News

Bird life is buzzing on iconic heather moorlands

May 12th 2009

The iconic heather moorlands attract a rich assemblage of over 46 bird types. Moorland Association members and their gamekeepers are using their knowledge of this internationally important habitat this June to help the British Trust for Ornithology fill gaps in their knowledge about what bird species are found in remote rural sites such as England’s 150 grouse moors.

Two years ago the BTO, together with BirdWatch Ireland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, launched a four-year project to survey the birds in Britain and Ireland and produce a distribution map.

Birds are monitored and recorded up to four times a year - twice in the winter and twice during the breeding season- which provides detail about the relative abundance of bird types in a designated 10 kilometre square. ‘Timed Tetrad Visits’ and sightings submitted as ‘Roving Records’ give a comprehensive nationwide picture.

National coordinator Dawn Balmer said: “Moorland owners and gamekeepers are most likely to know some of the local and special species which visit these areas and are able to identify them. What’s more, they are out on their land the whole time – 365 days a year - so it makes perfect sense that they are best placed to send back the information. We still have areas that need surveying and would like to hear from anyone who wants to help.”

Migrant birds which return to the moorlands in spring include Lapwing, Snipe, Ring Ouzel, Redshank, Meadow Pipit, Curlew and Golden Plover. Also found on the heather moors are the country’s smallest bird of prey, the Merlin, and grouse moor managers have also created the right habitat conditions for northern England’s surviving Black Grouse population, with the overwhelming majority found adjacent to moorland actively managed for Red Grouse (90%).

Moorland Association member Sir Anthony Milbank, who is also on the RSPB council, has carried out tetrad surveys on his remote 7,000 acre Barningham and Holgate Estate on the North Yorkshire/Durham border. In total an impressive 660 waders were recorded in May 2008 including 428 Lapwing, 148 Curlew, 20 Golden Plover, 20 Redshank, 25 Oystercatchers and 19 Snipe. Sir Anthony also carried out Roving Records in December last year. During the three occasions he was out on the moors he spotted almost 30 different species including 191 Red Grouse, 80 Lapwings, 11 Snipe, two Meadow Pipits, 13 Black Grouse, two Buzzards, a Peregrine and a Kestrel.

Said Sir Anthony: “The surveys are easy to carry out and I really enjoy doing both the Timed Tetrads Visits and Roving Records. It is great to go out on the moors and walk for two hours with a given purpose. It is very satisfying to spot the birds and write down what I observe.

“Taking part in this survey is all part of the crucial communication between moor owners, keepers and conservationists. These surveys will show that in moorland areas managed for Red Grouse, there are an amazing number of waders and other birds and it is a great way for us to show the abundance of bird life on the moors – particularly when they are often threatened as a species elsewhere due to loss of habitat or are becoming under pressure due to climate change.”

Anyone wanting to get involved with the Bird Atlas project needs to log on to www.bto.org/birdatlas/taking_part/yourro.htm to find their regional coordinator.

If you want to see some moorland birds for yourself, two open days are taking place in June The first is a guided walk over Yadd Moss in the South Tyne Valley on Saturday, June 6th June. Places are filling up fast, so to book ring 01388 528801 or email info@northpenninesaonb.org.uk. The following day, Sunday June 7th Spaunton Moor, near Hutton-le-Hole, will be open for a family fun day from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. as part of the Open Farm Sunday scheme.