Blog post by Derek Gruar, Senior Research Assistant, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science and Georgie Bray, Hope Farm's Assistant Manager.
Farming is a rewarding but very challenging test of resilience for many reasons. This year has been particularly testing, and really hammered home to us that we, like the wildlife around us, are at mercy to the almighty clouds, rain and sun from above. Whilst ensuring profitable crops are grown, farmers are also looking ahead to ensure that wildlife will be given the best chance of surviving through the winter.
Summer bird monitoring for 2018 started on 3rd April, following snow and rain that pummelled our fields well on into March. After a few weeks, things changed quickly as the summer scorch soon dried out the countryside and called an early end to the nesting season for many species by the last breeding bird survey on 6th July. The table below details the number of territories held by the 17 species in the Hope Farm breeding bird index.
Species
Despite the overall positive picture, there are important messages to take home about how sensitive farmland bird populations are to extreme weather conditions, just the same as our crops our in the field.
The spring was wet and cold, with some of the harshest weather that I can remember so late in the season. Storms whirled across the continent, making it very difficult for the migratory farmland birds to arrive here in good time to breed or arrive at all. Back here on the farm, we were standing looking at puddles in the fields we wanted to drill, with the birds struggling with resources low and little new summer food coming through.
41 species were recorded as holding territory in 2018 with 494 individual territories. This was a drop from 568 of 46 species in 2017, but still a considerable increase compared to the 301 territories of 35 species in 2000. Yellowhammers have fallen from 34 to 27 territories, and alas both corn buntings and yellow wagtails were absent as territory holding species. Lapwings and grey partridges did well with 3 and 7 territories respectively.
With these results, the Hope Farm breeding bird index now stands at a 150% increase compared to the baseline (see graph below) but a notable drop from 226% increase in 2017. Reed warbler was confirmed as breeding for the first time with two pairs nesting in one of the wet (and perhaps this year even wetter!) features created on the farm.
This is not the first year that Hope Farm’s birds have struggled to survive and breed successfully. 2012 was the wettest summer in years, leading to little insect food and poor juvenile survival, with a knock-on low Hope Farm farmland bird index in 2013. We hope that the envionmental features at Hope Farm will again aid a fast recovery of our bird population after the extreme weather.
Reed warblers were recorded as breeding on Hope Farm for the first time this year. Image: www-rspb-images.com
Now, we look toward another winter for the fewer birds that have managed to successfully survive to breed this spring. The weather has also led to a short and difficult growing season for our wild bird seed mixes; these crops are unlikely to provide as much seed as in previous years.
Like other nature-friendly farmers in a similar position, we are already looking to see how much seed we will need to buy for supplementary food compensating for the lack of grown seed food. The recent rains mean there will at least be a boost in growth, but after a hard year on wildlife and farming alike, these birds will need more help than ever to ensure they breed successfully next year.