The importance of counting and recording
A SERIOUS question - how do you count large numbers of birds. Please don't say 1,2,3....8-P
Phil first of all many thanks to you and Margaret for taking time out to do counts and note your sightings. I know you both spend a good time and thoroughly check out what's about for us all to appreciate.
Over the years we have always counted and recorded the migrant, wintering and breeding species. This has now proved invaluable in evaluating the population trends of all the species recorded on the reserve. It has also helped us monitor the effects of our on going management and habitat creation. We now have the information to target declining species and enhance specific habitat to buck the trend or encourage lost species to return. Without 30 years of intense monitoring, we could only guess at what species are benefiting and what species are in need of our help.
Now to the crux, how I count:
As you know I always count everything, but there is also another reason for doing so. That is trying to find something unusual, as well as for already mentioned reason.
Last year while counting coot , I came across a common scoter asleep amongst them. The other 'carrying' species are BHG's (for Meds and other gulls), lapwing (golden plover), diving duck (scaup) and even finch, pipits and thrush flocks can have their rarities attached to them, in other words check everything. It also adds another dimension to your birding experience. To actually witness migration in the 'raw', by counting and understanding the whole concept of migration and how even our small plot of land in the middle of the country plays it part in this process.
There are different ways to count and you have to apply different methods for different species.
For example: Coot in winter can vary from year to year depending on weather conditions, with their numbers augmented by European migrants.
How do I count them: I scan the moors pool from one end to the other (north to south). Starting with a Bins (binocluars) width, moving up and down within that width. I count in groups of 5 and move my bins every 10 seconds (as they dive for no longer than that), I then move to the next bins width and so on along the length of the pool. Once I have reached the end of the pool I retrace my tracks and count again. When I have counted the same number 3 times - that's the total.
With diving ducks, I spend more time on each 'bins width' as they dive for longer.
When large numbers of
BHG roost at the Flashes, I count in blocks of 50 and extrapolate that across the roost, as they tend to roost evenly across the site. This method can also be applied to
lapwing during winter. But generally I count them in 5's moving my bins up and down as I scan across.
With practise and experience estimates can be quite accurate and it is always worth testing yourself first, with an estimate, followed by an accurate count. In flight, large flocks are more difficult but again counting in 5's or 10's is easier than individually counting, although a camera would be the best method.:t:
Whichever way, getting as accurate a count as possible is more beneficial than a wild guess.
So hopefully I have convinced you, how important counting and recording is to the future well-being of the reserve.B
John
