Nest Recording with Emma Scotney

The North Cornwall Ringing Group (NCRG) has been very active this spring, not only with our traditional activities such as ringing, but finding nests too. Nest finding is a specialist skill and there are far fewer nest recorders (approx. 750) than there are bird ringers (approx. 2,600). All of our members are registered on the Nest Record Scheme hosted by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

Grey Wagtail Nest

Grey Wagtail Chicks

We had an informal talk by Emma S on nest recording at the start of the year to remind us of the purpose and value of Nest Record Scheme hosted by the BTO, the Code of Conduct and the opportunities for training in the year ahead. This enthused the group ahead of the season and since then we have hit the ground running with the nests of 13 species found so far, and its only April!

We have been focused largely on dipper nests (See our latest project information here) but with our group spread far and wide and with different interests we have recorded at active nests of grey wagtail, pied wagtail, black bird, song thrush, wren, robin, stock dove, house sparrow, stone chat, blue tit, treecreeper, willow tit and marsh tit.

Robin Eggs

Stonechat eggs

Pied Wagtail Eggs

Why nest recording?

Nest finding and recording provides the BTO with essential data on the breeding attempts and success by following the progress of individual nests. This can help to track changes important in breeding success and correlate these with changes in the wider environment.

Many publications rely on the data collected through the Nest Record Scheme, which can be found here https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/nest-record-scheme/results-and-publications.

How we nest

We always follow the Nest Recording Code of Conduct as set out by the BTO (https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/nest-record-scheme/taking-part/coc). This ensures that the locating and recording of bird nests does not cause any unfavourable impacts such as damage, desertion or attracting predators.

The group opts for the more traditional nest finding methods which uses the knowledge of the birds to locate suitable nesting sites and uses the behaviour and sounds of the birds to find the nests. We do not use any cold searching, tapping or marking techniques.

Two of our members were taught ‘how to nest’ by the same trainer and have since passed on these methods and knowledge to the wider group. We study the birds at their nest site and allow the birds to show us their nests. This might be the adult birds showing agitated behaviour and alarm calling in the nest vicinity, bringing in nest materials or food, returning to the nest to incubate eggs or young chicks or exiting the nest with faecal sacs. In these instances, we are able to interpret what may be going on. We then approach the nest when safe to do so.

Sometimes, especially when monitoring for dipper, we come across grey wagtail nests incidentally as they can use very similar nest sites but more often than not, we use the sounds and behaviours of the birds to lead us, naturally, back to the nest.

This requires a sound understanding of the birds, a lot of patience and occasionally wet feet.  

If we have permission to ring the chicks in the nest, from the landowner, we will do so, collecting even more data.

Blackbird eggs

Blackbird Chicks

Groups efforts this spring

The whole team has been searching for dippers and so far, this season we have checked 200 possible nests sites and found 12 active nests.

Dipper Eggs

Dipper Nest

We’ve found a handful of grey wagtail nests along watercourses, a pied wagtail in a building, robin in a stone wall, a blackbird in ivy, stonechat in gorse, song thrush in a hedge, house sparrows in boxes and stock dove in a barn. Through a slightly more targeted project which Emma S has a lot of involvement in, she has also found wren, blue tit and marsh tit in hand carved tree features.

Song Thrush Eggs

Marsh Tit Eggs

Wren Nest

House Sparrow Nest

Grey Wag Chicks

How to get involved

The BTO has a page dedicated to the Nest Recording Scheme with lots of information on how to get involved - https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/nest-record-scheme/taking-part.

There are also Facebook groups for nest recorders too such as British Birds, Nest and Eggs and Nest Recorders UK and Ireland.