Newsletter / Blog
2011-07-21 The 2007-11 Welsh Bird Atlas project - time is running out - Please help.
Over the last four years thousands of volunteers have been out and
about in Wales counting birds and taking part in the BTO’s most
ambitious project to date, the 2007-11 Bird Atlas but time is running
out and evidence of breeding birds in Wales is still needed.
Right now Swifts are at their most obvious, and screaming parties of
these enigmatic birds indicate that breeding pairs are around. Once
pairs have young, with a little patience it should be quite easy to spot
them entering the eaves of suitable buildings, and this is just the
breeding evidence that the BTO need. Records of specialist species such
as Nightjar and Woodcock which favour forestry plantations are welcomed,
and streams and rivers can be investigated for Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey
Wagtail and Common Sandpiper. Swallows and House Martins are multi
brooded and if you missed them earlier in the season, they could be
having their second breeding attempts shortly.
Kelvin Jones, BTO Wales Development Officer, commented, “Wales
holds some pretty special breeding birds. It is one of the strongholds
for the Chough, and its valleys hold more breeding Pied Flycatchers than
anywhere else in Britain but Wales also holds good numbers of common
breeding birds. House Sparrows are declining in England but here in
Wales they are doing very well and their numbers have almost doubled
over the last decade. However, we only know this because people tell the
BTO and we need people to get out between now and the end of August and
tell us about any breeding birds they see anywhere in Wales, from the
middle of Cardiff to the top of Snowdon, to ensure we have the clearest
picture of our breeding birds ever.”
He added, “Lighter evenings mean that short evening trips are
possible, and if you were to target local areas for a couple of hours
you could add significantly to the species recorded in the locality.”
To submit your records, please visit www.birdatlas.net or contact Kelvin Jones on kevin.jones@bto.org |