Alderney becomes 20th British bird observatory

Britain's birds are among the best monitored across the world, and things are about to take another step up as a brand-new bird observatory joins the 19 others that are positioned at key migration hot-spots around our coasts.

Alderney Bird Observatory (ABO) received official accreditation at a recent meeting of the Bird Observatories Council (BOC), a gathering of all such bodies, making it the country's twentieth. Ranging from Fair Isle, Shetland, in the north to Alderney, Channel Islands, in the south, Britain's bird observatories have logged the comings and goings of our birds since the first observatory Skokholm, Pembs, opened in 1933; these unbroken observations are among the largest ornithological datasets in the world.

Many firsts for Britain have been found and documented at Bird Observatories, but it is the day-to day observations of birds on the move that are the most important, as they make their way in and out of Britain to and from far-flung destinations. Since the 1960s, several of these species have changed the timing of their migration as a response to a changing climate. For example, Swallow now arrives back in the UK on average 15 days earlier than it did in the 1960s, and Sand Martin over 20 days earlier, while the timing hasn't really changed for Common Cuckoo. It is vital that we keep an eye out for changing patterns in the future if we are to fully understand the pressures that many of our birds might face and how we might help those that are showing declines.
 

Bird observatories are great places for tracking the arrival and departure dates of migrants such as Sand Martin (David Mason).

John Horton, Warden at Alderney Bird Observatory, commented: "It is such a privilege to be the first Warden of Alderney Bird Observatory and to know that the work we carry out here will make a real difference to our understanding of the birds that live here or pass through on migration. I look forward to ABO adding to the long-term observations gathered by my colleagues around Britain and Ireland. It is testament to the hard work of lots of volunteers that we have got this far, and to them a huge thank you."

Steven Stansfield, Chair of the BOC, added: "It is fantastic to welcome Alderney into the bird observatory family, and to know that we will have many more sets of eyes looking out for our birds."

Alderney Bird Observatory will be open to visitors this spring, and will be carrying out daily observations of the birds passing through as well as sampling some of them through its ringing efforts. For more information, please visit www.alderneybirdobservatory.org.