The ELOC committee have kindly given us permission to use the website to keep members and friends informed of the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) activities in the area. If you have any queries about the activities listed please feel free to contact me directly. Your local representatives are Bernard Bracken Regional Organiser and David Jefferies Regional Organiser for Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). The BTO area which closely matches the ELOC recording area is the Lancashire East Region.
The Winter Gull Survey (WinGS) was completed successfully in January with all key sites covered, despite the horrendous conditions. Thank you to everyone who braved the elements to participate. If you have yet to do so can you please ensure all data has been loaded on to the relevant survey page as soon as possible. I will add details of the reports generated in due course. Fieldwork on the Woodcock Survey has now ended and data is being collated. Here again I will add an update once summary data has been issued.
New surveys coming up in 2024 include the Heronry Survey which is about to get underway and the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) which will commence in early March. In addition we have a small number of sites available on the Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS), Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) and Heronries Census should anyone be interested in taking part, the data you collect will be used for key conservation work across the country, You can request a survey site for any of the above at www.BTO.org. Please note that all sites are selected on the basis of statistical analysis so you local patch may not be covered, but generally there will be a site reasonably close by.
Survey Work
The BTO’s survey work is undertaken to provide detailed data of bird numbers and movements which are used by a whole host of governmental and non governmental organisations to guide conservation and research activities. The BTO have prepared a short YouTube video which highlights some of its work over 2022 which you might find of interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zB7i4Ry2w
A core set of Surveys are conducted annually including The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS), Garden Birdwatch and Heronries Census. In addition, there are a number of specialist surveys which are conducted every 5 to 10 years, such as the Woodcock Survey (last held in 2023) and the Winter Gull Survey in January 2024. Sites for these surveys are selected by the BTO based on statistical rules but they are quite numerous around the ELOC recording region and new surveyors are always wanted.
Conducting a survey varies a little depending on the survey type but typically involves three visits to a specific area, the first being a reconnoiter visit familiarise yourself with the site, then 2 subsequent visits to record all the birds you see or hear. These can be recorded on prepared forms or using the BTO Online form. In all they are basically a visit to a specific site and record what’s there, just as you would if you were birding on that site. I can’t speak for all sites but my areas take about 2 hours per visit.
To register as a Surveyor please visit the BTO site www.bto.org and navigate to the Volunteer pages which will guide you through the process.
2023 To Date.
The 2023 Annual Summary are now available covering the Heronry Census and can be viewed HERE which includes some interesting findings relating to numbers and distribution of nesting Herons and Egrets across the country. Each year we are identifying new nesting sites for these birds so if you do spot any nests please let us know or better still join the monitoring team. Some other documents you might like to read which are prepared from the data collected from these surveys and the BirdTrack application; https://www.bto.org/our-science/publications/birdtrends/birdtrends-2022-trends-numbers-breeding-success-and-survival-0
And
We issued a Winter Newsletter in mid December 2022 and a copy is attached here for those who have not seen it. There are a range of identification courses in the pipeline for next year and a national Woodcock survey which is to be conducted in Spring. The newsletter includes details of all of the projects currently underway and if you would like further information on any of these please contact me or central office and we will get back to you. BTO East Lancashire 2022 Winter Newsletter.
Discussions are underway about further newsletters but at this stage all I can say is I will keep you posted.
NEWS – June 2023
**** ELOC has been involved with the funding of research on Cuckoo’s for some time and a recent update on this year’s research results have been added and details were kindly shared with us by Tony Cooper. Stable conditions in West Africa have led to Cuckoos not departing from there earlier than in previous years and hence their failure to arrive in GB in time to take advantage of our now earlier Spring; this has led to poorer breeding success. A few further details are given in the message forwarded from BTO, including a link to the latest positions of currently tagged Cuckoos. See https://bto-enews.org/102F-8BQWD-IGKLHQ-56IXEP-1/c.aspx for further information.
**** The BTO have created a web page called Birds on Your Doorstep. This is an online resource linking the BTO database to your local area. Simply add your postcode and you can see the changes in bird species that have taken place since 1970. https://data.bto.org/doorstep-birds/