The Wet Woodland Bird Survey
Methods
| The Wet Woodland bird survey
took place between 10th and 13th July 2001. I carried out the survey by walking
around the woodland many times each day, making sure I visited each area regularly and
that I spent equal amounts of time in each of the seven areas. Over the four days, I
made sure that I visited the different areas at varying times of the day, because birds
are always more active and vocal in the mornings. If I had spent the mornings in
only one part of the woodland over the four days, I would have recorded a massive number
of birds in that area, but only small numbers of birds in the other areas. Visiting
each of the areas at different times made the survey fair. In the different areas of the Wet Woodland, I also spent some time sitting and watching, because that allowed the birds to come to me, instead of having to go and find them. This method was good for spotting the birds that frequented the tree canopies, as you have to wait for them to come below the canopy when they have a break from feeding. Some of the birds were only identified from their calls, which were heard inside the wet woodland. This was because the extensive tree canopy at this time of year made it difficult to see the birds. The birds weren't singing because of the time of year when the survey took place. The main purpose of this bird survey was to identify the main bird species present in the wet woodland at the time of the survey, as well as to see if the type of ground vegetation affected the birds which were present. |