Wild Month
Seven essential wildlife events to enjoy this month, compiled by Ben Hoare.
Seven species to look for in December
Frozen out
When the ‘Beast from the East’ brought Siberian weather to much of Europe in March this year, a photograph of an unlucky kingfisher frozen solid in the ice of a Dutch canal was widely published in newspapers and went viral on social media. Ice looks pretty, but it’s a killer. For some birds, freezing spells lasting any longer than a couple of days can be a major cause of mortality. Kingfishers are particularly susceptible, as are grey herons, barn owls (because their rodent prey stays underground), and insectivorous species such as goldcrests and Dartford warblers. A big freeze sends their populations tumbling, though numbers recover after a run of mild winters.
Data from the UK’s BirdTrack citizen-science project shows the impact clearly, explains Dawn Balmer, Head of Surveys at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). “Since the cold snap in March, the reporting rate for kingfishers has been well down on both 2017 and the long-term average.” Other surveys can back this up and provide further insight, Dawn says. “We’re eagerly awaiting the results of the Breeding Bird Survey, due in April 2019, as they’ll give us some numbers based on volunteers visiting their survey squares.”
GET INVOLVED Use BirdTrack to share your records and learn about UK birds: bto.org/birdtrack