GARDEN BIRD SURVEY

The Garden Bird survey last winter took place between November 2000 and March 2001. A total of 30 completed forms have been received, which is an increase of 8 on last year which in turn was an increase of 4 on the previous year. Part of the reason for this has been the publicity received in Duncan Ashcroft's column in the Chorley Guardian. Many thanks to him, and let's hope that those who have submitted surveys as a result will also give consideration to joining the Society! Please continue this excellent support of our survey, which over the long term helps us to monitor changes in the populations and species of birds using our gardens over the winter period.

The distribution of gardens was as follows:-

Location

Size

The medium sized suburban garden remains the most numerous contributor, but the increase in the number of rural gardens probably accounts for the wide variety of species, especially birds such as Heron, Mallard, Moorhen and Dipper.

The total number of species recorded this year was 51, i.e. an increase of 5 over last year and no doubt due to the increase in the number of gardens. A garden in Whittle again recorded the highest number (33), and the typical count was again between 20 & 22.

The top twenty has been produced as previously by weighting the scores according to frequency of visit, i.e. 3 points for daily visitors, two for frequent visitors and one for occasional visitors. Therefore, although four species were recorded in all 30 gardens, this methodology enables us to establish a more accurate table, and gives a better indication of the species most likely to be seen at any given time. What the table doesn't show is abundance, and as last year, the most abundant species are still Starling and House Sparrow, although they only occupy positions 9 and 10 respectively. One garden managed to stay Starling free all winter and two didn't see a House Sparrow. This represents a reversal of the last two years, and in fact House Sparrow has dropped three places as a result

A new entry to the top twenty is Carrion Crow - displacing Sparrowhawk. Most significant movements upwards were of Starling, Long-tailed Tit and Song Thrush, whilst on the downward path were Collared Dove, Coal Tit and Jay. Outside the top twenty, the most upwardly mobile species was Bullfinch, which came in at 21, largely as a result of an apparent influx from March onwards. A total of 11 gardens were receiving regular visits from Bullfinch. In the reverse direction, only seven gardens received rare visits from Siskin, a former top twenty species languishing at 29. Brambling fared even worse with only one garden receiving one visit.

The results generally speaking seem to have confirmed my own impressions. Siskin and Coal Tit have been relatively scarce this winter in gardens possibly because of an abundance of natural food. House Sparrows continue to decline and Collared Doves seem to be considerably less abundant. On the other hand, Starlings seem to have been more abundant than of late, Long-tailed Tits are visiting an increasing number of gardens and Song Thrushes seem to be staging a recovery.

Garden rarities included Marsh and Willow Tit (the former being extremely occasional in our area), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Little Owl, Dipper (guess where), and Tree Sparrow.

Species which didn't make it into the top twenty were as follows:-

Sparrowhawk and Mistle Thrush (13 gardens), Bullfinch and Pied Wagtail (11), Black-headed Gull (10), Blackcap (8), Siskin and Redwing (7), Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Pheasant (6), Treecreeper and Rook (5), Heron, Mallard, Moorhen and Tawny Owl (4), Kestrel, Fieldfare and Jackdaw (3), Willow Tit and Reed Bunting (2), and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Little Owl, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Dipper, Marsh Tit, Brambling and Tree Sparrow (1 each).

Thanks once again to everyone who took the trouble to complete and return forms for the survey.

Neil Southworth

N.B. Last year's positions in brackets.

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