16 October 2008

Farmers’ lifeline to Fenland lapwings

Lapwing by Andy Hay

Farmland is proving vital to birds that should be nesting on a nature reserve in the Cambridgeshire Fens.

The second year of a project looking after lapwings nesting on arable land close the RSPB’s Ouse Washes nature reserve has recorded an increase in the birds on farmland – while they still struggle to survive on the flooded grassland of the reserve.

Last year’s project resulted in finding two main breeding areas, supporting 22 pairs of lapwings, and this has grown to 39 nests on arable land on five different farms.

The increase is mostly partly due to a bigger effort this year with a team of six RSPB volunteers covering some 580 hectares (more than two square miles) of farmland.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. High prices for ‘commodity crops’ meant that much of the arable land surrounding the Ouse Washes was planted with winter wheat this year. This meant fewer areas suitable for lapwings as they need bare land for their nests.

Eight nests were counted on the farm of Cameron Allan, from Manea. Four of these were lapwings that attempted to nest in winter wheat in early April before it grew too long.

Mr Allan said: “When lapwings are nesting in fields it's good to mark them. It's easier for us to avoid them if we actually realise they're there. If you know they're there most farmers would actually do that. To leave bare bits of land on the scale of what we do is neither here nor there to us, so if it encourages lapwings then it's all good news."

Unusually, the other four nests on Mr Allen’s farm were in a crop of butternut squash – a new and interesting experience for both the farmer and the RSPB. The crop was covered in a fleece lining in early May, which meant the loss of one lapwing nest.

In between the rows of fleece were open areas, alternate 2-3 metre rows of ‘tramlines’ – bare land for tractor access – and specially planted nectar plants to ensure the squashes are pollinated. Lapwings made two nesting attempts in these areas. Foraging birds were regularly noted walking across the fleece.

Farmer Cameron Allan commented: "Butternut squash is a very open crop and lapwings like nesting on bare ground.  The birds seem to stay in the same fields year after year so I'm not surprised they turned up there.

 
"The nectar strips are usually teeming with bees so they must be good for other bug life too. It's a practice we'll definitely carry on doing. We don't touch the dykes around the butternut for the same reason, to encourage bugs."

 
The RSPB’s project records breeding numbers and marks nests, if need be, so they are not lost to farming operations. Of the 39 nests on five different farms only three were lost to farming operations.

Assistant Warden Alex Thomas said, “The Ouse Washes have flooded during the last two springs, effectively wiping out the nesting waders on our grassland here. We’d prefer that not to happen but recent weather patterns make us fear for the future of the reserve’s nesting lapwings, redshanks and snipe.

“This means the surrounding arable land becomes even more important as a refuge and nesting areas for lapwings. Happily, our local farmers are pleased to help and we’re very grateful to them.”