West Country garden wildlife revealed - via Tony Whitehead

Media release

World’s biggest wildlife survey reports a chorus of frogs hopping around in our gardens

Almost half of people in the south west see frogs in their gardens regularly, according to the second round of results from the world’s biggest wildlife survey, run by the RSPB.

This year, for the first-time in the 36 year history of the survey, Big Garden Birdwatch participants were also asked to tell the RSPB about some of the other wildlife that visits their gardens throughout the year, including common frogs, grey squirrels, badgers and hedgehogs. This follows the release of the bird results by the charity at the end of last month.

Almost half a million people took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch and most of them supplied extra information on the other garden wildlife they see. The RSPB hopes to use it to build an overall picture of how important our gardens are for all types of wildlife and tailor its advice so people can help their wild visitors find a home, feed and breed successfully.

The RSPB’s partners, including Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC), People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), and The Mammal Society, have been highly enthusiastic about including these data in their national datasets.

According to the results, grey squirrels came out on top overall, with two thirds of people seeing them in their West Country gardens at least once a month.  Hedgehogs were only seen regularly in a quarter of gardens and their populations have seriously declined by around 30% since the millennium. The West Country was also a garden hotspot for badgers, with over a quarter of respondents recording them regularly.

When not hibernating, the common frog takes the lead as the most abundant garden amphibian, according to the results. In the West Country eight out of ten people had seen frogs in their garden at least once, and half of people had seen them monthly.

When it comes to toads, a third of people in the south west see them monthly. The warty amphibians, which have declined especially in central and southern England, are more likely to visit gardens in rural areas, with 41% of householders in these areas seeing them on a monthly basis.
Last year, 25 wildlife organisations, including the RSPB, released the groundbreaking State of Nature report revealing 60 per cent of the wildlife species studied have declined over recent decades.

Many garden favourites were among the creatures shown to be in serious trouble including starlings and hedgehogs, as well as some butterflies and ladybirds. All are in danger of further declines unless more is done to provide better habitats. 

Daniel Hayhow, RSPB conservation scientist, commented: “This massive survey shows how important our gardens are for the amazing variety of wildlife living there. 

“The State of Nature report showed that we need more information across many species groups, so widening the Big Garden Birdwatch’s scope to include other animals made perfect sense.

“This is the start of something big and something very, very important. In a few years’ time we’ll be able to compare how the distribution of garden wildlife may have changed. Hopefully, the fact that more people are helping to give nature a home in their gardens and outside spaces will mean we see improvements rather than declines.”

Dr John Wilkinson, ARC Science Programme Manager, said: “It’s great to know that frogs and toads are still widespread in UK gardens, which are a crucial habitat for both of them, but worrying that toads are relatively so much less common than frogs, especially in England. Future results from Big Garden Birdwatch will be critical in helping to understand all the factors affecting all our wildlife, including amphibians.”

David Wembridge, mammal surveys coordinator for the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, said: “Gardens can be ideal habitats for mammals but from the Big Garden Birdwatch and People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ (PTES) mammal surveys, we know that only a minority of gardens are regularly used by hedgehogs – one species we’re particularly concerned about. With numbers falling in the wider countryside, doing more to encourage hedgehogs into the green spaces around our homes and places of work could make a big difference.”

Marina Pacheco, the Mammal Society's Chief Executive, said: "Those taking part in this year's Big Garden Birdwatch have captured one of the largest snapshots ever recorded for some of our most endearing and threatened mammals. It's fantastic to know that gardens can be a vital refuge for rapidly-declining species like the red squirrel and hedgehog. As well as taking part in an enjoyable survey, participants have greatly increased our understanding of the distribution and relative abundance of UK mammals."

Giving Nature a Home is the RSPB’s latest campaign, aimed at tackling the housing crisis facing the UK’s threatened wildlife. The charity is asking people to provide a place for wildlife in their own gardens and outside spaces – whether it by planting pollen-rich plants to attract bees and butterflies, putting up a nestbox for a house sparrow, or creating a pond that will support a number of different species.

The RSPB hopes to inspire people across the UK to create a million new homes for nature.

To find out how you can give nature a home where you live visit rspb.org.uk/homes

Ends

For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact:

Tony Whitehead, RSPB Press Officer, 01392 453754, 07872 414365

Gemma Hogg 01767 693582 /07738881359 / gemma.hogg@rspb.org.uk

Broadcast-quality radio interviews:

To arrange an ISDN broadcast-quality radio interview please contact Tony or Gemma.

Photographs:

Images to support this story are available from RSPB Images.

To access an image, please click on the hyperlink below and then enter the user name and password when prompted:
https://www.rspb-images.com/respages/storysetsignon.aspx?key=c8d24154-f70f-4404-826e-7a4dd8e98676

User Name:                        RSPB
Password:                           BGBW 2014

Editor’s notes:

1.       273,351 Big Garden Birdwatch participants across the UK provided information about other wildlife that visits their garden.  The overall West Country results are given in the table here. The numbers represent the percentage of respondents in the south west:

	Badger	Grey Squirrel	Muntjac Deer	Roe Deer	Hedgehog	Common Frog	Common Toad
Seen at least monthly	26.6	66.3	4.1	12.3	26.7	48.9	34.5
Seen ever	10.1	19.3	1.7	5.2	8.7	82.0	71.0
Never seen	45.7	8.1	84.0	68.7	25.1	9.4	15.9

2.       This year Big Garden Birdwatch participants were asked to record the wildlife they see in their gardens throughout the year from a list of eight non-bird species (badger, hedgehog, grey squirrel, red squirrel, muntjac deer, roe deer, frog, toad). The survey asked: You may not see these creatures in your hour watching (especially frogs, toads and hedgehogs, which are hibernating right now), but we’d like to know if any of them visit your garden or park, and if so, roughly how often (daily, weekly, monthly, less than monthly, never, don’t know). The survey also recorded whether their gardens were urban, suburban or rural.

3.       The State of Nature report: For the first time ever, the UK’s wildlife organisations have joined forces to undertake a health check of nature in the UK and its Overseas Territories. Working side-by-side, 25 wildlife organisations have compiled stock take of all our native wildlife. The report reveals that 60 per cent of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether. However, the report illustrates that targeted conservation has produced inspiring success stories and, with sufficient determination, resources and public support, we can turn the fortunes of our wildlife around. For a summary of the State of Nature report click here or for the full report click here.

4.       The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s biggest wildlife survey with around half a million people taking part every year. Now in its fourth decade, the survey has made a major contribution to tracking garden bird numbers over the winter rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

5.       The RSPB is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations. rspb.org.uk

6.       Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) is a national wildlife charity committed to conserving amphibians and reptiles and saving the disappearing habitats on which they depend. arc-trust.org

7.       Established in 1954, The Mammal Society is a charity advocating science-led mammal conservation, leading efforts to collect and share information on mammals, encourage research to learn more about their ecology and distribution, and contribute meaningfully to efforts to conserve them. mammal.org.uk

8.       In a constantly changing world where wildlife is under threat, many species are declining at an alarming rate. Since 1977 People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) has been helping to ensure a future for many endangered species throughout the world. ptes.org

9.       The RSPB offers everything to easily create a haven for wildlife in your garden. All our expertise has been used to develop the very best food and homes, using sustainable materials whenever possible. All the profits from our shop go towards helping birds and wildlife. Browse below, or view our online shop for our full range of products. rspb.org.uk/shop

Wildlife survey at newly expanded Insh Marshes turns up rare beauties

RSPB "still discovering" wealth of nature at recently expanded Insh Marshes

August 2013. Staff from RSPB Scotland have expressed delight at the wealth of wildlife they are discovering at the newly expanded Insh Marshes nature reserve. This follows an intense period of surveying at the Dell of Killiehuntly, a new section of the reserve acquired earlier this year following a successful appeal to RSPB members and supporters.

Site manager Karen Birkby said, "The reserve has always been well known for its importance for breeding and wintering birds. However the recent work we have done underlines its importance for an extensive range of other wildlife too.

Moth & Damselfly

"Although dark-bordered beauty moth, northern damselfly and string sedge are possibly not as well known to the public as otters and ospreys they are very important indicators of the wealth of nature found at Insh Marshes. We have been encouraged by what we are finding. We are particularly pleased to have found a good number of the beautiful, but very rare, dark-bordered beauty moths this year. Insh Marshes is one of only a handful of places in Britain that this moth can be found. It is an indicator of the richness of the area."

Continued

Make Your Nature Count 2012

MAKE YOUR NATURE COUNT STARTS THIS WEEKEND!

RSPB's summer wildlife survey is nearly here and they'd love you to be part of it! To get the best possible overview of how summer wildlife is faring around the UK, RSPB need lots of eyes watching gardens over the coming week. Simply count the birds you see in your garden (or local park) for one hour between 2-10 June, and tell them what you see.

They'd also like you to give them some information on the other wildlife that visits your garden. You don't have to see these species in the hour you spend counting birds, but let them know if you ever see them in your garden and if so, roughly how often.

HOW TO TAKE PART

You can find out all you need to know about doing Make Your Nature Count on this website.

GIVE RSPB YOUR RESULTS!

Whether you've been inundated with birds or only seen a few, it's all useful information, so please send RSPB your results - it's easier than ever to tell them what you've seen.

Click here to submit your results

SPECIAL INTEREST - SLOW WORMS 

Slow worms – a type of legless, slug-eating lizard – are the unlikely stars of the RSPB’s Make Your Nature Count survey this year.

People are asked to keep a look out for slow worms in their garden or local park as part of the RSPB’s annual summer wildlife survey, as well as a variety of other wildlife, including hedgehogs, garden birds and their chicks.  

Slow worms feature in the survey for the first time this year.  They are most at home in the compost heap, where they keep warm and find food like slugs, snails and spiders.  Or they might be found hiding between rocks and other garden debris, meaning spotting them is not always easy.  However, the RSPB wants this year’s survey to provide a baseline count of slow worms in Britain’s gardens, which they can measure against in future years. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Make-Your-Nature-Count.html

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch reveals starling decline

The RSPB's annual wildlife survey has recorded the lowest number of starlings in UK gardens for 30 years.

Since the Big Garden Birdwatch began in 1979, the average number of starlings spotted by participants has dropped from 15 to just three.

Although the species was the number two "most spotted" bird, it was seen in fewer than half of UK gardens.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) confirmed that starlings were a "conservation concern".

The RSPB and its partners are currently carrying out research to find out the reasons behind the decline.

As Dr Rob Robinson from the BTO explanied, studies so far point to a decline of traditional, established pastures as a major threat to the birds.

Intensively farmed land, he told BBC Nature, made it more difficult for the birds to find their favourite food - cranefly larvae that live in undisturbed soil.

"These days, farmers are tending to cultivate in short rotations," he explained, "putting a field down to grass for three to five years and heavily fertilising it.

"Another factor... is harvesting efficiency. Thirty years ago, the farmer would leave 1% of grain on the field. But now the harvesting efficiency is 99.9%, which leaves very little for the birds."

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17523815

Marine wildlife survey discovers feeding frenzy off Land's End peninsula

Thousands of seabirds and hundreds of dolphins seen feeding

August 2011. Marine scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, have witnessed a remarkable feeding frenzy of seabirds and dolphins off the Land's End peninsula in southwest Cornwall.

The observations were made as part of the SeaWatch SW project. This involves continuous dawn-to-dusk monitoring of all marine wildlife from Gwennap Head at the southwest tip of the UK mainland. The project is now in its fifth year, but this is the first time during the survey that such a large gathering of animals has been recorded feeding in the area.

10,000 Manx Shearwtaers
Project co-ordinator, Dr Russell Wynn, was on duty at the watchpoint for the first 17 days of the survey from 15-31 July. Russell said: "the number of seabirds and marine mammals involved was staggering. In a single hour we counted over 10,000 Manx shearwaters passing the watchpoint, with several thousand feeding offshore accompanied by hundreds of plunge-diving gannets".

250 Balearic Shearwaters
A total of 250 Balearic shearwater sightings were also recorded at Gwennap Head in July, which represents up to 1% of the World population of this Critically Endangered seabird and highlights the increasing importance of southwest waters for this species.

Whales and dolphins
The seabird flock was joined by hundreds of common dolphins, tens of harbour porpoises and small numbers of Minke whales and Risso's dolphins. The survey team are now combining their visual observations with detailed seafloor maps and tidal flow measurements to investigate why these feeding frenzies are concentrated in certain areas. They are also collecting acoustic records of the dolphins and porpoises, which will enable them to assess nocturnal activity.

Dr Wynn added: "to see all these animals pursuing mackerel and smaller baitfish in such a small area was spectacular. The different types of data we have collected will now help us to assess how tide and topography influence the location of these foraging hotspots".

Container ship aground
However, a recent incident has highlighted the vulnerability of these large feeding aggregations to oil spills. On 3 August, a 9000-ton container ship ran aground just offshore of the rocky coast a few miles north of Gwennap Head.

Helen Booker, Senior Conservation Officer at RSPB said: "this near-miss highlights the continuing threat from pollution to our internationally important seabird populations in the western English Channel, which is one of the busiest shipping highways in the World. Luckily there was no leakage of oil during this latest incident, otherwise with such large numbers of feeding seabirds and cetaceans in the area we could have been facing an environmental catastrophe".

Marine Protected Areas
The RSPB has also this week expressed concern about the UK Government's potential failure to recognise seabirds as important features in the designation of marine protected areas.

Tony Whitehead, Public Affairs Officer for the RSPB in the south west said: "Finding Sanctuary have led talks over the past two years on the identification of important marine areas. The place where these huge flocks of seabirds have been feeding has been much discussed.

"However, we are worried that the UK government may not include the needs of mobile species such as seabirds in the designation of sites. This fails these wonderful creatures and we are strongly urging the UK government to include them."

SeaWatch project
The SeaWatch SW project involves intensive monitoring of seabirds, marine mammals, basking sharks and other marine life off southwest UK between 2007 and 2011. The project is run by scientific researchers supported by a large number of volunteer observers, and is being undertaken in partnership with RSPB and several other conservation organisations. Daily sightings from the Gwennap Head watchpoint can be viewed on the SeaWatch SW website: http://www.seawatch-sw.org
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bait-ball-feeding.html#cr