Farmers shocked by bird decline claims

It came as a shock when Defra announced a steep decline in birds on farmland between 2008 and 2009. The figures challenged the farmers' consensus that they were actually doing quite well for wildlife.

Defra said 12 of the 19 species in its environmental health index declined between 2008 and 2009 – kestrel, lapwing, grey partridge, skylark, starling, greenfinch, tree sparrow, yellow wagtail, linnet, wood pigeon, corn bunting and rook.

The RSPB said: "Some of the most worrying declines include lapwings, corn bunting and grey partridge. Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) was designed to boost species like these.

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"Where HLS has been deployed, farmers have achieved great successes. But it currently covers just one per cent of farmland. And it is now under threat from budget cuts."

The RSPB said the latest figures added up to an average of 10 per cent losses of farmland birds over five years and commented: "Entry Level Stewardship is not working as well as it should be. While HLS was designed to save threatened species, ELS was designed to reverse the overall decline in farmland birds – 56 per cent of farmland in England is in ELS."

The Yorkshire Post sought comment from farmers and others.

Gareth Gaunt, who runs a near-organic mixed farm near Wetherby, said he had healthy populations of most of the birds on the list and wood pigeons were a pest.

But grey partridge and lapwing were present only in small numbers. He commented: "Ground-nesters are very vulnerable to predation, and we have a huge predator problem – raptors, carrion crows, magpies, grey squirrel, red kites (they are taking lapwing chicks even though the RSPB say they only feed on carrion) and, I think, the biggest culprit of them all, the badger."

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Iain Hurst, arable farmer, at Weaverthorpe, on the Wolds, said: "None of the birds mentioned is in decline here. Certainly rooks and wood pigeons are as prolific as ever."

Graham Thurlow, who surveys farms in East Yorkshire for the RSPB, said he had seen reasonable numbers of most of the Defra list and added: "I am surprised at the inclusion of wood pigeons and rooks."

He said: "Bird-friendly farming methods are obviously important but availability of nest sites for hole-nesting birds is also important (nest boxes help here) and for ground-nesting birds, predator control."

Mike Keeble, Masham-based farming commentator, and defender of the environmental role of extensive livestock, said: "Ground-nesting birds flourish amongst grazing livestock and do far less well in fast-growing cereals and grass. In the latter, their fledglings are just moving around when the harvesters come in and chop them up.

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"The Government survey misses curlews and oystercatchers – two of the main sufferers in the lower dales. Corvids and raptors will eventually have to be controlled as it is they that attack the ground and tree-nesting species, some of which are mentioned above."

But birdwatcher Pat Crofton, of Stamford Bridge, said everyone was ignoring the obvious: "Bring back set-aside, plant more hedges and use fewer pesticides."

CW 14/8/10

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