Wetland Bird Survey, Cotswold Water Park
The Wetland Bird Survey (Webs), coordinated by BTO, WWT, RSPB and JNCC) is one of the longer running bird surveys in the UK, as well as in the Cotswold Water Park, providing detailed long term datasets regarding our wintering bird populations. WeBS in the Cotswold Water Park is undertaken by a team of counters, each counting their own series of lakes. As a result of their superb efforts, the Cotswold Water Park is known to be internationally important for wintering Lesser Black Backed Gull, and nationally important for wintering Pochard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, Red Crested Pochard, Smew, Great Crested Grebe and Coot.
We need your help. New counters are needed to help count the ever increasing numbers of lakes in the Cotswold Water Park. Counters are needed in particular for the Ashton Keynes area and the Fairford area. Counts are undertaken on specific dates, once per month, September to March inclusive.
Learn the joy of counting your own lakes through the season, observing the natural fluctuations in numbers as birds arrive during early winter and then depart for the breeding grounds in late winter. Keep an eye open for rarer ducks, grebes and divers too!
If you are interested in helping, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you
Gareth Harris, Biodiversity Officer, Cotswold Water Park Society. Tel: 01285 861459
Email: gareth.harris@waterpark.org
