Wintering Wildfowl Surveys

These surveys are undertaken in the winter months (Oct-March). They generally involve monthly surveys of lakes, estuaries, turloughs or mudflats from fixed vantage points. These kinds of habitats are of high importance for wintering wildfowl and monthly surveys taken over the full winter season provide evidence of patterns of bird usage. Any birds or flocks of waders are counted during the surveys. This information can be used to evaluate the significance of a particular site.