Bird Atlas 2007-11 / GM Breeding Birds Atlas 2008-11

Breeding Season 2011 – The Final Countdown

 

We have now reached the final breeding season of both the national and GM Atlases. 2011 is the last chance for people to get involved in the most important bird recording project in GM for 30 years. So if you would like your name to appear in the new GM Breeding Atlas, as a contributor, please read on. 

After an excellent 2010, (see the spring 2011 Atlas newsletter above for details), in which over 11,000 breeding records were submitted to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) from Greater Manchester, we are now entering a crucial period from March to August 2011 in which we need to collect as many records as possible of confirmed breeding, to ensure the current status of our breeding birds is accurately mapped. The records submitted so far are already being used by the RSPB in their Bird Conservation Targeting Project http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/projects/targeting/index.aspx and will prove invaluable in identifying areas in GM that require protection, from the mosslands in Salford and Wigan to the uplands of Bolton and Oldham.

So if you’ve not taken part so far, please make 2011 the year you do. Contributing records to the Atlas is a great way to make your birding count and to give something back to the birds that give us so much pleasure. We need records of even the most common species such as Blackbird, House Sparrow and Starling. In thirty years time they may no longer be as widespread as they are today. See the spring 2011 Atlas newsletter above for the list of priority species.

How you can help

In the final breeding season the focus is on collecting casual records, known as Roving Records, of confirmed breeding, especially in those areas of the county (Bolton, Oldham and Wigan) which have received relatively poor coverage during 2008-10. The list of priority tetrads (2km squares) from where we most need records, can be viewed here. If you are interested in covering one of these then please contact either Steve Atkins (email: steveatkins@tiscali.co.uk if the tetrad is in Bolton, Bury, Oldham or Rochdale) or Steve Suttill (email: suttill.parkinson@virgin.net for all other boroughs). It is vitally important that we avoid duplication of effort in this final year. We can only do this by knowing which tetrads you plan to cover.

However, if you do not wish to take on a tetrad, you can still submit Roving Records from anywhere in GM. It only takes a few minutes to register on the BTO website http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas and then you can enter records on-line. Roving Records are required from all tetrads including those already surveyed by Timed Tetrad Visit’s (TTV’s). Our aim is to record the highest possible evidence of breeding for all the species that occur in each of the 329 GM tetrads.

How to make a record

There are four key pieces of information that are required for your records to be used.

1.  The species

2.  The Tetrad (or 2km square). To work out which tetrad the bird was in you can view the GM Tetrad map or read the section on Tetrads in the GM Atlas Recording Guidelines. Otherwise just make a note of the location and contact one of the atlas organisers for advice. You can print off a map off any tetrad from the BTO website http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas/taking-part/atlas-tools

3.  A breeding code - this is of vital importance, as without this information the record can not be used in the distribution maps.  The full list of breeding codes can be found on the BTO website http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas/taking-part/breeding-evidence There is also a handy card for taking out into the field which you can obtain from the Atlas organisers.

4.  The date.

Distribution maps:

Provisional maps for the priority species that we need to target in 2011 (showing the results from the 2008-10 breeding seasons) can be viewed on this website here

They plot species into three categories:

Possible breeder – either a bird seen in suitable nesting habitat (code H) or heard singing on one occasion (code S).

Probable breeder – this might be a bird on territory (code T) A territory is defined as a bird heard singing at the same location on two dates at least a week apart, or two or more birds singing against each other on a single date. A pair of birds (code P), or a bird carrying nesting material (code B), are also classified as probable breeders.

Confirmed breeder

Confirmed Breeding

Our ultimate aim is to confirm breeding of as many species as possible in each of the 329 tetrads which make up Greater Manchester. You only need to submit one record of confirmed breeding per species from each tetrad you visit. There are a number of ways in which breeding can be confirmed and each has its own code.

ON (Occupied Nest) – Early breeders such as Collared Dove or Mistle Thrush may be seen actually sitting on a nest. Scanning a field or brownfield site may reveal a Lapwing sitting on its nest scrape. You don’t need to see the eggs to use this code, so don’t approach too close. Later on in the summer House Martins may be seen entering or leaving their nests under the eaves of a building or Swifts seen disappearing into a roof space.

NE (Nest containing Eggs) – this code needs no explanation. If you do find a nest move away as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of predation, or the eggs chilling, whilst the adult is off the nest.

NY (Nest with Young) – as well as seeing unfledged young, this code can be used when you hear young calling from the nest. As fledging time approaches the hunger calls of species such as House Martin and Magpie will be heard clearly even at some distance. The enclosed nest structure mean you won’t be able to see the young but the adults will be flying to and from the nests.  

FF (Faecal sac or Food) - a Song Thrush seen in your garden collecting worms in its bill will have young in a nest nearby, you don’t need to find the nest. This is a good way to confirm breeding of Starlings and Skylarks as they fly past carrying food. Watch for birds flying away from nests carrying a white faecal sac. They will smear this onto a bush or tree before resuming the search for food.  

FL (Fledged young or downy young) - recently fledged birds that are being fed by adults are perhaps one of the easiest ways to confirm breeding. This code should only be used for young which are accompanied by and clearly still dependent on the adults. Lapwing chicks whilst feeding independently will still run to the adult for shelter, or react to the adults alarm calls when danger threatens. If you see an unaccompanied juvenile don’t submit the record to the Atlas.

Just one record could make the difference between a species being confirmed as breeding in a particular tetrad, rather than being shown as a possible or probable breeder. This is particularly true of those tetrads which do not contain any of the county’s main birding sites.

10km Summaries

To assist birders in targeting those species and tetrads where as yet we have no records of confirmed breeding, the BTO has produced a summary, by 10km square, of the 2008-10 breeding seasons’ results. The PDFs are available to download here or copies may be obtained from Steve Atkins. We would suggest that you print off a copy of the 10km squares you are visiting and take these with you when going out birding. For the most up to date information use the Any Square Summary or My Square Summaries on the BTO website http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas You need to log in to view the information.

When to start recording

Although the official start date for recording is 1^st April you can still submit records from March or even earlier, especially for early nesting species. A Collared Dove (a species for which we still need confirmed breeding records) was seen sitting on a nest built in traffic lights on Chadderton Broadway on 11^th January this year. So it’s never too early to start!

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the Atlas you can post your question on the Questions and Answers thread on the GM Breeding Atlas section of the forum. Alternatively, please contact either Steve Suttill Email suttill.parkinson@virgin.net or Steve Atkins steveatkins@tiscali.co.uk

The next Atlas

If you are thinking about taking part in the next national Atlas then recording should begin in 2027! As for the next GM Atlas, it could be a much longer wait.

 

The Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group, March 2011