2014 good year for Bats and Bitterns in UK
A new report has suggested that populations of 10 British bat species including Daubenton’s and Brandt’s are stable or increasing following previous years of decline. The Bat Conservation Trust enlisted more than 3,500 volunteers to help with its National Bat Monitoring Programme which collected data from 3272 sites across the UK from 1997 to 2012.
In the report, the trust said the results revealed a “generally favourable picture” and “signs of recovery” for bats over the monitoring period. However, the trends are different for Natterer’s, Serotine and Pipistrelles.
This study demonstrates the successful use of volunteer programmes in monitoring bat populations, provided that key features including standardised survey methods and volunteer training are utilised. Some species that are more difficult to detect and identify may however require specialist surveillance techniques.
Bitterns, which were once extinct in the UK, have also been prospering and have recently been recorded in England at their highest levels ever. It is the male’s booming mating call that has helped researchers to count them. 140 males were tracked in England in 2014 which is a big increase from only 11 that were recorded in 1997.
Bittern numbers declined in the UK after reedbeds were drained for agriculture and birds were also hunted for food and they became extinct as a nesting species in the UK in 1886. Bitterns began to recolonise the Norfolk Broads in 1911. The population peaked in the 1950s before falling again to leave just a handful of breeding pairs. Conservation efforts began in 1997 to bring the species back from the brink, including the creation and restoration of wetlands across the country and the legal protection of breeding areas.
Somerset now has the country’s largest bittern population, with 20 males located at Ham Wall nature reserve alone. The RSPB said restored quarries were also playing an important role in the bird’s revival, with 14 of the 61 sites bitterns were found in being current or former working pits. Creating and restoring habitats will protect the bird’s long-term future.
Sources: BBC website Dec 2014, Bat Conservation Trust Dec 2014