This blog was written by Lilli, residential volunteer at RSPB West Sedgemoor, Greylake, and Swell Wood
There have been quite a few changes recently at West Sedgemoor. Dan left after one year volunteering, and new residential volunteer Kayleigh from South Africa joined us. Now that the spring finally arrived, we finished the practical winter work and started doing bird surveys. Today’s Blog is about Breeding Wader Survey (BWS) because its starting shot just was on the 15th of April.
There is a declining population in the countryside for some bird species. We are particularly looking for key species waders like Curlew, Snipe, Lapwing, and Redshank, but also Quail, Spotted Crake, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Grasshopper Warbler, Meadow Pipit and Yellow Wagtail. The UK conservation status for all of these species is either “red” or “amber” so they are in real trouble and need our help. By monitoring their population we know whether our habitat management is working well for these birds or if we need to change some things.
(Assistant Warden Paul filling in a map)
There are three time windows in which one site should be visited. The first one is between 15th of April and 30th of April. The second one is in between the next three weeks so first of May until 21st of May and the third and last one between 22nd Of May until the 18th of June. The survey should be carried out between one and four hours after dawn - which means getting up early to start at 6am or earlier. All we need is a map and pen, binoculars and non-leaking wellies.
The method is to walk around each field to within 100m from the edges in a big loop to flush the birds and then make a note of species and activity on the map. There is a list for all the Species Codes and Activity Codes which are little symbols of what they are doing. For example, if a Sedge Warbler is singing you draw a circle around the Species Code which is SW in that case. If a Curlew is calling you underline the code. There are a lot of codes that make sense but as always there are exceptions, so it is handy having the list with you. A Grey wagtail is “GL” whereas “GW” stands for Garden Warbler…a favourite is Great White Egret, Latin name Casmerodius albus which means Heron White so the code is HW!
We make a note of every bird we see and hear as well as the level of standing water in the fields. The fields on the last two BWS have been really wet which made walking more exhausting than on dry ground. A “0” means no standing water, a “+” stands for no standing water but squelchy. If there is standing water, you make a note in percentage.
It is important that we assess the types of grass, the first one is of the land use and grass situation whether it was mown, grazed, withy, etc. The second is the vegetation structure and sward height. It should be the average of the whole field measured in cm. A good way to do so I to have a scale drawn on your wellies or just guessing the height.
(A map after the first visit with lots of information )
On the most recent BWS at West Sedgemoor we were lucky to get to see a White-tailed Eagle. And loads of Yellow Wagtails, they seem to enjoy it here a lot.
That’s it for the first visit, a lot of walking in the early morning but you get rewarded with a beautiful sunrise, sometimes lots of bird activity, and a good workout.
(If you get rewarded with a sunrise like that, it is definitely worth getting up early)
After the three visits we summarize all the information for important species in one map using different colours for each visit and see whether a population is in or decreasing.
There is a different atmosphere in the early hours of the morning, a special light and fresh clear air. That is why I really enjoy doing them plus another advantage is you can finish the work day earlier :)
West Sedgemoor Residential Volunteering team