Hello all,
Following severe declines in much of its range a national
willow tit survey is being organised by the RSPB and Welsh Ornithological Society
in 2019 and 2020.
Within Wales, Ceredigion is one of the core counties for
this species and the survey organisers are asking for volunteers to help carry
out surveys in selected tetrads.
A playback method will be used to survey Willow Tits during the
pre-breeding season when the birds are territorial, and covering all potentially
suitable habitat in the survey tetrad. Based on trial work on Willow Tit
responsiveness to playback and detectability, the survey period will be from
mid-February to mid-April 2019, with surveying from half-an-hour after dawn
until midday. Surveys will be conducted on all suitable habitat within tetrads,
using a standardised playback method (transects at 200m intervals, stops every
200m, playback for 2 minutes then a 2 minute wait).
If you would like to take part in this vitally important
survey please contact annebrenchley@imsab.myzen.co.uk
for a list of available tetrads and for any queries on the survey.
Many thanks
Russell