Welcome to the third newsletter of this exciting initiative - I hope that you find it of interest. I am pleased to report that the Breeding Bird Survey is going well: a big "Thank you" to everyone who has contributed records over the last four years. If you have not done so yet, it is not too late to send in records for 1998, 1999, 2000 or 2001, or to volunteer to survey an area this year. Please do get involved if you can.
Over 200 tetrads (2km x 2km squares) cover Birmingham and The Black Country, although for those that overlap the edge only that part within the area is included in the survey.
| Spring 2002 | Spring 2001 | Spring 2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of unique records | 7,034 | 5,741 | 3,817 |
| Total number of breeding records | 4,051 | 3,164 | 1,745 |
| Number of tetrads surveyed | 193 | 180 | 144 |
| Average number of species per tetrad | 36.5 | 31.9 | 26.5 |
Over 110 species have been recorded during the survey, more than 90 of which have probably/definitely bred, for example: Peregrine, Water Rail, Lapwing, Snipe, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Long-eared Owl, Barn Owl and Black Redstart.
The most widespread species include Woodpigeon, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie and Carrion Crow, all recorded in at least 90% of the tetrads surveyed.
Kevin Clements
Maps.