A positive thread

I've been doing my bit here for 8years. Before i came here, nobody was interested really in anything to do with wildlife or conservation here. The landowners rarely saw hare, and never partridge (still dont notice the smaller birds 🙄)

Through a combination of feeding wheat through winter & into early spring, wild bird seed mix for little ones, predator control (had best year to date this year with larsen traps) and making changes to how we manage the fields (just spot spraying, leaving patches of weed in spring as insect habitat = chick food, leaving tussocky grass margins & didn't cut silage this year) we have had a huge influx of several different species. Regularly see grey partridge now, year round residents. Yellowhamners, nesting skylarks, barn owls finding voles in long grass & tripping over leverets.

it really does clearly all make a difference.
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Giving the kids a means of following mum - it’s a welfare thing, as well as stopping deer getting hung up by the leg between the two top strands, which is an appalling way for them to die. Lift the mesh to open, close when the stock are in the field. Simple welded flat bar frames. A few minutes and a few cable ties, job done. Bonus blaze for watching the spot where they emerge.
 
Think your feeders are great and a great idea for the bird populations that have suffered recently. Might try something similar myself. And a bit of ratting with air rifle and terrier is always a good day out.
 
Think your feeders are great and a great idea for the bird populations that have suffered recently. Might try something similar myself. And a bit of ratting with air rifle and terrier is always a good day out.

Done quite a bit up there = if you have 15 minutes we have a video on Schoffel Country you tube page

The others on there are good too tbh
 
I've been doing my bit here for 8years. Before i came here, nobody was interested really in anything to do with wildlife or conservation here. The landowners rarely saw hare, and never partridge (still dont notice the smaller birds 🙄)sounds just like the 70s early 80s when a was a laddie loads of hares rabbits
We had loads of waste land mainly from the pits larks partridge loads lil brown jobbies quote from rspb but very few magpies or corvids
Deer were very thin on the ground
But a Carnt remember pulling ticks of the terriers or the lurchers
Keep up the good work Ben 👍


We had loads of wast land mainly of the pits hares a plenty larks all you lil brown jobbies to quote rspb
Strangely very few magpies & not an awful lot of corvid
& a Carnt remember pulling any ticks of the terriers or lurchers

Through a combination of feeding wheat through winter & into early spring, wild bird seed mix for little ones, predator control (had best year to date this year with larsen traps) and making changes to how we manage the fields (just spot spraying, leaving patches of weed in spring as insect habitat = chick food, leaving tussocky grass margins & didn't cut silage this year) we have had a huge influx of several different species. Regularly see grey partridge now, year round residents. Yellowhamners, nesting skylarks, barn owls finding voles in long grass & tripping over leverets.

it really does clearly all make a difference.
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Just had a visit for a wild bird survey conducted by GWCT
Went very well and couldnt be more chuffed really !
Roll on spring for round 2 !










Heading off now Jim.

I don’t say this lightly - you’re doing an amazing job and the place is phenomenal.

Saw flocks 100s strong of chaffinch, greenfinch and goldfinch by the cover across from the big pond on the edge of the wood. When they landed there were Reed bunting amongst them and yellowhammer too
👍


Excellent job and you should be very proud of what you’re achieving.

I’ll get the results over to you in the New Year
👍


All the best,

Merry Christmas,


Sent from my iPhone
 
Just compiled vermin figures taken from our shoot this year
Looks like we are making a difference
2024 2025
FOX 48 44
RAT 571 215
SQUIRREL 288 119
STOAT 2 0
CROW 206 36
MAGPIE 60 41
JAY 15 5
JACKDAW 31 7
Is that shooting & trapping combined?
 
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