19 January 2009

February is your month for loving farmland birds!


Fenland Farmers wanted! The RSPB is extending the application deadline for it’s 2009 farmland bird surveys in Cambridgeshire to 28th February. The surveys, carried out by trained RSPB volunteers, are available to any farmer interested in getting to know their feathered friends and how farm management can directly benefit wildlife.

Emily Field, Volunteer and Farmer Alliance (V&FA) Project Officer who co-ordinates the surveys explained, “The Cambridgeshire Fens are being targeted because the area is a stronghold for some of the most declined species of farmland birds, including partridge, corn bunting, lapwing, tree sparrow and turtle dove.  It was great to see 58 different species on a single farm near Wisbech in 2008, and there is huge potential for us to work with more farmers in this area in 2009.”

The extra V&FA surveys are being offered in conjunction with the RSPB’s Fenland Farmland Bird Recovery Project, funded through Natural England’s Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund. Recently appointed to manage this project, Niki Williamson will be able to offer free follow up advice and full support with environmental stewardship schemes "The data supplied by the V&FA project will be really valuable for helping us support and advise farmers in the Fens."

Farmers taking part receive a survey report including a full species list, advice sheets, and a laminated map showing the location of species of conservation concern on their farm. After his 2008 survey a Norfolk farmer wrote “It is rewarding to know what is present on the farm, hopefully being helped by current environment schemes in practice.  The map will be very useful when planning future stewardship schemes.”

Surveys are free and ‘no-obligation’.  Farmers are paired with a local volunteer who after an initial meeting, carry out farmland bird surveys on three mornings between April and July on an area up to 80ha / 200 acres per farm. It is also a great opportunity for Volunteers to learn about the problems farmers face as Nigel Wilkinson, a V&FA Volunteer reported, “I learned a great deal about a farmer’s perspective, but we both seemed to appreciate the need to improve biodiversity, within a farm dedicated to producing food economically”.

To apply for a survey of your farm please contact Emily Field on 01603 697 514, or email emily.field@rspb.org.uk. You can also register now for the 2010 season’s surveys should you miss the deadline for a 2009 survey or are outside the target area surveys.