We took part in Kent Wildlife Trust’s winter farmland wildlife survey for the 2020-21 season.
The farm was surveyed weekly to look at indicator bird species, this information will be used to build statistics for the trust and will be used as a baseline to assess population levels over time. In line with these bird counts we have also taken soil samples, water quality samples and have assessed invertebrate populations within ponds on the farm.
We had 12 indicator species present on the farm as per the table below:
This shows we are starting from a strong base, although we are excited to see how the enhancements, we have recently introduced might carry further benefit. We have recently entered a mid-tier stewardship agreement (wild bird mix, supplementary feeding, wild flower buffers and low intensity grassland), alongside the creation of two wildlife scrapes, one great newt pond creation, five great crested newt pond restorations, two standard pond restorations (with creations of islands), the installation of four owl boxes, one kestrel box and a green hay project to promote wild flowers within our permanent grassland.
We were pleased to be involved with the project and looking forward to working with the Kent Wildlife Trust on their spring counts in 2022.
