Wildlife Survey 2008
What could be more cheery on a wet, grey autumnal day than the image of a busy little kingfisher on a daily dash up and down the canal? We’ve been delighted to see so many kingfishers on our waterways this year. As well as being a strikingly beautiful bird, kingfishers are an important indicator of the general health of the waterway environment. We’ve even seen them in urban areas, showing the important role the canals have in greening our towns and cities. In last year’s British Waterways National Wildlife Survey, the kingfisher was the fourth most common sighting behind the mallard, swan and heron (see table below).
It also seems that the warm autumn days following another damp summer appear to have caused confusion. Dragonflies, which normally disappear by autumn, are still around, and the skipper has spotted butterflies in the last week, landing on the cabin roof. Dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies seem to be adversely affected by our recent unusual weather patterns, hence the focus on them in BW’s annual National Wildlife Survey this year. We’re taking part and filling in the survey form – why not take a wander down to the canal and see what’s in your neighbourhood?
2007 Wildlife Survey Results
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Breakdown by species
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No. spotted
|
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Mallard
|
431
|
|
Swan
|
382
|
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Heron
|
366
|
|
Kingfisher
|
314
|
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Coot
|
272
|
|
Moorhen
|
256
|
|
Bumblebee
|
215
|
|
Dragonfly
|
192
|
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Damselfly
|
148
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|
Cormorant
|
130
|
|
Bat
|
128
|
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Frog
|
128
|
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Mink
|
106
|
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Fox
|
92
|
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Grass snake
|
89
|
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Watervole
|
71
|
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Toad
|
59
|
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Terrapin
|
49
|
|
Otter
|
29
|
|
Grebe
|
27
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Total survey animal count: 3724
