As part of Natural England’s ongoing monitoring programme of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), a breeding bird survey was carried out in Picket and Clanger Wood SSSI to assess the condition status of the woodland breeding bird assemblage, a notified feature for the site.
The Common Bird Census (CBC) methodology was used, carrying out four early morning visits and one dusk visit to record the bird species present. The survey route was chosen to record birds occupying areas with different habitats and woodland management. The route passed through mature woodland, plantation woodland with conifers, a cleared plantation area, areas of early and mid-succession coppice, rides, and footpaths.
Bird breeding status was recorded as ‘confirmed’, ‘probable’ or ‘possible’ for each bird record or ‘registration’ along the route, based on the CBC bird behaviour codes. For each confirmed and probable breeding species, bird scores defined for individual species were summed to obtain a breeding bird assemblage score. This was compared with the score at notification in 1989.
The breeding bird assemblage for this survey scored 13 compared with the baseline or notification score of 33. This is more than a 25% reduction below the baseline score which puts the woodland breeding bird assemblage feature in unfavourable condition. The score may have been higher if several ‘possible’ breeders had been encountered exhibiting breeding behaviour had more visits been carried out. Reasons for the decline are explored, including habitat and management changes, and national declines of some species.