THE countdown has already started to one of the biggest gambles in the natural world. Thousands of birds – some mere scraps of life – will soon start out from their global wintering grounds on the great spring migration, many coming to Britain on a journey becoming more perilous with each passing year.

Their arrival over the North-East coast will be keenly monitored by one dedicated group of bird watchers – members of the Teesmouth Bird Club who have been monitoring numbers since the club began in 1960.

“Every bird watcher looks forward to spring and the miracle of migration, despite all the hazards which some feathered visitors face,’’ says club secretary Chris Sharp. “It is always great to see the first swallow or willow warbler.

“Bird numbers in Cleveland are not just influenced by what happens here, but by what is occurring all over the world. There still remains a lot of pressure on bird populations and unfortunately it is mostly caused by man. Hazards they have to face range from shooting around the Mediterranean to trapping in North Africa.’’ Chris says it’s the unpredictability of bird numbers and population trends that keeps bird watchers fascinated.

“For a lot of species, the news is not good, but in an everchanging world, fortunately some species are increasing,’’ says Chris.

The cuckoo used to be regularly heard, if not seen, across the area of the North-East covered by the bird club, but its numbers have declined across the UK. It is the same with the spotted flycatcher.

And in the space of 40 years, some species have come and gone from the area. Numbers of ruddy ducks peaked – in the Teesmouth area at 151 – in September 2002. But as a result of a multi-million-pound government cull in response to Spain’s claims that the survival of their own white-headed duck was endangered through inter-breeding with the ruddy, this charming chestnutcoloured duck has been totally wiped out.

The Northern Echo:

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Pallas’s warbler, the ruddy duck and Cetti’s warbler

Cetti’s warbler bred in the area, but then mysteriously disappeared.

The hawfinch has vanished as a breeding species, while the whinchat is only to be found breeding on moorland on the south-east edge of the club’s range. The corn bunting was, 40 years ago, a regular farmland bird, seen in good numbers. Now there is only the odd isolated record of one being seen.

Shore larks, too, have become rarer. “There were 153 recorded in October 1971. Now, if we get two or three a year, we are doing well,’’ says Chris. “We had 550 snow buntings on South Gare, near Redcar, in December 1984, but this winter they were very scarce. Yet in contrast, the reed warbler, which first bred in Cleveland in 1975, is now breeding in good numbers.

“The yellow browed warbler is becoming a regular autumn visitor,” adds Chris. “It was first recorded here in 1962; now we have over 400 records.’’ And prior to 1982 there were only three records of Pallas’s warbler in the area. There are now 53 records of the bird being seen.

Yet numbers of wading birds seen along the North-East coast have dropped dramatically. No fewer than 19,000 knot were counted wintering in the Tees estuary in December 1970. There are now fewer than 2,000.

Similarly with dunlin. There were 10,000 recorded in November 1973, but there was a count of only 1,404 in February 2012 – and that was the highest number recorded for four years.

Seal Sands once held a third of the European population of shelduck, the bird adopted as the emblem of the Teesmouth Bird Club. No less than 4,440 shelduck were recorded on the estuary and North Tees marshes in 1970. Now the wintering population of this colourful waterfowl is just over 200. “A lot of Seal Sands was filled in after that time, reclaimed for industrial use,’’ says Chris. “For shelduck it has been a gradual decline over the past 40 years, a loss of habitat.’’ Numbers of diving ducks seen in the Tees estuary have fallen. Goldeneye used to be seen regularly on Seal Sands during the winter months. More than 200 were counted there in the winter of 1978. Now, birdwatchers are lucky to see half a dozen in the bay, though the Saltholme pools still host about 20 birds most winters.

However, geese are on the rise.

Five greylag geese were recorded on Teesmouth in 1979. That number rose to 846 on the North Tees marshes last winter, with more than 1,500 elsewhere across Teesside. Canada geese were quite rare across the bird club’s catchment area 40 years ago, yet their numbers have rocketed; 1,050 being recorded in 2011.

Numbers of dabbling duck have also increased, with gadwall, once counted in single figures, now outnumbering the common mallard.

“Whether this has anything to do with climate change is open to debate,’’ says Chris.

Two charismatic species which have increased on the North Tees Marshes in recent years are little egret and avocet. The avocet is a very recent phenomenon in that the first pair to be seen breeding, was recorded in 2008.

Twenty years ago, little egrets were a British birds rarity. One would attract a large crowd. Now bird watchers are blase and hardly give them a second glance. They are seen every month of the year in reasonable numbers.

“It’s swings and roundabouts,’’ says Chris. “No doubt in the next 40 years, there will be more changes to be recorded by bird-watching members of Teesmouth Bird Club.’’ For now, it’s binoculars out and all eyes skywards to welcome our flocks home from their global wintering grounds.

W: teesmouthbc.com

  • Mike Amos is away