News Item
2024
The UK is host to internationally essential numbers of wintering waterbirds, and the long-term monitoring Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) and Goose and Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP) present important knowledge that informs choice makers when contemplating conservation measures for these birds.
With knowledge offered by over 3,800 devoted volunteers throughout the UK, the surveys ship an annual evaluation of geese, geese, swans and waders residing on, or passing by, our coasts, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs and rivers.
The 2022/23 WeBS report reveals but extra adjustments within the fortunes of a lot of our wildfowl (geese, geese and swans) and wading birds. As winters proceed to turn into milder and damper throughout a lot of northern Europe, many species are altering their behaviours in response. Historically, harsh circumstances in northern and jap Europe would see enormous numbers of birds migrating to the comparatively gentle circumstances of a British winter however now, as beforehand frozen landscapes turn into more and more accessible, important numbers of birds are staying nearer to their breeding grounds, in a phenomenon often known as short-stopping.
Those that do nonetheless make the journey throughout the North Sea to spend the winter within the UK are sometimes arriving later and leaving earlier, subsequently staying with us for a lot shorter durations.
Although 2022 and 2023 had been the 2 warmest years on file within the UK, the 2022-2023 winter was one thing of a combined bag. December 2022 skilled a notable chilly snap, adopted by a interval of milder climate earlier than a brief drop as soon as once more in mid-January. The remainder of the winter interval remained largely gentle and settled. As a consequence, there gave the impression to be little main chilly weather-related motion of wildfowl and waders and as soon as once more many species remained on the continent.
However, it isn’t simply wildfowl from the north which are present process change. The survey has additionally revealed that different acquainted waterbirds resembling Coot are being affected by milder winters. The UK Coot inhabitants contains each resident birds which breed right here and a few birds which be a part of them for the winter. And whereas analysis suggests declines in our breeding inhabitants, we’re additionally seeing a notable discount in wintering birds. Coot aren’t typically thought-about as migratory however ringing recoveries have demonstrated that they will cowl appreciable distances. For instance, one Coot that was ringed in London in 2017, was noticed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in April 2021, three months after final being seen in London. It was then seen once more in London in March 2022, exhibiting that it accomplished a spherical journey of 4,000 km!
Not solely are we seeing a discount in birds arriving for the winter however the survey additionally reveals that some birds which might have left the UK in autumn at the moment are staying, slightly than heading to hotter climes. We have seen a rise within the numbers of such species as Black-tailed Godwit, a hanging wading hen of freshwater marshes and estuaries, remaining on our shores versus migrating to southern Europe, as they did prior to now.
Whilst monitoring reveals short-stopping as a contributor to the noticed adjustments, largely declines, to our wintering waterbird populations, we should not overlook that a few of these species, resembling Bewick’s Swan, are additionally experiencing declines of their breeding populations. Continued monitoring right here within the UK and worldwide collaboration on flyway scale are important for monitoring future adjustments in populations and distribution of migratory populations of our waders and wildfowl as they proceed to adapt to a altering local weather, degraded landscapes and a number of different challenges, in order that we could inform future conservation choices and concerns.
WeBS is a joint challenge managed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). GSMP is a joint challenge coordinated by BTO, JNCC, and NatureScot.
The challenge managers and coordinators are indebted to the hundreds of WeBS and GSMP volunteers who give their time and abilities to gather the info utilized in these statistics.
For extra data, go to the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) Annual Report webpage.
