Monkey makes it home, but two others don't!

A nesting Woodcock

I’m pleased to announce that Monkey, the male woodcock that was radio tagged in Cornwall by GWCT research scientist Dr. Andrew Hoodless has successfully made it back to his breeding ground in Siberia, completing his third annual migration! Andrew reckons that Monkey has already clocked up 24,000 miles (39,000 Km) in his lifetime! Hopefully he is one of many woodcock now “roding” – the peculiar display flight that male woodcock perform at dusk to attract females – around his Siberian woodland territory.

16 woodcock with satellite tracking devises have arrived safely on their breeding grounds, but unfortunately 2 have gone missing including Busy, also tagged in Cornwall in February 2012, who was found by a member of the public being eaten by a Sparrowhawk in a wood near Andover in Hampshire! Don’t forget to follow how these birds fare over the coming months on the woodcock website.   

Open Farm Sunday - a great success!



The delight of holding a duckling!

Watching sheep being sheared

Well, if the crowds attending “Open Farm Sunday” at Middle farm, Cheriton, Hampshire today are anything to go by, then all the farms opening their farm gates to the public today, will have had a very successful day! The GWCT farm in Loddington, Leicestershire opens today too, with all farms aiming to entertain and educate the public in actually what happens on a modern day farm and importantly, to explain where our food comes from.

This excellent initiative is nationally organised by “Linking Environment And Farming” (LEAF) – and each year more and more farms sign up, spending a lot of time preparing to make the farm safe and providing plenty to see. I think these two pictures show just what an enjoyable day it is for people who rarely get the chance to get close to farm animals!     

Belgians - good with chocolate but not conservation - yet!

Belgian group visit the Allerton project

I spent today at the Allerton project in Loddington, Leicestershire. This is the GWCT’s research and demonstration farm – where we trial numerous conservation techniques to see if they really do work and how they fit in with the farming programme. This farm is also a key way of showing all sorts of people, from farmers, conservationists, politicians and the public, exactly what can be achieved on a working farm.

Today we had a visit from Belgian politicians, farmers and Government policy makers, who wanted to see firsthand how Stewardship schemes work in England and how game management is integrated in with these schemes. They were astounded by how advanced our schemes are compared to what is available in Belgium and also how “up for it” our farmers are – certainly not the case over there!!

It is exciting when GWCT research not only influences our own UK Government, but spreads far and wide to influence and impact on European countries and also the States, which has already been the case in many instances.

I really hope that these Belgians will go back to their country inspired as to what can be achieved, so that the habitats and associated species in their nation can benefit from our research and experience too, after all in many instances their wildlife is our wildlife – human boundaries are just not recognised by many species which move from country to country during the course of a year.        

May should be called June this year!

Hawthorn in full flower

Hawthorn is often called “May” as it flowers during that month – but not in 2013 – it should be called “June” this year as it is in full bloom right now! (If you want to read more about Hawthorn – hit the “species of the month” tab at the top of this page and go to May 2012).    

I was out at 5.00 am this morning doing a bird survey on a Hampshire estate – the first 2 or 3 hours of daylight are always special, but particularly at this time of year as you have the countryside to yourself! When you leave the peace and “re-enter” into the hustle bustle of life, you feel rather superior that you have witnessed the day awake; everyone should rise early on occasions to witness a summer day start.

Not only is the Hawthorn flowering late, but also Ramsons (or wild garlic) seems to be well over a month late! Walking through a beautiful wood this morning, the slanting, dappled morning light picked out the bright white flowers, like theatre spotlights pick out actors, which when coupled with the intense garlicy smell of the plants, made for a memorable wander along the ancient track.       

 

The garlic walk

Start your day by helping wildlife!

9 owl chicks from just 2 nest boxes  wins Chris the trophy!

Did you by any chance start off your day by eating a bowl of Jordans breakfast cereal this morning? Because if you did, then you were eating Conservation Grade produced grain such as oats! So who exactly is Conservation Grade and what differences would you see if you walked onto a farm growing crops for them?

Farmers who want to become part of Conservation Grade have to have at least 10% of the farm in wildlife habitats including a minimum of 4% in flowers and 2% in crops that produce seed for birds to feed on over winter. The farm (and farmer!) then have to go through a period of assessment to make sure that they are complying with Conservation Grade’s various protocols, after which they eventually become a producer, thereby gaining a premium for the grain produced.

I personally think that this is a superb way to encourage active habitat management in the “wider countryside”, because farmers really value their wildlife and the habitats they live in, not just because they like to see them on the farm, but also because they are an integral part of the business and its profitability.

Although I work full time for the GWCT, I am contracted out by Conservation Grade to train and assess their growers, so that they get the very best out of the habitats that they are creating or improving. What is more it seems to really work, as recent research work has shown that Conservation Grade farms have up to 40% more bees and produce more Barn Owl chicks than conventionally run farms!

So, why not start your day by supporting wildlife – eat a bowl of Jordans breakfast cereal and feel good about yourself for the rest of the day!!            

Conservation Grade farmers on a training day

Zero harvest from some fields

"Fallowed" fields

I was working in Oxfordshire yesterday and was amazed to see so many fields without a crop planted. We all know just what an appalling 12 months we have all suffered weather wise, and that many farmers did not get an autumn crop sown, but it now appears that many farms across the country have struggled to access fields in time to drill a crop this spring too.

I stood on a small hill north of Bicester and in the immediate landscape below, I counted 9 fields in “fallow” – simply ploughed and left. Multiply that up across the country and also take into account how many fields have “half a crop” growing because of flooding, slug and pigeon damage, and this harvest looks as though it is going to be well down on the average. I know that this is a heavy land area and I realize that this part of the country suffered particularly badly from prolonged rainfall, but it was the sheer scale of fallowed land that so surprised me.

I was looking at this view with the farmer who owned two of the fallow fields that we were observing. He explained that as the land was heavy clay, he has only just managed to get a tractor across the fields to cultivate them. He has decided that the best course of action is to plant some mustard before too long, simply to hold the nutrient and soil in place and to try and put a little structure back into the soil profile.

One positive benefit from this fallowed ground was that I did see a pair of Yellow wagtail, which like to nest on cultivated, un-cropped ground – so let’s hope they can harvest some broods from this ground at least!