Dee Estuary News September 2003

Professor David Norman

The council of the Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society (CAWOS) has agreed that they should embark on an atlas project to map the breeding and wintering distribution and abundance of birds in Cheshire and Wirral. This will be the biggest task undertaken by the Society and we hope that as many people as possible will take part.

Why are we doing this?

The Breeding Bird Atlas of Cheshire & Wirral was published over ten years ago (1992) based on fieldwork now twenty years old (1978-84). Nationally, those twenty years have seen perhaps the biggest changes ever in bird populations and distribution. A glance at some of the maps from our Atlas hints at some of the changes that have taken place locally. Mute Swan was at a low point, with fewer than 20 pairs. Shelducks and Oystercatchers were just starting to breed inland. Amongst the raptors, there were just two tetrads (2x2km squares) with confirmed breeding of Buzzard, and none of Peregrine or Hobby. Grey Partridges were confirmed to breed in one quarter of the county’s 670 tetrads, with breeding season presence in two-thirds of them. Observers recorded Snipe in the breeding season in one-quarter of the county’s tetrads. Lapwings and Skylarks nested in over half, and Yellow Wagtails were found in well over half, and proven to breed in over a quarter. Tree Pipits were found in over 80 tetrads, with Turtle Doves encountered in 144, while there were only four tetrads with proven breeding of Pied Flycatcher. Marsh Tits occurred in almost a quarter of the county, and Willow Tits in over 40%. Tree Sparrows were found in over three-quarters of tetrads and Linnets and Yellowhammers in over 85%, while there were 260 tetrads with Corn Buntings recorded, and breeding in over 200 of them. These are amongst the most striking results, unbelievable to today’s birders, and it is vital for conservation to determine the present status of these, and many other species. But there are surely more subtle changes to be discovered. Do Starlings and House Sparrows still breed in 98% of the county?

Now, we have decided that not only are we going to do a new breeding bird atlas, but shall do winter distribution as well. A lot of birds migrate here for the winter, taking advantage of our relatively mild weather and good food resources. But for many species we know little at the detailed county level of where they are and how many there are. This Atlas will be a major advance on the first county breeding Atlas because it will measure abundance as well as distribution. The methods for doing this are still being discussed, with advice from the BTO and other counties, but will probably involve experienced surveyors visiting a sample of the county’s tetrads.

Good participation from as many birdwatchers as possible is essential to make a success of the Atlas and achieve full coverage of Cheshire and Wirral. Many people have said that surveying for the first Atlas was one of their most enjoyable and worthwhile experiences in birding. Anyone can join in! This is a chance not only to get to know the birds of an area much better, and probably to come up with some surprises, but also to contribute to a major project that will see your work published and put to good use for conservation.

Fieldwork will start next April (2004) and will cover three breeding seasons (April to the end of June each year) and three winter periods (mid-November to the end of February), finishing in February 2007. We plan that the publication, as a quality hardback book, will be during 2008. The basis for recording will be the birds in each tetrad: this is a 2x2km square, defined by the gridlines on the Ordnance Survey maps. The previous Atlas engaged the interest of birders and achieved complete coverage of all 670 tetrads in Cheshire and Wirral; we aim to do likewise. Each tetrad will probably need two visits in the breeding season and two in winter, sometime during the three years of the project.

Perhaps you can now start to think which tetrads you would like to deal with. In the autumn we shall be compiling lists and approaching birders who have offered help. Maybe some of the local bird clubs would like to arrange coverage of their own areas? We shall probably arrange coordinators for areas of the county to give local knowledge and act as contacts between organisers and observers. All offers will be welcome.

Help will be needed not only with the fieldwork. Volunteers will be appreciated to help with other aspects of the project like publicity and fundraising, production of webpages, data-inputting and so on.

The Atlas will provide the essential up-to-date knowledge of the distribution and population of the county’s birds during the ‘core’ times of year – breeding and winter periods – when most are relatively fixed. We also hope to encourage more records from the spring and autumn periods, although these will not be mapped in the Atlas as many birds are just moving through the area. These records will, however, be put to good use in the annual Bird Reports and will provide the final pieces of the jigsaw needed to complete a county avifauna. This will be a book describing the current status of birds in the county, placed in the context of historical records and the national and international picture. The first such avifauna of Cheshire & Wirral was by T.A. Coward in 1900 and the only county-wide publication since then was by Hedley Bell as long ago as 1962. Thus, an up-to-date avifauna is long overdue, and has been discussed many times in the last decade. This Atlas will provide an essential input into a new avifauna.

I am coordinating the project and a small group is working behind the scenes on the details. We are taking advice from other societies, including those in Cumbria and Lancashire and North Merseyside who have recently completed their own atlases. The detailed methodology will be announced later this year. Meanwhile, please think about how you can help, and prepare to get involved in CAWOS’s biggest ever project!

Professor David Norman, Rowswood Cottage, Ridding Lane, Sutton Weaver, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 6PF. Tel. 01928 711064. e-mail: david.norman@physics.org