BirdTrack News Archive

2010

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Below you can read all the old BirdTrack news items. For earlier years, select from the menu on the left.

Purple Sandpipers

22 January 2010

Whilst many upland areas are still snow bound, lower regions and coastal areas are finally free of snow and ice. Improved road conditions have seen more people getting out birding this week but perhaps surprisingly, there have still been relatively few BirdTrack records of Purple Sandpiper, with only 23 records 11-22 January. If you do go birding on the coast over the next few weeks (and whether or not you are fortunate enough to see any of these fantastic birds) please record your sightings in BirdTrack.

Gary Prescott's BIGBY (see 8 January) has gathered pace as the weather has improved; this week he reached southeast England. Follow Gary's progress here.

Further hard weather effects

15 January 2010

Unsurprisingly the effects of the weather on our birds have continued to dominate the reports you are sending in. A notable increase of thrushes visiting gardens has already been detected in Garden BirdWatch results. Redwings and Fieldfares (such as the individual captured in this unique image) have topped the GBW charts in terms of increase in garden occurrence, going up by 283% and 267% respectively, compared to the same time period over the previous 4 winters. One enterprising observer even carried out an apple preference experiment, concluding that Golden Delicious was the favoured variety for the Fieldfares in his garden! Elsewhere a Black-throated Thrush created a stir by visiting a garden in Newholm near Whitby.

Big Freeze and a Big Green Big Year

8 January 2010

Not only is the big freeze providing unusually close views of birds like this Reed Bunting but it is also causing some spectacular hard weather movements. An amazing 2,610 Skylarks were BirdTracked heading south over Sunderland on 1 January and thousands of larks, thrushes and other species were observed moving eastwards along the south coast at the end of the week.

As the Arctic conditions continue, spare a thought for Gary Prescott. His monster challenge for 2010 is a Big Green Big Year (BIGBY) that involves cycling, yes cycling to every RSPB and WWT reserve in the UK! His targets are to raise money for the RSPB, WWT and Asthma UK, to increase awareness of climate change and to break the Non-motorised Year List record (251 species seen by Chris Mills in 2005). Read Gary's blog to find out how he is getting on.

Freezing start to 2010

1 January 2010

Happy New Year to all BirdTrackers! Several excellent images were uploaded to the BirdTrack flickr pool over the holiday period, most reflecting the hard weather being experienced in many parts of Britain and Ireland. This atmospheric capture of a drake Goldeneye on a small patch of unfrozen water encapsulates the hardships faced by waterbirds in these conditions. The image was taken in Scotland where the RSPB issued this plea, relevant to birders and bird photographers across the country.