Hello, and a very warm welcome to the Winterbourne Downs "Blog"
This first blog comes to you in the middle of a very busy breeding season. Now that things are settling down a bit, there is a lot to tell you about!
Winterbourne Downs is a sanctuary for a very special bird, the stone-curlew. These birds require fallow plots to breed on, and we have created 7 plots here on the farm. This year, five of the plots are occupied, and all five pairs have produced two chicks each, meaning we have 10 stone-curlew chicks on the farm! It is still very early days for our chicks, so we will be following their progress keenly.
Winterbourne Downs is quite unique in that we also run as a farm enterprise. The land was purchased in 2005 as a farm, and although much of the land has been reverted in to species rich chalk grassland, we have kept some areas as arable for farmland birds such as yellow hammer and corn bunting. We also run a flock of sheep which act as a management tool for our newly established chalk grasslands
Over the coming weeks and months, I will be keeping you informed of all the comings and goings on the reserve, life on the farm, and the latest sightings. Hopefully you will add your own sightings too! I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Keeley, Wiltshire Reseves Warden
Keeley