Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Support crucial for national wildlife effort to really count
The Big Farmland Bird Count serves a very important purpose for farmers, writes Athwenna Irons, providing tangible results of their efforts to encourage wildlife
WITH record numbers of participants and species recorded in the 2018 Big Farmland Bird Count, organisers say they are determined to build further on its success when the event returns next year.
More than 1,000 farmers took part in the fifth renewal of the nationwide citizen science project, held back in February, recording a total of 121 species across 950,000 acres.
Now its organisers, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, are calling on even more farmers, land managers and gamekeepers across the country to hone their twitching skills when the count returns for a sixth successive year from February 8 to 17, 2019.
Peter Thompson, biodiversity adviser for the GWCT, said: “Many, many farmers do lots on their farms to encourage wildlife, but when I give talks to the public, they always seem most surprised that this is the case.
“The Big Farmland Bird Count gives individual farmers the chance to spend just half an hour counting birds on their farm, so that the GWCT can shout from the rooftops about their results.”
Launched in 2014, the Big Farmland Bird Count aims to highlight the positive work done by farmers and gamekeepers to reverse the decline in farmland bird numbers.
The count offers a simple means of recording the effect of any conserva- tion work currently being instigated by farmers and gamekeepers on their land, such as the supplementary feeding of birds through winter or growing crops specifically to provide seed for birds.
A total of 25 red-listed species were recorded during the 2018 count, with five appearing in the 25 most commonly seen species list. These include fieldfares, starlings, house sparrows, song thrushes and yellowhammers. The most plentiful of these were fieldfares and starlings, which were seen on nearly 40 per cent of the farms taking part.
The most commonly seen species were blackbirds and wood pigeons, seen by over 80 per cent of participants. Robins, blue tits, and pheasants were seen by over 70 per cent of the farmers who took part.
But Mr Thompson believes hundreds more people should give their support to the initiative.
“Last year, just over a 1,000 people took part in the count, which on the face of it looks fantastic,” he added.
“However, there are around 212,000 farm holdings and around 3,000 full-time gamekeepers in the UK (and a similar number who do the job part-time). Therefore, less than one in every 200 (0.4 per cent) of potential counters took part last year. Perhaps this is why the public seem unaware of their efforts!”
Sponsoring the 2019 count is the National Farmers’ Union, whose president Minette Batters will be bird-spotting on the first day of the count on her Wiltshire farm.
She said: “The NFU is extremely pleased to be sponsoring the 2019 GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count. This event highlights perfectly how farmers balance excellent conservation work on farms across the country alongside producing the nation’s food.
“Over the past four decades, farmers have carried out a huge amount of work to encourage wildlife and are responsible for protecting, maintain- ing and enhancing 70 per cent of the nation’s iconic countryside.
“I would encourage as many farmers as possible to participate during the event in February as this is crucial in the survival and protection of many farmland bird species.”
Mark Tufnell, vice president of the Country Land and Business Association, which partners the Big Farmland Bird Count, said: “Rural land managers, from farmers to gamekeepers, are doing a huge amount of good work to help farmland birds, but what’s really important is that we have the best records we can of what they are delivering.
“Anyone who works on and cares for the land is vital in helping to ensure the future survival of many of the country’s most cherished farmland bird species. So, the more people we have participating the better. I urge CLA members to pick up their binoculars and take part.”