A NEW book tracking the changes in bird populations in Wirral and Cheshire is to be published later this month.

Flagging up some of the impact of climate change on various species, the book illustrates how once rare sights, such as the Mediterranean gull, are now breeding in Cheshire.

The book, by Cheshire Wildlife Trust chairman Professor David Norman, shows how the onset of warmer winters has resulted in a boom amongst populations of birds that would usually suffer in colder climates.

It also shows how tiny resident birds such as goldcrests and long-tailed tits are much more numerous.

More than 350 volunteers worked with Prof Norman on the bird atlas, which took three years to complete and is the county’s biggest ever wildlife recording project. The findings are compared to the last breeding bird atlas survey, which finished in 1984.

Prof Norman said around 50,000 hours of volunteers’ time had gone into the making of the book, and said he was proud of their achievement.

They had found some gains and losses over the last 20 years, but highlighted the increase in the number of buzzards as “spectacular”.

He said: “The last bird atlas was some 20 years ago and then there were two pairs of buzzards in Cheshire and Wirral – now there are around 500.

“It’s a spectacular gain and they can be seen all over, except very built-up areas.”

He said less pollution in waterways was probably behind increases in waterbirds such as geese and ducks, but changes to farming methods had resulted in fewer country-based birds such as skylarks and lapwings.