Breeding Bird Surveys

Background

All birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) whilst breeding. This legislation protects active nests, eggs and unfledged young from damage, or destruction. Species listed under Schedule 1 of the WCA 1981 (as amended), have additional protection, which makes it an offence to disturb a bird while it is nest building, or at a nest containing eggs or young, or disturb the dependent young of such a bird. EMEC Ecology offers a variety of bird survey types, as follows.

Breeding Bird Survey

This type of survey can be used to identify the species breeding on site as well as their abundance and distribution during the breeding season (March to June inclusively).

Methodology

Standard Common Bird Census (CBC) methodology (Gilbert et al. 1982; Bibby et al. 2003) will be followed in which an observer walks a route taking them to within 50 m of every point of the site where appropriate, and the identity and activity of all birds noted. The types of observations include birdsong, alarm calls, courtship, aggressive displays, carrying nest material, food carrying, family groups and feeding young. Birds flying over the survey area will also be noted as well as birds on the survey area boundary. Four to six survey visits will be conducted, depending on habitats present; these will be carried out between March/April and June inclusive. Surveys will be carried out early morning (when bird activity is high). It should be noted that the number of survey visits are dependent on the habitats present and species which are likely to be encountered. Should it be identified following the initial visit that additional visits be required then additional fees are likely to be incurred, this will be discussed with the client prior to determination.

The use of acoustic recording devices can be used, largely to bolster the conventional walked up survey data, which will also enable the recording of crepuscular and nocturnal species, which would be otherwise missed during diurnal surveys. Recorders can be deployed to cover two periods: firstly between April to mid-May, and then mid-May to the end of June, a minimum of five days recording should be undertaken per deployment. This should cover a minimum of one hour before sunrise until two hours after, and an hour either side of sunset – for a total of five hours recording per day. Recording devices will be deployed once per month (March/April to June inclusive), recording for up to five days prior to a breeding survey visit. At which point the devices will be collected and software, which allows viewing and analysis of said recordings, will be used to determine the number and species of nocturnal birds using the Site.

To avoid ‘double-counting’ from recording the same birds on more than one recorder, a minimum distance between sampling locations of 250 m should be applied. Recorders will be located 1-2 m from the ground, on tripods, narrow poles, or trees <0.2 m diameter, avoiding branches/leaves around the unit as far as possible.

Random locations will be selected and rotated between visits to ensure full coverage of the Site and different habitats. Additionally, any birds migrating over the Site during the spring migration period will be noted.

It may be prudent to undertake specific species surveys such as breeding long-eared owl, nightjar, woodlark, nightingale or other such cryptic species where specific methodology will need to be adopted to ensure that species are not under recorded. Methodology will be devised and confirmed with the client, following a desk based assessment and a reconnaissance visit/initial survey visit of the site.

Following the Survey

Territory Mapping

Territory maps for priority species will subsequently be created using mapping software, this will enable an assessment to determine the Sites breeding bird assemblage and aggregations of notable species present.

Report

We will provide a report detailing the results of our survey and any required mitigation as soon as possible following the survey, however; should you have a specific date for submission of a planning application we will do our utmost to accommodate this.

Mitigation Measures

Mitigation measures will be dependent on the nature of any planned works, the species of birds present and how they are using the site. Our Land Management team are experienced in implementing a variety of mitigation measures, such as habitat creation and bird box installation.