A SURVEY will be conducted in the Tamar Valley to monitor the second-fastest declining species in the UK after the Turtle Dove.

The Willow Tit, a Red-listed species is going to be monitored with the hope of retrieving data relating to population numbers.

The survey which has been organised by the National Trust and Metherell resident, Andrew Brown will take place at Cotehele. The survey will involve installing 40 bird boxes at Comfort Woods to allow monitoring of the species which due to declining numbers have proved increasingly difficult to monitor.

Andrew explained that the Willow Tit population had decreased due to loss of habitat, increased predation from the Great Spotter Woodpecker and increased competition with species such as Blue Tits and Great Tits.

The survey will allow populations of the species in the Tamar Valley to be identified.

Andrew said: ‘I noticed them nesting in fence posts at my property in 2021. As I started asking around, lots of people had seen them.’

The partners in the project are The Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme who have provided the grant for the survey, the National Trust, The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the RSPB. The bird boxes will be modified accordingly as the species occupy habitats such as damp woodland with deadwood. The boxes have been filled with sawdust to imitate deadwood and have been modified to prevent predator access. The boxes will be installed this month and a training day will take place at Cotehele in January inviting people to identify Willow Tits, map the population and modify bird boxes.

‘By giving them their nest site we can hopefully hang on to the local population’, said Andrew.

‘We certainly have the habitat for it.’

For more information email Andrew Brown on: [email protected]