Cambridgeshire Bird Club Research Committee


Responsible for coordinating surveys across the county that are relevant to the CBC aims, and for providing written and verbal reports on the projects through Club publications and meetings.

Recent projects:

2002  Yellow Wagtails nesting preferences amongst crops in Cambridgeshire.
A full write-up of this survey by Bill Jordan appeared in the Annual report for 2002 (published Dec 2003).




2003  Scarce woodland bird survey
Around 60 woods across the county were surveyed for Willow Tit, Marsh Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Nightingale and Woodcock.

This survey found that we may well have lost Willow Tit as a breeding species in the county, but that many of the woods surveyed held Marsh Tit.  Nightingale has become a bird of the gravel pits and other willow woods/scrub, and Woodcock were restricted to either very large woods or again, wetter sites.  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was the other species with much cause for concern, with only a few woodlands holding this increasingly scarce species.  
A full write-up of this survey appeared in the Annual report for 2003 (published Dec 2004).

2004 - 2006 Breeding Owls
A county-wide, 10km-square based survey for all owl species.  Surveyors covered much of the county for the presence of owls during the breeding season.  We did this survey partly on the basis that the forthcoming full breeding atlas [insert link to the atlas page]would not fully address owls due to the methods employed.  This survey has been very successful, and a full write-up will appear in the Annual report for 2006, to be published Dec 2007.


2006  Swifts in Cambridge City

A follow-up survey to the City Greenways survey in 2001 to locate breeding Common Swifts within the city, with partial success.  We  aim to repeat this survey within the next couple of years. A full write-up will appear in the Annual report for 2006, to be published Dec 2007.


2007 – 2011.  The British Trust for Ornithology National Breeding Atlas and Wintering Atlas project.  As a Club, we have decided to co-operate with BTO on this project, and alongside Peterborough Bird Club expand this project within the county.  More details available here.

Our survey programme relies on the participation of Club members and other local birdwatchers.  We always welcome input from Club members on project ideas and to help with projects in development or underway.


The CBC Research Committee currently consists of Louise Bacon, Peter Herkenrath, David Wege, Duncan Poyser and Doug Radford. We can be contacted at cambsbirdatlas@btinternet.com