Local wildlife off to a flying start

Monday 16 March 2015

More farmers have been ploughing their support into helping local wildlife survive the winter months.

Nine are now working with local conservation group Birds on the Edge, four more than last year, to help the Island's farm birds struggling to find enough food.

Farm birds are not the sort to fly in looking for food in your garden and it's become harder for our birds like skylarks, linnets, starlings and meadow pipits to find enough insects, seeds and fruits to help them survive the winter.

But thanks to the farmers who have set aside land over the last few months when the spuds are not in the ground to plant winter bird crops, our local feathered friends have been thriving.

This winter Birds on the Edge has been managing and monitoring about 30 hectares – that’s 42 times the size of Wembley stadium.

The group’s Cris Sellarés said: “It’s gone really, really well. We’ve had big numbers this winter, bigger than ever. In some places we’ve had something like 300% more birds and the number of species has increased.

“We’ve even had three new species – the local Dartford Warbler and the wintering migrants Serin and Little Bunting.

“The birds are there because the crop is there. It’s the first good sign that the scheme is working.”

Any farmer and landowner is invited to join the scheme and if their land is in a good spot to attract birds, they'll get some free seed to plant next winter to encourage more birds to flock to their land.

Picture credit: Romano da Costa