The 2020 Big Farmland Bird Count
Saturday 8th February saw 10 of our Jersey Dairy farmers taking part in the first ever Farmland Jersey Bird Count across 11 sites. The first coordinated count across the islands dairy farmland by farmers to help monitor the bird populations. 2000 birds in total were recorded, 47 different species within 30 minutes.
As stewards of the countryside it is important that our farmers monitor the bird populations and engage with local ecologists to enhance the wildlife and biodiversity of the farmland they are working.
During the bird count each farm was partnered with their own ornithologist who shared their vast knowledge and experience of the different species spotted.
Our Jersey Dairy farms provide excellent habitats for many species of birds and our farmers take great care to minimise the impact of farming systems on these habitats as well as trying to enhance and create new ones. This is all part of the ongoing commitment to LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming – leafuk) where our farmers continue to demonstrate that the work they are doing is having a positive impact on farming wildlife.
Thank you to Sangan Island Conservation (sanganconservation.co.uk) for organising a brilliant inaugural 2020 Farmland Bird Count, and of course the ornithologists who came out to help our farmers spot the diverse range of birds. This count will act as baseline data for future counts to continually monitor birds on our dairy farms.
Take a look at the 2020 results below and view the top 5 most abundant species recorded across the farms which took part…
Farmland Bird Count Results 2020
