Plotting the number of rarely spotted bird species across the British Isles.
Browsing the pages of the Breeding Birds Atlas, I noticed a pattern. Many bird species only visible in a handful of places had sightings in Shetland.
When I observed species that had sightings in fewer than 10% of the UKs hectads, the Shetland Isles had 9 of them.
The Details
The flock of birds represents a map of the UK where the base of the moon marks the south of Scotland. Only areas that have at least three different species have been shown, which is why there are gaps in the more populated central parts of England.
Each bird represents a different species for that area. As the number of species per area increases, the physical size of the illustration gets bigger. So you can spot the areas that have more species from looking at the patterns of the larger birds.
Data Source
British Trust of Ornithology
Specification
210mm W x 297mm H (A4) 2 Colour Limited Edition (100) Letterpress 270gsm Natural Coloplan Paper
