During 2016, South East Essex Organic Gardeners – SEEOG – are promoting a pilot survey to observe and record the bird presence on and around their local allotments.
The aim is to use the results to help measure the contribution that allotment sites make in supporting wildlife in the urban environment.
We knew wildlife observation and recording was already done on some allotments, and that many had programs in place to encourage wildlife, so in September 2015 we made preliminary contact with some allotment sites around South Essex to see if there was sufficient interest in formally recording the bird life on and around their sites.
During autumn 2015 we liaised with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) about bird surveys in the allotment environment and by the end of 2015 we had opted to concentrate on using BirdTrack.
BirdTrack is organised by the BTO in a partnership with the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) and the Welsh Ornithological Society (WOS).
Anyone can participate in BirdTrack, but please also consider supporting these organisations by becoming a member. You can read more about each of them when you follow the link below:-
http://app.bto.org/birdtrack/main/data-home.jsp
Why should we record birds on allotment sites?
We think that allotment sites that have an acknowledged and quantifiable wildlife presence can present a much better case for being a valuable benefit to the urban environment. To quote from a BTO web page – BTO: Bird recording, Why record birds? – “Recording birds regularly from the same site can contribute to a greater understanding of the ornithological value of the site and may provide important information for site safeguard and to evaluate the effects of site management. This gives real conservation value to your records.”
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/bird-recording
Quoting the BTO again “Residential areas, farm buildings and allotments were found to be key habitats for House Sparrows” and “Allotments were also found to be important foraging areas . . “, more at BTO: House Sparrow Field Survey: http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about/background/projects/sparrows/field-survey
What made us settle on BirdTrack?
BirdTrack provides an online system to store and retrieve bird observations over the whole year. The Garden Bird Watch survey requires a joining fee and the Breeding Bird Survey is a spring thing; both are worthwhile where there is sufficient interest.
Who will observe and record the birds and what will happen to this data?
The surveys will be carried out by a group of volunteers from each participating allotment site.
Observations, consisting of species, counts and dates, will be entered into the BirdTrack online system to become part of the BTO’s national database. The BirdTrack online system enables observations to be downloaded as both summary and detail lists.
The BirdTrack group on the allotment site can then print out a summary of the numbers and species of birds, which they can regularly publish, either on paper for the Clubhouse/Cafe, or electronically on their website or social media.
How would a BirdTrack survey be organised on an allotment site?
Defining the site
The BTO have devised a system of one km squares that map across the country. The BirdTrack website utilises Google Earth, a central point is chosen on the allotment site, then with a “shift + click” a grid reference obtained, and hopefully, the whole allotment site will fit in a one km square. Observations can be made anywhere within this square or just kept within the site’s boundaries. It is possible to have larger BTO squares, with of course no obligation to observe in every sq metre.
Admin
Everyone on the allotment site can observe birds but, as the survey requires bird identification skills, hopefully a few experienced “birders” can be recruited – an opportunity for all involved to hone their “bird-spotting” abilities while having some fun at the same time.
There will probably be at least one or two “administrators” who will enter the observations data into Birdtrack.
Observations can be passed to them by email, postit, word-of-mouth, SMS, FaceBook, Twitter or even letter.
It is also possible to send the observations to BTO on paper forms – BTO: Using paper forms:
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/taking-part/submit-your-records/using-paper
So how do you use BirdTrack?
Setting up a BirdTrack User is quite simple and explained on the BTO web page attached to this link:
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/taking-part/quick-set-guide
Allotments and wildlife – Conserving and encouraging wildlife alongside allotment food production
Well, there are ways and means for farms, courtesy of RSPB Farmland Bird Conservation Explained, and some of this advice is portable to the allotment scene.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/forprofessionals/farming/advice/conservation/index.aspx
We don’t have many places for wildlife on our allotment site
Don’t despair, get planting, see The Wildlife Trusts – Hedges for Wildlife:
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/wt-main.live.drupal.precedenthost.co.uk/files/files/HedgesforWildlife.pdf
As mentioned up-page, allotments are often a source of forage for wildlife which lives outside of the site.
Can we encourage more birds to visit? Yes, follow this link to RHS – encouraging birds into the garden:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?pid=497
And for encouraging wildlife into gardens: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/wildlife-garden
I am not too keen on pigeons
Often allotment foxes are quite partial to them; however, here are some tips on protecting crops from pigeons, courtesy of the RHS – Advice on Pigeons: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=207
Also RHS – General advice on plant pests: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/plant-problems/pests
What about the effects of using pesticides?
Some information from The Soil Association – Pesticide FAQs:
http://www.soilassociation.org/frequentlyaskedquestions/pesticides
Also a view on slug management from the RHS – Advice on slugs:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=228
Background to why we thought the survey is a good idea
We were often approached to support petitions to save such-and-such allotment site and, although their supporters often emphasised the “wildlife-haven and community benefits” of their allotments, there was seldom mention of recognised observational evidence in support.
Cash strapped local authorities, who are the providers of most allotment sites, are often driven to selling allotment land to raise funds. Many people view allotment sites as “community land”; however, councils often view the land as an “operational asset”, such as a redundant office building and, therefore, fair game for disposal to raise funds.
These “wildlife-haven and community benefits” of allotments have a greater profile now than in the “U-boat peril” days of WW1 and WW2 when “provision of allotments to grow food” was a vital public service.
Often allotmenteers are members of environmental and wildlife interest groups and have an opportunity to persuade their groups to “buy-in” to the allotment movement.
Not, initially, a “buy-in” on the Allotment-Management side, but rather by providing their Nature-Reserve-Management expertise. This is putting in advice and mentoring and then seeing a return of more and improved local urban wildlife sites.
Perhaps the operation of allotments as part of nature reserves might become commonplace but that would involve building and presenting good cases for doing so to some national wildlife bodies.
Also perhaps, one day, we might even see wildlife reserves and allotmenting combined into some form of “Urban, Nature and Recreational Reserve Areas” but then we thought – keep-it-simple and start-small – hence the Allotment BirdTrack project.
What happens at the end of the project or year?
The current aim is an end-of-project review and report showing how many sites took part with a summary of what they observed. Hopefully, running the project for subsequent years will provide more useful data to both the BTO and the Allotment Site.
Perhaps implementing additional wildlife friendly measures for future years to see if these make a difference.
Broader allotment and wildlife links
6th and 14th February 2016 Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust: 2016 Big Farmland Bird Count:
http://www.gwct.org.uk/farming/big-farmland-bird-count/
Please also note the following:
- There is a smartphone app that allows records to be collected in the field (without need for any data connection, just a GPS signal): http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/taking-part/birdtrack-apps
- Dragonflies can be recorded through BirdTrack, too.
The global data entry portal actually allows sites to be set up as polygons (rather than the strict adherence to the OS Grid system). UK-based BirdTrack sites can be set up in this way; may be useful if an allotment site happens to straddle a 1-km boundary, and the corresponding tetrad does not ‘expand’ in the right direction to cover the site either.
We have attached a quick-start guide. This is intended for printing double-sided on A3 paper, then folding into an A5 booklet (for ease of mailing), hence some pages appear upside down. The idea is that, when opened out completely, you end up with an A3 poster on one side that covers the basics of adding / interacting with records.
Updated12 January 2016
