bto annual review 2012

September-October 2012/ Issue 301 A look at the work and strategy of the British Trust for Ornithology

partnersresearch

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ENVIRONMENTPOPULATION

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Migration

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This Annual Review provides an opportunity to reflect on

the Trust’s achievements during the year ending 31 March

2012. The full report and accounts for 2011/12 (see www.bto.

org/about-bto/accounts) has space for only a few headline

achievements but this Review provides opportunities to expand on

key developments. Fittingly, in a year when five Cuckoos turned a

welcome spotlight on the work of the BTO, we start with an article

about tracking. This complements the Ghanaian aspect of our

research relating to migrants (pages 18/19) and a review of the

population trends for species wintering in different habitat zones

within western Africa (page 25).

Migration research is just one strand within the BTO Strategy.

During the year we were pleased to open a new office in Bangor,

to develop survey capacity and forge links with research partners

and decision-makers in Wales. We completed a project for Natural

England re-assessing the impacts of Entry-Level Stewardship

on farmland birds, producing the first evidence of national-

scale positive effects of ‘broad and shallow’ agri-environment

schemes. BTO scientists embarked on a major Defra- and Forestry

Commission-funded project investigating the influences of woodland

management practices and deer browsing on birds (pages 20/21).

Over the course of the last year, a series of climate-change articles

has appeared in BTO News, and there is further evidence of this

research on page 8.

The fieldwork phase for Bird Atlas 2007–11 was completed in

July 2011, and attention then turned to validation and incorporating

information from other BTO schemes and allied organisations.

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.

org/birdtrends), which was much improved during the year. Looking

ahead, Ringing Committee and staff have developed a Demographic

Targeting Strategy which identifies target species for improved

monitoring (page 22).

Communication is at the heart of what we do, and now

includes regular e-newsletters and blogs, as well as ringing and

BirdTrack Apps for smartphones. Already, over 10,000 BirdTrack

records per month are being submitted by phone (pages 10/11).

Our YouTube channel has received nearly 120,000 views, the

majority targeting the bird identification videos. In 2011 the end-of-

year membership total rose by 4%, with the highest increases of

5.4% in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The breadth of the BTO’s fundraising has been growing for some

years (page 35), but we urgently need additional unrestricted income

to support our work, especially for research based on Atlas data and for

key long-term monitoring projects which make vital contributions to the

conservation of birds and other biodiversity. This is the biggest challenge

for 2012–13 and beyond, especially given the pressures of the economic

environment. I am hopeful that we will be able to secure the resources

we need to continue to support our growing pool of skilled volunteers

and further to develop the quality, breadth and relevance of our science.

BTO Annual Review | 20122

From the Chairman

welcome

CONTACT USBTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk. IP24 2PU

Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .01842 750050Facsimile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .01842 750030E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.bto.org

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Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01786 466560Facsimile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .01786 466561E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

BTO Cymru, Thoday Building, Deiniol Rd., Bangor, Gwynedd. LL57 2UW

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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 PRODUCTIONEditors 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£32Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £42Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£800Fellow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £54Family Fellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £64Life Fellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £1,350

Monthly membership subscription options are also available.

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All membership subscriptions due 1 January and run for the calendar year.

2012Annual ReviewBTO News 301/September–October 2012

BTo chAiRmAn PRofessoR iAn newTon fRs, oBe

Annual Review of the British Trust for ornithology ISSN 0005 – 3392

When you have finished with this magazine, pass it to a friend or recycle it.

Inside this special issue of BTO News

A message from the BTo chairman

Birds on the mapWe reflect on the successes and future directions of atlases

The year of the cuckooUnravelling some of the mysteries surrounding this species

scientific research in 2011 & 2012Some fascinating findings from recent BTO papers

Great for your records and great for birdsConservation benefits of BirdTrack records

it’s all a matter of scale Adding a local dimension to Bird Atlas 2007–11

BTo peopleTireless individuals who give their time to the BTO

A coalition for conservationBTO and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI)

Birds and offshore wind powerThe potential impact of offshore wind power

out of Africa: towards solving the migrant mysteriesAn exciting piece of collaborative work in Africa

2012 | BTO Annual Review 3

conTenTs

changing times for woodland birdsWe review the status of deer and other wildlife

Bringing it all togetherDemographic targeting: studying bird life cycles in a unified way

scientific research in 2011 & 2012More fascinating findings from recent BTO research

BTo Accounts 2011/12Presenting the annual accounts

PartnershipsHelping to spread the BTO’s message

corporate supportCorporate support for BTO surveys and research

news from northern irelandCockle Island seabirds and cameras

Raptor trends in scotlandMonitoring birds of prey and the diverse groups that study them

The BTo in printSnippets from recent research papers

Acknowledgements & BTo partners

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Birds on the MapWith 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

breeding atlas was that farmland birds

were in trouble. It was not until 1999 six

years after publication however, that we

learned that the northern edge of species’

distributions were moving further north.

With continuing changes to both habitats

and weather patterns it is important that, this

time around, full and early use is made of the

new set of research resources available to us,

thanks to the forthcoming Bird Atlas 2007–11.

In response to specific requests, data

have already been supplied to address

urgent conservation issues affecting

individual species but it will be a few more

months until the final dataset is complete

and hence available for use. At this point

BTO scientists will be able to work, often with

academic, NGO and government partners,

to make best use of the information that has

been collected by volunteers.

There is a whole range of topics to look

at. What has been happening to farmland

specialists since the last breeding bird

atlas in 1988–91? Are there other groups

of species, linked by different habitats,

that are showing similar patterns of range

change, such as those that are dependent

on upland grassland, for instance? Maps

seem to show that some species predicted

to extend their range in response to climate

change are actually contracting – so what

does this tell us about the relative roles of

climate change versus land-use change in

shaping distributions? Some have suggested

that species distributions need to change

to match changing climatic conditions. If

this is the case, are there clues from the

way that densities of individual species are

distributed as to whether they actually have

the dispersive capability to move to what

may become more suitable areas? And,

underpinning these investigations, there is a

range of novel spatial mapping techniques

that can be developed with atlas data. These

data will be able to provide answers as well

as raise many new questions to guide our

research in the coming years.

ALL ABOUT PLAnning

in a recent meeting with a team working

on an atlas in another part of the world, we

were asked to explain the success of Bird

Atlas 2007–11. It was interesting to reflect

upon things that had gone well – either

because of sound planning or simply as a

result of good fortune.

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 legacy-

based 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,

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

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-the-month) – 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.

PREViEWS OF ATLAS RESULTS


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.

of good news arrived like a warm wind

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

in the maps.

In BriefDATA COLLECTION

Continuing fieldwork

Facts & Figures

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.

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.

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.

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Online recording for Bird Atlas 2007–11 proved extremely popular. Elements from this system will be used in future online surveys.

The year of the Cuckoo

Although 2011–12 was another year

of surveys and atlas work for most BTO

members, in the minds of the public it

was the year when the BTO unveiled the

migratory secrets of Cuckoos. In just a few

months we went from having one ringing

recovery of a Cuckoo in Africa – a bird taken

for the pot in Cameroon way back in January

1930 – to creating links to 18 different African

countries across a wide range of habitats.

We also added a second migration pathway

through Spain and western Africa to the

recognised major flyway via northern Italy that

had been deduced from a century of ring

recoveries.

Much has been written about the stories

of the five male Cuckoos – Chris, Clement,

Kasper, Lyster and Martin. We were amazed

when Clement departed so early, on 3

June, but that Lyster stayed in Norfolk for a

further six weeks, presumably using the time

to secure extra mating opportunities. Birds

made significant stopovers at a wide range

of European sites, from the docks in Antwerp

to the Po Delta, took hugely different routes

through Africa and yet all ended up in the

Congo rainforest. They all left the Congo and,

although we soon lost Clement, ironically

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.

just a few kilometres from where the 1930

bird was found, the other four revealed

that Ghana and Ivory Coast are important

spring fattening areas. In the course of eight

months in the vast continent of Africa we

know that our birds visited eighteen different

countries. Drilling down into the data for

individual birds, it is clear that some birds

rely heavily on remaining fragments of

forest, spending long periods in the same

areas and apparently making feeding trips

into the wider farmland which surround

them. We lost touch with Martin in Spain,

following spring hailstorms, and Kasper in

Algeria. However, Chris and Lyster made

it back to East Anglia – and have since

returned to Africa.

The beauty of the Cuckoo tracking project

is that it’s not just about scientific discoveries

of potential significance for the species’

conservation. This is also a great story. Here

is a way to connect with birdwatchers and

other people who like to unravel mysteries –

and these are people who share the same

fascination with birds as traditional BTO

members. Long-standing and new BTO friends

were keen to sponsor the ‘famous five’. Scores

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.

1. 2.

people who had had no contact with the Trust

beforehand went on to donate £3,000 each to

name their own Cuckoos in 2012.

The media interest in the story was

immense, ably led by Michael McCarthy of

The Independent. He was awarded the BTO’s

Dilys Breese Medal in recognition of his ability

to promote BTO research to new audiences

and Victoria Gill of BBC Science On-line. On 7

June 2011, BBC News, Springwatch and The

Independent all ran stories about the Cuckoo

tracking project, featuring Chris Hewson, Phil

Atkinson and Paul Stancliffe, the BTO’s Media

Manager. Our website struggled to cope with

the huge spike in interest – over 50,000

different people have visited the Cuckoo

landing pages and many others are following

the story in other places. A measure of the

size of the ‘Cuckoo effect’ is the number of

visitors to websites containing information

from the BTO; these numbered 6.9 million

in May 2011 and a staggering 79.8 million

in June.

We have learned a lot from the Cuckoos

and we would like to develop the project

further, given sufficient funding. Rarely do a

few days go by without there being another

surprising revelation and yet another blog for

Chris Hewson or Rachel Gostling to write.

You can catch up with latest news at www.

bto.org/cuckoos but, be warned, it’s easy

to become hooked and to find yourself

checking out the blogs on a daily basis.

Facts Figures

&

£16,900

16,000km

CuCKoo

The amount raised in sponsorship for the team of five Cuckoos in 2011/12, providing the top-up we needed for funding from the BBC Wildlife Fund, essex & Suffolk Water and the BTo’s Raffle. We continue to seek funds for this exciting research; £24,000 has already been received for the class of 2012.

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.

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.

63%


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.

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BTO Raffle funding new survey for 2012/13Last year the raffle helped to raise an amazing £26,000, which we’ve used to build a new system ready for the first comprehensive

UK Wintering Thrushes Survey. It starts this autumn and there are lots of ways for you to get involved! BTO volunteers will be

gathering crucial evidence on the importance of our country’s habitats for the survival of wintering thrushes like Redwing and

Fieldfare. Four of the six species we will be monitoring are on the red or amber list of birds of conservation concern, so it’s important

that we learn more about them. The survey will look at thrush numbers, habitats and food resources in the countryside. The

landscapes of the UK have changed dramatically over the past four decades, as have the fortunes of the three key UK breeding

thrushes; Blackbird, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. All of these birds struggle during prolonged winter weather, which has been

implicated as a cause for the declines. Are berries the key for these species and our winter visitors?

Weather each winter can vary hugely, so we need to run the survey for two years. This means that we need to raise more money.

Please support this project by taking part in the raffle or by including a donation to the Wintering Thrushes Appeal. A big thanks

to the Bird Watching & Wildlife Club (BWWC), Opticron and Ernest Charles for donating the following prizes:

1st Prize : A seven-night wildlife break for two people at the Grant Arms Hotel in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

2nd Prize: A pair of 8 x 42 Verano BGA HD binoculars3rd Prizes: 5 winners will each win £100 of bird foodTickets are just £2 each. If you would like further tickets for yourself, friends or family, then please call our Fundraising Team on

01842 750050. Further details on the prizes, how to request tickets and terms and conditions are available at www.bto.org/raffle.

Good luck!Thank you,

Ieuan EvansHead of Membership & Volunteer Engagement

If undelivered please return to: BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU

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Please return this slip to BTO Raffle, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU with all your raffle ticket stubs and payment before 1 February 2013

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BTO Raffle 2012/131st prize: A 7-night BWWC break in the Highlands2nd prize: A pair of 8 x 42 Opticron Verano Binoculars 3rd prizes: 5 x £100 of Ernest Charles birdfood

Draw date: 8 February 2013

Return date: 1 February 2013£2


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Raffle 2012.indd 1

01/08/2012 14:07:03

Although there is evidence that habitat change in britain may be contributing to the decline

of the cuckoo, the satellite-tracking project is providing information that will help us

assess whether what’s going on elsewhere in the world could be

playing a significant part.

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

identify the potential effects of climate change

on wildlife. Recent papers using BBS data

provide the latest evidence for these impacts

occurring. In one of the largest studies of its

kind, Vincent Devictor and colleagues from

across Europe describe recent changes in

European bird communities. Changes during

1990–2008 have been rapid and largely

consistent across the six countries and regions

studied (Catalonia, Czech Republic, France,

Netherlands, Sweden, UK), with species

associated with warmer temperatures showing

more positive population trends than those

associated with cool temperatures. The authors

also show this shift is less than the change

shown by butterflies, and also less than

expected from the degree of warming, which,

they argue, may be a sign of problems to come

for birds.

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

Although the Hedgehog is widespread

and locally common within the UK, concerns

expressed about its changing status have

resulted in the species being included in the

UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Information on Hedgehog populations is

collected by a number of organisations, across

a suite of habitats and for varying purposes,

although none of these datasets has been used

independently to derive robust measures of

population change. A new study, funded by the

People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)

and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society

(BHPS) and carried out by BTO, has assessed

the feasibility of generating national and regional

trends for Hedgehogs from seven existing

schemes. These schemes include the BTO

Garden BirdWatch (which collects weekly data on

Hedgehogs in gardens), the BBS, Mammals on

Roads (an annual survey of mammal carcasses

recorded during car journeys and organised by

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

more similar to each other. This is shown by a

second cross-European analysis of breeding bird

data, including BBS, which shows that generalists

are increasingly dominating bird communities.

It is important not to give the impression

that climate change is the only factor driving

these changes. Recent analysis of farmland bird

population trends by Sarah Eglington at BTO

shows that, for this declining bird community,

climate change has had relatively little impact.

Indeed, whilst we would have expected

populations of many species to have increased

slightly in response to milder winters and warmer

breeding seasons, they have not done so,

because they have been limited by intensive

agricultural management. Climate-change

impacts on bird communities may therefore be

greatest in habitats where human impacts are

relatively low.

FInd out moredavey, 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.

1. Climate Change & biRD tRenDs 2. a new stuDy of heDgehogs


scientific Research in 2011 & 2012There 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.

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Jacquie Clark explains how a Europe-wide ringing project has helped us to understand Swallow fattening.BTO and mammal monitoring. Mike Toms explains.

As summer visitors prepare to leave our

shores in autumn, they fatten up in order to

have fuel for the long journey south to their

wintering grounds, crossing obstacles such as

mountain ranges, seas and deserts. Swallows

make the longest journey amongst our small

passerines, eventually reaching South Africa in

the middle of our winter, but they are unusual

in that they travel during the day, feeding on

aerial insects and thus reducing their need to

fatten up before they leave.

A Europe-wide ringing project organised by

EURING (Union of European Ringing Schemes)

has shown that Swallows do in fact fatten

before migration, despite this ability to feed

en route. The study allowed us to understand

where, when and how the birds fatten,

revealing some fascinating new information.

Ringers across Britain and Europe concentrated

on catching Swallows at autumn roosts to find

out what these birds are doing. Analysis of

data collected in Italy and Spain, for instance,

showed that the amount of fat that Swallows

gain in these countries is directly related to the

width of the ecological barrier they will have to

cross as they leave on the next stage of their

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.

Although Swallows breeding in Britain &

Ireland have a much shorter initial Channel

crossing to the Continent, this study showed

for the first time that the birds stage in

southern Britain and fatten before making

the crossing. juveniles put on about 2g of fat

(c. 10% increase in body weight) and the

more experienced adults 2.8g (c. 15%) prior

to migration. The birds then reach southern

Europe before further fattening occurs, to carry

them across the Mediterranean and into Africa.

The pattern of mass increase of Swallows in

Britain & Ireland in autumn was similar to that

in southern Europe, starting with a period

when their weight was stable followed by a

rapid increase. However, the period of rapid

weight gain started earlier and the increase

was smaller than in southern Europe.

Within Britain, Swallows caught at the more

southerly roost sites carried more fat than

those caught in the north, suggesting that

our Swallows move to the south and then

fatten again befo re crossing to the Continent,

and emphasising the importance of these

south-coast roost sites for Swallows breeding

throughout our islands.

in both the wider countryside and human-

dominated habitats, like gardens, supporting

earlier suggestions that Hedgehog populations

were in difficulty. The work also highlighted the

potential of many of the schemes for monitoring

long-term changes in Hedgehog numbers and

highlighted the number of survey sites required

within each scheme to generate the necessary

measures of population change. Mammals on

Roads and BTO Garden BirdWatch performed

best overall and, importantly, had sufficient

statistical power to detect 25% declines across

all of the regions (England, Scotland and Wales)

included in the study.

While the results of this work don’t tell us why

Hedgehog numbers are in decline, they do

demonstrate that we have the tools available to

monitor Hedgehog populations. This information

can be used to identify areas of future research

and, perhaps most importantly, to assess

the effectiveness of conservation measures

employed to aid the recovery of the Hedgehog

population once we know what is behind the

observed decline.

FInd out moreroos, 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.

FInd out moreCoiffait, 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.

2. a new stuDy of heDgehogs 3. fattening foR migRation


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.

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.


Great for your records and great for birds

BirdTrack and conservaTionA core aim of BirdTrack is to capture

information about arrival and departure times

of migratory bird species in both spring and

autumn. New research is under way at BTO to

compare the timing of migration as indicated

by the BirdTrack dataset with that of the

Inland Observation Point (IOP) survey. The

latter was a BTO survey that ran in the 1960s,

through which observers collected daily bird

lists from 299 locations around Britain. A

comparison of the two datasets offers the

prospect of revealing significant changes to

the timing of bird migration over a 50-year

period – at once exciting, alarming and,

potentially, very powerful.

Another recent study using BirdTrack

data looked at changes in arrival timing of

several long-distance summer migrants.

This suggests that arrival dates are indeed

advancing, and that the biggest changes

appear to involve early-arriving species such

as Wheatear. Importantly, such shifts in

arrival times may not be great enough to

counteract the rate at which the seasons are

advancing, thus reducing the available time

for returning migrants to replace depleted

resources and secure a mate before the

onset of the breeding season. BirdTrack is

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.

also unique in its ability to generate year-

round patterns for a broad range of species.

The seasonal dimension is particularly

powerful for research, offering the potential

for insights into avifaunal dynamics

throughout the year.

BirdTrack plays an increasingly important

role in informing survey design. Whenever

planning a specific survey to focus on one

or a small group of species, a number

of questions must be answered. What

is the current distribution of the species

concerned? Are there particular periods

of the year when they become difficult to

detect? Which aspects of their movements,

behaviour and habitat use are easy to

observe and record? The BTO’s 2012

Nightingale survey used BirdTrack records to

help establish the known current range of

the species, identifying tetrads which were

newly occupied since the 1999 survey.

This ensured that tetrads known to be

occupied by Nightingales were given high

priority for coverage. BirdTrack also trialled

some potential elements of the forthcoming

Winter Thrushes Survey, by exploring the

capacity of birdwatchers to record extra

information on the activity, habitat usage

and local movements of Redwings and

Fieldfares. Understanding how birdwatchers

observe and record birds is a key part of

the process of designing and implementing

surveys that both deliver robust results, and

are realistic and accessible for participants.

Status reviews of several scarce and/

or declining species have also employed

BirdTrack data. Whilst the status of our most

numerous species are well understood, thanks

to large-scale monitoring schemes such as the

BBS and WeBS, and the rarest species are well

monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel

(RBBP), there is a ‘middle’ group of species

where BirdTrack records can add a great deal

of contextual information. A recent update of

Waterbird Population Estimates was largely

based on WeBS data, but BirdTrack records

were valuable for shedding light on scarcer

species such as Ruff, Slavonian Grebe, Smew

and Snow Goose. BirdTrack data made a

significant contribution to a paper estimating

the number of Bitterns wintering in the UK, to

update a report on roosting and feeding areas

for Pink-footed Geese, and fed into the RSPB’s

2012 Spotted Crake survey.

Bird Atlas 2007–11 has incorporated 4.6

million BirdTrack records, and preliminary

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

2011 onwards. Conservation action must

necessarily be evidence-based; indeed, the

importance of adding records to BirdTrack for

the conservation of scarce species like Lesser

Spotted Woodpecker is underlined by the

authors’ closing statement: “By submitting

their records… birdwatchers can make a

big contribution to our knowledge base,

and, in due course, to the development of

conservation measures.”

Keeping pace with the SeaSonS...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.

‘Another recent study using BirdTrack data looked at changes in arrival timing of several long-distance summer migrants.’

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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.

Shedding light on SCarCer SpeCIeS...

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

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.

BirdTrack for Bird cluBs

find ouT More

To explore the wide range of features available, or to register to use BirdTrack, visit www.birdtrack.net


Can you imagine how much information

would be lost if you had only 182 dots to

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

underlying data are far more powerful. If

you could zoom in again, to the local atlas

tetrad resolution, you’d see about 85,000

tetrads. And there are more data to use too.

Zoom in again and you’d see the clusters

of registrations on Common Birds Census

maps that indicate territories. Zoom in again,

apply some technology, and radio and GPS

tags can trace the movements of individual

birds. It’s all a matter of scale. If a pair of

Nuthatches nesting in a Scottish oakwood

can increase the probability that both will

survive the winter, simply by feeding on

peanuts in a local garden, then those two

birds will help to push at the edge of the

distribution map for that species.

One of the major advances for Bird Atlas

2007–11 has been the partnerships that

were developed with local bird clubs and

consortia. Local organisers have been able to

manage coverage and submit data through

the BTO website and have been provided with

data in raw and part-analysed form every six

months. An online forum has facilitated the

exchange of ideas and given direction to the

developments that have been made to the

website. In Gloucestershire, just as elsewhere,

the online facilities enabled the local atlas

team to monitor progress and validate the

records submitted by hundreds of volunteers.

Gloucestershire has several local

bird clubs rather than a single county-wide

organisation, so a co-ordinating committee

led the atlas project, chaired by the BTO’s

Regional Representative, and including

representatives of bird clubs, RSPB, WWT

Slimbridge, the county Wildlife Trust and the

Naturalists’ Society. This broad membership

meant not only that everyone felt involved,

Yellowhammer an interesting story…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 red-listed 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).

1.

It’s all a matter of scaleSIMON 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.

Facts Figures

&BIrd atlas

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but also that the bodies with responsibilities

for conservation in the county were made

fully aware of the results. The collaborative

approach certainly worked in Gloucestershire

– 100% tetrad coverage was achieved and

The Birds of Gloucestershire will be published

in autumn 2013: a full county avifauna as

well as Gloucestershire’s first bird atlas.

As well as reflecting national trends,

such as the steep decline in Cuckoo and

almost complete loss of Grey Partridge, in

Gloucestershire there are local changes,

such as the spread of Cetti’s Warblers and a

move by Yellow Wagtails to arable farmland.

dippers provide one of the most fascinating

stories, with a decline in the hillier areas but

no losses in lower areas or near towns. Two

potential theories have been put forward;

further downstream, populations may not

be as affected by run-off as they are in

agricultural areas or there could be lower

water tables, a change which would have a

larger effect further upstream.

Whilst the BTO team is bringing

together the stories that will appear in

next year’s book, across Britain & Ireland,

local authors will be revealing a whole

raft of new stories, hinting at how species

as diverse as Redstart, Redwing and Red

Grouse might be being affected by the

changes to which they are subject, both

directly by man and through the indirect

effects of climate change. At a larger

scale, the Bird Atlas data that thousands

of people have collected will help to plot

the changing fortunes of species across

Europe, setting the conservation agenda for

the next twenty years.

1. 73,112 258The 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.

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.

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.

298The 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.


BTO People

BTO is fortunate to benefit from the

skills and experience of a large number

of volunteer Regional Representatives

(RRs) who organise surveys and promote

the work of the Trust across the whole

of the UK. In 2011 we awarded the BTO

Regional Network Long-Service Award to

Peter Overton who has served as RR for

West Lincolnshire since 1996. We also

celebrated the amazing contributions of

a growing band of even-longer-serving

RRs. In 2011, there were 13 RRs who

had served the BTO in an organisational

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.

capacity for at least 25 years, with the

longest in post having reached 39 years’

service! It was a great pleasure for us to

welcome these remarkable volunteers

at a reception with the Minister for the

Environment, Richard Benyon, and then

at a behind-the-scenes tour of the

Houses of Parliament led by our very own

president, Baroness Young. Celebrations

like this are a reflection of the gratitude

we feel for the hard work and dedication

from across our entire network of over 130

volunteer RRs and survey organisers.

LOngesT-serving BTO rePs CeLeBraTe in sTyLe

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

the last few years he has taken on the

daunting task of converting old paper-

based ringing records into electronic

format. John has so far input the details

of just over three million birds. In addition

to helping the Ringing Scheme get its

older records into the 21st century, this

effort has made a variety of additional

analyses possible, such as a recent study

of Oystercatchers (right) on the Burry Inlet.

At the 2011 Annual Conference John

was awarded BTO’s Jubilee Medal for

committed devotion to the trust. At

the same conference we awarded the

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

recording and through his training of and

collaboration with others. Mike has been

the main contributor to the monitoring

of raptors (particularly Golden Eagles

and Peregrines) in the county of Angus

since the 1970s and helped form the

first raptor study group in 1981.

In many ways, Mike’s greatest

contribution is measured

by the number of people

who have learned

about ornithology and

conservation through

the time spent in his

company.

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.


a Coalition for ConservationOn 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

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

what we always get and, as the state of global

biodiversity decline currently shows, that is not

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

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

we have jointly designed and undertaken social

science research to explore the relationships

between ecology and land-use change driven by

people’s development. We won’t get traction in

society for the needs of wildlife in sub-Saharan

Africa unless we set it in the context of human

land-use needs. CCI has enabled us to broaden

the impact of our science.

BTO InvOLvEMEnT BTO is directly involved in three CCI programmes.

For a small financial outlay we jointly fund a post

to watch for new environmental issues coming

over the horizon, and to work together in thinking

about the right responses as we look for positive

solutions. BTO staff teach on the Masters course

in Conservation Leadership, where international

students benefit from experienced conservation

leaders in terms of science content and how best to

lead conservation organisations. And there will be a

new CCI campus in the University where BTO will

retain a foothold through a small number of desk

spaces, further assisting our collaborative working. I

believe that when we all come together in a positive

collaborative environment provided by CCI, we are

innovative, powerful and influential. CCI extends the

reach of BTO science, internationalises our work,

and sharpens the relevance of our knowledge of the

status of global biodiversity.

afriCan aspects...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.

2.

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CCI DETAILSCCi 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.

1.

3.

‘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


Birds and Offshore Wind Power

Offshore wind farms are one of the

principal methods of generating power without

using fossil fuels, but they can cause problems

for birds, either directly (birds may collide

with them), or indirectly (constructing wind

farms might change the habitat and, therefore,

the species that can live there) and little is

currently known about these impacts. Currently

assessments follow the precautionary principle

and focus on a ‘worst-case scenario’ to ensure

all possible impacts are captured. In practice,

this means that the predicted impact may

be higher than the real, but this uncertainty is

risky for everyone: it poses a financial risk to

developers, who may not get planning consent,

may have to make design changes that reduce

power output, or may have planning consent

delayed; it poses a political risk to meeting

government targets for renewable energy

capacity; it poses an environmental risk by

making it difficult to know how and where to

build wind farms while minimising the risk to

birds.

SOSS (the Strategic Ornithological Support

Services group) was set up in 2010 with the

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.

aim of addressing these uncertainties and

building on our knowledge about the effects of

offshore wind farms. Work was funded by The

Crown Estate, and guided by a steering group

including representatives of regulators, statutory

advisory bodies, the RSPB and all UK offshore

wind developers. BTO’s role was to coordinate

the group, provide impartial scientific advice

and conduct some of the work, with support

from Bureau Waardenburg (specialists in

using radar to monitor birds) and the Centre

for Research in Ecology and Environmental

Modelling (CREEM) at the University of St

Andrews.

Perhaps the most obvious risk of wind

farms to birds, both off and onshore, is that of

potential collision with the turbines. As part of

the project, a new tool for modelling collision

risk at offshore sites has been developed by

Bill Band (a collision modelling expert). To

understand the risk you need to know the

proportion of birds flying at the height of the

rotors and the proportion of birds that will take

action to avoid turbine blades (‘avoidance

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

cameras and microphones, but these must be

combined with other methods that record the

number of birds passing the area and taking

avoidance action. To provide robust evidence,

monitoring of collisions and avoidance needs

to be conducted at a number of sites. SOSS has

Migrating birdS Migration involves large numbers of birds but occurs during

a short time-window, sometimes in bad weather and often at night, making it difficult to

monitor. Each species also varies in its migration strategy. Oystercatchers, for example,

migrate between breeding sites in norway and wintering sites on The Wash, but we don’t

know whether they fly directly or minimise the north Sea crossing distance and, hence, spend

more time following the coast. This strategy would lead to more encounters with wind farms.

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.

identified this critical gap in the understanding

of collision risk and avoidance rates.

As a result of this key recommendation from

SOSS, The Crown Estate is now in the initial stages

of developing a large-scale field project, using

existing wind farms to test equipment and gather

data. Such a project requires support, funding and

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.


acknOWlEdgEMEntSThanks 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.

Find Out MOrETo find out more, visit www.bto.org/soss

diSplacEMEnt: hOW tO MEaSurE it 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.

Facts Figures

&

25

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Wind POWER

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.

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.

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.

1%

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.

Operational

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Out of Africa: solving migrant mysteries

Over the past three years, BTO and the

RSPB, in collaboration with the Ghana

Wildlife Society and Naturama (the BirdLife

partners in Ghana and Burkina Faso) have

been working together on an exciting

project on migrant birds in Africa. Many

of the UK’s long-distance migrants are in

rapid decline and the recent analyses led

by Nancy Ockendon (page 25) provided

much of the evidence-base for our work in

Africa. The direction of a species’ population

trend (increasing or decreasing) is related

to where the birds winter in Africa and

which habitats they occupy whilst there.

Populations of birds wintering in the arid

habitats of the Sahel tend to be stable or

increasing (with the notable exceptions of

Turtle Dove and Yellow Wagtail), whereas

those wintering in the humid zone, such as

Nightingale, Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler

and Cuckoo, tend to be in decline.

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. To find out more we

set up five sampling areas in the winter

of 2009/10, arranged from the Sahel in

northern Burkina Faso southwards through

the Sudan and Guinea savannas to the

Guinea forest in southern Ghana (Fig. 1).

The five areas represented all the major

vegetation types in the region, working along

a dry to wet gradient and from the arid zones

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

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

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

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.

migrants, but some, such as Wood Warbler,

Spotted Flycatcher and Garden Warbler,

were found only in very small numbers. We

therefore spent the second winter visiting

a number of new areas where we thought

we might find these species. In the first

winter, we had spent our time in the four

main vegetation zones from the Sahel to

the humid rainforest. What we didn’t do,

however, was spend time in the ‘transitional’

zones – the sometimes quite narrow, but

very characteristic, areas of habitat between

the main habitat zones. The results from

the transitional zone between the humid

rainforest and the Guinea savanna were

impressive – we found good numbers of

Wood Warblers, but also Garden Warblers,

Nightingales and Spotted Flycatchers. Habitat

within this ‘transitional’ zone retains features

of the two main habitat zones and in places

resembles parkland – tall mature trees with

a relatively open habitat below them. Wood

Warbler and Willow Warbler were both

frequently recorded, feeding in the crowns

of the mature trees alongside resident

African warblers. We are now combining

these ‘roving records’ with those from the

first-year transects in an exciting piece of

new modelling work (maximum entropy

modelling), led by the RSPB, that overlays

1.

The five sampling areas in west AfricA…

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.

Oursi, Burkina FasoSahel, arid

Nazinga, Burkina FasoSudan savanna, semi-arid

Damongo, Ghana Northern Guinea savanna, semi-humid

Kogyae, GhanaSouthern Guinea savanna, sub-humidKakum, Ghana

Semi-deciduous /evergreen forest transition, humid

the count data for each species onto satellite

images, to produce maps giving a predicted

distribution of the species within the wider

landscape. As this work progresses the maps

will become more refined and, since satellite

images go back at least 15 years, will enable

us to explore the impact of recent habitat

change on species distribution.

The first two winters of fieldwork have

given us a much clearer picture of how

birds use habitats in West Africa and

also provided a great deal of new large-

scale information about habitat use and

seasonality. They showed us the potential

importance of the transitional zones for

some of our target migrant species and

provided a baseline for us to plan detailed

fieldwork on Nightingale and Wood

Warbler. In the third winter (2011/12), we

began working at sites within the Guinea

forest/savanna transition zone on research

aimed at understanding more about the

detailed winter ecology of these two

species, and how and why habitat within

this region has changed. This latter piece

of research is going to mean a whole new

approach to our work and will require

forging new partnerships with social

scientists and the development sector

(page 15). It is an exciting project, and

the work has been made possible only

through dedicated internal funding and

the support of members and sponsors of

the BTO and the RSPB, to whom we are

extremely grateful.

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.

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.

2. 3.

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‘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.’


Changing times for woodland birdsSince 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

been unprecedented debate about the

future of our woodlands and forests. The

Independent Panel on Forestry, which

reported in July 2012, addressed many

of the issues in an English context and

identified the wide range of functions

– environmental, social and economic

– provided by woodland. There are

ambitious plans for forest expansion in

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and

Wales. Furthermore, the importance of

managing woodlands in appropriate ways

is increasingly appreciated.

Approximately a third of woodland bird

species have declined in population size

and/or contracted in range over the past

two or three decades. The potential causes

are numerous. One factor that has probably

affected several species has been reduction

in the complexity of understorey vegetation

within many woods. This has resulted from

escalating numbers of deer, coupled with

lower levels of woodland management.

Increases in browsing pressure and canopy

shading can both reduce the density of low

vegetation upon which many birds depend

for nesting and feeding sites. BTO research

shows that deer can have an effect on

habitat quality for some bird species.

Experimental comparisons of browsed

and unbrowsed coppiced woodland

indicate that Dunnocks, Garden Warblers,

Nightingales and overall densities of

breeding migrant birds can be substantially

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

ways. There will also be ongoing changes in

predation pressure from both mammals and

birds. Many of our widespread woodland

residents have increased substantially in

recent decades and this may have resulted

in increased predation, or competition for

nest sites or food.

There is currently much interest in

managing woods to produce woodfuel. One

of the potential benefits is the creation of

habitat for species that use young woodland

and other stands with dense regeneration.

Whether these benefits will actually

materialise depends critically on details of

management. If large areas were to revert

to coppicing there may well be considerable

gains for birds, providing that deer impacts

were not large. However, if much of the

woodfuel is generated from thinnings, which

is currently the situation, there may be little

improvement in habitat quality.

Foresters are concerned about the

increasing numbers of tree diseases. There

is much discussion about how best to make

woodland resilient to climate change. The

coming decades will doubtless see new

trends emerging in the choice of tree species

and management systems as efforts are

made to maintain yields from our forests. This

will present new challenges for conservation.

The BTO has an important role in monitoring

how birds use these future forests and in

researching how they can accommodate

abundant and diverse bird populations.

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.

ManageMent Matters

FinD out MoreHewson, 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. D

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Cause & eFFeCt: wooDlanD HaBitat1. 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. 3.

1.


Bringing it all together

When was the last time you saw a

House Sparrow? Or Little Egret? We notice

changes in the number of birds around us

all the time, changes BTO volunteers track

by surveying their BBS square, contributing

records to the Alas or sending in their

sightings to BirdTrack. But what causes

them? Why are some species doing well,

whilst others seem to be fast disappearing?

Step forward the ringer and the nest-

recorder. These dedicated souls spend

hours and days getting up close and

personal with our birds. By watching a

Willow Warbler back to its nest, or catching

a Blue Tit which has previously been

ringed, they contribute vital information

to allow us to understand how and why

our bird populations are changing. Just as

government statisticians record our births

and deaths, so ringers and nest-recorders

tally the number of young fledged and

observe how well they subsequently

survive.

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. So, we need to know

which individuals breed, how many eggs

they lay, how many of these eggs hatch

and chicks fledge, how well do they

survive – both in the first few weeks of

life and then subsequently when they are

more experienced at avoiding predators

and finding food. Thanks to the efforts

of its volunteers, the BTO is in a unique

position to bring together data on bird

numbers, productivity and survival in this

way, to inform conservation and policy

more generally.

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),

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.

but which has needed to wait for recent

advances in computing power to be

practical to implement. Bayes’ technique

allows us to combine different types of

data in one analysis, meaning we can get

much more from them, especially when

we have only a few observations.

Our goal is to be able undertake such

analyses for a wide range of species, so

we can improve the advice we provide to

conservation bodies, such as the RSPB,

government agencies, such as Natural

England or Scottish Natural Heritage, and

anyone else interested in the health of

our bird populations. Key to the success

of this will be having sufficient data. For

some species, ringers and nest recorders

are already collecting quite a lot of data,

for example, on Blackbirds through the

Constant Effort Sites scheme (CES), or

Pied Flycatchers through the Retrapping

Adults for Survival scheme (RAS).

Over the last year we have developed

a strategy to guide ringers and nest

recorders on those species for which extra

data would be most helpful. This includes

species like Tree Sparrow and Stonechat

which can be the focus of good RAS

projects, Meadow Pipit and Reed Bunting,

where more nest records are needed, and

Redshank and Herring Gull, where more

ringing will help. These data and analyses

will help improve the advice we give

through the BirdTrends website (page 23).

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.

SO, HOW dOeS bayeS’ metHOd WOrk?

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Find Out mOrerobinson, 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.

acknOWledgementSThis work is funded through the BTO–JNCC partnership.

Look beyond Little Egrets @ BiRdTRENdS...


‘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.’

Populations of birds are dynamic, responding to ever-changing 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?

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.

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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

bird have declined in recent decades because of

agricultural intensification, changes in cropping

patterns, loss and deterioration of hedgerows

and landscape simplification. Management to

enhance farmland bird populations could aim to

influence any of these, but which set of factors is

the most important? BTO’s Land-Use Research

Team and the University of Cambridge, using

the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s Land

Cover Map, has investigated this question.

Using BBS data, they showed that, for most

species, variation in abundance within farmland-

dominated BBS squares was best predicted by

landscape structure, followed by field boundary

composition and finally crop types. This means

that landscape features, such as the presence

of woods, villages or the mixture of grass and

arable farming, have the strongest influence

on farmland bird populations. These features

are hard to modify because they are beyond

the scope of farm management or are more-

or-less permanent features of the landscape.

Field boundary types (e.g. hedges or ditches)

and, especially, crops can both be changed

more easily and have changed more over time

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

Whinchats, have declined as breeding birds

across Europe as agricultural practices have

intensified and they have become increasingly

restricted to abandoned agricultural land and

upland areas.

With funding from Forest Research and

the Perth and Kinross Quality of Life Trust,

BTO Scotland examined the associations

of Whinchat territories with habitat and

landscape attributes within a study area in

central Scotland that supports a relatively

dense breeding population. The 410ha study

area, managed by the Woodland Trust, in the

Ochil Hills in central Scotland supported 36

Whinchat territories in 2010 (more than 8

per km2). With an altitude range of 225–610

metres above sea level, the area is former

extensive upland pasture where grazing had

been excluded and which had been planted

with native broad-leaf trees seven to eight

years before the study. With developing grass

and ericaceous ground vegetation (equivalent

to abandoned pasture) and young trees

(equivalent to developing scrub), the area

supports a considerably higher density of

breeding Whinchats than the majority of the

Ochil Hills where grazing continues (typically

less than 0.5 per km2 in areas of similar

topography and altitude).

No significant influences of vegetation

type or structure were apparent, suggesting

constrained by the features of the landscapes in

which they are found.

Among the specific habitat influences tested,

the presence of hedges with trees, which

provide nesting habitat and song-posts as well

as rich insect diversity, was positively associated

with the abundance of several species, such

as Swallow, Yellowhammer and Bullfinch. High

levels of landscape and cropping heterogeneity

were also generally positive. These latter features,

which represent patchier, more mixed gross

habitats (woodland, arable, etc.) and crop types,

respectively, boost habitat and resource variety

and therefore the number of individuals and

species that can be supported.

This study has important conservation

implications as it shows the general potential

of management of different components of

farm landscapes, including what is practical

under national agri-environment schemes and

the Common Agricultural Policy, to contribute

to bird conservation. It also demonstrates the

overriding importance of landscape structure in

determining bird community composition, even

within landscapes dominated by farmland.

Find out moreSiriwardena, 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

1. farmLand environment & birds 2. what whinchats want


scientific research in 2011 & 2012In 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.

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Why are some African migrants increasing, while others are decreasing?Surprising results from a Scottish Whinchat study.

many people remember (or at least

have heard of!) the spectacular crash in

populations of Sand Martins, Whitethroats

and Sedge Warblers in the late 1960s,

caused by drought in their west African

wintering areas. These populations are

recovering slowly as, since the 1980s, the

Sahel has been getting wetter and rainfall is

now back at the long-term average. Although

Whitethroat numbers have been increasing,

the population is still only a fraction of what it

was before the crash.

In contrast to the recovering populations

of Whitethroat, Sand Martin, Redstart and

Sedge Warbler, we are now concerned about

other African migrants such as Wood Warbler,

Nightingale and Spotted Flycatcher, all of

which are now in very rapid decline. Is it

caused by climate change on their breeding

grounds, conditions on their wintering

grounds or something else?

This paper set out to answer some

of these very broad questions and set

a baseline for future research – why are

some migrant species that winter in Africa

increasing whilst others are declining? We

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

were clear cut: the key thing that determined

whether a species was increasing or declining

was not just the bioclimatic zone in which it

wintered (dry or wet essentially) but also the

specific habitat it wintered in.

Birds in the dry Sahel and Sudan savannas

(the band immediately south of the Sahara

Desert) were generally stable or increasing

whereas most species wintering in the more

southerly humid zone (the guinea savannas

and rainforest zone) tended to be in decline.

Woodland species in particular were shown

to be especially affected. These correlations

suggested that regional changes in climate

or land-use in the humid tropics, are driving

declines in many long-distance migrant species.

This paper really draws a line in the sand

and gives an up-to-date picture of what is

happening to African–Palearctic migrants

that breed in the UK. This analysis has been

used as a base for our work in Africa to try to

understand what is happening to migrant birds

and their habitats in the humid tropics.

that most combinations of sparse shrubs and

a developing ground vegetation provided

favourable conditions, but there were marked

influences of both altitude and aspect. The

research found that Whinchats favour warmer

south- and east-facing sites, which can support

birds at higher altitudes than cooler north-

and west-facing sites. Territory size increased

with altitude, which, along with a reduced

likelihood of Whinchats being found on higher

ground, provides further evidence of altitudinal

constraints.

Within upland areas Whinchats are

constrained at their lower altitudinal limit by

intensive agricultural land use and at their

upper altitudinal limit by environmental

restrictions on their breeding biology. As

uplands represent a refuge for a number of

declining bird species, the management of

the hill margins has important conservation

implications. Consideration of aspect and

altitude in targeted habitat management could

help to optimize the breeding sites available

for Whinchats and other vulnerable species.

Find out moreockendon, 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.

Find out moreCalladine, 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. what whinchats want 3. african conundrum


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.

2. SCottiSH WHinCHAt Study Whinchats favoured warmer south- and east- facing 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.

Independent Auditor’s Statement to the Members of the British Trust For Ornithology

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 LLPChartered Accountants and Statutory AuditorBankside 300, Peachman Way, Broadland Business Park, Norwich. NR7 0LB 22 August 2012

Summarised AccountS 2011/12There 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

£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.

2011/12 2010/11 £'000 £'000Incoming resourcesGeneral donations 75 53

Appeals 346 237

Legacies 215 444

Trading and consultancy 948 705

Royalties and copyright 123 164

Corporate membership and sponsorship 21 26

Other income 4 3

Investment income 35 48

Membership and communications 1,111 1,042

Research and surveys 1,677 2,042

Total incoming resources 4,555 4,764

Resources expendedCosts 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

Governance costs 37 37

Total resources expended 4,747 4,851

Net outgoing resources -192 -87

Other recognised gains and losses -1,497 355

Net movement in funds -1,689 268

Total funds brought forward 2,002 1,734

Total funds carried forward 313 2,002

Represented by:Fixed assets 1,638 2,070

Net current assets 1,198 1,547

Other creditors -22 -23

Pension fund liability -2,501 -1,592

TOTAL 313 2,002

BTOAnnualReview | 201226

Restated

Bto Accounts 2011/12Council 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.

IncoMe 2011/12

IncoMe 2010/11

37% Research & surveys

43% Research & surveys

2% General donations

1% General donations

7% Appeals

5% Appeals

5% Legacies

9% Legacies

21% Trading & consultancy

15% Trading & consultancy

24% Membership & communications

22% Membership & communications

1% Investment

income

1% Investment

income

0% Other income

0% Other income

0% Corporate membership & sponsorship

1% Corporate membership & sponsorship

3% Royalties & copyright

3% Royalties & copyright

expendItuRe 2011/12

expendItuRe 2010/11

1% Governance costs

1% Governance costs

3% Costs of generating voluntary income

2% Costs of generating voluntary income

15% Costs of activities

for generating funds

12% Costs of activities

for generating funds

52% Research and surveys

58% Research and surveys

29% Membership, volunteer and

communications

27% Membership, volunteer and

communications

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

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).

FurTher INFOrMATION

2012 | BTOAnnualReview 27

Facts Figures

&

230

5.4%

AccountS

The number of garden centres around the country that stock some, or all, of the Gardman Bto-branded bird care products and food.

The biggest growth in Bto membership was in Wales, where a new office was opened for Bto cymru within Bangor university.

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.

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.

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.

£8,000

13

250,000

‘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.’JoHn oSMond, Hon. tReASuReR

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Nightjar research was funded through a legacy and donations. Birds tagged in 2011 returned with valuable data collected during the previous year.

BTO’s long-standing partnership with SOC pays dividends. Bird ID gets a helping hand.

Across the UK, the BTO promotes local

partnerships with birdwatching societies

in order to organise surveys and there

are even broader potential benefits at the

country level, as our work with the Scottish

Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) illustrates.

Bird Atlas 2007–11 is one tremendous

example of successful cooperation

in Scotland, with BTO looking after

fundraising, overall organisation and

website development for the project

and with Bob Swann enthusing Scottish

birdwatchers by using the networks of

both SOC and BTO. The resulting tetrad

coverage for Scotland is virtually as

complete as for England, which is amazing

given the distances to walk, the number

of birdwatchers and the smaller reward in

terms of species diversity, especially during

winter visits.

The SOC (www.the-soc.org.uk) has

been Scotland’s bird club for more than

75 years, bringing together experienced

birders and those keen to learn, in order

to foster the recording, study and pure

enjoyment of birds. Local knowledge,

established and maintained by the SOC

through its members’ branches, Local

Bird Recorder network, and superb

publications like the Birds of Scotland,

is absolutely invaluable. Together we

provide training opportunities to involve

more birdwatchers in recording birds in

Scotland and expanded coverage for

long-term monitoring programmes. Recent

major projects have been ‘Building Bird

Monitoring in Scotland’, funded by SNH

and the Gillman Trust, that has introduced

almost 400 new people across Scotland

to bird recording, and the promotion and

development of BirdTrack, of which SOC

is now a formal partner. Plans are well

developed to run another ambitious joint

project focusing on upland birds over

the next three years. We thank the SOC

in particular, and all our other partners in

Scotland, for making it such a pleasure to

be part of the Scottish biodiversity scene.

Join us at Our Dynamic Earth in

Edinburgh on 16 March 2013 for the next

joint BTO and SOC conference, which

will celebrate the success of Bird Atlas

2007–11 and reflect on the changing

landscape for Scotland’s birds.

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 on-

line 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,

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

Palearctic and level 6 a real challenge! Work

towards the two formal quizzes, which are free

of charge, and if you pass you will receive a

validated certificate at higher education level.

BTO is helping to develop the site further, with

videos and multiple birds singing the next

step. Give it a go: www.birdid.no

2. Need a HINT?1. Boosting BTO ScOTlaNd


PartnershipsHelping 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.

Bewick’s or Whooper? Use the Hint ID website to test your ID skills – this is a Whooper Swan – and progress towards formal qualifications.

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.

How can we understand Willow Warbler declines?

A great way to increase the amount the

BTO can do – and to be cost-effective – is

to get involved in graduate-level research

with academic partners. BTO’s Jacquie Clark

and Rob Robinson, along with Jennifer Gill

of University of East Anglia, did just this with

Catriona Morrison’s PhD on the causes of

population changes of Willow Warblers.

This study used the records of up to 5,000

birdwatchers who had seen a Willow Warbler

on a BBS visit, recorded the contents of a

nest or ringed an individual, and also those

who failed to see or catch a Willow Warbler,

thus providing those valuable zeros that are

needed to identify and understand change.

Cat used national survey data from Britain

& Ireland (BBS and its Irish equivalent, CBS)

to model the variation in Willow Warbler

population trends. Across Britain & Ireland,

these trends follow a gradient from sharp

declines in the south and east of England

to shallow declines and/or slight increases

in parts of north and west England, across

Scotland and in Ireland. The gradient in

breeding-season trends suggests regional-

scale drivers of population change across

different parts of Britain & Ireland, which

could also be linked to conditions during

winter or on migration.

To explore the causes of these patterns in

population change, Cat also used CES data

to compare Willow Warbler survival between

the regions and, with Dave Leech, used Nest

Record Scheme data to compare regional

differences in productivity. Finally, and thanks

to dozens of bird ringers who snipped off a

tiny bit of an individual feather when they

caught an adult, Cat was also able to use

stable isotope analyses to compare the

feather composition of Willow Warblers from

different areas of Britain, to assess whether

they may use different locations or resources

during winter and on migration.

The BTO’s contribution to this work, about

£4,000 per year over four years, was funded

from the Young Scientists’ Fund and the ‘Out of

Africa’ Appeal. This is a great way to make sure

that individual donations are used effectively.

3. an acadEMIc partnership


Facts Figures

&

172

18

ParTNErSHIPS

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.

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.

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.

5 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.

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FInD OUT mOremorrison, 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.

‘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.’


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CORPORATE FUNDING FOR BTO RESEARCH

Corporate supportThis 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.

CUCKOOSThe BTo’s Cuckoo-tracking work has caught

the imagination of thousands of followers,

not least our corporate partners. In the

first year, Essex & suffolk water provided

significant funding, alongside the BBC

wildlife fund, and are continuing to

support the project both financially and

through promotional work with employees.

swallowtail Print printed the Cuckoo text-

giving cards, the Grant Arms Hotel and Zeiss

provided the prizes for the 2010 Cuckoo

raffle and opticron, wildsounds, Vine House

farms, Heatherlea and sound Approach all

helped with the fundraising or sponsored

Cuckoos.

BUSINESS CHALLENGEmany of the companies which support the

BTo take part in the biennial Business sites

Challenge, where we look for the sites that

champion birds, conservation and local

communities. The awards ceremony for

the 2010 challenge, which was sponsored

by Edf Energy, took place at Heysham

Power station in June 2011. natureCounters

supplied the prizes to the winners.

unfortunately, we were unable to find a

sponsor for the competition in 2012 but will

look for opportunities to reinstate it in 2014.

THRUSHES SURVEYThe 2011 raffle, for which ornitholidays, Zeiss

and Gardenature provided prizes, was in aid of

the upcoming winter Thrushes survey. This is

a key BTo project this winter and will engage

people who enjoyed winter Atlas fieldwork.

with no dragonflies, bats and butterflies to

count, there’s more time to look at birds! You

can help the project funding by buying raffle

tickets. Please phone Rachel Gostling on

01842 750050 and she will send you some if

you want more. This year’s raffle is supported

by BwwC at the Grant Arms Hotel, opticron

and Ernest Charles. The winter Thrushes

survey is the annual corporate membership

project. Thank you to all BTo Corporate

members who have supported this vital

survey through their membership this year.

BTO FUNDINGwe are pleased to acknowledge the huge

support we receive from Gardman and Ernest

Charles, with whom we continue to develop

birdcare products. Ernest Charles is the

distributor of BTo sales items (except ringing

sales), thereby providing significant cost

savings for us. financial and practical support

also come from Jacobi Jayne (national nest

Box week), with Ark wildlife and BirdBox

Cameras promoting BTo through their sales.

Night-night 2012…

BTO CORPORATE MEMBERS…

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 land-holdings. 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).

Gold Members:Anglian WaterArk WildlifeBiotrack LtdBirdGuidesBirdseye / Iglo Food Group

Carl Zeiss LtdEDF Energy

Gardman LtdJustAddBirdsNature CountersOpticronSwarovski UK LtdThe Birdtable LtdUnilever R & D ColworthSilver Members:Bird Box Cameras Ltd

Bronze Members:Anglian Sports & Schoolwear Ltd

Birdwatching & Wildlife Club, Grant Arms Hotel

British AirwaysErnest CharlesEssex & Suffolk WaterFrontier Holidays Ltd

GardenatureHeatherleaJacobi Jayne & CoJohn E Haith LtdNorthumbrian WaterPaddocks Farm Partnership Ltd

Parkhill Nurseries & Garden Centre Ltd

PorzanaR & E Bamford LtdScarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems Ltd

Swallowtail Print LtdSyngentaTendley Quarries LtdThames Water Utilities Ltd

Nightingale


Northern IrelandThe 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.

A new initiative to engage with people,

and potential new volunteers, has been the

establishment of Cockle Island seabird Centre,

in the village of Groomsport, Co down. Cockle

Island is a tiny island which holds 800+ pairs

of breeding seabirds – mostly sandwich, Arctic

and Common Terns, and Black-headed Gulls.

It is an AssI (Area of special scientific Interest)

owned by national Trust and is very close

to shore, but little recognised by the local

community. This project was led by BTo in

partnership with the national Trust and north

down Borough Council.

using a grant from the nIEA Challenge

fund (administered by northern Ireland

Environment link) BTo was able to establish

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

installing the system has been technically

difficult, but we have been helped by two

young electronic whizz-kids who set up a new

company, spark4, to deliver this project.

Operating the Centre has resulted in

great volunteer involvement, and at the time

of writing has resulted in about a thousand

visitors viewing the nesting birds and hearing

about the BTo. The images are network-based

video and are therefore ready for viewing on

the Internet – this will be next year’s challenge!

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.

COCklE ISlAND SUCCESS

About 50 pairs of both Common and Arctic (above) Tern bred in 2012, but sadly none were successful because of the dreadful weather.

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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.

Raptor trends in Scotland

Healthy raptor populations are

considered indicative of healthy ecosystems,

particularly when stable populations of

a range of different species occupying

different ecological niches co-exist. In the

past, some species have come into conflict

with humans over their game bird, livestock

and game fish prey, or experienced declines

due to the effects of organochlorine

pesticides. In more recent years, many

species have fared much better as a result

of legislative change, changed attitudes and

proactive reintroduction schemes, leading

to renewed concerns over their effects on

some human activities, including game

and livestock rearing and pigeon racing.

Meanwhile, the conservation status of some

species is still in jeopardy in some areas,

and a whole range of environmental and

anthropogenic factors continues to influence

populations across the UK.

There is an ever-increasing need for

knowledge about how raptor populations

are changing to enable their effective

conservation management. Centralised,

accessible and timely information on trends

has been less available than for other

widespread terrestrial species and other

groups, like seabirds. Many skilled raptor

workers collect high-quality information

on raptor numbers and breeding success

across the UK annually but the process

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.

for reporting this information needed

development, partly because of major

sensitivities over sharing information

(because of risks to the conservation of

species if breeding locations were divulged).

The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme

(SRMS) was set up in 2002 through an

agreement between seven partners (the

Scottish Raptor Study Groups; Scottish

Natural Heritage; BTO Scotland; RSPB

Scotland; Scottish Ornithologists’ Club;

Rare Breeding Birds Panel; and JNCC)

with the aim of building trust, increasing

data-sharing and mobilising information on

raptor breeding numbers and demography

in Scotland. Data submission began in

2003. Partnerships take time to develop

but Brian Etheridge, the Raptor Monitoring

Officer currently employed by BTO on

behalf of the SRMS, has great empathy with

the raptor volunteers and the volume of

data submitted to the scheme has grown

year-on-year. In 2009 the SRMS won a

prestigious ‘Best Practice Award’, given

annually by the Institute of Ecology and

Environmental Management (IEEM).

By 2011, the SRMS was in a position

to review its data holdings and produce

a preliminary set of trends in breeding

numbers and breeding success for species

with sufficient monitoring information since

2003. BTO Scotland led on this work in

collaboration with RSPB Scotland, Haworth

Conservation and other partners to the

SRMS. Together, we were able to produce

trends for at least the period 2003–09

in breeding numbers and/or breeding

success for 12 raptor species. For applied

conservation purposes, such as assessing

the cumulative effects on bird populations

of onshore wind farms, SNH often uses

a series of 21 biogeographical regions

or Natural Heritage Zones (NHZs), and

wherever possible trends were produced at

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

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.

Uses of Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme data


IN tHE BalaNcEThe 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.

SHOt GOSHawKUnfortunately, raptors are still subject to persecution, such as illegal shooting, poisoning and nest destruction.

that scale, as well as nationally for species

where monitoring coverage was sufficiently

broad and representative of the Scottish

population. At the moment, the trends for

many species are preliminary because of

the modest time series involved. For some

species that are still of high conservation

concern, like the Hen Harrier, trends that

cover the most recent 10 years cannot tell

the whole story because, as the numbers

of breeding pairs decrease (to zero in some

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.

The work to review the raptor data and

produce initial trends means that the SRMS

is now well informed about current gaps in

survey coverage. Ideas for involving more

volunteers to expand monitoring coverage,

particularly of the more widespread

species, are in development. It is hoped

that the SRMS and the evidence-base that

it is delivering for Scottish raptors can be

used as a model for developing raptor

monitoring in other parts of the UK.

Facts Figures

&

5,000

100

RAPTOR

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.

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.

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.


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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.


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).

The BTO in print44 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...

Understorey browsing Large-scale analyses of

BBS bird and deer data

show that deer-related

habitat modification

may be affecting some bird species that are

associated with dense understorey habitats on

far larger scales than previously appreciated.

Disease spread BTO ringing data have

been used to chart the

spread of an emerging

disease affecting

finches across Britain

and into other parts of Europe. The research

suggests that migrating Chaffinches carried

trichomonosis disease to Fennoscandia, from

where it then spread to Germany.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.

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.

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.

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.

Confidence in indicators Ecological indicators

are increasingly used to

monitor the state of the

environment. We assessed

wild bird indicators objectively, by examining

the effects of changing the criteria for species

inclusion, and show that they are fit for purpose.

Woodland birds The Scarce Woodland Bird

Survey has revealed how

birds show species-specific

responses to the structure

and composition of

woodland. This knowledge should prove a key

element in future forest conservation planning.

Competition for cavities A Belgian study suggests

that Ring-necked Parakeets

potentially reduce the

abundance of Nuthatch

through nest site competition. We found no

evidence for a significant impact on Nuthatch or

any other cavity-nesting species in the UK.

Helping Sparrows Gardens are the

preferred habitat for

House Sparrows within

urban landscapes, with

allotments becoming

important in the suburbs. Mitigation measures

to prevent colony loss should concentrate on

increasing the habitat quality of gardens.

MAkING WAvES: BTO at the Seabird Group International Conference...

FIND oUT MoRE A full list of the BTO papers published in 2011 can be viewed at www.bto.org/staff-publications-2011.

Lesser Black-backed Gull is one of the species that developing technology has allowed us to track, increasing our understanding of their migrations.

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.

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.


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.

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.

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.

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.

Lorem dolar Nightjar ed esent iusto con ulput nim nim er se tion eumsandigna con utpat, sit eu faccum ex estrud.

BTO funding in 2011/12We 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.

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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: [email protected] Web site: www.bto.org

Registered Charity no. 216652 (England & Wales) no. SC039193 (Scotland). Cover and back cover images: davId kjaER www.davidkjaer.com

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