Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Giving nature a helping hand
Shoots are about much more than mere self-interest; we are delighted to see songbirds and insects thrive
Yes, but you only do it for the pheasants, really.” How many times have I heard those words from critics of shooting when I describe the benefits of game management to conservation? My standard response is to ask what is wrong with that. After all, it is getting the job done.
I’d like to think that most game managers are conservationists at heart. I’m certainly only doing my advisory service job after 40 years with the GWCT because I believe in the conservation spin-off from the help I give. I’m also very much for conservation in its own right, so always on the lookout for things that will help biodiversity, even if there is no direct spin-off in terms of shooting.
Ear tufts
Two nights ago on the shoot at dusk, the headlights picked up a lump in the hedge that I thought looked like an owl. As I drew closer the image sharpened and there was a tawny, except, at the last moment, in my peripheral vision, I spotted the white feather edges of two prominent ear tufts. This was a special moment by any stretch, for here was the first longeared owl that I had knowingly seen.
A chat with friends revealed that they are known to be present locally, if rarely seen. A study of the literature revealed that the population is thought to be limited by a lack of nest sites, such as old crows’ nests. It turns out that you can buy a nest basket specifically designed as a replacement, so one new project for 2022 is to put a couple up in what we hope will be suitable places, then keep a discreet eye on them.
We do not seem to see so many swallows, house martins and swifts these days. Indeed, house martin and swift have both been moved on to the red list recently, because of dramatic declines over the past few decades. One of the suspected causes of this is insect declines and GWCT research has shown that the aerial plankton these birds feed on is more abundant over farmland with conservation strips, compared with areas without.
Artificial nests
However, modern, tidy farms with windows and doors closed and the old semi-derelict buildings replaced, or restored into commercial units, may well offer fewer nest sites. So how about putting up some artificial nests in suitable places? These are available for all three species and 25 years of using house martin boxes at home has convinced me of their value.
I was delighted that 2021 was a successful year for our martins. I wonder if the Cranborne Estate wild game project that now surrounds me has brought them better feeding conditions through providing extra insects from its network of
conservation strips. Martins and swallows often hawk along them, even if the swifts seem more random in their movements.
Having studied insects and pollination for my PHD, I am a great enthusiast for mixing in flowers to enhance the wildlife value of any habitat we are creating or managing for game. So I am keen to sprinkle annual flower seed into game cover areas. Maize, for example, may make great pheasant and redleg cover, but its wider biodiversity value is low. Adding a few native cornfield annuals like cornflowers and poppies, or even a little Phacelia tanacetifolia, can support a range of pollinators.
Native flowers
Tussocky, cocksfoot-dominated grass margins are a popular option in Countryside Stewardship schemes and they can make great nesting cover for the likes of yellowhammers and grey partridges. They also offer good habitat for mice and voles, which in turn offer bumblebee nesting sites in their abandoned burrows and nests. Why not enhance hedge bottoms with some native wildflowers?
This approach to margins usually attracts a small extra payment, but think twice about signing up. Maintaining the flowers can be hard work. When entering a mid-tier scheme a few years ago, the owner of my little Dorset shoot added a mix including bird’s-foot trefoil, greater knapweed, wild carrot, sainfoin and ox-eye daisy to his grass margins. This has resulted in good establishment and a riot of flowers all summer long, for little cost. If the grass takes over in the longer-term, there will be no ‘failure to maintain’ under the scheme, so no need to restart.
Undesirables
No matter how you choose to feed pheasants and partridges, you are bound to be helping others, too.
The trouble is, the easier you make it for the desirables, such as those yellowhammers mentioned above, the more you are likely to offer to undesirables like jackdaws, rooks, rats and grey squirrels.
Four decades as a GWCT adviser have convinced me that there is no system for feeding game that works well for the songbirds without wasting lots of grub and supporting pests.
Even my simple metal drums with slots in the base allow some spillage, which can be mopped up by rats and squirrels. During the hungry gap of early spring rooks and jackdaws can become a real pest, dominating feeders. However, it is still encouraging to see how often one or two yellowhammers and chaffinches flush from under them.
I fill them with wheat alone, having long ago discovered that offering any sort of mix in ‘self-help’ hoppers results in whoever is there choosing what they like and throwing the rest away. For many years I have had a policy of sprinkling a small handful of mixed bird seed on top of selected hoppers whenever I pass, effectively using them as a bird table for the small birds, but even this can help the pests.
“I set the feeder up over a patch of wild bird seed mix, giving two feeds at breakfast and lunch”
New approach
Last winter, I was impressed by a new approach, using a small automatic farmland bird feeder from Perdix Wildlife Supplies. Using a seed mix from Kings, I set it up over a patch of wild bird seed mix, giving two brief feeds at breakfast and lunch time. It was great to see pairs of grey partridges assembling with yellowhammers, corn buntings, chaffinches, linnets and stock doves a few minutes before the spinner went off. Also, with such a variety of species’ preferences, a seed mix that would not work in a static feeder was all cleared up in minutes.
Every shoot is different and my schemes above will not be right for all. But whatever your enterprise, there is bound to be a selection of conservation projects that will fit, further helping to prove that we who shoot care deeply about much more than the gamebirds we pursue.