AN Oxfordshire gamekeeper has been crowned this year’s champion for grey partridge conservation in the Cotswold area.
Dan McSharry, head keeper at the Buckland Estate, Buckland, was presented with the 2017 Cotswold Grey Partridge Group trophy at an event in Fyfield, Lechlade, Gloucestershire, on the 19th of June.
The trophy is awarded to the person who is judged to have done the most for wild grey partridge in the previous year.
Judging the competition, which is part of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) National Partridge Count Scheme, was last year’s winner farmer George Ponsonby, chairman of the group Mark Tufnell and the Trust’s biodiversity advisor Peter Thompson.
Peter said: “I would like to add my congratulations to Dan, as there are now a good number of people managing their land for grey partridge and other farmland birds in the area, so he has done extremely well to be awarded the trophy this year.
“It is also fantastic that the group’s chairman, Mark Tufnell, also sponsors the competition through his farm business – Calmsden farms Ltd.”
The GWCT would like to encourage others to get involved with grey partridge conservation.
Anyone interested should contact Neville Kingdon on nkingdon@gwct.org.uk.
Note - picture of Mark Tufnell, left, and Dan McSharry, right
Notes to editors
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust – providing research-led conservation for a thriving countryside. The GWCT is an independent wildlife conservation charity which has carried out scientific research into Britain’s game and wildlife since the 1930s. We advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats. We employ 22 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff with expertise in areas such as birds, insects, mammals, farming, fish 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.
For information, contact:
Eleanor Williams
Telephone: 07592 025476
Email: press@gwct.org.uk