Belvoir Farm, Bottesford took part in the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Big Farmland Bird Count

Several rare species of rare birds, including the cuckoo and grey partridge, have been spotted at a farm as part of a national bird count.

Belvoir Farms in Bottesford took part in the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Big Farmland Bird Count, which aims to raise awareness at farms across the UK and create healthier habitats for declining wild bird species.

Belvoir joined the initiative in 2022 and has been conducting bird counts every February since then, with this year’s count just completed by Belvoir Farm’s farm manager Keith Challen and Bill Glancy, a local ornithologist.

During this year’s count, among the birds spotted included the yellow hammer, dunnock, red kites, and chaffinches as well as more common birds such as robins, great tits, blackbirds, and carrion crows.

There was also an increased appearance of grey partridge breeding pairs — which is on the endangered list — willow warbler, and cuckoo.

The count is part of an ongoing scheme by the farm to encourage bird life, through winter ground feeding programmes.

Earlier this year, the team also worked with the South Notts Ringing Group, monitoring and recording for the British Trust for Ornithology barn owls, kestrels, bullfinches and migrating rare birds such as male bramblings and short eared owls (from Northern Europe).

Each year the Belvoir team provide tracks of feed on the ground with different types and size of seed to attract a wide variety of birds. This is particularly important in a cold winter such as this year, as it provide much needed sustenance.

Keith said: “It’s great to see that our ongoing bird conservation programme has continued to be successful and, in many cases, we’ve observed more of the rare species, particularly the cuckoo and grey partridge.

“The project has helped provide habitat-friendly areas for so many different species of bird and the results have also allowed for more scattered grazing for deer and hares.

“We have a good variation of habitat on the farm, particularly soft fruit trees, which provides great feed for lovely birds such as Male Bullfinches.”

“Small-scale conservation initiatives such as cut and lay hedges, rainwater harvesting and creating flower rich margins, wildlife corridors and grass buffers make such a positive difference to the environment, which all links into the bigger picture of conserving farmland bird species.”

Dr Roger Draycott, GWCT head of advisory, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took part, for demonstrating that farmers and land managers can lead the way in protecting our countryside alongside effective food production.

“Every count submitted helps us to build a detailed, national picture of the state of Britain’s farmland birds, allowing us to better understand what is really going on in our countryside.

“It clearly shows that farmers, land managers and gamekeepers care for the land they work and, given that they look after 71% of all the land in the UK, that is extremely good news for the future of our treasured bird species."