This report provides findings from the first year of a study that has used Movetech ‘GPS-GSM’ tracking devices to track the movements of Lesser Black-backed Gulls from a breeding colony at the Ribble and Alt Estuaries SPA and so investigate their use of the SPA and the Warton Aerodrome. The study had two main objectives: (i) to assess the flight altitudes of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls from the breeding colony at Banks Marsh in the Ribble and Alt Estuaries SPA during the 2016 breeding season; and (ii) to assess the home ranges of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls from this colony and their temporal and spatial overlap with the SPA and the area of potential risk of collision with aircraft.

The State of Nature report is an assessment of how nature is doing across the UK. As well as an overarching assessment of UK flora and fauna, there are separate reports for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to look at each country in more depth. The reports pool data and expertise from 53 nature conservation and research organisations, a partnership unparalleled in UK conservation. The BTO is proud to be a founding member of the State of Nature Partnership and our long-term volunteer-based monitoring schemes are key to such assessments. It is extremely important that well-structured monitoring to track changes in biodiversity continues and that good evidence is collected to identify the causes of change. Publicising the results and engagement with the public as well as policy-makers is essential to the success of any project based on citizen science. Report is available in six different versions. The main report covers the whole UK, with the other reports focussing on England, Scotland, Wales (in both English and Welsh) and Northern Ireland (to be published shortly). The report offers: Key findings A comparison of the most important drivers of change Summaries by habitat Case studies Emerging themes for conservation action An explanation of the methodologies used to produce the report

This report addresses the question of how responses by woodland managers to the dieback of ash (Fraxineus excelsior) caused by the fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus coud alter the opportunities for woodland wildlife in Britian. Introduction, The Geographical and Ecological Distribution of Ash, The Disease: Its Spread and Symptons, Two East Anglian Case Studies, Management Responses to Ash Dieback, Resources and Key Structures Potentially Affected by Management Responses, Potential Resource Availability Under Different Management Scenarios, Interactions of Ash Dieback with Deer, Conclusions, Acknowlegements, References

This is the 21st annual report of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), containing the population trends of widespread UK bird species during the period 1994-2015.

This report was commissioned by Natural England to inform the design and implementation of future census efforts for breeding urban gulls, and to make recommendations for the most cost-effective survey strategy for delivering urban gull population estimates for the UK and Republic of Ireland, as well as any specified key sites.

Waterbirds in the UK presents the summarised results of the annual WeBS report, and full data available via the WeBS Report Online. It provides a single, comprehensive source of information on the current status and distribution of waterbirds in the UK for those interested in the conservation of the populations of these species and the wetland sites they use.