Regular readers of this blog will be well aware of the fantastic success that we have had at Hope Farm with increasing key farmland breeding bird populations since 2000: skylarks quadrupled, linnets quintupled, yellowhammers doubled, lapwings, yellow wagtail and grey partridge all colonizing the farm since RSPB bought it. Overall our key breeding bird populations have increased by 190%.

There have been two species which…

In case you missed it - read Martin Harper's thoughts on the implications of Brexit for wildlife-friendly farming here. It's worth a read, and we'll continue to assess the implications for nature as further details become available.   

Did you know that the RSPB runs a series of land management training courses? We have a series of popular courses running in 2016, some of which still have availability. If you're interested in developing your professional skills in land management, do have a look at the course brochure - places are limited so get in touch to book your place quick! Further details can be found here, or by downloading the brochure…

May is one of  my favourite months of the year - spring is in full swing, 50% of the weekends have an extra day in them, and the days are getting noticeably warmer and longer. For wildlife-friendly farmers, it's a great opportunity to see and hear the benefits of their hard work as birds start to breed and take advantage of the habitat and food resources that their careful management provides.

Skylark: Andy Hay…

Montagu’s harriers, the UK’s rarest breeding birds of prey, have started arriving back in the country for the summer after spending the winter months in tropical Senegal in West Africa, and the RSPB is asking farmers and members of the public to report any sightings of the birds to help identify new areas where they might be nesting.

Image: Roger Wyatt

Just seven pairs of Montagu’s harriers, known affectionately…

This year, the RSPB celebrates 50 years of giving nature a home on the Balranald reserve in North Uist. Bringing together an important partnership between crofting and conservation, read more from RSPB Scotland's Stuart Taylor here 

Machair habitat on RSPB Balranald (image: Chris Gomersall, rspb-images.com)

 

Image: Shepherding black-faced sheep at Kinnabus (rspb-images.com)

That is just what the Scottish Food Coalition would like to see for our current food system. This coalition is supported by organisations from across the environmental, health, social justice and farming sectors including the RSPB,  and is challenging the thinking on a range of interconnected issues related to food - including an increasing reliance on food…

Yesterday we took a virtual wander though spring and summer on Lower Pertwood Farm, and the challenges and opportunities faced by the important population of corn buntings on the farm. You can read it here if you missed it. Today, we head through autumn and into winter to find out how the farm management is helping these birds to survive through to next spring. 

Autumn

October and November sees the ploughing of a few…

As we welcome the official start of spring and all its wildlife glory, we'll be looking through the eyes of the corn bunting over the next couple of days, courtesy of some dedicated effort by farmers and RSPB staff in the South West of England. Today, we focus on spring and summer, but look out for autumn and winter tomorrow! 

Image: Lower Pertwood by David White

Tucked away near Salisbury Plain in south-west Wiltshire…

I grew up in Belfast when DeLorean cars were being made. Of course these cars were made infamous by the series of Back to the Future films of that era. While the films look dated now, the idea of time travel is still something we often dream about.

I certainly dream about it. What did the Fens look like prior to the start of large scale drainage in the 17th Century? What did the Flow Country in Scotland look like…

Last year the Scottish Government launched a discussion document on the 'Future of Scottish Agriculture' and in it stated its ambition for Scotland to be a world leader in green farming. Since then, RSPB staff in Scotland have contributed ideas to the discussion on how to make these ambitions a reality. 

In case you missed it, you can read more from Director of Scotland Stuart Housden on the vision for farming in…

Farmland birds have been in decline for several decades, mainly due to changes in the way we farm. Some of the species that have declined are real icons of our countryside: grey partridge, lapwing, turtle dove, skylark and yellowhammer. Hearing skylarks...

Guest blog from Darren Moorcroft, Head of Species and Habitats Conservation

Every year in January, Oxford is inundated by farmers flocking to the two annual conferences which are now held there. It’s an opportunity to discuss existing challenges and set the new agenda for the coming year.

This year, the RSPB hosted a session at the Real Oxford Farming Conference for the first time, where we heard from two innovative…

Guest Blog from Dr Rob Field, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

A while ago, a and I colleague wrote a short piece about some work we’d done examining the relative societal benefits of land in the east Anglian fens under a nature reserve compared to its being farmed. This dealt with the trade-offs that society might want to make between various obvious (food) and less obvious …

None of those who work at Hope Farm are social media junkies, but yet we cannot completely escape that world. Whether we’re exposed to Twitter, Facebook or even the BBC we see this term ‘trending’ everywhere.

Yet, trends as opposed to trending are very important to us. They give us clear indications as to whether the work we are doing at Hope Farm to benefit farmland wildlife is working or not, and…

Bumblebee on oilseed rape. Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

 

Conflicting news about neonicotinoids this week. "Neonicotinoids: new warning on pesticide harm to bees" according to the Guardian, while Farmers Weekly reassures us "No sign of damage to honeybees from neonics, review shows."

The twist, of course, is that the two articles are reporting on the same thing: a summary of the research on neonics…

Over a year we have a very wide range of visitors to Hope Farm as I previously blogged about. The vast majority of visitors come from England as you might expect for a farm on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Occasionally however we receive visitors from much further afield, and this morning we were very glad to host a delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Land Use. We had a very useful discussion in the farmhouse kitchen…

Do you have a brilliant idea for the future direction of your farm business or even a farming sector that you would like to discuss with a panel of experts?

At the forthcoming Oxford Real Farming Conference, the RSPB are asking farmers to showcase their innovative business opportunities that benefit people, wildlife and the wider environment.

You may want to capitalise on the unique wildlife, landscape or environmental…

As conservation policy advocates, my colleagues and I spend a lot of time debating the finer points of UK and EU policies. What percentage of the Pillar 1 CAP budget should be modulated to Pillar 2; how should agri-environment spending be targeted; what rules should be part of cross compliance? Important though these questions are, they don’t exactly grab the imagination of anyone who’s not already intimately involved…

With over 75% of the UK land area being farmed, farming has a huge impact on all our lives and on the wildlife that calls farmland its home. RSPB works closely with farmers all over the UK, and with those that represent them. In this blog Stuart Housden, Director of RSPB Scotland, discusses a reason meeting between RSPB Scotland and the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS).

Rather than me tell you about it, why not…

With 2015 being the International Year of Soils it seems quite appropriate to be starting a new project to improve the condition of the soils at Hope Farm and monitor the soil biodiversity.

It is stating the obvious that soils are absolutely key to growing good crops. Well managed soils will drain better, provide better rooting potential for crops and have a range of wildlife that can actually benefit and promote crop…

This week saw an unwelcome twist in the tale of the controversial neonicotinoid pesticides.

In December 2013, the EU banned neonicotinoids for use on crops that attract pollinators. This was in response to research suggesting that bees and other beneficial insects can be harmed by use of these chemicals. Since then, the evidence for risks to bees has got ever stronger, while research is uncovering a slew of other unforeseen…

Much of the biodiversity monitoring that takes place at Hope Farm is focused on birds, as you would expect. Fifteen years of breeding and wintering bird surveys has shown just how well birds have recovered during RSPB ownership and management of this farm. But as we all know birds are just one part of the ecosystem here.

We also monitor butterflies and bumblebees regularly during the spring and summer, and moths every…

Most folk involved in arable farming will either have visited or know of Cereals, one of Europe’s premier agricultural shows. This year the show was held on 10-11^th June at Boothby Graffoe, and the RSPB hosted a stand along with approximately 1000 other exhibitors.

Picture 1: RSPB Stand at Cereals 2015. (Anna Broszkiewicz). 

With so much to grab visitors attention, we had to stand out, and our star attraction…

One of the real pleasures of working at Hope Farm is showing visitors around. Many of our visitors are specifically invited due to their areas of work, influence or interest such as the visit by Farming Minister George Eustice MP last autumn at a crucial time during negotiations about future agri-environment schemes.

George Eustice MP visiting Hope Farm in October 2014 (copyright: Amy Bell, Defra)

As crucial as that…