Birds at Snakemoore

Our birds are monitored annually. The breeding birds and those that regularly visit in winter or summer or can be seen all year are listed below. Nearly all of the 25 bird boxes have been used through the spring and summer. These are mainly smaller boxes to attract the smaller bird.

Chris Young reports for 2004 - 2009 :

The trend on bird numbers for both breeding and migration tend to be closely following the general national fluctuations. I cannot detect any local reasons for specific variations in species or numbers .

In the years 2004 to 2008 , 11 or 12 out of the 16 ‘Tit’ nest boxes were used successfully by either Great or Blue Tits. These are the boxes with the smaller holes. In 2009 only seven of these were used. I have checked with other people finding the same picture to be generally repeated across other areas in the south. The reasons are not yet clear, perhaps a cold wet spring. Other nesting species appeared slightly less this year but I am unable to quantify numbers. The Kestrel nest box has been used in most of the 6 years. But I have not been able to see if the Owl box has been used.

Over the six years the number of most of the commoner birds has been fairly constant in summer and winter. The general reduction during winter of Lapwings and Golden Plovers in fields adjacent to Snakemoor is part of a national trend in the south and west possibly due to global warming.

Numbers of Cuckoos, and Willow Warblers have also dropped as per national trend.

Corn Buntings were still present at Snakemoor in 2009. Haddenham appears to be one of the few areas in England where they have not declined significantly.

Birds that appear to be significantly increasing in Haddenham are that of Birds of Prey. We are all aware of the recently introduced Red Kites that wheel over Snakemoor most days. Perhaps they will one day breed at Snakemoor. Other species such as Buzzard are also increasing dramatically. These bred very close to Snakemoor last year. Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and Hobbies are also near record levels so the picture is not all gloom and doom. 

October 2009

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