This is the first edition of the Northern Ireland Seabird Report, covering 2013, a report we plan to publish annually. This report is the published outcome of the work of the BTO Seabird Co-ordinator, appointed in February 2013, and the activities of the evolving NI Seabird Network of volunteers, and organisations such as National Trust, Ulster Wildlife and RSPB that have provided data for 2013 and previous years. The Co-ordinator, the Network and this report are, in part, a response to the huge increase in our society’s interest in the marine environment. Legislatively there is the EU’s Marine Strategic Framework Directive (MSFD), and the local instrument that transposes the MSFD regulations, the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. This includes powers to designate Marine Conservation Zones as part of a coherent MPA (Marine Protected Area) network. The implied spatial planning and designations require high quality marine biodiversity data of various types, including for birds. Monitoring, and any further designations, of our SPA (Special Protected Area) network also require high quality bird data. Added to this is a hugely increased interest in offshore commercial development, particularly energy related developments. There is a large offshore wind farm proposed east of the Lecale coast, two tidal energy proposals off the northeast Antrim coast, and proposals to investigate oil and gas resources in Belfast Lough, Larne Lough and near Rathlin. Two energy storage proposals near Larne just add to this mix of proposed marine developments. Finally, there is our increasing societal awareness of climate change and the impacts it may have: increasing seawater temperatures, changing acidity, increased storminess and thus turbidity, and many other associated changes. The work of the Northern Ireland Seabird Network in gathering robust seabird population data is a vital component in this context. The data in this report, and from future surveying, will underpin marine conservation policy-making and action planning in Northern Ireland.

Native and non-native deer populations are increasing in temperate woodlands across Europe. Previous work by the BTO found that these changes are associated with declines in some breeding bird populations, and suggested this is due to modification of the woodland understorey through browsing (consumption of vegetation by herbivorous deer). Now a new study by the BTO and the University of East Anglia has demonstrated effects of deer activity on birds outside the breeding season. Birds were monitored in several plots of woodland, half of which were fenced to exclude deer. Common species such as Robin, Wren and Blackbird were less likely to be found in woodland browsed by deer than at unbrowsed sites in the winter, although this effect was not seen in the spring. The detrimental impact of deer browsing in the winter could result from both reduced shelter from the cold, and a loss of protection from predators afforded by dense understorey vegetation. There could also be changes in the feeding opportunities available to birds once the understorey has been browsed. This study illustrates the importance of understanding the complex interactions between deer and birds at a time when many woodland specialists are in decline, and the need for more research to be undertaken in woodland outside the typically-studied breeding season.