I’ve grown fond of my Breeding Bird Survey square. When I first visited it nine years ago my first impressions weren’t overwhelmingly positive, a 1km x 1km chunk of farmland on Romney Marsh in Kent. Whizzing past, perhaps en route to Dungeness, you wouldn’t give it a second glance.
A couple of hours walking it’s lanes and field edges started to reveal the hidden nature of ‘my’ square – corn buntings (pictured) and yellow wagtails stole the show as reed warblers muttered away in reed-fringed ditches. The hedgerows were bursting with whitethroat song and topped off with yellowhammers.
Visiting the square for the two counts in early and late spring has provided some memorable moments – quail, barn owl, hobby and a ring ouzel passing through were great finds, but the image that is most fixed in my mind’s eye is an immaculate male yellow wagtail sitting on top of a spray of oil seed rape flowers; a binocular-full of yellow.
Visiting the same place at the same time each year highlights the changes – in one year, two fields were still unplanted in early spring and lapwings appeared in tumbling display flight over the brown earth. The changing tapestry of winter wheat, oil seed rape and peas move the cast of farmland birds around the square as they respond to the cropping patterns. A small clump of trees has disappeared making one field a bit larger – and with it the most likely place to find green woodpeckers in the square.
This year the ditches had been cleaned out, a process that happens every few years to prevent them becoming blocked. On my first visit the stark profile of the slubbed ditches meant that I didn’t find a single reed warbler – a month later and the new growth of reeds was full of their song.
The tree sparrows were in their usual place, an overgrown hedge next to some farm buildings. When I started visiting the square, they weren’t around so they are a welcome addition.
Throughout the nine years there has been a steady reduction in corn bunting numbers I counted 19 in 2002, only one last year. My early spring visit was corn bunting-less, and I feared the worst on my late spring visit – and for most of my walk my fears were coming true. Then, as I stopped to watch two yellow wagtails chasing each other through a crop of peas, a corn bunting’s jangling song meant that they are still on my square for another year.
The Breeding Bird Survey is the mainstay of providing vital trends on the population of our commoner birds – it’s an important indicator of the health of our countryside. It's a real chance to contribute to conservation through birdwatching and a unique opportunity to take the time to find wildlife in a bit of ordinary countryside.
Why not find out more about the Breeding Bird Survey – here’s the link. The BTO run the survey on behalf of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the RSPB.