Out with the Birds!

One of my resolutions for 2015 is to spend more time 'in the field' watching wildlife. As a farmland bird adviser you might think I spend plenty of time in fields,but often I too busy discussing the merits of various game cover crops with a farmer or assessing whether a wildflower margin needs re-establishing to actually stand still and watch the birds. Added to that the size of many farms means a drive round rather than a walk round so you can't hear the birds around you.

I think the same applies to many farmers, shoot owners and gamekeepers - out on the farm but not necessarily stopping to listen and wave the binos around to see what that LBJ (little brown job) is in the hedge or flying up out of the stubble. Given the time and money many farmers spend growing crops and managing areas for wildlife I think its shame not to see the fruits of your labour even if you might not know what it is you're looking at!

So how about you make a resolution to set aside half an hour next month to take part in the second annual Big Farmland Bird Count which runs from 7th to 15th February. For more information go to
http://gwctbfbc.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/brush-up-on-your-farmland-bird-id-skills.html

I have just come back from one of the excellent farmland bird ID days run by the GWCT near Buckingham in preparation for the second annual Big Farmland Bird Count which runs from 7th to 15th February. A highlight was seeing yellowhammer and bullfinch up close and personal which had been caught by a local bird ringer in a special 'mist' net near to the wild bird seed crops grown on the farm. He regularly catches and rings birds on the farm recording everything meticulously in his notebook.The yellowhammer in his hand is male and was wearing a leg ring. Looking up the number in his book he was able to tell us that he had caught the same bird 2 weeks ago and since then it had put on 0.5g. This doesn't sound much but its significant when you only weigh 28g to start with! Obviously making use of all the food sources around the farm...



Recording the vital statistics on a male yellowhammer

After an informative session brushing up on common farmland birds by Peter Thompson we headed outside to put  it all into practice.



Talking all things birds!

On first look it didn't look that promising but just by standing and listening and using bincoulars to scan hedges, we were soon spotting yellowhammer, chaffinch, redwing, fieldfare, crow, jackdaw, reed bunting, linnet, robin, blackbird and brown hare.
A wonderful, satisfying hour spent working up an appetite to justify that last piece of Christmas cake!

So how about you make a resolution to set aside half an hour next month to take part in the second annual Big Farmland Bird Count which runs from 7th to 15th February.
For more information and dates of training courses in your area, go to
http://gwctbfbc.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/brush-up-on-your-farmland-bird-id-skills.html

You might be surprised how many birds your farm is host to and don't worry if you think your ID skills are not up to scratch - practice makes perfect and I'm sure you will enjoy it!