A group of around 60 farmers and families gathered for a special Big Farmland Bird Count social event at Adfa Village Hall in Powys, mid-Wales, in preparation the UK’s annual census of farmland birds.
Run by the GWCT and sponsored by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), the BFBC is on for two weeks until Sunday 23 February.
Director for GWCT Cymru Lee Oliver spoke about the count and why it is important to take part, how it can help farmers understand what they have on their land and to establish a baseline for biodiversity. This can in turn inform decisions and plans for how they manage their farms to help birds and other wildlife thrive.
Guests also enjoyed a hog roast sponsored by the FUW, and then spent some time building bird boxes for blue tits. The children in the room got stuck in straight away, with some even building two boxes for their parents’ or grandparents’ farms.
The event on 30 January was organised for members of the Cefn Coch ATB group by John and Sarah Yeomans, who farm at Llwyn y Brain near Newtown and have been participating in the count since 2020.
Lee said: “It is really important to get the community involved if we want to help our farmland birds, many of which are in decline. Being able to do something practical and hands-on, like building a bird box, makes people feel that they can make a difference.
“Last year, there were 64 counts in Wales. If every farmer who was in the room took part this year, we could double that figure. We want to show that farmers in Wales are making a difference to our farmland birds and by gathering this data, year after year, we can demonstrate that they are.”
The event was also filmed by the S4C Ffermio programme and presenter Alun Elidyr gave a very passionate and impromptu speech to all in the room about the importance of working together, both with politicians and wider public, to find solutions, avoid conflicts and show how farming is a positive and vital force for good for Wales and its people. It was very well received by all in the room.
BBC: Watch the Yeomans on Ffermio
Ffermio also filmed with the Yeomans earlier in the day at their 275-acre farm, where they keep sheep and cattle and are involved a range of biodiversity enhancing projects. Alun spoke to John and his son Joe about the BFBC and how they have identified 70 species of bird on their land, many of them red-listed.
Lee explained to viewers how the count involves you spending 30 minutes recording the bird species and numbers of each on your farm and surrounding land during a two-week window in winter. The results are the submitted to the GWCT online or by post.
Farmland birds have declined by 63% in the past 50 years. The key to reversing the trend is held by the people who look after 72% of the UK which is agricultural land. The BFBC encourages farmers, land and wildlife managers to spend 30 minutes recording the bird species and numbers of each on their farms and surrounding land during a two-week window in winter.