Abstract from BTO Research Report No. 304:

S.J. Holloway, M.J.S. Armitage, H.J. Mellan (2006)

The Role of Birds as a Potential Source of Bacterial Contamination Along the Blackpool Shoreline – Year 2 (2002). ISBN 978-1-906204-07-5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Monthly counts of the waterbirds and pigeons on the intertidal area between the Metropole Hotel and the Pleasure Beach were made between May and September 2002. The number of Starlings roosting on North and Central Piers was recorded.

Analysis relating the bird distributional data to the water quality data was not carried out.

Key Points

• The results of this study showed that large numbers of gulls and also Starlings continue to use both the intertidal area for feeding and roosting (gulls) and the piers for roosting (Starlings).
• The results suggest an increase in the numbers of gulls on the intertidal area particularly around the piers compared to 2001. The numbers of Starlings roosting on North and Central Piers also appeared to be higher than at the same period in 2001, particularly in July, when 60% of all birds were juveniles. However, the commencement of an experiment to scare roosting Starlings from the piers in early August depressed roosting numbers for the remainder of the study.
• Continued monitoring of the numbers of waterbirds, particularly gulls and Starlings, is recommended, especially if further experiments to scare roosting birds from the piers are to be undertaken in the future.
• It is recommended that these bird distributional data are related to the water quality data obtained by the Environment Agency to confirm the relationships between water quality and gull and Starling numbers determined using the 2001 data (Holloway et al. 2002).

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