The annual Winter Bird Count, conducted in many of the countries of Europe, will soon be upon us – on the weekend of 28-29 January 2017.
As in past years, the English-speaking section of natur&ëmwelt is counting on plenty of members and supporters to take part. All the forms and instructions are available in English and will be sent directly and in good time to paid-up members of natur&ëmwelt.
This year’s count will be particularly important, following one of the worst breeding seasons on record (they reported on the disastrous effects of the relentless spring rainstorms in a previous newsletter). Already many people in Luxembourg are reporting greatly reduced numbers of birds visiting their garden feeding stations. This may be related to the breeding failure in 2016, but it may also have something to do with the beechmast glut in Luxembourg’s forests this year. The Centrale ornithologique need scientific evidence of what is happening, to compare the data with records from previous years. So, contributions from hundreds of other observers around the country, will be of vital importance.
For further details, email: ne.english.section@gmail.com or see www.naturemwelt.lu
Scientific research
The Centrale ornithologique is also responsible for an annual publication entitled ‘Regulus Scientific Reports’ (after the natur&ëmwelt membership magazine ‘Regulus’), and it brings together articles which are based on the detailed research done by Luxembourg’s surprisingly active team of amateur ornithologists. And the nice thing, from the point of view of English-speaking birders, is that the articles are either in English or come with an English summary. If you are not yet on the mailing list for this publication, just drop an email to col@naturemwelt.lu or call 290404–309. The 2016 edition is just out and includes a report on the first sighting in Luxembourg of the spectacular Black-winged Kite.
Photo by Roland Felten
