DEFRA have released the following press release, entitled GREEN FARMERS HELP NORTH WEST BIRD POPULATION BEAT NATIONAL AVERAGE, which makes interesting reading.

It is quite detailed and I reproduce it in full here:

A growing number of farmers in the North West are going greener to
restore breeding grounds for wild birds across the region.
Since last August, over 1,300 farmers have entered agreements under
the Entry Level and Organic Entry Level Stewardship scheme, which
pays farmers to create new habitats for wildlife.

This brings more than 107,000 hectares of the North West's
countryside into the new environmentally friendly management schemes.
Nationally, over 30% of English farmland is under some sort of
environmental agreement.

By providing year-round food supplies and suitable nesting habitats,
the scheme will help the effort to reverse the decline in wild bird
populations, which are now stabilised after many years of gradual
decline.

Three North West farmers in Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire, who
have adopted environmentally friendly farming methods under Defra's
stewardship schemes have all seen an increase in bird life on their
farms.

In Lancashire, 42 different species of bird have been spotted at
Marsh Farm in Clifton, near Preston in the last couple of years.

Farmer James Tomlinson entered CSS in 2004, and his options include
more than a mile of hedge restoration, wild bird seed mix, 100
hectares grazed pasture and some over-wintered stubble.

He applied for Entry Level Stewardship last December and since then
has put in more wild bird seed mix. The RSPB have also installed 16
tree sparrow boxes on the farm.

So far this winter 154 corn buntings, over 200 reed buntings, 20 tree
sparrows, 5 yellowhammers, and large mixed flocks of chaffinch,
greenfinch & goldfinch have been spotted, and Mr Tomlinson has also
observed 3 barn owls hunting over his fields.

The RSPB also organized a Volunteer & Farmer Alliance breeding bird
survey in 2005. Highlights of the survey included 6 pairs of corn
bunting, 17 pairs of lapwing, 65 skylark pairs, 2 pairs of grey
partridge, 4 pairs of linnet and 2 pairs of reed bunting.

In Cumbria, Frank Telfer has farmed Tarnflatt Hall in Sandwith,
Whitehaven since 1982. He entered the CSS in 1991 with options which
including wild bird seed mix, leaving land fallow and including
overwintered stubbles.

Being a coastal farm, his land has become a haven for birds traveling
North and South - particularly geese - and the stewardship options
have helped existing species become more established as well as
attracting new breeds.

Among the birds seen at Tarnflatt are grey partridge, yellow hammers,
linnets, house and tree sparrows and skylarks, attracting the
attention of ornithologists and visitors to the RSPB bird reserve on
the farm.

Mr Telfer says: "The benefits of Countryside Stewardship have been very good for the farm - there are far more birds and wildlife and they attract a lot of visitors to the area. I have found Stewardship to be an increasingly satisfying addition to our farm life."

In Cheshire, tenant farmer Simon Carden of Willowhill Farm, in Burwardsley near Chester joined the CSS in October 2004. The commercial dairy farm, adjacent to the Peckforton Hills on the
Cheshire sandstone ridge, is on a landscape of rolling grassland with
some arable crops grown for animal feed.

Stewardship options include pond restoration, hedge planting and bird friendly crops such as wild bird mix. Unsprayed grass strips provide
cover for small mammals, in turn creating rich hunting territory, and
there have been plenty of sightings of predators such as barn and
tawny owls, sparrowhawks, kestrels, buzzards and even a pair of red
kite.

Mr Carden says: "We are primarily a working dairy farm but we signed up to the CSS agreement and now have management options to improve the landscape and wildlife, and we do see lots of varieties of birds on the farm."

As part of the agreement, hedgerows are being gapped up and new
fencelines planted with species rich native hedges to provide food
and shelter for wildlife. The farm is home to both green and spotted
varieties of woodpecker, and tree sparrows have also been sighted.
Mr Carden also plans to put up nestboxes to attract this scarce
farmland bird.

Figures published today by Defra show that bird populations in the
North West increased, between 1994 to 2004. The region showing the
biggest rise in overall bird population index in the country,
especially in woodland birds.

* Native bird populations increased by 23 per cent, above the
national trend. Kingfisher, stock dove and sand martin did
exceptionally well.

* Woodland bird populations rose by 26 per cent, exceeding the
national trend, which had seen a slight decline.

* Farmland bird population increased by 15 per cent, also beating the
national average, which had declined slightly.

* Successful woodland species in the region included the great
spotted woodpecker, goldcrest and nuthatch, while farmland birds that
fared particularly well included greenfinch and goldfinch.

This increase in wild bird populations in the North West between 1994
and 2004 builds on earlier increases, which suggested that native
wild bird populations increased by 23 per cent between 1970 and 1994,
compared with a fall of 8 per cent for England as a whole over the
same period. Due to differences in methodology and species
composition, comparisons between these statistics and today's results
need to be approached with care.

Commenting on these results, Environment Minister Elliot Morley said: "The reasons for changes in the size of bird populations or
variations between different parts of the country are not clear-cut,
and not always simple to explain. The figures continue to suggest
that the decline in farmland birds has stabilised.

"As well as scientific research, thanks to extra investment by this
government thousands of farmers are joining new environment-friendly
stewardship schemes - now covering nearly two million hectares of
English countryside - to help restore and add to safe habitats where
our birds can flourish."

Jim Knight, Biodiversity Minister, said: "It is encouraging to see that the long term decline in woodland and farmland birds is generally stabilising in most regions over recent years.

"However, we cannot be complacent. A lot more work is needed to
reverse this decline. I would encourage farmers to continue using
environmentally friendly farming methods and take advantage of our
Environmental Stewardship schemes.

"Wild birds are an integral part of our heritage and can bring great
pleasure to life. Last year, nearly 400,000 people spent an hour
watching their local birds, as part of the RSPB's Big Garden
Birdwatch."

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wildlife/research/rwbi.htm

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