Back in the Wilkinson years, before Batty turned England Captain, before Kamara turned Sky pundit, and before Eric turned Red, I was a Leeds fan. Me and Dad had season tickets in the East Stand and never missed a home game. Eventually the endless 0-0 draws under George Graham put me off football altogether, so nowadays, I use my spectating experience to help me judge land areas.
Have a go – picture yourself on the pitch. That’s 0.7 ha. Big isn’t it?
Now imagine a bit of the pitch that is less than 1/8 the size of the six-yard box. Tiny isn’t it?
This is about the size of a skylark plot. These 16m2 ‘gaps’ in winter cereals were pioneered at the RSPB’s Hope Farm and are now an Entry Level Stewardship option.
Gappy midfield - skylarks, corn buntings and yellow wagtails all benefit from plots in winter cereals
Plots are easy to establish and manage, and allow easier foraging for busy skylark parents. Nearby nests produce more chicks per year, and the chicks are heavier at fledging, increasing their likelihood of surviving the winter. Including just 20 of these per 100 ha of farmed land – at the rate of just one or two on the whole of our notional football pitch – would go a long way to reversing skylark declines.
Despite all this, busting the myths surrounding skylark plots is no easy game. So let’s hoof a few misconceptions into Row Z:
‘We’ve got loads of skylarks on our farm’ - Probably so. A winter cereal field looks fine to a skylark in early spring. But things are less ideal by May, when it’s struggling to rear chicks in a dense jungle of cereal stems. The fact is there are less than half the skylarks now than there were in 1970.
‘There’s lots of bare ground in the “tram lines”’ – Yes, and skylarks have noticed this too, but nests near to these will be vulnerable to damage from operations and easily found by predators like foxes.
‘I’m not having holes in my crop for my neighbours to laugh at’ – On a per area basis, skylark plots are by far the best paid Stewardship option. They have a negligible effect on yield. When the neighbours learn what they’re missing, they won’t be laughing, they’ll be sick as a parrot.
I make that 3-0! Except with skylark plots, it’s win-win. Many Fen farmers are realising this. I know of over 2,000 plots that will be created as the wheat goes in this autumn.
Hopefully we’ll get to hear a few more skylarks sing when they’re winning.