NatureScot Research Report 1281 - Approaches to monitoring wintering waterfowl in Marine Protected Areas - Moray Firth pilot study winter 2019/20.
Abstract
This report summarizes a program aimed at investigating methods for monitoring inshore wintering waterfowl in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), using the Moray Firth Special Protection Area (SPA) as a pilot site. The focus is on the development, trial, and evaluation of a Citizen Science Pilot survey to monitor 11 wintering qualifying features, including divers, grebes, seaduck, and European shag. Shore-based vantage point surveys were conducted by citizen science volunteers on 19th January and 8th March 2020, coinciding with digital aerial surveys. Field tests were performed to assess differences between observers. A total of 48 vantage points were surveyed in January and 28 in March, detecting 10,806 and 11,072 birds, respectively. The report applies analyses developed by Scott et al. (2022) to all 11 wintering features and presents comparisons that inform recommendations for future monitoring approaches. Relationships were characterized between aerial survey bird density models and Citizen Science Pilot counts, as well as between Citizen Science Pilot counts and contemporary WeBS counts, and historic WeBS and RSPB shore-based counts. Main findings include weak relationships between density estimates from Citizen Science Pilot surveys and the Bayesian Model derived from digital aerial survey data, although distributions appeared similar in inshore waters. Comparative analyses between Citizen Science Pilot surveys and WeBS surveys were inconclusive due to limited data. Historic RSPB shore-based counts showed moderate correlations with WeBS counts, suggesting a relationship between survey types for some species. Volunteer feedback indicated enthusiasm for long-term monitoring of inshore wintering waterfowl in the Moray Firth by Citizen Scientists. Recommendations are provided on the types of surveys likely to yield the best detection rates for each qualifying feature, as well as on future monitoring of inshore wintering waterfowl in MPAs and further analysis of existing datasets.