Rare bird fights back in East Anglia
Dr Nicholas Aebischer, from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust said, “The simple reason for this shocking decline is that we have suffered two really appalling wet summers in 2007 and 2008. Young partridge chicks, when they first hatch can die rapidly from hyperthermia when it is constantly wet. But that was then. Partridges have now benefited from two good summers and where the right conditions are being provided our monitoring shows that they can bounce back.”
In an effort to boost dwindling numbers, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is holding a special Grey Partridge Group meeting on 8 September at Wyken Estate, Stanton, Suffolk to show the efforts that are needed to save this iconic species. This group is crucial to grey partridge recovery as it covers a key area of the British countryside for grey partridges, including Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk and Essex.
By providing year round habitat including refuge, nesting cover, insects for chicks and winter seed, grey partridges can make a comeback. This is certainly the case on the 1,100 acre Wyken estate, which has provided all these essential partridge requirements within a very successful ELS/HLS agreement.
To ripple this positive effect to more areas of land and save this bird from more local extinctions, the Trust is holding regional grey partridge awareness meetings in various areas of the country this autumn, including the event at Wyken Estate. The aim of these partridge group meetings is to provide expert advice and inspire landowners and farmers to ‘save the grey’ by becoming actively involved in partridge conservation.
Grey partridges, which were once common across the country, have specific management requirements. Dr Aebischer explains, “The Trust has been researching the issues facing grey partridges for the past 40 years. No other farmland bird has had such a vast amount of money and research dedicated to its survival. We now have the expertise and science to target their specific needs but if we are to restore the fortunes of this once familiar farmland bird then a much larger community of farmers, landowners and conservationists need to be mobilised.”
Visitors attending the meeting on the 8 September at the Wyken Estate will be shown how to create and manage essential habitat, including brood rearing cover and wild bird cover as well as seeing how to make the most of opportunities offered by stewardship funding.
Drinks (including Wyken vineyard wines) and a light buffet will be kindly provided by Sir Kenneth Carlisle and the sponsors of the event, Castleacre and Carter Jonas. The event costs £12 per person and starts at 5pm.
For further information on the grey partridge meetings, please phone Lynda Ferguson on 01425 651013 or email: advisory@gwct.org.uk or visit the Trust’s website: www.gwct.org.uk/courses
Photocaption: Wild grey partridge are one of our most rapidly declining farmland birds but two years of good weather combined with the support of the local farming and shoot managers could help to save this bird.
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Notes to editors
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is an independent wildlife conservation charity which carries out scientific research into Britain’s game and wildlife. We advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats and we lobby for agricultural and conservation policies based on science. We employ 14 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff with expertise in areas such as birds, insects, mammals, farming and statistics. We undertake our own research as well as projects funded by contract and grant-aid from Government and private bodies. The Trust is also responsible for a number of Government Biodiversity Action Plan species and is lead partner for grey partridge and joint lead partner for brown hare and black grouse.
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