2017 new year field trip

Today started cold and fresh on our first field trip of the year which, makes a change from last years rain. With the 2nd in January being a bank holiday it certainly gave lots of us a chance to get out and those that did really enjoyed the day.

This field trip has always been about enthusing and showing how many species can be found in Liverpool and we thought we would be on to break our record of 62.One of our first birds of the day was greenfinch in the trees by the car park followed by goldfinch, blackbird, wood pigeon and kestrel.

As we started to walk towards the estuary 2 mute swans flew out of the river towards town. As it was low tide the exposed mud banks were quite some distance out but telescopes we were able to show, redshanks, curlew, dunlin, oystercatcher, turnstone,mallard, teal, grey herons, cormorant, black headed, herring and lesser black backed gulls.

As we walked back from the shore 2 ravens conked their way into view and a solitary crow helped show off the size difference. We continued the walk checking the estuary as a great black backed gull flew past, but small birds kept flying about. Robins kept jumping about on the path in front of the main group, grey wagtail flew over the back of the group and in the vegetation dunnocks, wrens, reed bunting and a fly over meadow pipit. We stopped as the call of a fieldfare flew into a large shrub.  As we reached the sailing club a local dog walk told us how his dogs had flushed 3 short eared owls on the saltmarsh, we were very excited by this news. 

A single ringed plover and common gull was at the end of the slip way and 4 grey partridges flew off the marsh never an easy bird to see well.   

2 Skylarks flushed out of one of the meadows and a walk up towards the business park helped add more meadow pipits but even better some showy stonechats and 2 common snipe. A few blue tits were in this area with song thrush and mistle thrush but we had failed to see so many common species. The list stood at 40 species.

We walked back to the car to find 4 back windows had been smashed and it really spoilt a wonderful start to the year. Some went one to Sefton Park to try and add more species but the day had been ruined.

Chris Tynan

Leader

Footnote

Several members of the group have contacted various agencies including liverpool council, peel holdings and mps about  the  damage and we await further contact and hopefully progress in making this site  secure for visitors.

(I have to say its not a happy start to the year. I led a walk around the reserve yesterday with 31 other people. We started at 9am and returned to the cars in the car park just after midday.

We returned to find 4 of the groups cars had had their back windows smashed and their boots ransacked. Considering the car park was full of cars it could have been all of them! The car park had lots of glass from other windows which makes you wonder that whatever low life is responsible for this vandalism is there with some degree of regularity.

I really like showing off this reserve to members and the general public but it makes me feel that RSPB Liverpool wont be leading any more walks here until security improves.

All 4 incidents were reported to Merseyside Police. Some of the group have now contacted the local councillors and MP through emails and social media.

I feel I have to let you know of these incidents).

Big New Year Day Out 2015

Monty- ready for action  - Laura B

Another year another New Year birdwatch, but this year we had a special guest, honorary member Monty the Adelie penguin from the Lewis's Christmas TV ad fame. http://www.johnlewis.com/christmas-advert-2014-montys-christmas

Monty leads the way- Neil P

Monty will be with is for a few weeks before heading for his new nest, determined by a winning raffle ticket. Monty is to be raffled in aid of the UK overseas territories appeal.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/donations/campaigns/ukot/index.aspx

It was sparkling winter’s day -4 on the thermometer, frosty and beautiful.

Sunrise over the reserve - Laura B

The Garston shore waders were already assembled waiting for the incoming tide to move ‘em along. On the mudflats/marshes we could see redshank, oystercatcher, lapwing, curlew, dunlin and one black tailed godwit. 

Frosty redshank -Neil P

Various gulls were parading, overlooked by a Gtr black back observing from a high pole. Teal and shelduck were gliding along on the river.  

Buzzard  -Neil P

A buzzard swooping from the shore to  the woods entertained us for a wee while.

Walking along the frosty, somewhat slippery   path, smaller foragers were found, wren, linnet, reed bunting, goldfinch, blackbird, dunnock, robin, great and blue tits.

Kestrel -Neil P

As we approached Speke Hall we sighted another buzzard soaring and a gt spotted woodpecker was perched high in the woodland fringe.

The fields in between the industrial units and the pathway have become a traditional ‘flushing’ area. 4 members with the most waterproof footwear (the field was more of a bog due to the recent rain) formed our usual 'flushing' party line ready to sweep the field, while the rest of us moved ahead of them ready to see what might startle. Inevitably we succeeded in flushing snipe, jacksnipe and meadow pipit, but no skylark?

Team Sefton Park - Laura B

No peregrine perched on the units today, but we did see a kestrel hunting over the reserve grasslands, vigilant as the frost began to thaw.

Moving on to our next stop Sefton park. We found hundreds of Liverpool residents had had the same idea, including the model boat society, whose little launches struggled in the lake, bumping along the edge of the ice that still covered a large portion of the lake.

Mute swans - Laura B

All the  usual suspects where there, a family of mute swans with 7 cygnets, canadian geese, mallards and hybrids, grey heron, coots, moorhen,  cormorant, a zillion black headed gulls, quite a few common gulls, a couple of herring gulls. And a solitary pochard!

Little grebe- Laura B

Once more the little grebes, brought smiles of admiration, tiny, fluffy dabchicks, 14 counted on the day.  No mandarins or tufties insight.

Off to the feeding station, where we were pleased to find a goldcrest in a conifer along the path, nuthatch and goldfinch in the same area.

As we approached  the little bridge over the steam the familiar ‘squeaky dog call’ alerted us to a party of ring-necked parakeets in the beech trees above, peeling bark or seed eating feverishly. 9 in total, were not yet inundated with these colourful characters, so still a pleasure to see their ultra bright plumage.

Ring necked parakeet- Laura B

The feeding station seemed quieter than previous years, even fewer squirrels! Great and blue tits, robins, blackbirds, nuthatch, crows, magpies, collared dove and jay.

We moved on further down the path towards the fairy glen. A mistle thrush flew over. A small flock of long tailed tits were busy feeding, and a song thrush was foraging in the leaf litter. (I miss all the song thrushes from when I was child)

Turning onto the drive toward the palm house  we observed a couple of buzzards being mobbed by crows, one of the birds had a square green wing tag on its right wing, alas it didn’t come close enough again for us to identify any letters or numbers.  Similarly a sparrowhawk became the crows’ next victim

The main field is usually good for mistles and foreign thrushes’ fieldfare and redwing, but only crows today. However we did eventually find a small party of redwings close to the hedge that surround the palm house.

Back around the lake on our way back to the car park, we diligently scanned the numerous gulls once more for rarer finds, success, another highlight a Mediterranean gull, speckled head and blood-red bill, how did we miss it on the first pass?

Med gull - Laura B

We ended the day at the Black Woods in Childwall. Unspoilt mature woodland which always has the promise of Woodpeckers, long tailed tits, treecreepers and tawny owls. Today’s catch were Stock dove, gt spotted woodpecker, long tailed tit and chaffinch.

Another grand  day out, our total for the day 57 species.
List: Blackbird, black Headed Gull, black tailed godwit, blue tit, buzzard, canada geese, crow, chaffinch, coal tit,  collared dove, common Gull, common Snipe, coot, cormorant, curlew, dunlin, goldcrest, goldfinch, great black backed gull, gt spotted woodpecker, gt tit, greenfinch, grey heron, herring gull, jackdaw, jack snipe, jay, kestrel, lapwing, lesser black back gull, linnet, little grebe, long tailed tit, magpie, mallard, meadow pipit, mediterranean gull, mistle thrush, moorhen, mute Swan, nuthatch, oystercatcher,  pigeon ,pied wagtail, pochard,  redshank, reed bunting, ring necked parakeet, robin, shelduck, sparrowhawk, starling, stock dove, teal, wood pigeon, wren.
Laura

The marshland was alive with the sound of ping!

Teal - with 'Bill ring'

Well maybe not a lot of pinging but we found the beardies!  Another beautiful day dawned for our trip, a full minibus and our bake off champion Ann had made us a another strudel cake for the journey

Blacktoft away team

Blacktoft is the largest intertidal reedbed in England and an important wildlife area in the Humber estuary. 474 acres of tidal reedbeds, saltmarsh, mudflats and brackish lagoons. The reserve itself is easy to get round ad its linear, 3 hides to the left of the reception hide first. Townend and Singleton, 3 to the right Xerox, Marshland and Ousefleet.

On arrival at the reserve were greeted by small toadlets on the path, and a stationary hare on the adjacent field. The tree sparrows were on good form, hanging onto the reserves seed feeders. 

Goldfinch on thistle

A charm of goldfinches were picking over  the thistle heads in front of the reception hide, but alas no kingfisher.

We were advised by the warden the best place to see the beardies was the Townend  hide,

View from Townend Hide

so we went straight there,  initial birds noted on the mud and around the reed beds were blue tits, pied wagtails, reed warblers, dunnock, reed bunting  stock dove and moorhens . Swallows swooped over the waters. The red arrows display team soared over head as if to announce the arrival of the beardies, as shortly after they started to flit around the bottom of the reed beds on the left. 

Bearded tit

Up to half a dozen were observed; closest view was when a couple of adventurous birds came onto the mud for a drink, lovely.  

Our first views of marsh harrier followed; close enough to see its cream head plumage.

Marsh Harrier

Mission accomplished we moved onto the other hides, at the Marshland/Xerox hides we were treated to a further visits from a marsh harrier, joined later by a buzzard.   Other birds on the waters, reedbeds, around the island muddy fringes were lapwing, pintail, little grebe,

Pristine ruff

widgeon, mallard, gadwall, shoveller, gt created grebe, wood pigeon,  snipe, redshank, spotted redshank, starlings, ruff and well spotted ‘Manu’ a water rail .

Butterflies and dragonflies roamed the reserve, speckled wood, green veined white, small white, red admiral, tortoiseshell, emperor and migrant hawkers dragonflies

 

Migrant hawker female 

At the Ouse fleet hide we added golden plover to our list and our first gulls, common, herring, lesser and greater black back.

A little excitement was the observation of a teal with a ’bill ring' which were told identified the bird had been ringed in the Camargue, France http://www.oncfs.gouv.fr/IMG/article_PDF/rubrique_r141.pdf

I must mention the Konik,  these ponies  graze their way through the reserve’s reedbed,

Konik ponies

opening up new pools and channels that attract fish and amphibians, which in turn, have provided a banquet for the reserve’s rare and secretive bitterns. No bitterns today but we weren't disappointed.

  

We ended the day with Chris and Arnie showing us the best way of getting over a barrier, I’ll let you decide … 

Steeplechaser Chris

Steady Eddie Arnie

Laura

The Crex Collective - Mulling it over

This years 'Big trip' for RSPB Liverpool saw sixteen birders land on the Scottish isle of  Mull, the 'Crex Collective', as we were known!

Staying at the glenforsa hotel  http://www.glenforsa.com,  

The Crexers in the Glenforsa upstairs lounge (Laura-photographer being eaten alive outside)

Our aim was to see eagles, crakes, otters and anything else that flew overhead or crossed our path! (And to avoid being eaten alive by the great whites of the Scottish insect world, midgies)

Here follows some re-collections, thoughts, magic moments and tall tales from our happy band!


'Chaff McVey'

16 off us set out on the Isle of Mull for hopefully a good days birding.  The weather was good, midgies not so good.  We were excited with the prospect of seeing more Golden and White Tailed eagles and any other birds for our count.  We arrived at a good location provided by a local farmer.  Other enthusiastic birders were already there, they had binoculars and scopes focused on the side of a mountain where a pair of Golden eagles with chicks could be clearly seen.  All 16 of us lined up and trained our bino's to see these spectacular birds and their nest with chicks inside. I stood back from the line to take in all of this majestic moment.  Then I noticed a Chaffinch only three feet from the line of birders on the ground.  There he was bobbing and fluttering up and down to show off, but no one took any notice of him because all was focused on the eagles and their chicks.  But I liked the Chaffinch and named him 'Chaff McVey'. Chaff was a cheeky little fellow, demanding he got noticed, then suddenly he must have had an idea and he flew of only to return within the minute, again he landed no more than two or three feet away from the line of birders, only this time he was wearing a 'kilt' in fine tweed and said to himself "Och I this will get me noticed".  

Chaff McVey

He stood there chest out and started dancing the highland fling, jumping up and down, turning and singing his heart out to a beautiful Scottish melody.  Still no one noticed.  Chaff stood, wings folded across his chest with his beak snared, clearly annoyed after all his efforts.  Then he had another thought and flew off, came back in front of the birders but this time he had 'bagpipes' under one wing and a tube connected to it in his beak.  He said " right laddie's and lassies wait till you hear this".  He closed his eyes, pulled in air, tightened the bagpipes closer to his body and played to the tune of ' Mull of Kintyre'.  When he finished he heard No clapping or shouts for "more, more" only to open his eyes to see no one had noticed him.  I could see a tear run down his cheek flow down his beak and spatter on the ground. He took of the bagpipes and threw them to the ground.  Shoulders slumped he turned and walked away, I thought he has not got the will to fly.  Watching him move away from the crowd, looking back occasionally to hear if anyone saying "did you see that Chaffinch" but to no avail.  I went after Chaff and caught up with him, knelt down in front of him, he lifted his head slowly so our eyes met.  I told him "wonderful, wonderful you were fantastic, I have never seen any bird do what you did".  Chaff smiled and said "was I that good", "Yes, Yes" I replied, you are a star I told him. I told Chaff " because others did not see you perform, I know all the people love all the birds all the same and just be yourself and you will get noticed".  With this Chaff was now happy and was fluttering about, then he flew of singing only to return soon with no kilt on, landed two to three feet away from the birders hoping in front of them.

On the way back to our hotel in the mini bus the other birders was happy and sharing a good days birding, someone said " did you see the Golden eagles taking turns on the nest, what a sight to behold".  I said "did you see the Chaffinch play the bagpipes in a kilt", to which I got no reply, only a few strange looks. Then I put my head back in my neck pillow and went to sleep.

So my favourite bird of the 'Crex tour' was 'Chaff McVey' the Chaffinch who gave me 'Magic'.

Chris McMelia.

The entire Mull experience with Shedluck Tours was just amazing.

Shortie

A lovely group of friends doing what they enjoy. My highlight was when I 'finally' spotted the Short Eared Owl, and the mighty cheer that went up from the group. 

Thanks to the Shedluck Sixteen.
Rhodie Mc

Loch Ba

Loch Ba

One moment I would like to highlight was our walk beside Loch Ba. This is a large freshwater loch, surrounded by woodland, as well as having views out to a high ridge. We were duly excited by one of our first proper views of golden eagles early on, and 

enjoyed a beautiful walk, but the bonus came on our way back to the minibus, 

Crossbill

just as we were nearing the end of the path, when one of the group spotted a small group of crossbills and we were all able to watch them feeding high up in the larches.   

Annie Mc

Loch Buie

Apart from all the wonderful wildlife, scenery and laughs along the way, I was really impressed with the honesty shop on the shore of Loch Buie, what a lovely idea in this remote part of the world.  Restores your faith in human nature.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/475071/Remote-island-shop-proves-honesty-is-the-best-policy

L Buie

My favourite little bird was the common sandpiper chick which was no more than a few days old with the characteristic little bob which gave its identity away, apart from the alarm calling parents.  It instinctively knew to go for cover, brilliant!

Carry on driver!

McTomo

                                                  

CREX

Oh Crex you have me vexed

Crex, crex you are my quest

Amid the swards of yellow flag

Your hiding in the grasses

The buttercups and nettles sway

Alas there is no finding you this day

Elusive Corncrake - RSPB images

Oh rasper, croaker of the corn, lift your head and make your call

Your summer home, on sacred ground, once sought by Scottish kings renowned  

Bewitching Iona your beauty sings loud

On this holy isle, peaceful solace can be found

A protected land, bonny and wild

A sanctuary for corncrakes; despite the pilgrim crowds

September will wane, no rasps are heard, our birds have flown to warmer climes

The meadow's quiet, but soon will know more, as wintering geese return to these shores.

And so I must leave you

My quest in defeat

My little corncrake teaser, deceiver

You kept me late

Yet, your call remains with me and perhaps

In a while, I'll return to Iona and we'll make it a date!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRywOWmAJg4&feature=youtu.be

Laura, Lowra, Lol or McBimo!  

Murmuration Part Deux - 2 views

Murmeration - N Prendergast

Hi All,

On Friday afternoon, the three Amigo's Rhodie, Ann & Neil met up at Woolston Eyes to mainly see the Starling Mumuration but also would take anything else that came along beforehand.

Just a beautiful afternoon with the sun out and blue skies to be enjoyed by all.

We  arrived within minutes and gained access by the padlocked pedestrian iron suspension bridge, we made our way to each hide in turn around the reed beds until we came to the new and fully covered hide, this we decided would be the best place to view all of the birds looking over the main body of the water and reed beds, also if the truth be known it was a lot warmer as there was a bit of a chill wind about.

The hide was well positioned with the sun and the back and to the left of the viewing area.

From there we saw beautiful male and female Bullfinches, Green Finches, Reed bunting, Common and Greylag Goose, a male Ruddy duck, Shoveler, Black Headed Gull, Common Snipe, Gadwall, Shell Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant and Pochard but to name but a few.

Later, around 17:20hrs a few small groups of Starlings appeared, which then in turn joined up with other small groups that seemed to come from nowhere. Within 15 minutes the sky was full of birds, no squawking from them as you would imagine but just the sound of the wing beats as they flew nearby and overhead.

Luckily for them there were no Sparrowhawks about to pick the odd one off.

Round and around they flew, instantly changing direction without hesitation. Then after about 20 minutes they dropped like stones into the reed bed and the show was over ... folks.

By this time it was quite dark and we could feel the cold and damp air against the deep and darkening clear blue sky. At this point we decided to walk the circular path on the island and try and see the Barn Owl there but were out of luck. By this time we were quite cold after sitting for a few hours so could not wait to get back to our cars and be pampered by their luxuriously heaters and to thaw out while making our way back home.

A good day was had by all and we saw lots of birds while we we there and obviously spoilt by the nice sun and not the usual rain that we have all experience throughout the past few months.

  

Neil P

Snipe - N Prendergast

Some of you will recall going to Leighton Moss in the wake of Autumnwatch in the hope of a little murmuration and that's what we got literally, to put it politely. 

I had been reading reports of upto 120,000 starlings murmurating at Woolston Eyes ( permit only reserve ) and decided to go along and have a look, before they disappeared back to the continent, with Rhodie and Neil P on Friday afternoon.

We arrived earlier than necessary to see what else was about and were treated to a stunning pair of bullfinches on the feeders, both Snipe and Jacksnipe making tantalising appearances close to the hide and a Ruddy Duck, along with a supporting cast of ducks, grebes and black headed gulls.

Waiting for the main event we started to get feelings of Déjà vu, were we going to be unlucky again?  Slowly but surely small groups started to appear, swirling and merging to form larger groups.  We were not disappointed this time and were treated to stunning display for an hour or so before they dropped into the reeds.  Most of us will have seen this on the television but to be there and hear the sounds of all those wings overhead is truly awesome.  Catch it somewhere if you can.

Ann Tomo

2014 Big New Year Birdwatch

Garston shore

24 bravely ventured out on our new year birdwatch, a promising start weather wise rapidly went down hill at dinner time, when as we say in Liverpool 'It chucked it down' and we had to take shelter in our cars and Sefton park’s cafe.

Speke Garston shore is usually good for waders and we were not disappointed; after gawping at a wily fox on the tide line for 5 minutes we focused on the birds. On the mudflats/marshes we saw redshank, ringed plover, oystercatcher, turnstone and dunlin. Various gulls were parading including some Gt black back's feeding on a dead fish. Swans were on the river alongside Canadian geese, widgeon, shelduck, mallard and teal.

Walking along the path, smaller foragers were found, wren, reed bunting, goldfinch, blackbird, dunnock, robin, great and blue tits.

A splendid male pheasant trotted along the shore at the bottom of the embankment, accompanied by a rabbit!

Team on the path, checking out the Curlew

The fields in between the industrial units and the pathway have proved fruitful in the past and have revealed hidden gems. Several curlew were feeding on the grass in the field. Some members of the group formed our usual ‘flushing’ party line ready to sweep a particulary wet field with pools, while the rest of us moved ahead of them ready to see what their activities might achieve. Success, first to flush was meadow pipit, then skylark, and best of all snipe and jack snipe.

No peregrine on the units today, but we did see kestrel and buzzard.

Moving on to our next stop Sefton park. Eventually the downpour abated and set off around the lake. All the usual suspects where there, mute swans with Cygnet's, Canadian geese, mallards, a cormorant, a zillion black headed gulls with a few common gulls in the mix, however stars of the lake had to be half a dozen or so little grebes ducking and diving in the rain. No mandarins or tufties today.

We headed to the feeding station, here with the squirrels and pigeons were great and blue tits, robins, blackbirds, gt spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, crows, magpies, collared dove and jay. No parakeets, so we moved on further down the path towards the fairy glen. A flock of long tailed tits were busy feeding, in the same tree as a super little treecreeper.

A squeaky dog call alerted us to parakeets being in the vicinity, but where?  eventually Chris espied one in a large tree by the palm house, in fact on closer observation there turned out to be not one  but five bright green keets, unbothered by us or the miserable weather. 

 

Greenbank Park

We decided to make a quick diversion to the nearby Greenbank Park as the last venue of the day. Here was a forlorn single male tufted duck swimming with the mallards and Aylesbury duck hybrids. Mistle thrushes fed in the field adjacent to the park, but no foreign thrushes fieldfare and redwing. A solitary Grey heron sat on the raft in the middle of the lake, a patient, stealthy predator, waiting for his fish dinner to swim past.

In the end we had seen 58 species in total, not a bad tally for a curtailed trip in less than clement weather!

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Geese, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Snipe, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jack Snipe, Jay, Kestrel, Linnet, Lesser black backed Gull, little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ring Necked Parakeet, Ringed Plover, Robin, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal,Treecreeper,Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Widgeon, Wood Pigeon, Wren

Laura

New report charts ongoing disappearance of the UK's 'familiar' countryside birds

Turtle Dove Andy Hay

The latest State of the UK s Birds report, published today, reveals many of our most familiar countryside birds are undergoing sweeping changes with some experiencing  plummeting population declines, compared with the 1990s. It is now known that in some parts of the UK these birds have disappeared completely.

A section of the report looks at the UK s 107 most widespread and common breeding birds. Of these species, 16 have declined by more than one third since 1995, including willow tit, starling, cuckoo, lapwing, whinchat and wood warbler. Many of these species are reliant on habitats in the so-called  wider countryside  rather than being maintained on special sites, such as nature reserves, Of particular concern, is that the number of grey partridge has halved since 1995.

Yellow Wagtail - Andy Hay

The unique British race of the yellow wagtail - a bright  yellow-headed  version, whose population is found almost entirely in the UK - has declined by 45 per cent over the same period.

This year the alarming decline of some of the UK s most familiar countryside birds has been brought into sharp focus with the launch of the Bird Atlas 2007-11, published by the BTO last month. That mammoth mapping project covered all of the UK's breeding and wintering birds and revealed how many countryside birds are disappearing from the UK. For example, yellow wagtails have vanished from large areas of England and virtually disappeared from Wales, whilst the range of the turtle doves has shrunk by 34 per cent just since the previous atlas was undertaken in 1988-91.

Dr Mark Eaton is an RSPB conservation scientist. Commenting on the report, he said:  I think many of us have been shocked by how poorly some of our most familiar species are faring. Many of the birds were referring to arent rare and dont occur in remote locations. To the contrary, they are ones you used to see while walking the dog or enjoying a family picnic. But over two decades many of these species have ebbed away from huge swathes of our countryside. In contrast some species, such as the red kite, have become conservation success stories as this species has returned to our countryside.

The list of familiar countryside birds which are declining include:   Willow tit, a woodland bird which has declined by 82 per cent since 1995 and its range has halved over the last two decades; 

Cuckoo - L Bimson

Cuckoo, whose numbers have halved since 1995. The latest bird atlas reveals that although its range has contracted by just eight per cent over the last 40 years, though there are marked declines in abundance in the south and east of Britain;  Whinchat, a bird of open countryside which has declined in number by 60 per cent since 1995, and in range by 48 per cent over the last 40 years; Starling, a bird of urban areas and farmland whose population

has decreased by 53 per cent since 1995. The atlas reveals that its range has contracted by five per cent over the last 40 years with a steep decline in abundance in Britain, and an increase in Northern Ireland; wood warbler, a summer-visiting woodland bird, which has  endured a 69 per cent decline since 1995, and a range contraction of 34 per cent since the 1970s; Yellow wagtail, a bird of farmland and wetland which has experienced a 45 per cent decline in numbers since 1995. The atlas reveals that the yellow wagtail s range has contracted by 32 per cent;  Lapwing, a bird of farmland and wetland which has endured a 41 per cent population decline since 1995. The atlas reveals that their range has contracted by 18 per cent over the last 40 years, with the greatest losses in western Britain and Northern Ireland; 

Snipe - L Bimson

 Snipe, a wetland bird whose breeding range has shrunk by 31 per cent over the last 40 years;  Grey partridge, a farmland bird whose population has declined by 53 per cent since 1995 and whose range has contracted by 40 per cent

over the last 40 years;  Corn bunting, a farmland bird whose population has declined by 34 per cent since 1995. The atlas shows that the corn buntings distribution has contracted by 56 per cent over the last 40 years; and the species is now extinct in Ireland.

Phil Grice is a senior environmental specialist   Ornithology at Natural England. He said:  Whilst we have made great progress with reversing the declines in many of our rarer bird species, thanks to site management and species recovery work, improving the fortunes of our  wider countryside  birds requires us to think beyond good management of our special sites, like SSSIs. Through Environmental Stewardship and initiatives like Nature Improvement Areas, we are working in close partnership with farmers and other land managers to make a difference for biodiversity across whole landscapes, allowing people to experience England s characteristic wildlife close to where they live .

Colette Hall is a species monitoring officer with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. She said:  There s worrying evidence here that the breeding ranges of many of our waders are drastically shrinking. Were loosing much-loved species like snipe or lapwing completely from southern parts of England now. A main cause seems to be loss of habitat due to wetlands being drained for farming or development. We need to protect and restore these habitats in order for species like these   and all wetland wildlife   to survive and prosper.

However, the report is not all bad news. Following its reintroduction into England and Scotland and its ongoing recovery in Wales thr red kite

Blackcap - LBimson

has increased in number by 676 per cent since 1995. Among songbirds, the goldfinch and the blackcap have also increased their populations since 1995 by 109 per cent and 133 per cent, respectively. 

Dawn Balmer, of the British Trust for Ornithology, is the lead author on the recently-published bird Atlas. She said:  The latest findings  from fieldwork carried out by an army of volunteers for the atlas, provides a unique opportunity to assess changes in range for all UK species over winter and the during the breeding season. One of the most striking changes is for avocet which has expanded its range in the UK more than 17-fold over the last 40 years. Better monitoring of non-native species has also revealed the extent of their spread, such as a 50 per cent increase for Canada goose since 1988 91.

The State of the UK s Birds report also looks at how birds are faring in the UK s Overseas Territories. Although across these territories  globally there are 32 species of bird facing extinction, the report delivers good news for some species, including the Ascension  frigatebird and Murphy s petrel, as a result of concerted conservation action.

David Stroud of JNCC said:  The UK s Overseas Territories contain more species of bird facing extinction than the whole of mainland Europe.  Twenty-one of these species occur nowhere else in the world, so the UK has sole and total responsibility for them.

The State of the UK s Birds 2013 report is produced by a coalition of three NGOs - RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the  Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust   and the UK Government s statutory nature

conservation bodies    Natural England (NE), Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. (JNCC).