WINTER THRUSHES SURVEY 2012/13

[Jamie]

WINTER THRUSHES SURVEY 2012/13.

Our resident thrushes are joined each year by large numbers of winter visitors including Redwings and Fieldfares and we need to know more about their winter survival needs.
In this survey, observers are invited to set up routes for winter walks to record thrushes, their habitat and feeding activity. The survey operates online through the BTO website and there are two ways for you to take part.

1. Self selected squares.
Choose a site where you can set a route for a winter walk where you are likely to see thrushes feeding. You need to register your chosen site using the survey's online data entry pages. Log in using your existing user name and password for BTO online surveys if you have one (Atlas 2007-11, Birdtrack, BBS, WeBS etc), or register as a new user.
Routes of about 1.5 – 3km can be walked as often as you wish during the survey period which is mid September to mid April. About once a month would be ideal, to allow some turnover of birds between successive visits, but there are no stipulations and no minimum requirements. The aim is to count the thrushes, and using simple tick boxes, record whether they are feeding and what on?

2. Core squares. In Cleveland we have also been allocated 20 randomly selected squares which are to be surveyed once during the period December 27th to January 10th. It is particularly important to achieve complete coverage of these randomly selected squares. Volunteers may of course visit these squares in other months if they so wish but the synchronised counts over the Christmas period are essential in the core squares.

This survey is designed to investigate how the numbers and distribution of thrushes varies through the winter and how they use the landscape and what is important to them. Our thrushes show a strong liking for berries such as hawthorn, blackberry, ivy and holly in the first half of the winter. Later in the season they also forage extensively for earthworms, snails and other invertebrates in arable fields, spring tillage, oilseed rape and permanent pasture.
How important are the food resources provided by gardens, orchards, hedgerows and woodlands to their survival? How are they affected by the amount of snow cover or the amount of unfrozen ground?

This is a good way to add another dimension to your birding this winter, an extra incentive for some healthy exercise and a chance to contribute to our understanding of the behaviour of the thrushes that share our winters.

This is primarily an on-line survey and full details including maps, forms and instructions are available to download from www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/winter-thrushes

Observers without internet access can contribute to the survey on paper.

Further information is available from BTO Regional Representative, Vic Fairbrother. vic.fairbrother@ntlworld.com