14 April 2014Praise for farmers as skylarks soar again

Skylarks were seen by 37% of farmers despite being on the red list of threatened wildlifeGetty ImagesBen WebsterEnvironment EditorSkylarks, yellowhammers and song thrushes are recovering from long-term decline on farms that make efforts to protect wildlife, a survey has found.

They are among 11 bird species onthe red list of threatened wildlifethat were recorded by 500 farmers who volunteered to count birds on their land for half an hour in February.

The most common species spotted was the blackbird, seen by 87 per cent of farmers, followed by wood pigeons (86 per cent) and crows (77 per cent). Starlings, which have been declining in Britain since the early 1980s, were seen by 40 per cent of farmers, skylarks by 37 per cent, yellowhammers by 34 per cent and song thrushes by 32 per cent.

Only one lesser spotted woodpecker was recorded, while there were two waxwings and three hen harriers.

TheGame & Wildlife Conservation Trustsaid that it had carried out the survey, which involved a self-selecting sample of farmers, partly to counter claims by green groups that farmers were doing little to protect birds.

Jim Egan, a spokesman for the trust, said that the survey participants tended to be farmers who had taken steps to protect birds, and the survey showed the benefits of their actions. The good farmers are providing winter feed [for birds], growing wild seed mixes and providing good sources of pollen and nectar to encourage insects.

He said that other practices that helped birds included leaving margins and corners of fields uncultivated, leaving stubble unploughed and planting seeds by drilling rather than tilling. He added that some wildlife groups had over-emphasised the decline in farmland birds.

A lot of environmental NGOs fund-raise on bad news. They say, Look what farmers have done, isnt it bad? That puts people off.

Mr Egan said that the survey was an attempt to encourage more farmers to take action to protect birds by showing the benefits of what could be achieved. Farmers have to make the most of their productive land because they have a business to run and a world to feed. But on nearly all arable farms there is 3 to 4 per cent of land that is not particularly productive and can be left for wildlife.

Meanwhile, little terns, one of Britains rarest seabirds, which return each April to breed on about 60 beaches around the country, are to be helped to adapt to coastal erosion under a new partnership including the RSPB, Natural England and the National Trust.

The scheme will seek to prevent little terns from being disturbed at their breeding sites.

Susan Rendell-Read, the RSPBs little tern project manager, said: Little terns need undisturbed sand and shingle beaches to nest with a plentiful supply of small fish just offshore. These beaches can be quickly altered by rising seas and floods.

In the past, the areas lost to flooding or storms would be offset by new areas of sand or shingle thrown up by the sea. This is now being prevented by hard sea defences and other man-made developments. The result means beaches are getting narrower and the little terns are quickly running out of space.