildlife used to be. Now we see turnstones running around our harbours on tarmac where once they had beaches. We still have some shingle banks for now, special places that are very effective for coastal protection and breeding and feeding birds, flowers and other plants. These banks are a habitat of their own, and we have them here: let’s love them, and look after them.
Raptors
It is 45 years since DDT and other insecticides were sprayed all over the world but only now are we getting many of our raptors back. Peregrine, marsh harrier, buzzard, sparrowhawk and long-eared owl are nesting again in Guernsey. All we need now is to get our farming practices sorted to allow/encourage our winter visitors to come back: short-eared owls, merlins and hen harriers. Ground feeding birds will come too.
Our Island home
Let’s clean up our act and reduce waste: stop it from hitting our shores and littering our land. What more can we do to help our nature? Plant wild flowers in our gardens that have pollen, attract butterflies and give us, colours and seeds. Let’s plant fruit trees, wild and propagated. Let’s dig ponds for our birds, frogs and newts. You will be amazed at how much enjoyment you will get, and your “tick list” will go through the roof!
Swifts
Swifts are another bird that is suffering, this time it’s because of “OUR” clean and tidy lifestyle. They need places to nest and places to feed. Remember, those wildflowers you plant will attract insects and what do swift, swallows, and house martins eat? Those insects!
In August 2012 Birds On The Edge was delighted to announce the return to Jersey of a much missed resident, the cirl bunting. Unlike the chough, these songbirds came back without any assistance. That they are still here, perhaps, is, however, the result of a lot of hard work and dedication (see report from October 2012).
In July last year, we reported that the bunting pair had successfully raised at least one chick. So, are they still living here in Jersey? Are they hanging on?
The pair and another bird presumed to be their fledged chick were seen regularly at their east coast haunts into the winter. Often at the seed put out in special feeders by Richard Perchard (following advice from the RSPB Cirl Bunting Project) aimed at helping the buntings get through the winter when, through changes in land use, they might struggle. The feeders are topped up and cleaned every third day, or more frequently in bad weather.
While the eastern birds remained in the territory we were very surprised to find two males at Noirmont on 26th of October last year. These two, unexplained, males stayed around at Noirmont well into November before disappearing.
Cirl buntings are, at least in the UK, typified as being highly sedentary. Many only move a few kilometres in their whole life. While other populations in Europe are very migratory, all are dispersive – that is individuals may wander, often lengthy distances, away from the breeding areas. Dispersal like this is well known in most birds and often follows successful breeding seasons when numbers are high, or when food supplies may be low. Migrant birds have set breeding and wintering areas and, while they may look very much at home, are unlikely to be looking for somewhere new to breed (think of all those contented brent geese, they never hang around in spring). Dispersive birds, on the other hand, may well be looking for a new home and this is how most species spread out around the world. It’s how birds take up home on an island like ours.
We don’t know where the birds at Noirmont were from just like we don’t know where the breeding pair in the east came from. On 2nd January this year, a female was watched at one of the feeders and both she and a male were seen feeding there a week later. The pair was monitored, but not too closely for fear of disturbing these vulnerable birds, throughout the spring and everything looked good. Three birds were seen in July not very far from the pair. Another pair, another chick? Well, a definite chick was seen at the well-known site a few days later adding to the possibility of two pairs. In August it was confirmed that there were two pairs and both had young. Fourteen birds (four adults and 10 juveniles) were counted across the whole site on the 14th! Nine birds were seen again on 13th October.
Richard has seen up to three ‘pairs’ at the feeders this month but it is possible that these ‘pairs’ may include sibling juveniles sticking together.
Exactly how many buntings there are in Jersey remains a bit of mystery, but they are surviving and even thriving it seems. We could try to catch and mark them but this might easily upset these nervous birds and stop the recolonisation in its tracks. Disturbing them through visiting the site too often might also cause the birds to leave. What the increase does mean is that Richard might have to put more food out to help the growing flock through the winter!
Interestingly, a juvenile cirl bunting was seen at Noirmont on 20th October. One of ours leaving us, a new one coming in or one just passing through? Check up on the Jersey Birds website to see if any more turn up.
Statistics released today by the UK Government show alarming declines in birds across all habitats.
The report, Wild bird populations in the UK, 1970-2013, shows that overall, breeding bird populations in the UK have declined compared with 40 years ago. In 2013, the all-species index was 12 per cent below its 1970 level, and there was a small but significant decline of five per cent from 2007 to 2012. However, trends vary between individual bird species, between habitat types and between groups of species that share the same habitat type.
By 2013, the UK breeding farmland bird index had fallen by 55 per cent to a level less than half that of 1970. The largest declines in farmland bird populations occurred between the late seventies and the early nineties, but there has been a statistically significant on-going decline of ten per cent between 2007 and 2012.
In 2013, the UK breeding woodland bird index was 28 per cent lower than its 1970 level. The greatest decline in the series occurred from the early eighties until the mid-nineties, after which the trend stabilised.
In 2013, the UK breeding water and wetland bird index was 17 per cent lower than its 1975 level. There was a significant decline in the smoothed index of 12 per cent in the short term between 2007 and 2012.
Seabird populations in the UK have fallen by 24 per cent since 1986; this is the lowest level recorded. Most of the decline has occurred since 2003; there has been a decline of nine per cent in the short term since 2008.
In the winter of 2012-13, the wintering waterbird index in the UK was almost double its 1975-76 level (up 95 per cent). The index peaked in the late 1990s and has declined since, with the smoothed index falling by almost five per cent between 2006-07 and 2011-12.
Jersey Airport is, as we have highlighted before, close to being the last site for breeding skylarks in the Channel Islands. One or two pairs still breed on the Blanche Banques but even at the Airport numbers are steadily declining.
On Wednesday, 18th June, we conducted our annual survey of the skylarks and meadow pipits at the Airport. This year’s survey was as hard a slog as ever. It is surprising how big an area we cover up and down each side of the runway, but it’s the walk through the longish grass, even when dry, that slows us down the most. The grass is left long deliberately so as to discourage birds like gulls, pigeons and crows from trying to forage or roost there and become a life-threatening hazard to the planes, their crew and passengers. Grass too long, on the other hand, can become a fire risk which would itself then be a major hazard. To get it just right, the Airport has to manage the grass sward very carefully. This, luckily, doesn’t seem to discourage the highly threatened skylark, a bird not considered to represent a risk.
Once again we received security clearance before we entered the grass area and we donned our high-visibility jackets. We always carry radios to keep in contact with the tower and we sit out incoming or departed planes. That’s another reason for going when the grass is dry!
The skylark team this year, again the stalwarts Tony Paintin, Hester Whitehead and Glyn Young, walked the grassy areas of the airport either side of the runway excluding a couple of sensitive areas that the team cannot enter for fear of upsetting some pretty sensitive equipment.
Skylarks are never very easy to count as some birds can stay put in the grass while others fly up and sing at us. We walk out in a line and record each lark and pipit. Whatever the failings in our technique are though, having used the same methodology since 2006, trends become obvious.
This year, the best we can say is that things haven’t got any worse. We counted 26 larks, for the second consecutive year. Fewer birds were singing but maybe we shouldn’t read too much into that as only four were singing on our highest count (in 2011).
So, as we do each year, we look forward to next year’s count to see if things might have improved. 2014 has been a good year, seemingly, for many breeding songbirds.
Once again we are indebted to the airport authorities for allowing us to count the birds and for helping with security clearance and for providing radios and high-visibility vests etc.
The impressive State of the UK’s Birds 2014 was published today. The theme of this year’s annual report is migrant birds, a group showing some of the most dramatic population changes in the last few decades.
This includes species like cuckoo which breed in the UK but spend the winter in Africa, as well as the large numbers of waders and wildfowl that breed further north, but spend their winters on UK and Channel Island coasts and wetlands.
Migrant changes
For the summer migrants, where a species spends the winter has a strong influence on its trend. Almost three-quarters (73%) of migrants such as nightingale and wood warbler that cross the Sahara to winter in the tropical humid zone in West and Central Africa are in decline. In contrast, 56% of species such as chiffchaff that winter mainly in southern Europe and northern Africa are increasing.
Populations of migrants such as sedge warbler that winter in the arid Sahelian zone of Africa are currently relatively stable, although this group has shown massive declines during earlier droughts in this area. These patterns are highlighted by a new migrant indicator (in the report). For the winter visitors from the north, the picture is less clear. Although a few species, especially from the Arctic, show declines, the majority of sub-arctic and temperate breeders are stable with 33% to 40% increasing.
The importance of volunteer data
Once again, volunteer data continue to provide most of the information used to update the trends reported for the UK, the two key examples being the 2,500 participants in the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS), respectively. Both these surveys are undertaken in Jersey, data supplied to the BTO. The BBS trends highlight six species with severe declines since 1995 including one of serious local concern: turtle dove.
Counts by volunteers at more than 2,200 wetland sites at monthly intervals for WeBS provide the information to report on wintering population trends in 46 species or races of waterbirds including ducks, geese, swans, waders, grebes, rails and cormorants. After two decades of increase, the wintering waterbird indicator (in the report) has been declining over the last decade, particularly among species such as turnstone and purple sandpiper characteristic of the non-estuarine coasts.
These and other data will also be used in the latest update of the UK Government’s wild bird indicators. These revealed continuing declines in wetland and waterways birds as well as in seabirds, but no change in already depleted numbers of farmland birds. Woodland species, however, had a relatively good year in 2012.
Scarce and rare breeding species
This year, the report includes a summary of trends in scarce and rare breeding species, drawn mainly from the annual reports of the Rare Breeding Bird Panel and the Statutory Conservation Agencies & RSPB Annual Breeding Birds Scheme (SCARABBS programme) of periodic surveys. The results are extremely varied, with marked increases in some very rare species in the UK such as common crane and in raptors such as red kite, white-tailed eagle and hobby, matched by severe declines in a diverse group of species such as ring ouzel, black redstart, golden oriole, common scoter and black grouse. The table also reveals gaps in knowledge for difficult to survey species such as hawfinch, water rail and short-eared owl, and identifies recent colonists such as great white egret and little bittern whose trends we may soon be able to follow.
State of the UK’s Birds is produced by a coalition of three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – the RSPB, BTO and the WWT – and the UK Government’s statutory nature conservation agencies.
Many thousands of seabirds including grebes, divers, ducks, auks, gulls, cormorants and shags spend the winter at sea in the Channel Islands. Even in a good year it is possible that some of these birds may be found dead on our coastline. However, in periods of extremely bad weather or during pollution incidents many hundreds of birds may wash up on the beaches.
The sight of dead birds like these is never pleasant but it is very important that we record the numbers of birds and their species in order to understand the extent of the incident and to predict what impacts there may be on already threatened seabird populations.
3) Information on its location (e.g. which beach and nearest landmark such as slipway or café);
