The BTO updated their statement regarding COVID and survey work yesterday.
The pertinent points;
The exemptions regarding leaving the home are, for example, dependent on the activity being undertaken qualifying as a reasonable excuse. There is always a risk that what may qualify as such to one relevant person (e.g. a police officer) may not be considered reasonable by another. For your own benefit, both in terms of disease transmission and avoiding receipt of sanctions from the authorities, we therefore urge volunteers to carefully assess the risks posed by their fieldwork and to minimise travel and group sizes even in countries where these aspects of fieldwork may not technically be constrained by the legislation.
England We have had no further indication that the status of BTO volunteer surveys in England with regards to constituting voluntary or charitable activities has changed since this decision was made in autumn 2020. This means that survey volunteers can continue survey activities without restrictions on travel or group sizes.
This element of the legislation does not impose specific restrictions beyond the need to maintain social distancing. It is, however, vital that volunteers consider the risks of their activities in relation to both disease transmission and sanctions being imposed by the authorities, noting that interpretation of guidance by the latter may vary from region to region. Both risks are likely to increase with the distance travelled and the size of the group undertaking the activity, so lone/pair working undertaken locally is the ideal in this respect. If you are in a location where you are conscious of heightened risk (e.g. active testing for a new variant is ongoing), please exercise extreme caution.
I would strongly suggest individuals (who know their survey area the best) assess the risks and only carry out volunteer survey work if they are completely comfortable in doing so.
The BTO statement has not changed, so the advice is not to carry out this weekends WeBS counts (and any other BTO survey that is not limited to within the boundary of the property in which you reside).
In England, BTO surveys are technically permitted to continue through the exemption provided by the voluntary or charitable activities clause which became applicable in November following guidance from Defra. However, the situation throughout the UK is currently extremely serious and we would very strongly advise all volunteers to err on the side of caution and adhere to the restrictions imposed on the general public. In England, this entails limiting your survey activities to within the boundary of the property in which you reside.
No volunteer should feel under pressure to carry out fieldwork if they do not feel comfortable doing so.
With next weekend WeBS counts in mind I will post here any further updates to the BTO statement when it is released.
