BTO Atlas fieldwork

We're back in the UK for just a few days - in fact June is flying out to the Caribbean tomorrow - but we found a couple of hours this morning to complete our coverage of SK92B, our chosen tetrad for the BTO Atlas Project.

Two timed visits are required during the breeding season, the first in April or May and the second in June or July. Our early visit was made on 12th April when few migrant species had arrived so today we expected to add several new birds to the list.

We have sometimes been a bit disparaging about Doxey and from a birding point of view (or any other really) it doesn't compare well with our other base in Tavira. Having said that, life is full of surprises and this morning's two-hour walk across to Stafford Castle and then through the golf course to Castlefields and back produced two species that we would not have predicted: Kingfisher and Grasshopper Warbler.

We didn't see the Kingfisher well enough to determine its age or sex but it was certainly quite a way from any likely breeding habitat. It was seen at a small balancing lake, not far from Stafford railway station. A pair of Mute Swans with six cygnets, a Coot, a Great Crested Grebe and 25 scruffy-looking moulting Mallards were its only company at what is not an especially attractive site. Our guess is that it will soon move on.

Mute Swan

We have occasionally seen and heard Grasshopper Warblers at Doxey Marshes Nature Reserve, no more than half a mile from where this morning's bird was reeling but it was still very unexpected. This had become quite a scarce species in Staffordshire although recent years have seen something of a recovery in numbers which is perhaps continuing.

The point is that we were really too busy to go birding today but the BTO Atlas Project was our excuse to take time out. Not only that but it took us to an area which wouldn't have been our first choice as a birding destination. And we saw plenty of birds!

Timed Tetrad Visit

Our fifth day back in the UK and, with the sun showing at least for a while, we spent the morning on a Timed Tetrad Visit as part of the Bird Atlas 2007-11 Project organised by the British Trust for Ornithology. We volunteered some time ago to cover the tetrad SJ92B and today we counted birds in this 2km x 2km square for two hours. Timed Tetrad Visits are principally concerned with assessing the relative abundance of species so we were simply trying to determine the number and diversity of birds in our chosen area.

We chose SJ92B mainly because it is very close to our home in Stafford. It includes a small part of Doxey Marshes Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. In addition it has a nice mix of habitats (woodland, farmland, a small lake, a golf course) and importantly a good network of public footpaths making for easy access. Stafford Castle stands in the south-west corner of the tetrad and has done for 900 years or so.

During our two hours we recorded a total of just 33 species. Mallards (8), Coots (3) and Moorhens (3) were the only 'waterbirds' and there were no waders at all apart from a flock of about 100 Lapwings that flew over and which because they weren't actually 'using' the tetrad, we couldn't include. Mostly we found finches, thrushes and tits and amongst these Lesser Redpolls were the nearest we came to a surprise. The most numerous species was Wood Pigeon (or Woodpigeon as the BTO call it). Species seen only singly were Goldcrest, Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Pheasant, Sparrowhawk and Greenfinch. We saw as many (five) Great Spotted Woodpeckers as we did Wrens which wasn't expected.

Dunnock - 7 seen today in SJ92B

Clearly SJ92B isn't the most exciting or productive area for finding birds but no doubt our small contribution will help towards eventually putting together the 'big picture' in an Atlas. Also, after several days stuck in the house, we enjoyed getting out for a walk and it was good to find several species that we haven't seen for a while. It did seem odd, though, not to find any Black-winged Stilts or Flamingos! There will be more counting to be done in the same area come the breeding season.