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Waterbirds in the UK 2008/2009 - new WeBS annual report released

Waterbirds in the UK 2008/0922 August 2010 - "Waterbirds In the UK 2008/09" - the new Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) annual report for the UK has just been released, highlighting contrasting trends for the UK's wintering waterbirds.

The report shows that the UK’s estuaries and other wetlands have seen several notable changes in the birds using them in recent years. Little Egret and Avocet are now present in higher numbers in the UK than ever before, but familiar species such as Ringed Plover and Dunlin are at all-time lows, and other coastal waders such as Redshank, Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit have also experienced recent declines.

Chas Holt, one of the authors behind the report, said: “Just 20 years ago, Little Egrets and Avocets were scarce in the UK but nowadays they are a familiar sight. At the same time numbers of some of our internationally important wader populations are in decline – probably partly because they are shifting range in response to climate change. To see how all species responded to last winter – the coldest across the UK for more than 30 years – will prove especially fascinating.”

The latest WeBS report, covering the winter of 2008/09, documents the expansion of four native waterbird populations in the UK, with Pink-footed Goose, Svalbard Barnacle Goose, Little Egret and Avocet all noted at record levels. With Avocet for example increasing by over 1000% in the last twenty years.

In contrast, populations of six species reached an all-time low point; Mallard, Pochard, Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Ringed Plover and Dunlin – all of which have declined by at least 20% in the last twenty years.

The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) on which the report is based, is a joint scheme of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) to monitor non-breeding waterbirds in the UK. The principal aims of the scheme are to identify population sizes, determine trends in numbers and distribution, and identify important sites for waterbirds in the UK. This is one of the well-established monitoring schemes within the Agreement area and the monitoring data derived from WeBS is also crucial for the UK to fulfil its obligations under international conservation treaties such as AEWA and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

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