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The Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) identification days are in full swing with only a few days to run. Most events are now sold out, but there are a handful of places remaining on the South Wales ID Day.

The weather might be soggy but the time has come to start counting those birds! The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) third Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) will be taking place from 6-14 February 2016. The GWCT is encouraging all farmers and landowners to take part in the nationwide survey of our declining farmland birds.

The first Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) identification day has taken place in Wiltshire with great success.

The New Year has begun which means the annual Big Farmland Count (BFBC) 2016 is fast approaching! The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) have now finalised the Identification Training dates and are inviting all farmers to join in with the annual count.

The third Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) will take place between the 6th and 14^th February 2016, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) announced today.

With the cold weather approaching, now is the time to be mindful of your resident woodcock numbers and consider how you are going to help them this winter. 

The case for grouse moor management as an essential part of sustaining Scotland’s uplands was re-stated at a “Gift of Grouse” reception yesterday at the Scottish Parliament, highlighting the work of grouse moor estates in the Angus Glens and Perthshire.

Liz Truss MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, paid tribute to the scientific research of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and its contribution to developing practical solutions to reversing the decline of our native wildlife.

Populations of reintroduced and escaped Eurasian beaver currently exist in England and Scotland and concerns have been raised that beavers, and more specifically the dams that they construct, may negatively impact populations of migratory fish, particularly salmon and trout, due to impeding their movements and fragmenting important habitat. 

A new study by the GWCT, with support from Natural England, has identified that the use of pesticides on cereal fields could be having a greater impact than previously thought and that this impact may increase in the face of climate change. The study, using over 40 years of data collected on farmland on the Sussex Downs, considers the effect on arable insects and spiders of factors including changes in extreme weather events and pesticide use.