This stunning new book brings together the latest research findings, delivered through an accessible and engaging narrative by the BTO's Mike Toms, with the wonderful artwork generated through the BTO/SWLA Flight Lines project. If you have an interest in our summer migrants, then you'll welcome this fantastic opportunity to discover their stories through art and the written word. By pairing artists, storytellers and photojournalists with the researchers and volunteers studying our summer migrants, we are able to tell the stories of our migrant birds, and the work being done to secure a future for them. Includes artwork by SWLA member artists Carry Akroyd, Kim Atkinson, Federico Gemma, Richard Johnson, Szabolcs Kokay, Harriet Mead, Bruce Pearson, Greg Poole, Dafila Scott, Jane Smith, John Threlfall, Esther Tyson, Matt Underwood, Michael Warren, Darren Woodhead and others.

The Bird Photographer of the Year competition celebrates the artistry of bird photography, and this large-format book is lavishly illustrated to reflect this. A celebration of avian beauty and diversity, it is a tribute to both the dedication and passion of the photographers as well as a reflection of the quality of today's modern digital imaging systems. Bird Photographer of the Year 2017 includes the winning and short-listed images from the competition, now in its second year, showcasing some of the finest bird photography, with a foreword by BTO President and head judge, Chris Packham. A proportion of the profits from the book goes directly to the BTO to support their conservation work. The advent of digital technology has revolutionised photography in recent years, and Bird Photographer of the Year 2017 brings to life some of the most stunning bird photography currently on offer. It features a vast variety of photographs by hardened pros, keen amateurs and hobbyists alike, reflecting the huge diversity of bird enthusiasts and nature lovers which is so important in ensuring their conservation and survival. Copies of the third book of collected images are also available Bird Photographer of the Year 2018.

1. Individual-based models (IBMs) are a powerful tool in predicting the consequences of environmental change on animal populations and supporting evidence-based decision making for conservation planning. 2. There are increasing proposals for wind farms in UK waters and seabirds are a vulnerable group, which may be at risk from these developments. 3. We developed a spatially explicit IBM to investigate the potential impacts of the installation of wind farms in the English Channel and North Sea on body mass, productivity and mortality of a breeding population of Northern gannets for which we have tracking data. 4. A baseline model with no wind farms accurately represented the status of a sample of tracked gannets at the end of the 90-day chick-rearing period, and the behaviourtime budget was similar to that of tracked gannets. 5. Model simulations in the presence of wind farms indicated that installations should have little impact on the gannet population, when either avoidance behaviour or collision risk scenarios were simulated. Furthermore, wind farms would need to be ten times larger or in more highly used areas in order to have population-level impacts on Alderney’s gannets. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our spatially explicit individual-based models (IBM) highlight that it is vital to know the colony-specific foraging grounds of seabirds that may be impacted, when identifying potential wind farm sites, in order to account for cumulative impacts from multiple sites. Avoiding areas highly used for foraging and commuting, and avoiding large-scale developments should be effective in limiting gannet mortality as a result of collision, competition and energy expenditure. Our IBM provides a robust approach which can be adapted for other seabird populations or to predict the impacts from other types of spatial change in the marine environment. 1. Individual-based models (IBMs) are a powerful tool in predicting the consequences of environmental change on animal populations and supporting evidence-based decision making for conservation planning. 2. There are increasing proposals for wind farms in UK waters and seabirds are a vulnerable group, which may be at risk from these developments. 3. We developed a spatially explicit IBM to investigate the potential impacts of the installation of wind farms in the English Channel and North Sea on body mass, productivity and mortality of a breeding population of Northern gannets for which we have tracking data. 4. A baseline model with no wind farms accurately represented the status of a sample of tracked gannets at the end of the 90-day chick-rearing period, and the behaviourtime budget was similar to that of tracked gannets. 5. Model simulations in the presence of wind farms indicated that installations should have little impact on the gannet population, when either avoidance behaviour or collision risk scenarios were simulated. Furthermore, wind farms would need to be ten times larger or in more highly used areas in order to have population-level impacts on Alderney’s gannets. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our spatially explicit individual-based models (IBM) highlight that it is vital to know the colony-specific foraging grounds of seabirds that may be impacted, when identifying potential wind farm sites, in order to account for cumulative impacts from multiple sites. Avoiding areas highly used for foraging and commuting, and avoiding large-scale developments should be effective in limiting gannet mortality as a result of collision, competition and energy expenditure. Our IBM provides a robust approach which can be adapted for other seabird populations or to predict the impacts from other types of spatial change in the marine environment.

Populations of Afro-Palearctic migrant birds, which breed in Europe but winter in Africa, have shown severe declines in recent decades. To identify the causes of these declines, accurate measures of demographic rates (e.g. the number of fledglings per season, estimated survival from year to year, and immigration from other populations) are needed to allow effected targeting of conservation and research activities. A new study by the BTO and the University of Lancaster focused on the Whinchat population of Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire), which has remained relatively stable against the declining European trend. From 2010 to 2014 Whinchats were studied in detail to measure demographic rates. Adults and nestlings were colour-ringed to calculate survival rates for adult and first year birds, while nests were found and monitored to measure breeding success. Intensive surveys to census Whinchats and re-sight colour-ringed birds were also carried out each year, which allowed natal and breeding dispersal to be calculated, i.e. how close to their previous year’s hatching site or nest site, respectively, Whinchats return. These demographic rates were then used to build a population model to show how both on-site and external factors contribute to population change. Surprisingly, considering the relative stability of the population, the study identified low seasonal breeding success due to nocturnal predation and low apparent first year survival. This indicated a declining population trend. However, this trend was not reflected in the observed census counts, suggesting that high immigration from other UK breeding populations was probably balancing this decline. The study demonstrates the potential of high quality breeding habitat, such as that on Salisbury Plain, to lower the rate of population decline. However, due to this population’s reliance on immigration, it will remain vulnerable in the future if the decrease in the wider UK population continues to reduce the pool of potential newcomers. The results suggest that focusing conservation action on improving breeding success is likely to be an important immediate conservation strategy for Whinchats in Europe. In the long term, greater research emphasis is needed on migrant birds generally, as well as the factors that influence their immigration. It should also concentrate on separating first year fledglings’ dispersal and survival rates. Lastly, and importantly, it should focus on understanding the relationship between changes in demographic rates and the population trend in Whinchats, which could have implications for the conservation of wider Afro-Palearctic migrants as a whole.