Carrington Moss falls within the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement area, GMW_NIA so if the Carbon Landscape Citizen Science project is successful then the various project surveys, including farmland birds, may be rolled out across the wider NIA. Two of the measures of success will be the number of volunteer recorders participating and the number of surveys completed.
However, in the meantime, if you and other birdwatchers who visit Carrington Moss, submit your bird records to the GM Bird Recording Group and records for other wildlife to the GM Local Record Centre then we will have the data to assess the ecological importance of the site. Unfortunately, over recent years very few records have been received.
More information can be found on the NIA and how the Carbon Landscape Programme fits into the bigger picture here Carbon Landscape Interpretation Report
Steve
Tony Darby said
Fri Nov 24 2:46 PM, 2017
It's a shame parts of Carrington Moss aren't included in the survey, as this area of farmland is very much under threat of 'development'..
GM Local Record Centre said
Fri Nov 24 2:11 PM, 2017
Thank you David, that is much appreciated.
The survey methodology is based on the BTO Winter Farmland Bird survey which ran between 1999/2000 and 2002/2003, so we will be able to compare our results with the data collected by the BTO volunteers at the time. An interesting paper was published in Bird Study following the survey Distribution and abundance of birds and their habitats within the lowland farmland of Britain in winter Simon Gillings , Andrew M. Wilson , Greg J. Conway , Juliet A. Vickery & Robert J. Fuller (2008)
The conclusion reached was that Many farmland passerines are highly aggregated, even within particularly favoured field types. These results are consistent with winter food resources being highly localized and the need to create more food-rich patches if declines are to be reversed.
So this survey will help us to identify those areas which are still important for farmland birds in Salford, Warrington and Wigan and give us the opportunity of taking action to maintain these populations. Surely, something we all wish to support.
The survey only requires three visits between now and the end of February 2018 and will be repeated in winters 2018-19 and 2019-20. We hope that birders in Cheshire and GM will be willing to volunteer their time to support our farmland birds.
David Shallcross said
Fri Nov 24 10:14 AM, 2017
Good luck with your request on here Steve. I have sent it round L.O.S.
-- Edited by David Shallcross on Friday 24th of November 2017 12:22:23 PM
GM Local Record Centre said
Thu Nov 23 1:59 PM, 2017
The Carbon Landscape Citizen Science project is now launching the Winter Farmland Bird Survey (WFBS) which aims to monitor the abundance and distribution of farmland birds at a landscape scale across the Salford, Warrington and Wigan mosslands, as well as on other farmland in the three districts.
So we are keen to recruit experienced birdwatchers to carry out the surveys which involve three visits between November and February to a 1km square to record the farmland birds and how they are using the agricultural crops and habitats. The first visit in November/December to record the habitats, followed by two bird surveys; the first in November/December and the second in January/February.
The survey instructions and recording forms are now available to download from our website Carbon Landscape Citizen Science Project These should be self-explanatory but do get in touch if you have any questions. Attached is the list of 1km squares available for survey. We will in due course have an on-line system to allow recorders to request survey squares via the GMLRC MapApp Carbon Landscape Boundary however, for the time being this can be used to view the squares.
If you are interested in taking part, or would like more information about the survey please email carbonlandscape@gmwildlife.org.uk, or give us a call on 0161 342 4121, so we can allocate a 1km square to you and provide a large scale map for the habitat survey. There is very little overlap between the Greater Manchester BBS squares and those we wish to survey, so the WFBS should obtain a significant amount of new data which will be used to monitor the status of our farmland birds and ultimately draw up an action plan for their conservation across the Carbon Landscape Programme area which lies at the heart of the wider Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area.
We are also aiming to train new recorders by setting up a mentoring scheme whereby they can accompany experienced surveyors, and over the three years of the project develop their ID skills, so they are proficient to carry out surveys on their own. Hopefully, if we are able to recruit enough mentors this will encourage younger people to get involved in bird surveys and recording which will ultimately support the conservation of our birds for many years to come.
The Citizen Science Project forms part of the wider Carbon Landscape Programme which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and has three key aims. 1. To restore a derelict landscape, ensuring connectivity and resilience in an area facing significant threats 2. To reconnect people with their landscape through improved access, increased learning and volunteering opportunities 3. To instill pride and engender community ownership in our Carbon Landscape, providing skills for local people, groups and beneficiaries
More information is available on the Carbon Landscape website Carbon Landscape
Steve
-- Edited by GM Local Record Centre on Thursday 23rd of November 2017 02:12:18 PM
Carrington Moss falls within the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement area, GMW_NIA
so if the Carbon Landscape Citizen Science project is successful then the various project surveys, including farmland birds, may be rolled out across the wider NIA. Two of the measures of success will be the number of volunteer recorders participating and the number of surveys completed.
However, in the meantime, if you and other birdwatchers who visit Carrington Moss, submit your bird records to the GM Bird Recording Group and records for other wildlife to the GM Local Record Centre then we will have the data to assess the ecological importance of the site. Unfortunately, over recent years very few records have been received.
More information can be found on the NIA and how the Carbon Landscape Programme fits into the bigger picture here Carbon Landscape Interpretation Report
Steve
The survey methodology is based on the BTO Winter Farmland Bird survey which ran between 1999/2000 and 2002/2003, so we will be able to compare our results with the data collected by the BTO volunteers at the time. An interesting paper was published in Bird Study following the survey Distribution and abundance of birds and their habitats within the lowland farmland of Britain in winter
Simon Gillings , Andrew M. Wilson , Greg J. Conway , Juliet A. Vickery & Robert J. Fuller (2008)
The conclusion reached was that
So this survey will help us to identify those areas which are still important for farmland birds in Salford, Warrington and Wigan and give us the opportunity of taking action to maintain these populations. Surely, something we all wish to support.
The survey only requires three visits between now and the end of February 2018 and will be repeated in winters 2018-19 and 2019-20. We hope that birders in Cheshire and GM will be willing to volunteer their time to support our farmland birds.
Good luck with your request on here Steve. I have sent it round L.O.S.
-- Edited by David Shallcross on Friday 24th of November 2017 12:22:23 PM
So we are keen to recruit experienced birdwatchers to carry out the surveys which involve three visits between November and February to a 1km square to record the farmland birds and how they are using the agricultural crops and habitats. The first visit in November/December to record the habitats, followed by two bird surveys; the first in November/December and the second in January/February.
The survey instructions and recording forms are now available to download from our website Carbon Landscape Citizen Science Project These should be self-explanatory but do get in touch if you have any questions. Attached is the list of 1km squares available for survey. We will in due course have an on-line system to allow recorders to request survey squares via the GMLRC MapApp Carbon Landscape Boundary however, for the time being this can be used to view the squares.
If you are interested in taking part, or would like more information about the survey please email carbonlandscape@gmwildlife.org.uk, or give us a call on 0161 342 4121, so we can allocate a 1km square to you and provide a large scale map for the habitat survey. There is very little overlap between the Greater Manchester BBS squares and those we wish to survey, so the WFBS should obtain a significant amount of new data which will be used to monitor the status of our farmland birds and ultimately draw up an action plan for their conservation across the Carbon Landscape Programme area which lies at the heart of the wider Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area.
We are also aiming to train new recorders by setting up a mentoring scheme whereby they can accompany experienced surveyors, and over the three years of the project develop their ID skills, so they are proficient to carry out surveys on their own. Hopefully, if we are able to recruit enough mentors this will encourage younger people to get involved in bird surveys and recording which will ultimately support the conservation of our birds for many years to come.
The Citizen Science Project forms part of the wider Carbon Landscape Programme which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and has three key aims.
1. To restore a derelict landscape, ensuring connectivity and resilience in an area facing significant threats
2. To reconnect people with their landscape through improved access, increased learning and volunteering opportunities
3. To instill pride and engender community ownership in our Carbon Landscape, providing skills for local people, groups and beneficiaries
More information is available on the Carbon Landscape website Carbon Landscape
Steve
-- Edited by GM Local Record Centre on Thursday 23rd of November 2017 02:12:18 PM