The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS)

Welcome to the WeBS homepage! The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) is the scheme which monitors non-breeding waterbirds in the UK. The principal aims of WeBS are to identify population sizes, determine trends in numbers and distribution and to identify important sites for waterbirds.

If you have any problems, please contact us

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the international Ramsar Convention on wetlands. Read more about how WeBS monitoring can be used to raise the importance of wetlands in our part of the world. 

WeBS Core Count date: 12th February 2012  

Winter 2011/12 has so far proven to be mild, but as we enter February there are suggestions that a spell of colder, more wintry weather may be on the way. How long will it last, and how will waterbirds respond? Species that often arrive in the UK in response to cold weather on the continent, such as Smew and Bittern, may increase in numbers. However, a prolonged freeze can lead to an exodus from the UK by other species, such as Lapwing, in search of milder conditions. Our estuaries become especially critical at such times for internationally important populations of waders and wildfowl, and of course will continue to provide us with some of the most amazing spectacles of the birding calendar. 

December and January saw large numbers of Iceland Gulls in northern Scotland, perhaps forced out of their usual wintering areas by lack of food. Counts of 50+ birds have been noted at sites in the Northern Isles, which is truly exceptional. So, regular checking of gull roosts further south in Britain might well produce the species at a reservoir or gravel-pit near you this month.  

This winter has seen the second ever record of Western Sandpiper for the WeBS database (with a winterer continuing to reside at Cley in Norfolk). What price the discovery of another wintering Nearctic wader by WeBS counters in February...?

Count dates

The core count dates for 2011/12 are available here.