Description
Book SynopsisFramed by the magnificent and internationally important coastline from the Dyfi round Anglesey to the Dee, North Wales, which includes the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park, is a very special place for birds. In excess of 700 contributors submitted more than 200,000 records over five summers to produce this fascinating atlas of the area’s breeding birds. Lavishly illustrated with stunning photographs this beautiful full colour book includes fully bilingual introductory chapters, a Welsh language précis alongside each English language species account and a wealth of recording data, maps and tables.
Trade ReviewIt’s quite a big book and quite a thick book. … The contents look good – clear maps, some beautiful photographs, understandable tables and a few graphs. ...This is a book to take with you to a Desert Island because it is fascinating, and because part of its size is dictated by having some dual-language parts, so as well as learning the birds of North Wales you could try and learn Welsh through bird distributions.
Mary Avery, Sunday Book Review
* Sunday Book Review *
[An] exemplary work of citizen science.
Mark Cocker, The New Statesman * The New Statesman *
This atlas the first of its kind for this challenging area.
Best Local Birds Atlas, 2007-17Table of ContentsForeword by Iolo WilliamsAbbreviations and acronyms AcknowledgementsIntroduction
Why produce this Atlas?
The project area
Background to the project
Project management
Our approach to an Atlas
Volunteers - training and motivation
Publicity
Newsletters
Fieldwork methods
Other sources of data
Monitoring progress
Funding the project
Publication costs
Publication process
Habitats, landscape and land use
North Wales - a portrait
Physical geography and geology
Climate
Weather patterns during the Atlas period
Human geography
Principal land cover types and their associated bird species
Estuaries (including floodplain grazing marsh), sand dunes and saltmarsh
Coast cliffs including offshore islands
Rocky shores and coastal shingle
Farmland and boundary features - hedges, walls, ditches and tracks
Lowland neutral and calcareous semi-natural grasslands and heathland (including maritime heath)
Lowland wetlands (raised bog, fens and reedbeds)
Lakes, reservoirs and ponds
Rivers and streams
Broadleaved woodland
Wet and riparian woodlands
Coniferous plantations
Ffridd including scrub and Bracken
Montane, moorland, blanket bog and upland dry acid grassland
Residential areas including gardens
Industrial and postindustrial habitats including quarries
Major changes in bird habitats from the time of Forrest to the present day
1800 to 1900
1900 to the 1940s
1940s to 1970s
1970s to 1980s
1990s to the present day
Future predictions
Our results
Distribution patterns and species richness - implications for conservation
Introduction
Overall species richness - bird biodiversity hotspots
Biodiversity planning and its relevance for birds
Biodiversity planning in Wales
The population status of birds in Wales
Which were the most widespread breeding species?
Distribution patterns of specific groups of species
Waterbirds
Seabirds
Raptors and owls
Wading birds
Upland birds
Woodland birds
Farmland birds
Comparison with the 1968-72 and 1988-91 national Atlases
Declining species
Species no longer breeding in North Wales (since 1968-72 and 1988-91)
Increasing species
Recent colonists in North Wales
Species that may return to North Wales and potential colonists
Birds seen in the breeding season that did not breed
How we achieved our results
Observer effort
Fieldworker skills
Final coverage
Population estimates
Future conservation measures
Lessons learned from this project that should be considered for any future, similar survey
Planning before fieldwork begins
During the fieldwork period
Monitoring
Species accountsIntroduction to the species accounts
Breeding status and Welsh conservation status
Historical information about species
Vice-county names within the text
The main map
The small maps at 10km level
Data table
Photographs
Population trend graphs
Sponsorship
The individual species accounts
Species classified as Category E by the BOU
Technical informationSources of data
Preparation of data
Numbers of records
Contributors of records
Monitoring progress
Organising the text
Arranging publication
Unitary authorities
AppendicesGlossary
Scientific names of non-bird species
Gazetteer
ReferencesIndex of bird speciesEnglish names
Welsh names
Scientific names
