Further evidence of the importance to birds and farmers of hedges in agricultural land comes to us from a rather unlikely source. Studies from Akot, Maharashtra State in central India revealed how strong the difference in bird numbers and diversity between different farmland sites with and without hedges can be. Hedges in the study area were shown to provide important nesting, feeding and sheltering sites for birds in agricultural areas with highest numbers of birds in those fields with hedges.
During the Indian study, 64 bird species from 34 families were observed. Most of the birds were recorded actually in or very near hedges. An earlier study (here) in Germany reported that increasing hedge length enhanced significantly the number of bird species and that adding hedges or introducing organic farming practices should be primarily promoted in simple landscapes, where it really makes a difference for biodiversity.
These studies show that hedge length has a stronger effect on bird richness than management and that the increasing length of hedges enhances birds in conventional, non-organic, fields too. Bird conservation even in intensively used agricultural landscapes should concentrate on hedges or green lanes.
Providing more hedgerows and carefully managing them, can significantly contribute to the conservation of declining farmland birds. Birds forage in the agricultural fields, using the hedges for resting and breeding. Highest diversity of birds was also directly connected to diversity of plants as the greatest number of plant types gave more choice of food for the bird species. High numbers of bushes and plants at the boundary of agricultural land will benefit the largest numbers of birds. Thus planting trees in agricultural lands and well managed hedges can increase the bird diversity and large scale cutting of hedges should be avoided.
Not only will populations of birds benefit from increased hedges but the birds can themselves benefit the farmer. Insectivorous and predatory birds play a very useful role in controlling insect and rodent pests of crops. Presence of healthy numbers of birds in the farm fields is an eco-friendly and useful way of controlling the pests on the crop so, hedgerows must be saved to conserve farmland bird diversity. Hedges should, however, be maintained properly and not allowed to become invasive and reduce the utilizable area of the field.
Studies on farmland avian diversity with special reference to importance of hedges in conserving farmland bird diversity can be downloaded here.
The last few months at Sorel have been a busy time not only for the choughs, but also their neighbours; the resident flock of Manx Loaghtan sheep. The sheep play a vital role in the restoration of Jersey’s coastline, as their extensive grazing helps prevent the spread of invasive scrub and bracken, opening up areas for more sensitive plants to grow, which allows a mosaic of heathland vegetation to develop. The habitat created by the sheep supports a wider variety of wildlife, particularly specialist invertebrates and birds, and, therefore, helps restore biodiversity (see Grazing for background). The conservation grazing project is a partnership between The Reserve and the National Trust for Jersey.
Manx Loaghtan are extremely hardy sheep which thrive on coastal cliff tops, so are very well suited to their important job of grazing the area of coastline between Sorel and Devil’s Hole. They were introduced to the north coast by the National Trust for Jersey in 2008, and since then the flock has increased in number from 20 to 231, and the habitat where they are found has visibly improved, with bracken much less dominant in the areas they frequently trample.
The flock is managed by local shepherds Aaron le Couteur and Sam Hilton (CS Conservation), not forgetting of course their sheepdog Mist. Every day of the year the shepherds do a head count and visual health check of the entire flock; this can be a very time consuming job as the sheep are somewhat adventurous and are often found scrambling along the steep cliff sides or grazing at the very bottom of the cliffs close to the shore. The adult rams are kept off site for safety, except for the less boisterous wether “Buck” who acts as the flock guardian. Despite common thought, the number of horns is not an indication of sex, with both ewes and rams having 1, 2 or even 3 sets of horns.
The sheep breeding season begins in October, when the breeding ewes are taken from Sorel to the farm to meet the rams and, all going well, fall pregnant shortly after. The first and last months of pregnancy are very sensitive times, so the ewes are kept at the farm for monitoring, but in the interim the pregnant ewes often graze further ecologically important sites. After a five month gestation period lambing begins, with roughly half of the ewes giving birth to one lamb, and half to twins, which have a dark brown fleece that gradually lightens to a mousy brown. As with all sheep, Loaghtan ewes can occasionally have problems at lambing, so a few orphaned lambs were hand-reared by the shepherds this spring; an extremely intensive job as the lambs initially require 24-hour care and bottle feeding.
This year 121 lambs were raised, and after 3-4 months on the farm, they were moved up to Sorel with their mothers. Although the lush grassland of the farm may look ideal for the lambs, they are actually much better adapted to grazing on rough coastal scrub. Work for the shepherds doesn’t stop there though, as a couple of weeks later the ewes and lambs were rounded up for their vaccinations. After a just a few hours all 231 sheep were herded into the fenced off aviary field so that they could be checked and vaccinated, all the while observed by the choughs perched on the aviary roof, apparently quite interested in the spectacle!
Shearing is the next job, and the exact date depends on the weather conditions; Loaghtan wool is very high in lanolin wax, and in warm weather it becomes more viscous which makes shearing a much easier and faster job. The huge amount of wool produced is sold locally, creating extra revenue and reconnecting islanders with Jersey’s traditional knitting industry. Throughout the 16th-19th centuries the Island was an important exporter of knitted goods, so much so that the word “jersey”, describing a woollen sweater, is derived from the Island’s historical trade.
The final job for the shepherds during the busy summer period is weaning the lambs. When the lambs first arrived at Sorel in June they were still suckling, but once they reach over 12 weeks old they naturally begin the weaning process, ready for the ewes to be dried off. The lambs are, therefore, rounded up one more time and moved into aviary field for about two weeks, where they are out of sight of their mothers. Separating the sheep in this way allows the ewes’ milk to dry up and for them to put some weight back on, and the lambs to break the suckling habit in the least stressful way possible.
In addition to providing an extremely efficient habitat management service, the sheep also help produce essential feeding opportunities for the reintroduced choughs. Their grazing and trampling maintains short grass swards which the birds depend on for access to surface-active and soil invertebrates, and the sheep dung provides an important food source of beetle and fly larvae. Dung invertebrates might be particularly important for the choughs in spring and autumn when other insects are less abundant, or during dry periods when the ground is too hard for the birds to successfully probe into (see study by David McCracken here).
The maintenance of low intensity pastoralism is hugely important for the conservation of red-billed choughs throughout Europe, with several studies in the UK showing a significant relationship between sheep and chough populations.
Research on Ramsey Island, Bardsey and the Isle of Man (see IOM paper here) supports this link; in each case, reduced sheep grazing coincided with declines in the numbers of breeding choughs, and when grazing was resumed, the breeding chough populations began to recover. The choughs at Sorel certainly seem to show an affinity to the sheep, and can often be seen feeding in close proximity to the grazing sheep.
Please, therefore, respect the sheep and the important service they provide to our wildlife when visiting the area, and remember if you have a dog, to always keep it under control.
Following last winter’s successful Farmland Scheme, which engaged the help of many farmers in our efforts to stop the decline of local bird populations, we are pleased to announce that this year’s ‘Winter Bird Crops’ are being planted again across the island.
These specialised crops will be planted after the potato harvest and will produce a mixture of seeds and cereals. We have planted out such valuable crops as barley, mustard, quinoa, millet and sunflower (see advice here and free access paper here for importance of these crops). Throughout the winter these crops will provide food for the local birds, which, come spring, will repay this effort by feasting on the bugs and pests attacking the farmer’s commercial crops.
Thanks to a grant from the Co-Op EcoFund and the Countryside Enhancement Scheme, this year Birds On The Edge has been able to provide enough seed to cover twice as much ground as last year’s pilot scheme, to invite more farmers to join, and to expand to new areas such as St Ouen’s Bay.
We look forward to seeing the crops in full bloom and we will update you as soon as the birds start flocking to them.
The Department of the Environment is asking the public to record Japanese knotweed.
This can be done by using a free mobile phone app to help determine the distribution of the invasive plant Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) or records can be sent directly to David Tipping d.tipping@gov.je
PlantTracker, a free app developed by the UK Environment Agency and the University of Bristol, allows Islanders to record and submit geo-located photos of suspect plants directly to the Department of the Environment. These images would then be verified using the photo or a site visit, and subsequent positive records could be plotted on a map. PlantTracker app can be downloaded at no charge from the iTunes App Store or Google Play and you can begin using it as soon as possible. While PlantTracker features 14 invasive plant species, the Department is asking Jersey users to restrict their recordings to knotweed. Guidance on identifying knotweed and on how to submit pictures is included in the app.
If you are on site and come across Japanese knotweed record it using the Plant Tracker app… Here
The Department is also issuing a general reminder to the public that knotweed spreads via its roots and from fragments of the plant, so strimming or flailing only increases the problem. Cutting, hand-pulling and herbicides are the most effective methods of eradication. A leaflet Japanese knotweed: management advice can be downloaded here
The Countryside Enhancement Scheme (CES) is an environmental improvement scheme open to all Jersey landowners, land managers, businesses, charities, schools, States departments and others. The scheme is funded by the States of Jersey and offers financial incentives that support and reward environmental initiatives through voluntary management agreements designed to look after Jersey’s countryside. This includes enhancement of wildlife, landscapes, historic features and natural resources (soils and water), as well as providing new opportunities for public access.
Last year, the Countryside Enhancement Scheme funded a project to clear large amounts of bracken from publicly administered land on the slopes west and east of Plémont in order to improve the condition and species diversity of these coastal habitats. A total of 17,151m² (9.5 verges or 4.3 acres) of bracken scrub has been cleared on this occasion.
In the past these steep slopes would have been managed by grazing animals, and by harvesting bracken and gorse for animal bedding and fuel respectively, giving opportunity for short, species-rich grassland and wild flowers to flourish. Today the only grazing which takes place is done by rabbits, which unfortunately is not enough to stop the gradual encroachment of gorse scrub and bracken.
The aim is to return the slopes to their former ecologically diverse coastal heathland habitat, encouraging fire-tolerant shrub vegetation such as heathers Calluna vulgaris and Erica cinerea, gorse Ulex gallii and broom Cytisus scoparius.
The project compliments Birds On The Edge objectives in conserving maritime heath, cliff and slope habitats which are listed as valuable key habitats in the Jersey Biodiversity Strategy (2000).
Access to manage the slopes is difficult due to their being so steep and being isolated from any close parking and other infrastructure. It is planned that a number of ‘holes’ be created in the coastal scrub with a more diverse vegetation within. The long term intention is to re-establish grazing to these slopes with the livestock foraging between these holes and ultimately linking them, creating habitat corridors. The first step is to create areas which can be grazed and which will supply a sufficient amount of fodder to sustain the livestock.
The contractor successfully cut the bracken scrub to ground level and then rolled it into piles of mulch at the bottom of the slopes. The team will return to the site in early June (2014) to treat any bracken regrowth with the fern specific herbicide Asulox.
The champions of the Birds On The Edge Farmland Scheme
By Cris Sellarés
Birds On The Edge would like to recognise the hard work and commitment of the star farmers that have made our Farmland Scheme possible. They not only joined the scheme with enthusiasm and have sowed the conservation crops on their fields after harvesting the potatoes, but they have also looked after them for the benefit of Jersey’s threatened wildlife. Without our champion farmers none of this would have been possible, so here’s a big THANK YOU to them. Show your support and encouragement for their efforts in safeguarding our farmland birds by buying local produce whenever you can!
This feature is included as a permanent page on the website here and will be updated.
Steve Baudains
Steve comes from a family that has been farming in Jersey for five generations, since the late 19th century. He started working for companies such as the Jersey Royal Company and partnered up with other farmers until he took over his family’s farm in St Lawrence a couple of years ago. Steve has been running the farm with his father ever since and looks after the land of a various of landowners across the north and west of Jersey, mainly producing Jersey Royals for Albert Bartlett.
Colin Huelin
Colin’s farm and land on the north coast has been in his mother’s side of the family for over 70 years. Colin’s childhood memories are of his brother and himself jumping off the bus from school and going straight to the fields to pick potatoes and, later as a teenager, to drive the tractor around collecting bales of hay. Colin is an independent potato producer and sells his crops directly to local and UK markets.
Alexander Richardson
Alexander works alongside his father Doug on the many enterprises of their farm in St Ouen. Through their company they produce and sell a variety of eco-friendly fuels and pellet stoves to keep the cold away. They are an independent producer of Jersey Royals and sell their crop to Albert Bartlett. For more information on their produce check out their website at FarmFuels.
Ian Le Brun and The Jersey Royal Company
Ian ‘Toots’ Le Brun has been with the Jersey Royal Company since it was created in 2002. At that time he had been working for four years for Fairview Farms, which became one of the five founder members of the JRC. His present role at JRC involves securing the land base and making sure that the landlords and ladies wishes, if they have any, are executed. He also looks after the 2nd crop programme which again needs to fill the requirements of all parties concerned. The JRC has been using bird conservation crops under the advice of an independent consultant for over 10 years now in areas such as La Rocque, Victoria Tower, La Hougue Bie and Sorel, providing food for birds in winter across the Island. Their experience with the conservation crops has been invaluable to Birds On The Edge and by joining this scheme it has allowed them to expand the land that is put towards conservation crops. Read more about their work here.
In early September, Birds On The Edge reported on Jersey’s Back to Work scheme. Since the middle of August, the Social Security Department and Department of the Environment have been trialing this scheme to help unemployed people in Jersey to gain skills and experience to gain permanent employment while carrying out dedicated projects in order to enhance Jersey’s biodiversity. This has tied in nicely with the Birds On The Edge project and has enabled the scheme to tackle tasks which directly benefit the aims of the project. Groups of 16 unemployed locals have been given necessary training and guided by Ecoscape, a local contractor with a wealth of environmental experience and know-how, tackling tasks which improve our local environment over six-week periods. To date over 45 candidates have joined the scheme, which will continue into the New Year.
Birds On The Edge has provided the groups with a variety of tasks to complete, all over the Island, which help to improve the participants skill set and work ethic, and at the same time have a large impact on the work and aims of the project.
One of the first projects targeted was at Petit Plémont, where the group cut and cleared a large amount of bracken and bramble mixed-scrub to encourage the re-colonisation of heathland associated vegetation. A total of 3,050m² (1.7 vergées or 0.75 acres) of bracken was cleared and removed from site.
Following the success of the first task the scheme continued to tackle more north coast bracken scrub, this time at White Rock. On this site there was a large area of bracken and bramble dominated scrub which again was cut and cleared to allow regeneration.
The second group of workers from the Back to Work scheme continued where the last group left off, showing enthusiasm and interest for the aims of the project. They started by continuing the work at White Rock clearing remaining bramble and bracken and also clearing an amount of the invasive holm oak. A mosaic of areas has been cleared to date totalling 5,000m² (2.8 vergées or 1.3 acres). This second group then headed down to Egypt where the meadow was very overgrown. This large, recently neglected, meadow, which measures 9,300m² (5.17 vergées or 2.3 acres), was cut and cleared of the overgrown bracken, leaving only small islands of bracken to provide some shelter to the wildlife in the area. The tree canopy alongside the meadow was cut and raised to allow natural light through to encourage growth.
This group also set out to tackle tasks on the south coast, particularly at Noirmont Common Site of Special Ecological Interest. Here the groups set about clearing Hottentot fig which had taken over large areas of the headland. 3500m² (1.9 vergées or 0.86 acres) of bracken and ivy were also cut back and raked. Large piles of raked mulch were then removed so that any native plants growing in the area were not suffocated and had a chance to grow back.
With the change and evolution in agricultural practises leaving Jersey’s coastal habitat under-managed and resulting in an ecological decline in their condition it is with great excitement that the Back to Work Scheme can be targeted to achieve the aims of the Birds On The Edge project. The work which has been carried out by the Scheme will continue to tackle the coastal restoration tasks and also go some way to help to promote public awareness of the importance of these coastal restoration projects.
Conservation fields yield seed-rich crops for our farmland birds
By Cris Sellarés
You may remember announcement of our trial scheme to help farmland birds through the winter when it was launched last spring with the help of two private sponsors. Local farmers were supplied with a bird conservation seed mix to be planted into potato fields. The crops, similar to those used in the conservation fields that the National Trust for Jersey has at Le Don Hodges, near Sorel, were planted in clusters of fields across the north coast, after the Jersey Royals had been harvested.
Many local farmers and landowners kindly agreed to try these crops for a few months, so that they would provide our farmland birds with a source of food during the coldest months of the year. As soon as the crops were planted we started monitoring their growth every fortnight and documenting their development.
These conservation crops are composed of a rich variety of plants, especially chosen to produce large amounts of protein and fat-rich seeds, such as buckwheat, mustard, quinoa, chicory, sunflower, millet, gold-of-pleasure, triticale, spring wheat and phacelia, which is very good for insects too.
Such has been the success of some of these conservation fields that members of the Botany Section of the Societé Jersiaise have expressed their interest in the crops and shared her extensive knowledge on each plant’s history in Jersey and it’s importance for the ecosystem.
Some species in particular, such as gold-of-pleasure Camelina sativa or wheat, have all but disappeared from our landscape over the last few decades and it is exciting to find them again amongst our fields. Sadly, the varieties planted are commercial ones, produced and chosen for their value to the birds during winter, and are not likely to self-spread or go wild anytime soon, at least not before the fields are ploughed at the end of the winter to make way for next year’s crop of Jersey Royals.
Earlier this month BOTE’s Trial Farmland Scheme was entered into Insurance Corporation of the Channel Islands’ 2013 Conservation Awards and, visited by the judging panel, shortlisted for this year’s award.
The judges’ site visit was organized and BOTE Project Officer, Cristina Sellarés, was able to show the judges the agricultural fields that are being planted with bird conservation crops once the potatoes are harvested. Cris also explained how these important crops will help our local birds survive the winter, whilst not costing the farmer any extra money thanks to the scheme sponsors. Whilst we are sure that this fine example of habitat restoration project that BOTE is promoting within the local community got the judges’ interest, the main prize was awarded to a marine conservation project by another local organization, Jersey Seasearch, which aims to give young people the opportunity to proactively take part in the protection of our local waters.
Congratulations are in order, so well done Jersey Seasearch! And as for us, we’ll carry on with our work, happy in the knowledge that from this humble scheme we are doing our best for the local birds, the coastal habitats and the Island’s community.
One year after clearing an area of coastline of Hottentot fig in Alderney, look at this display of native flowers coming into their own! This site now has kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, cat’s ear Hypochaeris radicata, stemless (dwarf) thistle Cirsium acaule and bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata all coming back into their own!
This change of fortunes has been brought about by the hard work of the local conservation volunteers. If you are visiting Alderney, you can join in too, there’s no need to attend regularly or even be a resident on the Island, just go along to one of the Wednesday or Saturday afternoon sessions (contact info@alderneywildlife.org). But don’t fear if you are not planning to visit the northern island in the near future, there are plenty of opportunities on the other islands to get after those figs and other invasive plants. A few hours here or there can make a huge difference and who needs a gym when you can keep fit and help our biodiversity! In Jersey, look out for the activities of our own Jersey Conservation Volunteers
Further evidence of the importance to birds and farmers of hedges in agricultural land comes to us from a rather unlikely source. Studies from Akot, Maharashtra State in central India revealed how strong the difference in bird numbers and diversity between different farmland sites with and without hedges can be. Hedges in the study area were shown to provide important nesting, feeding and sheltering sites for birds in agricultural areas with highest numbers of birds in those fields with hedges.
Providing more hedgerows and carefully managing them, can significantly contribute to the conservation of declining farmland birds. Birds forage in the agricultural fields, using the hedges for resting and breeding. Highest diversity of birds was also directly connected to diversity of plants as the greatest number of plant types gave more choice of food for the bird species. High numbers of bushes and plants at the boundary of agricultural land will benefit the largest numbers of birds. Thus planting trees in agricultural lands and well managed hedges can increase the bird diversity and large scale cutting of hedges should be avoided.
