Breeding birds

muckymanor

Well-Known Member
Are any of ye farming in breeding areas such as areas for wader or curlew? Does it bring about many restrictions to your farming practices?

I rent some land a few miles from home and there is quite a stir about breeding curlew. They have been spotted and reported. I have seen them myself but not reported them.

Recent forestry applications for over 100 acres were objected to by npws (I think) because of these birds. They went to a hearing and the forestry was refused.

I'm just wondering where it leaves the likes of me. I have land on a long term lease. Am I likely to see restrictions as to how I farm down the line?
 
Mucky I belive if your in GLAS and your drawing money in the conversation of farmland birds ie wader or curlew they are a lot of restrictions on farming during the breeding season March to July no machinery can operate and reduced stocking rate during these dates. And also NO chemical fertiliser or spray can be used ANYTIME. However spot spraying may be possible?? Think this payment can be up to 2k. But I don't belive you have to follow any of the above conditions if your not taking the GLAS payment on the land parcel. But the confusion may arise because there is dept restrictions but as said only if you take the payment. However I could be totally wrong.
 
I have a friend and he farms in an area that there is Corncrake. I don't know a lot of details about it but he can't cut silage until something like the middle of July. He gets paid so much an acre as compensation. I was visiting him in August 2017 and he hadn't the silage cut at that stage with the wet summer. He told me how much the compensation was but I can't remember the figure but I don't think it would cover the loss in quality. I can find out more from him if you want. There might be some info on the NPWS website.
 
Our grey heron colony are back for another breeding season, the tree they nest in is barely 50 yards from the house, picture is crap but there are 7 or more sitting in the tree and one about to land.
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Rare to see a Kingfisher now, time was if you walked a riverbank you would see one.
 
When I was about 8-10 playing by our stream, I found a minnow in a puddle. The fact I had been trying to catch one for a few years made me feel like a God!!
Of course I put it back in the stream, but nobody believed a fish could be found in a puddle.
That steam always has Kingfishers on it, so I reckon one dropped the fish??
The blue is stunning.
 
Our grey heron colony are back for another breeding season, the tree they nest in is barely 50 yards from the house, picture is crap but there are 7 or more sitting in the tree and one about to land.View attachment 62164

I did tree surgery for a fella that had Herron’s nesting in his trees. Massive nests. I could of sat or rested in one! I found an egg on the ground, big, but not massive.
But the birds made some racket on their return every evening!!
He hadn’t a bad thing to say about them. I think most people have a live and let live approach?
 
A common place for birds to nest and lay their eggs here is in a 4 inch tubular pipe that I use for latching two 12 ft gates into in the field gateways. Have a few gateways that when I pass in a months time I'll give a whistle and I'll hear back cheeping from the central pipe. How they all manage to fly up 5 ft of pipe as chicks I'll never know. When they've flown the nest only then will I lift the pipe from its sleeve and the nest will either be jammed in the pipe near the bottom or it'll be in the sleeve in the ground. Have never seen any casualties so far.
 
A common place for birds to nest and lay their eggs here is in a 4 inch tubular pipe that I use for latching two 12 ft gates into in the field gateways. Have a few gateways that when I pass in a months time I'll give a whistle and I'll hear back cheeping from the central pipe. How they all manage to fly up 5 ft of pipe as chicks I'll never know. When they've flown the nest only then will I lift the pipe from its sleeve and the nest will either be jammed in the pipe near the bottom or it'll be in the sleeve in the ground. Have never seen any casualties so far.
I was at the cooker a few years ago and heard a bit of rustling, on further investigation I found a bird had managed to get in through the extractor duct and was building a nest in the extractor, had to jam the duct flap shut after removing the nest. Always lift the bonnet on a tractor that has been parked a few days this time of year as they have been known to build on top of the exhaust manifold..
 
Yes you can tell l dont use the digger too much as there is a nest in the cab.
Easily accessed cos no back window.
Will get a photo when l'm back in yard.
 
Have a pair here, the have been knocking about the farm for the last few years, there quite tame.
They have a nest on top of a light in a hayshed. One of them sat on the nest for March and into April .
The other one seemed to be hauling in the grub.
Then in late April I found a good lump of a Scaldy on the floor, dead.
Since then the two of them are hovering about through the sheds
I think I put up a picture of them in Exotic Bird's thread, can't find it now.
Are the Doves or Pigeons
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