On Sunday 10 June we met up in the morning and set out to find out how RSPB St Aidan’s use farmland techniques, and how that affects the landscape and wildlife. While RSPB St Aidan’s has no pure agriculture, there are areas which are planted with crop species, meadow area, wet grassland and grazing animals which are all based on current and historic farmland techniques. The land is managed specifically for protecting wildlife, human recreation and flood alleviation.
We started off walking up the hillside path. Here we were able to view almost the entire site, from Lowther Lake glinting through the trees in the east, all the way across to Astley Lake and Fleakingly Reservoir in the west. This meant we could see the long trenches and bunds in the Ridge and Furrow that hold the water keeping the land wet. This is a medieval way of farming and was created by repetitively ploughing with a non-reversable plough. While our Ridge and Furrow is much more recently created, it was fascinating to see how the water is held in, keeping the land wet even in this hot weather! The lapwings, and skylarks we spotted clearly were enjoying the area!
Walking through the woodland there were lots of woodland edge specialists including willow warblers, chiffchaffs, and jays. Our guide explained the importance of having different habitats that the wildlife could use, the more protective woodland but also the open grassland that provided food for so many species.
As we walked out across the top of one of the meadow fields our guide taught us how to listen to and spot birds, many of the birds enjoy the protection of the thick hedges, or the vantage points of tall dock plants. He explained that during the autumn months some areas of the meadow are cut short, which allows geese and other birds to graze on the shorter grasses and so to watch out for barnacle geese at that time of year! Whereas, in the autumn, yellow hammer enjoy the protective hedgerows and can been seen in their hundreds (I think I will be back to look out for them!).
In the meadows we managed to spot more skylarks, as well as reed bunting, meadow pipit, linnet, swallow, and grey-legged partridge as well as multiple species of butterfly, bees and many more insects that I couldn’t identify. These birds thrive off the managed vegetation and the insects that boom in this environment.
One of the methods for vegetation management we got to meet close up. The Carneddae ponies (a type of Welsh mountain pony) were close to the path in one of their fields. These ponies are here to graze on the wide range of vegetation and have made a visible difference to the plant life in the fields they currently have access to. The local wildlife is clearly enjoying this as we were able to watch some grey-legged partridge wandering in the vegetation around the ponies! After the breeding season these ponies will move out to the ridge and furrow where their grazing will keep the grassland short and ideal for the wildlife and the flood management.
Walking back past the ridge and furrow it was great to see more of the farmland birds up close such as the lapwing. And we even had a fly past of a bittern! Not a usual farmland bird, but as members of the group had never seen one before a very positive end to the guided walk!
It was a lovely experience, I hadn’t realised how much farmland wildlife there is at RSPB St Aidan’s, as it is so often the focus on the more endangered wetland birds. However, exploring a part of the nature park that is more rarely visited, we discovered that many of the classic farmland birds are just as endangered and need protected spaces too.
Looking for some exclusive events? Why not check out what's on at RSPB St Aidan's or RSPB Fairburn Ings this summer? Don't forget to share your experiences with us on social media too.
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