Birds in Fairfield Nature Reserve 2014 Ian Nieduszynski
Som e Nati o nal Trends S ince the war we have l o st ~50 m illi o n birds. In particular, there has been a sharp decline in nu m bers o f far m land birds. 50-70 years ag o far m ing was m ixed with adjacent arable and livest o ck and plentiful hedges and p o nds.
A gricultural Intensificati o n • L o ss o f m ixed far m ing – mo st far m s had b o th livest o ck and arable cr o ps pr o viding o pen nesting sites f o r the y o ung. • S witch fr om spring t o autu m n s o wing o f cereals – gives rise t o the l o ss o f o verwinter stubble, which pr o vides f oo d and shelter between harvest and m id-February.
A gricultural Intensificati o n • Increase in che m ical usage – far m ers use fertilisers as well as ~350 different pesticides, herbicides and fungicides which i m pact up o n weed, insect and invertebrate p o pulati o ns, which are all f oo d f o r birds. • M o re intensive far m ing m eth o ds – in 1992 the EU decreed that far m ers set aside 15% o f all cr o pped far m land f o r wildlife. The figure was reduced and then the wh o le sche m e was scrapped in 2008.
H o w D o We Classify Bird P o pulati o ns? There are different types o f criteria. L o ng-ter m trends by which we assign birds t o Red, A m ber o r Green lists 52 126 68 species 1 2 3 A criteri o n used in assigning birds t o the red list is severe (at least 50%) decline in breeding p o pulati o n o ver last 25 years.
H o w D o We Classify Bird P o pulati o ns? The Internati o nal Uni o n f o r C o nservati o n o f Nature criteri o n is pr o xi m ity t o extincti o n.
Fairfield Nature Reserve Is Effectively Far m land We have that m ix o f arable, livest o ck, o rchard, pasture, p o nds, wet grassland!
Marshy land Orchard Cattle Wet grazing pasture P o nds W oo ds H ay m ead o w A rable
Devel o p m ents in Fairfield With funding fr om the H igher Level S tewardship S che m e and advice fr om the R S PB we have:- • raised the water levels and m ade a new reedbed area • created p o nds, ditches and scrapes • planted an arable cr o p - a wheat/ o at hybrid • planted mo re trees in P o ny W oo d • created s om e hedges and l o wered o thers • intr o duced cattle-cr o ssing p o ints • put in m argins with wild bird seed m ix and fl o ristically enhanced grass • put up nestb o xes
Fairfield Red and A m ber List Birds RED A MBER Grey Partridge Reed Bunting Lapwing So ng Thrush S nipe Fieldfare Redwing Tree S parr o w
Grey Partridge Red-listed and Vulnerable The Grey partridge is a m ediu m - sized, plu m p ga m ebird which is f o und in l o wland arable areas. It feeds o n seeds, sh oo ts and leaves. Bag rec o rds sh o w that between 1870 and 1930 ar o und 2 m illi o n birds were sh o t annually. T o day there are 43,000 breeding territ o ries.
Grey Partridge Nu m bers Grey partridge nu m bers have fallen by >90% in the last 50 years. It used t o be called the C ommo n Partridge!
Causes o f Decline H erbicides - Chick survival rates have fallen. In the first few weeks o f life, grey partridge chicks feed o n insects t o o btain pr o teins f o r their rapid gr o wth. The intr o ducti o n o f o rgan o -chl o rine herbicides (e.g. DDT, dieldrin) in the 50’s eli m inated m any cr o p weeds that were insect f oo d plants. H edger o ws - The situati o n was exacerbated by the re mo val o f grassy nesting c o ver as fields were enlarged by re mo ving hedger o ws.
A dditi o nal Risks Rapt o rs – In areas where grey partridge are in l o w density their nu m bers are at high risk o f predati o n by fe m ale sparr o whawks particularly in late winter. Thus, it is i m p o rtant t o pr o vide tall c o ver in February and March.
Grey Partridge in Fairfield This year we had a pair o f grey partridge nesting in the west field, but they did n o t see m t o raise chicks. In A ugust we released 4 chicks int o the arable field.
Lapwing Red-listed and Vulnerable UK breeding 140,000 pairs Lapwing are gr o und-nesting birds that breed o n wet pastures o r far m land. They feed o n insects, spiders and earthw o r m s. Their pri m e habitat is a mo saic where grass and spring tillage fields are cl o se t o gether.
Lapwing Nu m bers Lapwings are o ne o f the mo st str o ngly declining bird species in Eur o pe, having decreased in all c o untries since 1980.
Lapwings in Fairfield This year lapwings bred and there were tw o pair o f chicks. This is quite a success st o ry as lapwings have n o t bred here f o r m any years! This als o achieves o ne o f o ur targets!
Reed Buntings A m ber-listed 250,000 breeding territ o ries Reed buntings are pred om inantly far m land and wetland birds. This year we have had a return t o breeding in Fairfield with three m ales h o lding territ o ries, and tw o pair breeding.
So ng Thrush Red-listed 1,144,000 territ o ries ‘That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over’. So ng thrushes eat w o r m s, snails and fruit. Their decline is linked t o first-year survival. Tw o o r three pairs have bred in Fairfield this year!
Wintering Red-Listed Fieldfare 720,000 birds • These are thrushes o f S candinavian and Russian o rigin. • They are s o cial birds, spending the winter in fl o cks o f fr om a d o zen o r tw o t o several hundred str o ng.
Wintering Red-Listed Redwing Breeding 4-16 pairs. Wintering 690,000 birds. B o th o f these thrushes eat berries and fruit, as well as, invertebrates . We had a nu m ber o f these birds o verwintering in Fairfield last year.
S nipe A m ber-Listed Breeding - 80,000 pairs. Wintering – 1.1 m illi o n birds. These s m all wading birds o f m arshes are in decline because o f wetland drainage and prey abundance. Our winter flush c o unt was 91 birds!
Birding Nesting S urveys Breeding bird mo rning surveys t oo k place three ti m es this year between A pril and late June. In t o tal 36 species were rec o rded and 32 o f these were breeding. S u mm er visit o rs which bred include:- Blackcap Chiffchaff Will o w warbler Whitethr o at
Fairfield as S ervice S tati o n H ERE IT I S !
N o rthern Wheatears These hands om e birds winter in sub- S aharan A frica and m igrate huge distances either NW t o Canada o r NE t o A laska. In spring this year we had tw o d o zen in Fairfield, presu m ably Canada-b o und!
Other Migrants Som e species o nly m igrate sh o rt distances and m ay be sp o tted in Fairfield.
Osprey o ver Fairfield! On the 24 th March this year I saw an o sprey wheeling o ver the S ch oo l P o nd a c o uple o f ti m es bef o re it headed o ff n o rth t o S c o tland o r the Lake District.
Other Birds Y o u Might S ee In Fairfield
The End and Thanks! It is i m p o rtant that we ackn o wledge the true bird experts like Richard S t o rt o n (R S PB), wh o has advised us, and J o n Carter (R S PB) wh o has led walks, and Dan H ayw oo d wh o has carried o ut the breeding bird surveys. In additi o n, we need t o thank all o f the v o lunteers wh o have devel o ped and m aintained this Reserve!
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