Meadow pipits and redwings were trickling steadily overhead, fieldfares called ‘chak chak’ in the distance and reed buntings ducked deep into wild bird seed mixes. I stood in an open field – one of a group of figures each wrapped up against the wind – and reflected that it was turning into a pretty good day.

It was the first event organised for farmers taking part in the Axholme and Idle farmland…

Farmer Nicholas Watts has been providing habitat for wildlife on his farm in Lincolnshire for many years. This year, his continuing efforts were rewarded when over a thousand tree sparrows were fledged, and ringed, on his farm. 

Read more about how Nicholas has achieved such success on Farm Wildlife.  

A conference organised by RSPB Cymru, Bangor University and Cynidr Consulting was held in Llanrwst on 15th March 2017 to discuss the future of upland farming in Wales. The first of its kind, the conference saw over 150 delegates, including farmers, their representatives, conservationists, policy experts, academics and Government officials, all coming together to consider the future of land management policy in Wales.…

Ian Bell is tenant farmer at RSPB Geltsdale in the wet and windy North Pennines where he grazes sheep and cattle. Here he talks about his experience of farming on the reserve.
 
Two years in to taking on the farm tenancy at RSPB Geltsdale and I’m still relishing the challenges of farming a large upland nature reserve.

Ian Bell, tenant farmer at Geltsdale. Image: Steve Westerberg
 
Over the past few months, I don't…

RSPB Farmland advisor Chris Tomson tells us about the work underway on one estate in Yorkshire to provide valuable nesting and feeding habitat for lapwings.

Lapwing numbers are increasing on the Ganton Estate in North Yorkshire thanks to a technique developed by the Estate owner Nicholas Wrigley, who counted more than 40 lapwing chicks in the spring of 2016. Most of the 807 hectare estate sits on the northern edge of…

In case you missed it - our Conservation Director Martin Harper focussed on the future of farming post-Brexit last week, following the publication of a new independent report on two potential drivers of change – a decrease in financial support for farmers, and a failure to agree a trade deal with the EU.

This report highlights some of the challenges that farms might face in the future, particularly where a majority…

Every year, the dedicated team at Hope Farm plan, manage and monitor the conservation measures in place on the farm to ensure it is providing space for wildlife to thrive. All this is done alongside the normal operations of a productive arable farm. 

The wildlife on the farm is surveyed every year to monitor the impact of the farm's management. The results from this year's bird and butterfly surveys are now available …

The RSPB's Natasha Yorke-Edgell takes us on a journey around Scotland, Wales and the north of England to discover how the fortunes of this charming little bird might be changing as a result of combined efforts from the farming and conservation community.

There’s nothing more charming than seeing a chattering flock of twite lined up on a wire or dry stone wall up in the British uplands, but sadly it has become a rare…

RSPB Press Release

For the first time in 20 years, curlew chicks have fledged at a County Antrim farm.

Last year a pair of curlews attempted to breed at Greenmount Hill Farm in Glenwherry for the first time since 2005 - only to fail to hatch young.

But this summer RSPB NI’s Conservation Advisor Neal Warnock was delighted to see that two pairs arrived back at the farm and he can confirm that one of the pairs has successfully…

Back in May, we shared the news that two rare Montagu’s harriers had arrived in Norfolk from West Africa. These birds are one of just five pairs of Montagu’s harriers which return to the UK to breed each spring, and as they nest in arable fields farmers have a key role in protecting these birds while they are here. It's a great demonstration of what can be achieved when conservation and farming comes together.…

Chris Bailey, Advisory Manager RSPB Scotland, tells us more about the important work we do with farmers and others across Scotland. 

Did you know that every year RSPB Scotland staff assist hundreds of farmers, crofters and land managers across Scotland by providing advice and support on a range of issues – from helping priority species to managing important farmland, upland and woodland habitats. A lot of our work focuses…

In this guest blog, farmer Chris Crocker further explains his own motivations for the National Hedgerow Initative that his brother Rob Crocker introduced to us here. 

(All views shared are those of the individual farmer and have not been edited by the RSPB)

Our hedgerows are a vital wildlife habitat which many farmers and landowners are unwittingly destroying. This is a relatively recent problem. I have been farming for…

Guest blog by Sarah Allison, Farming and Land Use Manager, Soil Association Scotland 

Soil Association Scotland has, for the last 15 years, been at the forefront of knowledge transfer between land managers (farmers, growers, and crofters), and researchers and specialists in rural Scotland.  Earlier this year we kicked off a new knowledge transfer programme – ‘Farming With Nature’ – with RSPB Scotland…

"Whittington Lodge Farm has predominately thin Cotswold Brash soils on 280ha, mostly over 800 feet in altitude. The cultivated half of the farm was in a continuous arable system, but average yields meant it was only marginally viable and blackgrass was creeping in.

In 2015, it was decided to undergo organic conversion on all the arable area to combine with the fully organic grassland. Herb-rich leys were introduced…

Georgie Bray, Assistant Manager at Hope Farm, shares some top tips on creating and managing flower-rich margins and some of the benefits they provide

At Hope Farm we nurture wildflower margins to help wildlife thrive, as do many other farmers within the agri-environment schemes. Our margins are just coming to the end of their flowering period for 2017, and they will be cut in September, but in general they have looked…

Oxfordshire farmer, Robert Crocker, champions the setting up of a farmer-led national network of hedgerows for wildlife. Rob farms mostly tenanted land, raising organic beef cattle and arable crops.

September 1st is the start of the Hedge Cutting Season.

Imagine a new National Park stretching 25,000 miles, linking every existing habitat in England!

For decades, ecologists and environmentalists have agreed that habitat…

In this guest blog, farmer Henry Edmunds shares his observations of lapwing behaviour during the nesting season. Henry provides fallow plots to provide space for these birds to breed.

(All views shared are those of the individual farmer and have not been edited by the RSPB)

On the 5th May 2017 at 16:00hrs, it was pleasant sunny afternoon. Robert Moore, (an agri-ecology student from Dublin University) and I were observing…

Read the latest update on the butterfly surveys carried out on Hope Farm here

If you're on Twitter, there's a great video with Senior Research Assisstant Derek Gruar on our @RSPBScience channel, who explains the process and the results we've seen on Hope Farm as a result of the environmental measures we've put in place.

The Royal Welsh Show is always a popular event with people from around the UK. If you're planning to attend the show next week, why not pop along to the RSPB stand to hear more about our work. If you're a farmer, there will be advice on hand to help you make the most of your land for wildlife, or discuss any concerns you may have about the Brexit process.

If you're not a farmer, there will be lots of activities to…

Author and former Telegraph journalist, Louise Gray, on how protecting beautiful birds like lapwings can inspire us to farm in a more sustainable way.

Childhood experiences of nature often influence our whole lives. For Katie-jo Luxton, Director of RSPB Cymru, it was watching a lapwing protect its young that inspired her to spend a career in conservation.

Growing up in the Begwns Hills near Hay-on-Wye, Katie-jo was…

Earlier this month, RSPB staff attended Europe’s leading technical event for the arable farming industry - Cereals. Over 20,000 visitors attend the show, and there are more than 2000 exhibitors to choose from. This year our theme was Hope Farm (see our blog post here), offering a showcase of what we have achieved over the last 15 years, and what our future research plans are.

The RSPB stand at Cereals 2017. Image…

Project Officer Natalie Pagett offers an insight to her work on the Humber to help farmers, wildlife and water

Over the past few years we’ve been working with the Environment Agency to identify ways to manage farmland in a way that benefits farming, wildlife, and water management. During this time we have looked at various techniques that provide these multifunctional benefits, including biodiversity-rich storage reservoirs…

If you're planning to visit the Royal Highland Show this year, why not visit the RSPB Scotland stand and find out more about our work?

For a bit of background on how we're working with farmers and crofters across Scotland to help five particular species, check out the post from our RSPB Scotland team here.

The sun was out this weekend, bringing many people to Hope Farm for Open Farm Sunday. With around 550 visitors, and a wide range of activities to entertain, both the hosting team and the people who came to see us seemed to enjoy and excellent day.

Visitors to Hope Farm enjoy Open Farm Sunday. Image: Lucy Bjorck

Comments from visitors were incredibly positive after a long day in the sunshine. Children and adults alike…

The Farm Wildlife partnership launched revised and improved advice for conservation on farmland in 2016. The advice focuses on six key elements for farmers and land managers to consider when they are thinking about maximising the conservation value of the farm. These six elements are common across all farming systems in any part of the UK, and include the following:

•  Looking after established habitats on the farm