WeBS News

WeBS Annual Report status

The 2006/07 WeBS Annual Report is complete and has been sent to counters. To download it, click here.

Could any outstanding data for the WeBS Year 07/08 (July 2007 to June 2008) be sent in immediately as we have almost completed loading these data into the database.

Recent waterbird news

In addition to reeking havoc on much of the coastline of East Anglia, strong northerly winds in early November brought numerous divers, grebes and Grey Phalaropes to the east of Britain. Occasionally some of these bird seek to recuperate inland. Look out for divers and grebes on your local reservoir or for Grey Phalaropes on coastal pools or just offshore when undertaking your next WeBS count.

Large numbers of ducks and geese continue to arrive. Numbers of Pink-footed Geese in Norfolk have now reached well over 100,000 birds. Look out for other geese mixed in with these flocks. Look out for Snow or Tundra Bean Geese as there has been a few mixed in with the flocks of “Pinkies”.

Waterbird research news

When not involved directly in WeBS, the WeBS and waterbird research team continues to undertake a diverse research programme.

Recent Projects:

Turnover - to attain international importance a wetland site must either “regularly” support at least 20,000 waterbirds or 1% of the individuals of a population of a species or subspecies of waterbird. In most cases, sites have been designated by using the maxima of individual counts. These counts will underestimate the total number of birds passing through the site. The waterbird research team are developing new methodologies for assessing how many birds move through a site, to assess its conservation importance. To find out more, click here.

Offshore windfarms - More and more windfarms are being built in marine habitats, often in areas favoured waterbirds and seabirds. Although conventional impact assessments allow estimates of the number of birds that might collide with or be displaced by windfarms, such methods do not allow the overall effect on bird populations to be established. The waterbird research team, has been assessing whether sufficient information is available to assess population impacts. To find out more, click here.

Recent WeBS publications

There are no recent WeBS publications. To access past publications, click here.

Recent updates to the WeBS website

A search facility and contact information for all local organisers is available here. Details of which waterbodies are covered by WeBS, including maps showing site boundaries are available here. The WeBS Alerts Report is due for revamp, but at the request of the WeBS partnership, will not be updated with new data every year, but will instead be updated every three years. This is to ensure that site site managers are not chasing moving targets when responding to Alerts. We continue to encourage users to enter their counts online. To access the WeBS online system, click here.

Other recent news

Bird Atlas:

Fieldwork for the winter period of the Bird Atlas 2007-11 has started. WeBS counters can contribute to this by submitting Roving Records. To find out more, click here.

Avian Influenza:

Defra have now confirmed that the outbreak of Avian Influenza in Suffolk is highly pathogenic H5N1. WeBS data continue to be used to advise Government. To find out more, click here.

Staff changes:

Alex Banks, low-tide organiser of the Low-Tide Scheme since 2004 has left the BTO. Neil Calbrade takes over as Low-Tide Scheme organiser. Lucy Wright joins the Wetland team to take-over Alex’s research role. To find out more about WeBS staff, click here.

News Archives

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