GOLDCREST, WREN AND LONG-TAILED TIT AMONG CASUALTIES OF BEAST FROM THE EAST

                                         

Wren - a species susceptible to the cold

HOW hard did the cold winds of March last year hit UK birds?

According to the BTO, the so-called Beast from the East may have had a significant impact on both resident and migrant birds.

In a report, compiled jointly with other partners, including the RSPB, it says the goldcrest saw a population decline of 38 per cent, while wren and long-tailed tit were down by 21 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in comparison with 2017 figures. 

As a group these birds are the real lightweights of the bird world, weighing in at between five and 10 g.

 As such they can be particularly vulnerable to cold weather, and even though the shock delivered by the Beast was relatively brief, it appears it was enough to hit these birds hard.

It looks as though the very cold spell also hit kingfishers, with the 2018 breeding population down by 38 per cent on the previous year.  

The sudden freezing of shallow water  prevented them from accessing the small fish they feed on.

While all this was unfolding in the UK, our summer visitors were safely ensconced in sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of miles from any snow and ice. 

However, when the time came to head back to the UK, the Sahara desert was experiencing strong northerly winds, seemingly hampering the northward return journey and many were late back or arrived in lower numbers. 

This appears to have had quite an impact on the number of returning birds. Last summer, house martin was down by 17 per cent, sand martin by 42 per cent and swift by 20 per cent

And, says the BTO, it was not just the aerial feeders that were affected.

The willow warbler, for instance, was down too, by 18 per cent.

While some of these birds may have been affected by the weather during migration, it is unknown what effect conditions in their over-wintering grounds might also have had on these year-to-year population changes.

It wasn’t all bad news and some birds apparently managed to either tough it out.

The grey heron's breeding population was stable, perhaps because its diet is flexible.

The cuckoo may have managed to time its migration flight across the Sahara to coincide with favourable winds. Not only did the species arrive back on cue, they bred in good numbers - up by 22 per cent on 2017. 

What a welcome break for a species suffering a long-term decline of 41per cent between 1995 and 2017.

Comments the RSPB's principal conservation scientist, Mark Eaton: “Knowing how bird populations are increasing or decreasing is fundamental to bird conservation.

"The long-term trends for population changes in this research are a very important indicator of the health of our countryside. "