Every year our breeding bird survey volunteers head out early in the morning to their chosen reserve, 6 times between March and June, and record all the bird activity along their transect. There are currently 40 transects, covering 24 different reserves, which brings in lots of valuable data that we simply wouldn't be able to gather without the help of these volunteers. Our office volunteer team also do a brilliant job then collating the maps and analysing the results. So a massive thank you to all of you!
2025 breeding bird survey results have all now been processed and territories mapped.
The top ten species recorded last year were:
- Wren
- Chiffchaff
- Robin
- Blackcap
- Blue tit
- Song thrush
- Blackbird
- Willow warbler
- Whitethroat
- Great tit
The top five remained exactly the same as in 2024, and the next five species did a little bit of swapping of places, but there were no new species in the top ten.
As before, this is a quick analysis simply adding up the total number of territories, and doesn't account for changes such as the number of surveys or differences in which sites were surveyed each year, but it is a good way to get a quick idea of changes.
We are also able to use the data to provide our reserves management teams with a report every year, which highlights any significant changes. There have been a few ups and downs in individual species over the years, but these tend to reflect national trends. It's encouraging to be able to look at our own data to follow increases, for example chiffchaff and blackcap numbers have been going up in recent years, as shown below.
Average number of territories per site per year
