All I Want for Christmas This Year is...

...apart from the ability to eat as much as I like without gaining weight, a winning jackpot lottery ticket and the body of Jessica Ennis...


1.An End to the Annual Turtle Dove Shooting in Malta and other European Countries



Turtle Dove



Every spring thousands of turtle doves are shot on the annual migration from Africa to their breeding grounds in mainland Europe and Southern Britain. Turtle Dove are more numerous in Europe than in the UK where numbers have dropped by 60% over the over the past five years. If you look back through the records further, turtle dove numbers have declined by 98% in the last 40 years. It doesn't take a mathematician to conclude that this rate of decline is unsustainable and within the next 10 years they could disappear from our shores. This doesn't appear to be worrying some; earlier this year there was a campaign on social media to stop a Lancashire based sporting agency based  offering trips abroad to shoot Turtle Dove. I am not anti shooting but this was enough to leave a worse taste in the mouth than overcooked Brussels sprouts.Of course just blaming shooting for the bird's demise would be simplistic and misguided, as with many wildlife declines, the issue is more complex. The amount of weed seeds available for the birds to eat have reduced dramatically since herbicide use became commonplace and year long fallow fell out of use. Climate change and land use changes affecting their overwintering grounds in Africa are likely to have affected numbers too, but shooting a rapidly declining bird in large numbers is  tantamount to species suicide.






2.Increased Funding for Environmental Stewardship (or at least no cut in the upcoming 2014/5 CAP reform)

World commodity prices are higher than they have been for many years and with the effects of increasingly difficult weather patterns across the globe combined with a burgeoning world population, this upward trend looks set to continue. In the light of declining interest in Entry and Higher Level Stewardship (E&HLS) I researched some figures to see how the economics of the scheme had changed since it was introduced in 2005 to see if this was a genuine influence.

Stewardship payment rates are largely based on an income forgone calculation.I looked at gross margin data for the most common crops from 2004, 2009 and 2012 to see how things have changed as  stewardship payment rates have remained at their original levels since the scheme started. (The gross margin  for a crop is the income received for crops sales less the cost of production - seeds, sprays and fertiliser.)

Gross Margins *                                                      
                          2004                                 2009                         2012
Winter wheat    £355/ha                            £603/ha                      £673/ha
Oil seed rape    £286/ha                            £510/ha                      £816/ha
Spring barley    £238/ha                            £473/ha                     £548/ha

*not including single farm payment

HLS 
Payments**
Nectar Mix      £450/ha                              £450/ha                      £450/ha
Wild Bird
Seed Mix          £475/ha                              £475/ha                      £475/ha
Flower Rich
Grass Margins  £485/ha                              £485/ha                      £485/ha

**annual payment rates only, do not include cost of establishment or annual management
(Gross margins figures taken from John Nix Farm Management Pocketbook 2004, 2009 & 2012)
Without adequate compensation, all but the most committed and affluent farmers will turn their back on stewardship schemes unless payment rates are realistic and reflect the true income foregone from putting land into wildlife habitat rather than food production.

3. Definitive Unbiased Research into the Effects of Predatory Birds and Mammals ( including cats) on Wildlife Populations


Lapwing, a vulnerable ground
nesting bird courtesy of Tim Marlow



Whilst I do get weary of buzzards, badgers, sparrowhawks, magpies, crows, rooks and foxes etc being blamed as the sole culprit for the demise of our bird populations as I have mentioned on my blog before, as a farmland bird adviser with an understanding of ecology, I would like to know once and for all  the effect of predators on numbers of declining species such as hedgehog, lapwing, grey partridge etc. There has been much research done on the rquirements of many farmland bird speices and it is widely accepted that changes to the way we farm and manage our land has contriubuted to these declines.There can be no recovery without more food and nesting areas for our birds.This is indisputable, despite what some might think and say, Robin Page. Predaotr and prey realtionships are complex and inextricably linked. What is less clear is how much increasing numbers of predators are tipping  the delicately balanced scales in their favour.

All organisations have an agenda so my wish may be very unrealistic but its good to be optimistic once in a while!

4.The Ability to Recognise all British Bird Songs and Calls

Considering what I do for a living I am embarrasingly bad at this, depsite driving round with a 'bird calls' CD in my car which really confuses my poor dog, especially when he hears  track 14;  ring necked pheasant.

Merry Christmas and a properous peaceful 2013 to all my readers ( all 3 of you!).

See you next year!

Rats

I know I promised an article about establishing wild flower margins but its a bit late in the year to sow them now so I thought I would wait until next year... If you can't wait that long then let me know by leaving a comment.Thanks.

Instead I have decided to talk about rats, specifically.....

....Are rats ruining your attempts to increase farmland bird numbers?

I've heard that you're never more than 3 feet from a (brown) rat*. Sitting here in my office with my dog next to me that seems highly unlikely but it was certainly true for a farmer who recently contacted me about a rat infestation in his wild bird seed mixes.

Driving around his field one night he was astonished to see hundreds of rats running amok in the considerable areas of triticale,  (a wheat /rye hybrid cereal), barley and quinoa. These are sown annually for corn bunting to nest in during the summer and other farmland birds to eat through the winter as part of his Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. I too was shocked to see the amount of damage the rats had done; pulling over the heads of the cereal in order to get to the grain and numerous holes and rat runs in the hedge bottoms surrounding most of the fields. This was despite shooting over 1000 rats earlier in the year.

Cereal dominated wild bird seed mixes should be sited away

from buildings so not to encourage rats

Unfortunately wherever you have grain you can get rats. Even simple bird feeders in your garden can cause a problem as I found out last year with rats as big as cats gambolling under my feeders in broad daylight. So what you might say, isn't it all part of our diverse native fauna? Firstly they are not considered native as the first record of them in Britain is from 1700s when they reputedly came  ashore from ships from the Far East via their landing ropes. They can do immense damage to buildings with their sharp teeth which grow continuously; they can gnaw through concrete, strip insulation wires off cabling causing electrical fires; they transmit leptospirosis via their urine and they eat almost anything including birds' eggs, chcks and most grisly of all,  the feet of live chickens brooding their eggs. As they are such agile climbers its not just ground nesting birds who are at risk. They are prolific breeders who can have up to 100 young in a year. For most people, ignoring them and allowing them to 'do their thing' isn't an option as they can have such a considerable impact on our lives.

The most common way to control rats is through use of poison or rodenticide. The majority of commercially available rodenticide products to control rats contain one of several anticoagulants, some of which are now subject to resistance in local populations.There is also the serious issue of secondary poisoning of raptors, foxes, badgers etc picking up poisoned carcasses. This is a complex subject which I won't go into here, there is excellent coverage in

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/ratcontrolguidelines_tcm6-11216.pdf



Monitor any hoppers for rat activity

 Trapping, shooting, using terriers and phosphine gas are other methods of control which should be explored. Removal of the food source is always stated as essential in any rat control regime, particularly using rodenticides. This is difficult where wild bird seed mixes and cover crops are concerned. Rats love cereal, which forms the basis of most rodenticides. There are cob free varieties of maize available for game cover strips and also wild bird seed mixes without cereal, focusing on kale, linseed, quinoa and millet. It is essential that rat populations are monitored and control is part of the farm's annual timetable to keep a lid on populations, particularly around buildings, where there tends to be a wider range of rodenticides available to use. Hopper feeding regularly causes problems so monitor these areas regulalry and bait runs with products suitable for use outdoors.

In the case of the farmer who contacted me, he is being issued with a derogation from Natural England to top his unharvested cereal so shooting is easier and is considering use of phosphine gas and possibly changing the composition of his wild bird mixes. Happily he remains committed to conservation and is determined to tackle this unwanted problem.

All photos copyright of Tracy Adams.


* There are 2 species of rats found in Britain, the black rat (Rattus rattus) which is rare, driven out of most of their former habitat by the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) which is extremely common. This article deals with the latter.

Not Just for the Birds and the Bees

Yesterday I  had the privilege of going to watch some athletics at the Olympic Stadium, Stratford east London. Expecting travel chaos I left really early (5.20am!) to make sure I arrived in time for my session. As it happens my journey was trouble free and I got there early so I took the time to wander around some of the park. I was keen to see how they had landscaped this former gas works and I was not disappointed.

Just behind the Orbit ( the bizarre twisted red sculpture next to the stadium) and the world's largest McDonalds, there are some beautiful floral displays, a bit past their best now but still impressive. Some of these have been planted with a variety of annuals, many of which would have graced our arable fields 50 years ago including cornflower, corn marigold and viper's bugloss. There are also special nectar areas featuring red clover and wild marjoram being put to good use by bees and butterflies. These planted areas including a wetland area and a great British garden complete with a tranquil pond, form a butterfly walk along the river Lea which winds its way through the whole site. I even saw some millet and what looked like red quinoa in one plot - a sort of urban wild bird mix perhaps?


Cornfield annuals and other wildflowers
in Olympic park Sept 2012



What struck me was the informality of it; far removed from formal flower beds of many British parks, more like an 'urban farm';one doing loads of options under Environmental Stewardship. There were clear benefits to wildlife and people judging by the numbers of both taking advantage of these areas..

If we adopt more of these wildflower areas in our gardens (both public and private) as well as on our farms our lives would be so much richer and biodiversity would really benefit. Projects in Liverpool getting locals involved with planting up areas of derelict land with native wildflowers have had the unexpected outcome of reducing anti social behaviour. Maybe we could return to those days I  remember from my childhood in the 70's when on a 200 mile trip to Devon, my dad would have to clear the windscreen of insects repeatedly, and the number plate would be plastered with tiny dead bodies when we arrived.

Next time - how to establish wildflower areas on the farm or even in your garden.

Great British Garden right behind
Olympic Stadium

Reversing the Decline in Grey Partridge

Last week I was lucky enough to visit Castle Howard in the beautiful Howardian Hills AONB, north of York. Around 15 of us were shown  around the estate as part of the National Association of AONB's Annual Conference, 'Shaping Nature on a Landscape Scale'. Of particular interest for me was meeting the 2 gamekeepers Wyne Bennett and Clive Harrison.

They explained how the estate used to operate a highly commercial shoot putting down approximately 20,000 pheasant and partridge a year and selling 20-30 days. The estate owner had a change of policy a number of years ago, winding down the commercial shoot and converting to a wild shoot with just 4-5 days shooting for family and friends. In line with most farms and estates across the country, the number of wild grey partridge had been declining over the years, with the estate down to 3 pairs.
The spring count this year showed an increase to 50 pairs, a conservative number according to Wyne. This dedication led to the estate being awarded the first Yorkshire Grey Partridge Award in late 2008.

This increase has been the result of lots of hard work by the gamekeepers to provide year round habitat for grey partridge; nesting areas, plenty of brood rearing cover and year round food. A large area of  farmland has been removed from the contracted arable land and dedicated to the shoot to recreate the farming mosaic of the 50's when the birds were numerous.Gone is block cropping and in its place a mosaic of triticale, beans, kale/kale rape and linseed. These blocks provide excellent cover for the birds and are also used to drive the birds through, providing much 'more interesting birds' to shoot than maize. Strips of canary grass have been established for pheasants to nest in.

Crop inputs are limited to fertiliser, fungicide and selective herbicides. Insecticides are avoided so as not to damage food sources for chicks. Outside of these 'shoot blocks', on the commercial farmland managed by Velcourt, the outside 3m of cereal crops are also treated as consveration headlands - not recieving any inputs. These are adjacent to a considerable network of  2-6m grass margins which provide excellent nesting cover. Partridges can then lead their chicks straight into the sparse,weedy cereal edge to find the 200 insects a day they need in the first few days of life, whilst the cereal crop hides them from hungry sparrowhawks.

Winter food- this consists of 2nd year kale (where it is thick enough to leave into year 2), unharvested conservation headlands and all year round hopper feeding. This is essential to allow birds to get into breeding condition in the hardest time of the year, the so-called hungry gap (February-May.)

There is also year-round control of predators; foxes, stoats, weasels, corvids and rats, which have reduced in number since maize stopped being grown for shoot cover. Despite numerous buzzards, badgers and sparrowhawks across the estate, grey partridge numbers have increased year on year due to the care and attention taken by the keepers to provide year-round habitat. Brown hare and other farmland birds species have benefitted too including lapwing, linnet, yellowhammer and skylark.

Whilst many farms won't be able to remove large areas of commerical arable land and farm in the style of the 1950s, there are lessons that can be drawn from the approach of the Castle Howard Estate to grey partridge conservation.

1. Ensure year round habitat exists across the farm.
Good nesting cover in the form of field edge tusscocky 2m+ grass margins or in field beetle banks; brood rearing cover adjacent to nesting cover in the form of strips of weedy sparse cereals (broadleaved weeds not grass weeds). Year round feed for adults in the form of grain either through hoppers and/or dedicated crops for birds to eat particulary kale, tricitcale and quinoa. The year round needs for grey partridge can be funded through ELS and HLS.

2.Provide year round cover
Many shoots destroy all their cover once the shooting season finishes at the end of February leaving birds very vulnerable to repdation especailly by sparrowhawks. If you want wild gamebirds to flourish you need to provide them with somewhere to hide! Kale is ideal as its a biennial (2 year life cycle) so as long as you get good first year establishment (see my earlier post on top tips for growing it) its perfect for that period on the farm when other cover is dectroyed and being re-established.

3.Keep on top of predators...
....particulary rats, especially if you hopper feed.



View from the Mausoleum, Castle Howard Estate



Castle Howard Estate with ground nesting birds sign on fingerpost



Biodiversity - Are We Kidding Ourselves? Responding to a Farmers Weekly Article (6/4/12)

Dear farmers weekly

Is the state of biodiversity so bad on our farms FW can’t even find an image of a native farmland bird to use in its article “Are We Kidding Ourselves on Biodiversity” (FW 6 April 2012) The image used looks very like the non-native Rock bunting…. !

There is no doubt that modern agriculture has contributed to the decline in our biodiversity, it has also given a growing population access to quality, affordable food. There should be no disputing these facts. Across Wiltshire as part of Natural England’s South West Farmland Bird Initiative (SWFBI), many farmers are managing 7% or more of their arable land as in-field options for the rarest farmland birds including corn bunting, turtle dove and grey partridge. They are seeing the fruits of their labours in increased wildlife on their farms including rare plants like corn marigold re-appearing and an increase in brown hares.

For every farmer pulling the stops out, there are many that are coasting along with ELS agreements featuring nothing more than the most popular easy choices of grass margins and hedgerow options. Unfortunately these have limited value and their popularity is probably the reason why the farmland bird index has not improved despite many years of stewardship schemes; it does not provide the insects and seed the birds desperately need. Grey partridge chicks need around 2000 insects a day to thrive; try finding that in your average cereal crop!

Some birds have increased which is great news but chaffinches, tits and robins have benefited from garden bird feeders not farmers, sorry Guy. The most specialised farmland birds, those dependant on arable land, are still declining nationally but early evidence through SWFBI shows that enough of the right options, in the right place, managed well by farmers, are working to increase bird numbers. Its vital that we celebrate this fantastic work and share that story with the public through farm walks and talks whilst continuing to help more farmers get maximum biodiversity gain on their farms. What we mustn’t do is waste time pointing the finger and playing the blame game. The health of the countryside depends on it.

Lapwings - Time for a Change?

The last month has been pretty busy for me out visiting farmers to give advice on various farmland bird matters including preparation of nesting areas for lapwings. We are lucky in Wiltshire that we still have widespread breeding lapwing.Through the Entry Level (ELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Schemes, many farmers have chosen to provide fallow plots - areas of 1-2.5ha (2.5-5.5 acres) that they keep relatively clear of crops and vegetation throughout the breeding season. Birds will nest in maize and other spring sown crops but once the plants grow above their eye height and become dense the adults desert the area. The fallow plots allow the birds to make repeated attempts to breed which is denied to them in normal arable situations. It was thought that the plots would be able to able to provide the bird's food requirements also; they feed on bare ground or short vegetation  foraging for surface and sub-surface invertebrates including earthworms, leather jackets  and beetles.

Despite the numbers of these plots across the country, lapwing numbers are still in decline and a study of plots in Wiltshire last year showed a worrying lack of success for breeding birds.  The scientific evidence suggest that a breeding pair only needs to produce 0.8 of a chick for numbers to remain constant so losses are expected and normal. The downward trend would suggest that birds aren't even managing this. So what is the problem? Researchers last year found birds nesting on fallow plots wandering some considerable distance away with their chicks and one explanation was they were looking for food. Following the observation of many birds on numerous plots it was suggested that the chicks were starving in addition to having to contend with predators. Last year's exceptionally dry weather would have exacerbated the problem.

Whilst pondering this I came across an excellent article by Henry Edmunds (HE) entitled "Lapwings on a Downland Farm" in February's British Wildlife magazine. He talks about lapwing on the family farm on the edge of Salisbury Plain from the 1920's to now and how their fortunes have changed as the farming system has modernised. The mixed farming system meant that birds nesting on spring barley fields (with tractors carefully driving around them) could "...take their newly hatched chicks to a neighbouring grass field, where they would be seen investigating cattle droppings or heaps of manure..." The most popular nesting areas were fallow fields which had either just had a stubble turnip crop (for livestock) or were to be cultivated over the coming months. HE recounts how one 32 acre field had 18 nests in 1972. The benefit of so many birds nesting in a relatively small area was strength in numbers; more birds can successfully defend themselves and their young against predators whilst a pair of lapwings is incredibly vulnerable.

In the mid 1970s farming systems were changing; grassland management became more intensive with increasing use of nitrogen over farmyard manure and mixed farming became less common as farmers specialised. Winter cropping increased, along with pesticide use and fallow became popular. It was no coincidence that farmland birds started declining in the late seventies.  HE also talked about predators. In Victorian times foxes were so scarce on his farm that artificial earths were made and foxes introduced for the purpose of hunting. Fox numbers increased and around 20 a year were shot by the 3 gamekeepers employed on the farm until the late 60's, when numbers stared to escalate. At the same time gamekeeper numbers continued their decline which began at the turn of the century. Fast forward to  2007 when 120 lambs were killed by foxes on Henry Edmund's farm despite 150 foxes being shot that year. Crows and rooks are also a problem taking eggs and chicks.

Fallow plots were first introduced under Countryside Stewardship primarily for the rare stone curlew. The stone curlews' requirement for bare ground to nest on and its diet of soil-borne insects, both similar to lapwing, on paper anyway, suggested that these plots would be suitable for both species. The plots are now regularly recommended on farms where lapwing are seen as well as areas known to be favoured by stone curlew. Whilst the stone curlew have done very well in Wiltshire using these areas, lapwing are continuing to struggle. I have even heard reports of stone curlew adults eating lapwing chicks which was very unsettling (and hopefully pretty unusual).

HE has his own thoughts about plots and their suitability for lapwing...."in my experience lapwings are not generally successful upon them. The birds seem to feel insecure and will move their chicks away very soon after hatching, if they are not preyed on before. I have seen one lapwing move her family of four chicks three quarters of a mile over two days to get them from a stone curlew plot to a field of young kale."
One scientist with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust suggested that by creating these bare areas for lapwing to nest on are we inadvertently creating 'sinks' for them, areas where we encourage them to nest even though they might not be totally suitable (as the only available sparsely vegetated area on a farm) only to be targeted by predators? The size of the plots also limits the numbers of pairs that can use each plot; regulations now stipulate a maximum plot size of 2.5ha. This reduces the bird's ability to repel predators. Ideally plots are located adjacent to some semi-natural grassland so there is a good food source nearby but sadly on most farms this is not possible leaving the birds marooned in the middle of an arable desert. Do these plots provide sufficient food for the lapwing? Stone curlew seem to thrive on them so maybe food availability is not the issue and it is simply that the birds are too exposed and vulnerable to predation.

Is predator control the answer? Certainly farms with shoots and gamekeepers with zero tolerance for corvids and foxes seem to have better success with lapwing than those that don't. Electric fencing of plots during the incubation period also helps as this can deter badgers who are partial to newly laid lapwing and stone curlew eggs. 

As with all ecological quandries there are many factors at play in the successful breeding of lapwing and many boxes need to be ticked in order for the birds to flourish. The research being carried out to assess what can be done to aid their breeding success will help inform our work with farmers and hopefully secure the future of such an iconic and beautiful bird.

Feeding Farmland Birds through the Hungry Gap -Top Ten Tips with Kale

Feeding Farmland Birds through the Hungry Gap -Top Ten Tips with Kale
Over 30 farmers and land managers made their way to the Trinley Estate near Andover yesterday to find out more about the best ways of providing food for birds throughout the winter. Speakers included host Andrew Hughes, winner of BBC Food and Farming Award's Farmer of the Year 2011, Peter Thompson, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust; Harold Makant, Natural England and event organiser Diane Nicolle from the North Wessex Farmland Bird Project.
http://www.trinley.co.uk/

Trinley Estate has established many different areas across the farm for the benefit of birds and other wildlife some through the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme and some voluntarily for the Campaign for the Farmed Environment. It was clear to all present, Andrew Hughes's passion for wildlife and farming, employing the latest techniques to manage the land profitably yet sustainably, whilst leaving space for nature.


The visit involving looking at many of the habitats created on the farm for birds farm particularly those associated with provision of winter seed food. As well as maize game cover crops for the shoot there are several areas of wild bird seed mix. These can be annual crops containing cereal, quinoa, millet etc or biennial mixes containing kale left for 2 years. The annual plants provide seed in the first winter and the kale in the second. Grey partridge is one of the target farmland birds on this estate and kale is grown to encourage them as it provides food and valuable cover.

The kale mixes (also containing millet, triticale, quinoa and linseed) provoked much discussion. Peter Thompson explained that kale had a reputation for being difficult to grow but many farmers made the mistake of rushing to get kale mixes in the ground in March/April. He went on to say that "many of the best kale crops I have seen are second plantings to replace failed early crops."

My Top Ten Tips for Growing Kale....
1. Good seedbed preparation is essential - get it right first time and the crop will be in place for 2 years saving you time and money over annually sown wild bird seed mixes without kale. Use stale seedbeds to clean up the ground and consider rotating with blocks of maize where more herbicides are available.

2. Soil Fertility - very important for good yields of any crop, whether for birds or us. Kale in particular is very hungry so add plenty of N; at least 60kg/ha and also think about sewage sludge and/or farmyard manure - this will help soil structure and soil moisture retention. A sprinkle of top dressing in the spring of year 2 can help boost seed production. Increasing N from 30kg/ha to 90kg/ha can increase seed production by up to 19 times!

3.Use treated seed (Ultrastrike/Combicoat) - it must be drilled rather than broadcast but it will help with flea beetle. Monitor for attack following planting so you can catch it early and treat accordingly.



Good crop of kale planted in early summer 2011



4. Do not plant too early!! Sowing kale into coild soils in early spring is a recipe for failure. It grows very slowly and is vulnerable to pigeons and slugs.  Flea beetle can also be problematic as numbers peak when oil seed rape is in flower. As with any crops, soil moisture is also important. Remember kale can be planted right through to Midsummer's day (21 June).Where your mix contains cereals such as triticale which does need planting in early spring, this element can be planted earlier in the year in the same area or in a seperate block. This can help with weed control. Elements such as millet, sorghum, linseed and quinoa can all be planted later.

5.Roll to help conserve soil moisture.

6. Try not to leave plots in the same place year after year.Soil fertility will suffer, weeds will increasingly be a problem and you could have problems with club root.If you cannot rotate, consider splitting the kale out of the mix and growing in separate blocks/strips which can be swapped with the pther components of the mix.

7.Do not sow too much kale - the seed rate should not exceed 5kg/ha but 3-4kg would suffice. Dense crops can smother out the other ingrediants and make access for birds more difficult.

8. When growing more than 1 block of kale, stagger the planting dates. E.g. plant some in 2012 and in the remaining areas choose an annual mix for 1 year then plant the kale mix in 2013. This ensures continuity of cover throughout the year - essential for grey partridge (GP). GP mortality rates soar in late Jan/Feb when coveys break up and pairs form (much of it due to female sparrowhawks). This also coincides with the end of the shooting season when game cover on farms is destroyed.

9. If the kale is a little thin, sprinkling in some fodder radish or mustard in  the spring of year 2 can increase seed production and cover.

10. Consider growing more than 1 variety of kale to ensure success.


More tips next time! Please feel free to add your own to the list in the comments section! Free advice on this in the Cotswolds/Dorset/Wiltshire/Hampshire/Berkshire Downs area is available through various farmland bird projects.

Contact details
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/regions/south_west/ourwork/farmlandbirds/default.aspx