Curlews, Lapwings and Other Birds Survey…………………………………………………2 Curlew
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Severn-Vyrnwy Three Parishes Confluence (Weston Rhyn, St. Martin’s Community Wildlife & Gobowen) Group Community Wildlife Group Bird Survey Results Bird Survey2018 Results 2017 Tanat to Perry Community Wildlife Group Bird Survey Results 2020 CONTENTS Tanat to Perry Community Wildlife Group……………………………………………………………. 1 Curlews, Lapwings and Other Birds Survey…………………………………………………2 Curlew ............................................................................................................................. 4 Survey results ............................................................................................................... 4 Population Trend .......................................................................................................... 6 Colour-ringing ............................................................................................................... 6 Recording Curlew Nest Sites ........................................................................................ 7 Lapwing .......................................................................................................................... 7 Anecdotal Evidence for the Decline of Lapwing and Curlew ..................................... 9 Kestrel .......................................................................................................................... 10 Cuckoo ......................................................................................................................... 11 Red Kite ........................................................................................................................ 12 Other Target Species................................................................................................... 13 Decline of Lapwing and Curlew .................................................................................. 14 Comparison of Bird Survey Results with the Shropshire Bird Atlas 2008-13 ........ 16 Use of CWG Survey Results ....................................................................................... 17 Work With Individual Farmers .................................................................................... 18 Lessons Learnt, to be Applied in 2021 ...................................................................... 18 Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 18 Other Community Wildlife Groups ............................................................................. 19 The SOS Save our Curlews Campaign ...................................................................... 19 Curlews and Pheasant Release .................................................................................. 20 Use of CWG Survey Results ....................................................................................... 21 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 21 Summary 2020 ............................................................................................................. 23 References ................................................................................................................... 23 Plans for 2021 .............................................................................................................. 23 Further Information ..................................................................................................... 24 Appendix 1. Map of Survey Area, showing Square Boundaries and Tetrad Codes ... 25 Appendix 2. All Curlew Records (surveys and casuals) .............................................. 26 Appendix 3. All Lapwing Records (surveys and casuals) ........................................... 27 Appendix 4. Detailed Survey Results .......................................................................... 28 Appendix 5 .................................................................................................................. 30 The Tanat to Perry Community Wildlife Group (CWG) was established in March 2018, primarily to look for Curlews as part of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) and Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) Save our Curlews Campaign. There were already Community Wildlife Groups surveying Lapwing and Curlew in most of the areas in the County where several pairs of Curlew had been found during Bird Atlas surveys carried out in 2008-13, but there was no previous coverage of this important area south of Oswestry. The aim of the Group is to involve local people in surveying the area for Lapwing and Curlew, to see if the populations have continued to fall here following the Bird Atlas survey. The survey aims to locate the territories of breeding pairs, estimate the population, and if possible pin-point the fields with nests. No attempt is made to look for nests. The area covered extends from Oswestry in the north to Kinnerley in the south, and eastward from the Welsh border to Ruyton-XI-Towns: from the Tanat to the Perry. It is shown on the Map in Appendix 1. 1 The launch meeting on 7 March 2018 received a presentation on the methodology and results of similar surveys carried out by Community Wildlife Groups in the Shropshire Hills since 2004, and the organisation of a similar survey in the Severn-Vyrnwy Confluence in 2018. An introductory leaflet, outlining the reasons for the survey and how it would be carried out, with an appeal for volunteers and publicising the meeting, was distributed in the area, and sent out to SWT and SOS members. Posters were put up, and a press release was sent out. The meeting was well attended, by 60 people, most of whom agreed to help. Several others, who were unable to come to the meeting, also volunteered to help. In total, 69 people, including 16 couples, plus one of the Shropshire Wild Teams, did survey work.es The survey was a success, and it was repeated in 2019, following another intensive publicity campaign and a well-attended briefing meeting on 5 March. Of the 50 people who attended, 26 were previous contacts (mostly surveyors), and 24 were new faces of whom 14 (including some 'pairs') signed up to survey tetrads. Other people, including some more surveyors who helped in 2018, also signed up to survey tetrads. All except four of the 43 tetrads were surveyed. The survey was carried out again in 2020, as detailed in this report. CURLEWS, LAPWINGS AND OTHER BIRDS SURVEY A bird survey has been carried out in the area shown in Appendix 1 since 2018. It is intended to repeat the survey annually, to monitor long-term population trends for key species, as well as establish their current population and distribution. Participants were asked to find out where Curlew and Lapwing occur in the breeding season, record behaviour indicative of breeding, and record other species, most of which are of nature conservation importance (i.e. they are Target Species for Government Agri- environment Schemes operated by Natural England, or they are on the Red List or Amber List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK because they have suffered large declines in the last 25 or 50 years, and/or are Target Species in the national Biodiversity Action Plan). In addition to Lapwing and Curlew, the other target species were:- Kestrel Dipper Spotted Flycatcher Red Kite Swift (nest sites only) Tree Sparrow Barn Owl Yellow Wagtail Linnet Grey Partridge Dunnock Bullfinch Snipe Wheatear Yellowhammer Skylark Whinchat Reed Bunting Meadow Pipit Stonechat Corn Bunting Cuckoo The area has been divided up into 43 survey squares, known as “tetrads” (2x2 kilometre squares, each made up of four of the one-kilometre squares shown on Ordnance Survey maps). These tetrads, and their reference code, are shown on the map in Appendix 1. The survey normally consists of three visits to each of these tetrads, once during each of three specified two week periods, around 1st April, 1st May and mid-June. Plans were made to carry out the surveys in 2020 as normal: the 2019 report was sent to all participants, 2 and a public meeting primarily to recruit and brief new surveyors was held on 4 March. Over 30 people attended, while several participants from previous years sent apologies, but volunteered to continue in 2020. Most squares were allocated to participants from previous years, or new volunteers who attended the public meeting or responded to early publicity, but eight of the 43 squares could not be allocated. A practical fieldwork training meeting is usually held for those that want one, but this was abandoned due to the coronavirus restrictions introduced in mid-March. The first and second surveys were cancelled too, after the Government’s advice to people to stay at home to help prevent the spread of the virus. Some surveyors could do their square(s) within the daily exercise walk from home, complying with social distancing guidelines, and others were able to choose daily exercise walks from home that enabled them to collect records of the main target species, in any survey square. In these cases, surveyors were requested to concentrate on Lapwing, Curlew and Kestrel, and any potential Red Kite breeding sites, and submit records on tetrad sheets or casual records maps, or by email, as appropriate. The lockdown restrictions in England were eased in mid-May, including allowing car journeys for travel to exercise, and no limit on the time spent exercising each day, so surveyors were requested on 15 May to resume survey work, and do a survey of their