Turtle Doves are a case in point. For some, it’s just another pigeon - if it’s seen or heard at all. But for others, keen to help the UK’s fastest declining bird, support from local enthusiasts is helping us quantify their presence. Many farmers in the Marden Farmer Cluster create feeding strips of bare soil for supplementary seed as part of an ES option or supplied free from the RSPB, and welcome Marden Wildlife (MW) volunteers to monitor the strips with trailcams to provide important data on their presence, breeding territories and productivity.
This year, our licensed ringers with MW have trapped and colour-ringed five individuals to track their movement around the area and, hopefully, their survival. With KWT ecologist Dr Kirsty Swinnerton and the help of many villagers simply reporting sightings of the birds, we are learning new things about preferred habitat and individuals’ behaviour, as well as how farmers can make simple ‘tweaks’ to field management to help them.
Image credit: Darren Nicholls
By publishing pictures on MW Facebook, we’re raising awareness of this delicate dove so that people can spot them using their garden feeding stations and proudly report their presence in a variety of habitats. Even those who would never claim to be experts are becoming involved. Volunteers scanning a thousand or more images from a trailcam looking for turtle doves have developed very sharp ID skills while contributing to crucial scientific research.
Kent has an estimated 700 breeding pairs of turtle doves, a third of the UK population, so our sightings for this year, well in excess of 350, represent serious data for professional researchers. Other MW farmland Citizen Science projects include monitoring levels of microplastics in small mammal droppings, tracking winter movements of Yellowhammers, and identifying gut parasites in farmland birds.
Joining forces with local farmers has been rewarding and eye-opening in equal measure for both parties. All farms have hard-to-get-at corners and patches of unmanaged woodland, rich in unnoticed (and frequently unknown to Kent and Medway Biodiversity Records Centre) wildlife. Our enthusiasts are constantly delighted by finding plants, fungi, invertebrates, and other animals previously unrecorded in Marden. Meanwhile, farmers are finding wildlife-friendly farming is more subtle than simply letting nature take over; their knowledge and skills are needed to blend food production with conservation – both are essential. As the good news spreads, the Cluster is expanding to farms in neighbouring villages and Marden Wildlife continues to grow.
It's surprising, too, what both sides learn from each other. Sharing knowledge with farmers about food plants which benefit birds or insects, or when birds most need a helping hand in winter, is matched by learning why farmers must do some things in the way they do – it’s never as straightforward as it looks!
Ultimately, MW members have access to more countryside to enjoy their passion, be it wildflowers, bumblebees, birds, moths or mushrooms, and farmers become more ‘biodiversity aware’. Equally as importantly, farming at a local level is becoming better understood – why this field looks ‘untidy’, and long vegetation around that field is vital for wildlife. Political pronouncements regarding agriculture and food security rarely provide any level of meaningful insight to people who just want to enjoy the countryside. With a Facebook discussion group and explanatory waymarkers linked to our website, Marden Wildlife is filling that gap.
Groundswell Agriculture Festival is the UK’s largest event dedicated to farming that regenerates the soil and restores nature. It’s a unique blend of industry conference and lively festival. This year, I took the plunge, braved the camping, and immersed…
Last year, an innovative partnership emerged between Kent Wildlife Trust, Bockhanger Farms Ltd and Reading University, fuelled by the Co-op Carbon Innovation Fund.
Grow a garden full of food that both you and your wild neighbours can enjoy!
