Red grouse on Anglers Crag - Liz Guest 24th December 2009.
Bird Monitoring 2015
Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus survey
Contents
Contents 2
Introduction and background 3
Recent Red Grouse records 2007-2014 4
Methodology 6
Survey Results 9
Observations and Discussion 12
Recommendations and Progress since 2007 15
Final observations: 16
Appendix A - The 2015 Surveys 17
Bibliography and further reading: 20
Acknowledgements 21
Appeal for Records 22
Introduction and background
This report should be read in conjunction with the base line 2007 Red Grouse Survey Report which can be found on the Wild Ennerdale website on the Monitoring page http://www.wildennerdale.co.uk/managing/monitoring/ under the “Birds“ section. The 2007 report details interesting historical background data and explores reasons for the decline of red grouse in the Lake District. Much of this is still relevant, but to avoid repetition will not feature in this report.
The Wild Ennerdale project is committed to long term monitoring of 3 key indicator bird species red grouse, ring ouzel and dipper. These iconic species have been chosen as their presence or absence can give us an insight into the health of the particular habitats that these specialists inhabit. The first surveys were undertaken in 2007.
Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus (hereafter referred to simply as red grouse) is the iconic species of heather dominated moorland. The red grouse is a subspecies of the circumpolar willow grouse. It is unique to the British Isles and differs from willow grouse in that it does not turn white in the winter and in having a diet almost exclusively of heather.
In England and Scotland the species is an amber “bird of conservation concern” (BoCC4).
“Birds of conservation concern 4” (2015) is the fourth quantitative review of our birds. The review is updated every five years, the last review being in 2009.
The amber criteria means the UK breeding population has undergone a moderate (25% - 50%) decline over the last 25 years. Additionally, it qualifies because this moderate (25% - 50%) decline also applies further back to the first BoCC review period in 1969.
Red grouse was mentioned in the 1991 citation for the Ennerdale and Pillar SSSI as a component of “one of the best upland bird assemblages in West Cumbria”. Bearing this in mind it was selected as an important “moorland” indicator species for the Wild Ennerdale Project. It was therefore agreed that a species-specific survey was required to establish a baseline population estimate for red grouse at the outset of the Wild Ennerdale Project.
In spring 2007 a readily repeatable red grouse survey was carried out across the “prime” areas of dry and wet heath in the Ennerdale and Pillar SSSI to establish its status. The red grouse survey covered the extensive area of dry and wet heath stretching from Crag Fell to Steeple. It was carried out as 2 distinct surveys focused on detecting territorial displaying males at the optimum display period and time. Historically this block of heath held good numbers of red grouse (see details in red grouse survey report 2007, available on the Wild Ennerdale website). The 2 surveys failed to detect any “crowing” red grouse from any of the vantage points. Additionally no red grouse were seen or heard whilst transecting between vantage points and no red grouse droppings or feathers were located.
For the 2015 survey, coverage has been extended to cover the plateau of Herdus as well as the plateau north east of Gavel Fell. The latter site is outwith the Wild Ennerdale project.
Recent Red Grouse records 2007-2014
The “Red grouse March 2007 survey” report galvanized some interest for this iconic species locally.
Below are all the records that have been reported to the author from Ennerdale, the adjacent Scale Beck watershed (part of the Buttermere Fells) and the Lamplugh/Loweswater fells since the 2007 report went on-line.
The distance in kilometers for the records seen at sites other than Herdus is the distance in a straight line from the Herdus “core” sightings at NY117165. These are shown to demonstrate the proximity of these records to the only known birds within the Wild Ennerdale partnership land holdings.
Photograph Ian Harper – Cock red grouse – Herdus, Ennerdale - 27th September 2014
Herdus
05/10/2007 - 1 on plateau at NY117165 - alt 555m - record Liz Guest/Jeremy Barlow. Droppings were found a month later (03/11/2007) by the author at the same site, indicating a sustained presence. The last time red grouse was recorded in Ennerdale was during the course of “The Breeding Birds of Cumbria, A tetrad atlas 1997-2001” by Stott et al, when a single bird was recorded in tetrad NY1210 (southern end of Silvercove).
18/10/2011 – 2 together on plateau at NY117165 – alt 555m - record from a Fell Care Volunteer event - a dedicated red grouse survey on Herdus.
13/09/2014 – 5 (A pair plus 3 juveniles) together on plateau at NY117165 – alt 555m – record the author. This constitutes the first breeding record for Ennerdale this century.
27/09/2014 – 3(a cock and 2 female/juveniles) on plateau at NY121166 – alt 567m - record Ian Harper, Biodiversity Officer United Utilities. The cock bird attacked 2 walkers and walked within five feet of the observer. Such testosterone-fuelled attacks can occur when male birds are establishing territories in the autumn.
Anglers Crag, Crag Fell
24/12/2009 – 1 (juvenile or female) on Anglers Crag, Crag Fell – NY100151 – alt 200m - record Liz Guest – c2.25km from Herdus core area. A photograph of this bird is shown on the cover of this report. It is worth noting that this record coincided with a prolonged period of very cold weather, the snowiest and coldest weather in Cumbria for 15 years.
This is a very interesting record as it was the first reported record south of the lake or River Liza since the Wild Ennerdale partnership was set up in 2002. Although red grouse are highly sedentary, extreme weather conditions at the time could well have resulted in a hard weather movement from one of the known local populations north of the Lake, such as those at Herdus, Gavel Fell or Scale Beck, all of which lie in the range of 2 to 6km.
The last record of red grouse South of Ennerdale Water was from Silvercove in 2000.
Scale Beck Watershed – Buttermere
03/04/2010 – 2 pairs and a single male were recorded by the Author:
A pair at NY145161 – 495m - 2.8km from Herdus core area
A pair at NY151161 – 470m – 3.4km from Herdus core area
A male at NY152162 – 470m – 3.5km from Herdus core area
05/07/2010 – A brood of 5/6 on Lingcomb Edge, Red Pike at NY155164 – alt c520m – 3.8km from Herdus core area – record and photo (right) John Rickard. This record of confirmed breeding ties in very well with territorial activity seen very close to this location by the author on 03/04/2015.
Gavel Fell - Lamplugh/Loweswater Fells
19/12/2007 – 2 (A pair) plateau north of summit at NY116188 – alt 464m – 2.3km from Herdus core area.
27/01/2008 – Red grouse droppings, SW of summit cairn NY115183 – alt 495m -1.8km from Herdus core area.
08/12/2010 - 2 above Comb Gill near Fothergill head NW slope of Gavel Fell at NY110187 –alt 440m – 2.3km from Herdus core area.
Methodology
The 2015 red grouse survey is the second to be carried out by the Wild Ennerdale partnership.
Objectives:
· to estimate the spring population of red grouse, by counting crowing cocks and to compare the findings of the 2007 survey with those in 2015.
· to carry this out in a cost effective and readily repeatable method.
Timing - mid-March to mid-April
Weather - ideally dry/no wind, but possible in light/moderate winds and light rain.
The 2007 survey area was defined as the almost unbroken swathe of dry and wet heath stretching from the eastern slopes of Crag Fell across to the northern slopes of Steeple (see survey maps) - all within the Ennerdale and Pillar SSSI. This heath land still held red grouse when the site was notified as a SSSI in 1991.
The survey area was divided in to two distinct blocks:
1. Side, Ennerdale
2. Lingmell, Ennerdale
Six 30 minute vantage points (VP) to be covered from each survey block.
Each survey to comprise a pre-dawn & post-dawn period.
See survey maps for location of vantage points and routes taken.
The 2015 survey repeats the 2007 survey as closely as possible, using the same vantage points and walking the same route as for the 2007 survey outlined above as well as covering an additional two new study areas:
3. Herdus, Ennerdale
4. Gavel Fell, Lamplugh/Loweswater Fells
The new additional surveys to be carried out across the wet heath dominated upland plateaus of the above. As can be seen from the “Update – Recent red grouse records 2007-2014” section of this report there have been several records from these locations.
For the two new study areas, Herdus and Gavel Fell, it is essential for the surveyor to familiarize him/herself with the area to be surveyed, thus allowing a selection of vantage points in advance of survey work. As these new study areas are much smaller than Side and Lingmell, only 3 vantage points at each site are required to cover the site.
Survey work to start a minimum of 30 minutes before first light and to continue until all of the designated vantage points are covered.
Three 30 minute vantage points (VP) to be covered from each survey block.
Each survey to comprise a pre-dawn & post-dawn period.
See survey maps for location of vantage points and routes taken.
On arrival at the VP all red grouse activity to be mapped as accurately as possible and recorded on to a vantage point count form. The aim is to estimate the number of crowing males and/or pairs. Each observation to be given a unique code. Locations, flight lines, displaying and calling birds to be mapped using standard British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) notation.
A note of red grouse calling simultaneously should be made so as to establish the locations of different territories. Birds are likely to move between locations during the survey and a close watch on the movement of specific individuals should be made so as to avoid the risk of double counting. Any uncertainty as to whether the bird has been previously recorded should be noted, as this will help to estimate the true number of males recorded. Again, this can be shown using standard BTO notation.
Large areas of suitable habitat are walked over between vantage points and on the walk to and from the survey start/end point. These routes to be treated as transects. In effect this survey comprises both a vantage point and a walkover component, thus ensuring good coverage of the suitable habitat. Any red grouse seen on these transects between VPs should be recorded. In addition in areas such as Western Lakeland with small red grouse populations, signs such as red grouse droppings and feathers should also be recorded.
As part of the survey work is to be carried out in the dark the surveyor must be equipped with a head torch and spare batteries. Additionally as the survey area is extremely rugged in nature with patchy mobile phone coverage, in the interests of safety the surveyor uses a “SPOT” satellite messenger to keep in touch with a designated “buddy” and is First Aid trained and carries a First Aid Kit.
A global positioning system (GPS) to be used to record the survey track and all vantage points to be entered in to the device.
This is in turn to be stored on Memory Map software on a personal computer (PC).
Red Grouse “breeding success” survey - Herdus (National Trust)
As red grouse have a good recent track record of presence at Herdus in recent years and were confirmed as breeding there in 2014, the Wild Ennerdale project decided that not only would they widen the scope of survey work in the valley by including Herdus in the survey looking for “crowing” males in the early spring, but the decision was also taken that if there were any signs of red grouse during the first Herdus survey then a second survey would be carried out searching for any signs of breeding success in July/August. This would take the form of a transect survey which could be undertaken any time during daylight hours.
Walk seven pre-defined transects scanning by eye for red grouse or any signs of red grouse. Grouse activity to be recorded using binoculars to ascertain sex and age. This to be carried out across the wet heath plateau of Herdus as well as the dry heath habitat on Great Borne.
Transects are approximately 100m apart. Therefore 50m is more or less the greatest distance of any point of the study area from the observer. Transects 1- 6 run ENE and WSW. An exception is made for transect 7 which does not follow the same compass bearings. Instead it runs E and then NE to follow the route of the old boundary fence. This avoids large areas of unstable block scree which is potentially dangerous to the surveyor. Furthermore this habitat is likely to be a low priority area for red grouse and likely to be of low usage.
The aim is to establish whether red grouse have bred successfully, that is produced young. The observer is on the lookout for broods of red grouse, adult red grouse, red grouse droppings or feathers. Each observation is to be given a unique code. All bird activity is mapped using standard British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) notation.
Following this methodology, these surveys are readily repeatable in their entirety as all the vantage point locations, transects and track logs are mapped and stored electronically. This will allow future surveys to be carried out using the same format and following the exact routes taken between VPs. Eight figure grid references are given below to support the repetition of the survey in future years, potentially every five to ten years.
Survey Results
Red grouse Survey No 1 (Side) 14/03/15:
No red grouse were recorded from the vantage points and none were seen on the walkover survey between vantage points, additionally no red grouse droppings or feathers were seen during the survey. This survey area forms part of the Ennerdale and Pillar SSSI.