Partridge conservation

[Man_in_black]

Cap in hand I'm afraid! Appreciate any contribution thank you

Grey Partridge conservation in Nottinghamshire, organized by Ben M

Hello My name is Ben, and if you're reading this, I guess you are as passionat… Ben M needs your support for Grey Partridge conservation in Nottinghamshire

gofund.me

 

[Try to succeed]

Hi Ben. I have a private grey partridge conservation project on my farm. I think the best thing you can do is talk to neighbours about doing the basics, such as creating some habitat through a stewardship scheme, pest control and feeding. Without having neighbours on board you’ll end up exporting partridges over the boundary in successful years to be picked off/mown off/lose broods through lack of feed opportunities.
What would be your plan with any donations you receive?

 

[Brisel]

The farm I ran until last summer had a grey partridge recovery project, with the aim of boosting many species, not just greys. The owner shot 80 brace last September which was part of his enjoyment for investing heavily in this. Many people don't understand why owners shoot but the reality is that much of the conservation work is led by shooting & the yields are so low that biodiversity still has a massive net gain.

What are your aims for this? I can't see anyone wanting to fund a shoot...

On a more practical level, the GWCT has a lot of knowledge & a trip to Loddington would be essential if you haven't done this already. Farmer clusters are a great way to get landscape level participation in conservation work. I was part of the Martin Down cluster.

Farmer Clusters - For farmers, facilitators and advisors

A resource for farmers, facilitators, advisors and anyone interested in farmer cluster landscape scale conservation projects.

www.farmerclusters.com

Grey partridge - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

www.gwct.org.uk

 

[Man_in_black]

Hi Ben. I have a private grey partridge conservation project on my farm. I think the best thing you can do is talk to neighbours about doing the basics, such as creating some habitat through a stewardship scheme, pest control and feeding. Without having neighbours on board you’ll end up exporting partridges over the boundary in successful years to be picked off/mown off/lose broods through lack of feed opportunities.
What would be your plan with any donations you receive?

The donations would predominantly be for more hoppers & to plant cover crops. Thanks for input . Neighbours are largely on board in the sense they farm with good grass margins, hedges etc. I'm only one feeding though. I carry out all the pest control, foxing, larson & tunnel trapping.

 

[Man_in_black]

The farm I ran until last summer had a grey partridge recovery project, with the aim of boosting many species, not just greys. The owner shot 80 brace last September which was part of his enjoyment for investing heavily in this. Many people don't understand why owners shoot but the reality is that much of the conservation work is led by shooting & the yields are so low that biodiversity still has a massive net gain.

What are your aims for this? I can't see anyone wanting to fund a shoot...

On a more practical level, the GWCT has a lot of knowledge & a trip to Loddington would be essential if you haven't done this already. Farmer clusters are a great way to get landscape level participation in conservation work. I was part of the Martin Down cluster.

Farmer Clusters - For farmers, facilitators and advisors

A resource for farmers, facilitators, advisors and anyone interested in farmer cluster landscape scale conservation projects.

www.farmerclusters.com

Grey partridge - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

www.gwct.org.uk

Not intended to shoot, not saying never but certainly no immediate plans. Landowners aren't shooter's. I shoot pests but not so much game. Purely just for the benefits it brings on a larger scale for farmland biodiversity.

 

[Brisel]

Fair enough. To get a few more greys isn’t difficult with better habitat. Getting enough for a harvestable surplus without damaging your breeding stock requires exponentially more resources. Perhaps it’s worth considering responses to inevitable questions about shooting?

What is your countryside like? Open, free draining land with only a few trees? Plenty of spring crops with stubbles left over winter? Predator control?

 

[tr250]

@man in black have you thought about running a syndicate for pheasants. We have a shoot on our ground group of lads pay for pheasants feed etc one chap does all keepering pest control done some hedge laying this winter too for shelter for his pheasants the grey partridges really benefit from all this and we have several coveys some up to 15 at times. We get a nominal fee and a gun in the shoot the lads get a few days shooting and the partridge get less predators more cover and plentiful feed. But this is a small shoot on a reasonably large acreage it may not work if pheasants are in huge numbers on a big commercial shoot

 

[spin cycle]

shoot all the french partridges would be a good start

 

[tr250]

shoot all the french partridges would be a good start

Yes I hadn’t really thought of that but it’s rare to see a red leg on our place

 

[Man_in_black]

Yeah no French here anyway.

 

[Forkdriver]

Yeah no French here anyway.

Shush, you will have a blockade next

 

[steveR]

Many Badgers about....?

 

[Forkdriver]

Nothing nests on the ground here. All crows, buzzards, foxes, badgers. It is noticeable how quickly rabbits and grey squirrel move round here.

 

[Pilatus]

I am sure it would be of interest to TFF members who are interested in your project ,if you could tell us about your farm,size ,etc .Oops I see @Brisel has asked the same question but important if you hope for much useful feed back.
With so many protected species of birds of prey about , I think wild pheasant chicks, wild partridge chicks , leverets, etc don’t stand much chance of surviving.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a hen pheasant with a brood of chicks pecking up grit on the side of a country lane, a sad state of affairs.

 

[Forkdriver]

When we were in South Lincolnshire there was a lot of wild pheasants. Not many predators though. Also many other interesting birds. Intensive agriculture has not ruined the countryside.

 

[yellow belly]

Where in Notts are you

since going notill growing cover crops and stewardship my farms have more greys
now do not use insecticide have plenty of spring crops and over winter covers and stubble

inscects need encouraging
a pile of cow muck in every field would help a lot
one farm i contract farm on has dairy cows and muck rotated round and the most greys

the biggest factor is summer weather at chick hatch and predictor control

 

[Try to succeed]

The donations would predominantly be for more hoppers & to plant cover crops. Thanks for input . Neighbours are largely on board in the sense they farm with good grass margins, hedges etc. I'm only one feeding though. I carry out all the pest control, foxing, larson & tunnel trapping.

Have you got any old drums you can wash out well and chisel slots into? Cheaper than buying feeders at £30 a time.

 

[Brisel]

Have you got any old drums you can wash out well and chisel slots into? Cheaper than buying feeders at £30 a time.

This.

Put some stock netting around the base so larger birds cannot get through to feed e.g. pheasants. A trail camera will show you what is using them. Badgers will just lift it up but there's nothing you can do about that. Deer can tip the feeders over too, so securing the lids will help. The GWCT link I posted has a picture of the netting around the feeders.

 

[Man_in_black]

Where in Notts are you

since going notill growing cover crops and stewardship my farms have more greys
now do not use insecticide have plenty of spring crops and over winter covers and stubble

inscects need encouraging
a pile of cow muck in every field would help a lot
one farm i contract farm on has dairy cows and muck rotated round and the most greys

the biggest factor is summer weather at chick hatch and predictor control

Near Cotgrave.

I carry out the predator control. Fox year round but especially hard now. Have larsons (not catching as many crows as I'd like, plenty of magpies.) Tunnel traps in all likely nesting sites.

 

[Man_in_black]

inscects need encouraging
a pile of cow muck in every field would help a lot

Just a pile or spread?