Birds Surveys

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) is the principal legislation affording protection to UK wild birds. Under this legislation all birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law.

Certain species are listed on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), making it an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb the adults whilst they are in or around their nest or recklessly disturb their dependant young. Schedule 1 listed species include the Kingfisher, black redstart, red kite, barn owl and many others which are considered to be higher nature conservation priorities.  If a project is likely to disturb any schedule 1 listed birds or their nests then a licence will need to be obtained from Natural England before works can commence.

Certain species have also been identified as Priority Species on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) and/or on local Biodiversity Action Plans which aim to conserve and protect existing biodiversity and enhance it wherever possible.

Surveying a site for breeding birds combines methods from the Common Bird Census (CBC) and the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Both techniques involve walking a transect through a site.

The transects are walked around slowly looking for any breeding birds and looking out and listening for signs that breeding birds are present e.g. Singing, alarm calls, carrying nest material, carrying food. All birds and/or nests are recorded on a plan of the site along with the species, behavioural activity and approximate distance from the transect. A detailed map will then be produced incorporating data from all surveys.

 The CBC recommends ten site visits and the BBS recommend three visits per transect but this can also be tailored to suit the objectives of the survey, depending on whether you need presence/absence data or calculations of population densities for example. Most surveys will take place in the early morning to coincide with a peak in breeding bird activity, but some surveys may need to be performed at night time to take nocturnal species into account e.g. woodcock, nightjar.

The surveys will take place in the breeding season between March and July.

The most commonly used method of surveying a site proposed for wind farm development is a vantage point survey (VP) as it is a means of quantifying flight activity of birds of conservation importance over a wide area.

A number of vantage points will be selected so that each point of the site is no more than 2km from, and visible from a vantage point. Each vantage point is surveyed for a maximum of three hours at one time and for a total of 36 hours in each season (breeding, non-breeding, migratory). Two recording methods will be used on each survey:

• Focal Sampling
• Activity Summaries

The data collected from each survey can then be cross referenced with each vantage point and each survey number to give a full account of bird use across the site.

To assess a site for breeding birds over winter surveys need to be undertaken between September and March, the key months being December, January and February. Four surveys need to be undertaken within the winter months involving a systematic search of the site looking for the birds or their active nests. Any birds seen or heard or any active nests found will be marked on a site plan so a detailed map can be produced.

Barn Owls surveys involve searching for a roost or signs of a roost within a barn or other building or structure. Signs that barn owls are roosting include pellets, which are the undigested remains of the prey, lime, the barn owls’ white dropping covering the perches that are in use, feathers, nest debris and eggs.

Any barn owl nests, chicks, adults or roosting signs found during a survey will be documented and written into a report.

Barn Owl surveys can be undertaken at any time of year and one survey is usually sufficient to indicate whether or not they are present.

If a barn owl roost is found within a building or structure a licence will need to be obtained from Natural England before any works can be undertaken