Despite it being the wettest winter since records began more than 500 farmers, covering nearly half-million acres of UK farmland, rose to the challenge of taking part in the first year of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Big Farmland Bird Count in February.

Farmers participating in the count represented every county in England, as well as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in what the GWCT reports is a fantastic first year for a very ambitious farmer-led survey.

In total, farmers recorded seeing 116 different types of birds, and encouragingly, six red-listed data species appeared in the top 25 of birds counted. These included linnet, yellowhammer, house sparrow, tree sparrow, starling and lapwing. Starlings were seen on over 40% of the farms taking part and were the most abundant bird recorded in the survey.

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Over-winter feeding, either by providing supplementary food in feeders or through planting wild bird seed mixes proved to be fruitful counting sites for many farmers and enabled them to record impressive numbers of yellowhammer and corn bunting as well as many other seed eating birds. Jim Egan says, “Within the survey 60% of farmers were providing food specifically for their birds and this is one of the conservation measures which is helping the birds thrive and stay alive on these farms over winter.”

It was really encouraging that farmers reported seeing 12 different species of raptor, as well as rarer species such as great grey shrike, twite and firecrest. Woodpigeon, blackbird, carrion crow, pheasant and chaffinch were seen by over 70 % of the farmers taking part.

Although there is a perceived view that farmers are not doing enough for wildlife, the Big Farmland Bird Count revealed that nearly 80% of farmers taking part in the survey were in an Environmental Stewardship Schemes. Their survey areas included important environmental features such as hedges, woodland ponds, grass margins, ditches and trees.

Many of the ‘green’ measures that are now being implemented by the farming community, such as providing supplementary over-winter food, originates directly from research carried out by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust on its Allerton Project Farm in Leicestershire. Over the last 21 years, the GWCT has developed a suite of ground-breaking methods for improving the farmland environment for game and wildlife. Through this long-standing research, the GWCT is able to advise farmers and policy makers on the most efficient and practical methods of targeting wildlife recovery.

Jim Egan says, “There has been an enormous sea-change in the way many farmers now manage their land to benefit wildlife and we wanted to give them an opportunity of show-casing what their conservation efforts deliver on the ground. The results of the Big Farmland Bird Count help to demonstrate that farmers, who manage the largest songbird habitat in this country, really can make a difference and this was reflected in the impressive variety and number of species that emerged in the count.”

One shining example, the Pitts brothers from Northamptonshire, counted 1,320 birds in their half hour survey. On their land they grow wild bird seed mixes, game cover crops and provide supplementary grain min through scatter feeding. Jim Egan says, “With farmers like the Pitts doing their bit to help nature, we have every reason to believe that the future could look much brighter for our precious wildlife and this has to be good news for not only our wildlife but for us too.”

The GWCT’s Big Farmland Bird Count is generously sponsored by BASF and in partnership with FWAG (Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group) and LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming)

John Peck Technical Manager at BASF plc UK, Ire, Nordics and Baltics, said, “BASF are particularly pleased to sponsor the Big Farmland Bird Count and are delighted that many leading farmers have shown their support. Best practice farming recognises the value of biodiversity as a key factor of sustainability and it is encouraging to see the amount of farmland which is dedicated to the management of wildlife and the results that can be achieved by the adoption of simple management techniques to improve habitat and bird numbers"

 As well as farmers, the GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count also received massive support from a range of farming, industry and conservation organisations. We are grateful to BASF for sponsoring the survey and to Kings, LEAF, FWAG, Soil Association, NFU, CFE, CLA, Heather Trust, Countryside Alliance and Conservation Grade.



The second Big Farmland Bird Count will take place during the week of 7th – 15th February 2015 and it is hoped that even more farmers will get involved in counting their birds. This will help the GWCT to start building an even more comprehensive picture of how over-wintering birds are faring on UK farmland. To register interest, please visit: www.gwct.org.uk/BFBC