Support the gwct big farmland bird count

We would like to encourage members to take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count, taking place from the 6th - 22nd February.

This annual event, led by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust helps raise awareness about the vital role farmers and landowners play and acts as valuable tool to measure the impact of conservation work many farms and estates now carry out. Within the Cluster we now have over 40 farms carrying out supplementary feeding thanks to a three year FiPL funded project.

Cluster member and farmer Mike Kettlewell, has taken part in the initiative since its inception. At his farm in Over Norton he also grows significant plots of bird feed and has been supplementary feeding birds for many years. He shares with us his insights into the importance of the Big Farmland Bird Count.

'This splendid piece of citizen science was started by the GWCT in 2014. I have taken part from the start and it gives a very useful snapshot of what is on the farm in winter. More importantly, the accumulated information provides important and reliable approximations of the state of birds on UK farmland. The count is easy to do, takes half an hour, plus a few minutes entering the data on the GWCT website. It is also fun and something to share with family, friends and neighbours. A good place to count is one where you have good circumferential views with a good big hedge. If you are supplementary feeding then that is an excellent site, but has the challenge, sometimes, of large numbers. Faced with big numbers, it is useful to get a little practice in what 10 or 20 look like and then to count a flock quickly in chunks of 10 or 20. It is remarkably accurate!

The GWCT website is full of useful advice and help and they also have a great app for those more smart-phone savvy than me.  Ps, Don’t forget your binos!'

We would also welcome you to send your numbers in to us as well so we can see what is happening in the Cluster. Please do email these to contact@cotswoldfarmers.org

Please remember the count window is any day from February 6th to the 22nd. For further information on the Big Farmland Bird Count please visit their website here