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I'm sure that the @BirdTrack team will be analysing the figures in more detail, but I thought I'd have a quick look to see whether #lockdown had made an obvious difference to participation and reporting rates in #Wales, before using them in the @birdsinwales 2020 Bird Report
The number of records in #Wales was down only 1% on the previous year. The number of lists was down 10% on 2019, but that had been a record year, and 2020 was nonetheless the second best year ever for lists submitted.
There was certainly a change in the reporting rates for species in different habitats during #lockdown 1 in April and May, as @MarkAvery illustrated at the time: an uptick in species that live close to people and fewer records of seabirds and waterbirds https://markavery.info/2020/04/28/what-can-birdtrack-tell-us-about-birds-birders-and-lockdown/
By the year-end, it's hard to discern a real difference in reporting rates of any garden birds. Three examples here. Like most others, Collared Dove and Goldfinch are within the recent range. House Sparrow was up, but its @BBS_birds trend is +5% since 2013, so not out of line.
A lockdown effect is more obvious in reporting rates of 'destination species', such as Black Grouse (as most records are at leks in April/May) and Osprey (as most viewing schemes were closed throughout the summer)
And there may be a lockdown effect on records of waterbirds and waders, since many wetland nature reserves in Wales were closed in spring and again in the autumn and at Christmas, but the reporting rates of most species are within their recent range
There could be an effect in the uplands too, as travel away from home was restricted from 23 March to 6 July, but since @BirdTrack reporting rates (and @BBS_birds trends) for widespread species such as Meadow Pipit and Wheatear have been falling anyway, it's hard to be sure.
So, the @BirdTrack data in Wales will be as valuable as always, so thank you everyone who uses it.
Addendum! Good suggestion by @Alexander_Lees and @gwennolddu to see how submissions varied between counties. Maps shows change in (i) number of records and (ii) number of lists between 2019 and 2020. Increases in more populous counties, especially in the south.
