My years of BTO surveys

Way back in the mid 1990s when I was still a fairly inexperienced birder (I wouldn’t class myself as expert now!), I was persuaded by the then Berkshire County BTO representative, Chris Robinson, to have a go at doing this fairly new bird survey. The idea was daunting to say the least, especially as it’s normally undertaken solo, but I decided to try.

Starting in 1997, I was allocated a 10 km square (of the OS map) that centred on Hungerford Newtown just north of Hungerford, not far from where I was living at the time. Chris himself had stood in to do it when the previous surveyor gave up, so he was a good example to follow. The route was already established, I had instructions for the methodology so away I went.

It was incredibly interesting to go over the same small area each April to May/June and record all the birds seen and heard. I am sure that I made mistakes early on and probably missed species by sound that I wasn’t familiar with, but it got better each year. I soon decided that my surveys should only be done on Sundays at 6am because of the amount of weekday traffic to and from the M4 on the fairly narrow A338 down to Hungerford, and no-one expects to see a pedestrian at that time on that road. No footpath, but the verges were quite wide enough to hop up on. Hi-vis jacket was still essential, but even with that and a clipboard and standing by the side of the road didn’t slow drivers down. The restriction to Sundays was problematic when the weather wasn’t ideal - rain, very windy, both a no-no.

In the early years, the farm I walked through was obviously trying to go organic, and there were always double counts of Lapwings on the fields. Red Kites were almost non–existent so a count of 6 perched on fence posts one year was exceptional. Buzzards were always up, but now are almost a rarity. Recently I have to be lucky to see one. Red-legged Partridge were always there. There have been special birds that have always stayed in my memory. One year, I had a Turtle Dove perched on an overhead wire, long enough to record it but then it flew off out of my square. Spotted flycatchers were regular around one garden, until they weren’t found again. Greenfinches were always numerous, but now only maybe one singing. Swallows could always be seen on the wires above the houses in the village, plus nesting in the small bus shelter, as well as entering a thatched barn through an always open window to their nest (now closed). House Martins are few now around the farm yard - no longer an active yard with sheep and cattle, but a major horse-riding school with the animals permanently in the fields. I also took ages to try to identify a singing bird near a hamlet of 3 homes - when seen it was a Corn Bunting! My first and only sighting there. It still happens though - this May I found a singing Yellow Wagtail where I had expected a Yellowhammer! Fabulous. Plus a singing Woodlark over a cultivated field. We can always be surprised by nature.

However, age and poor health catches up with us all, and with faster and more traffic plus over-grown verges, after 29 years, I am hanging up my hi-vis jacket and clipboard for good.

Editor's note: Surveys involve two early morning Spring visits on a designated 1km walk and submitting results online. There are currently available squares in Berkshire. More information is available from https://www.bto.org/get-involved/volunteer/projects/bbs