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Use of wild bird cover by seed-eating farmland birds in winter

 01.11.2005
Author: Eric Neilson, Dave Fairlamb and Lisa Webb (RSPB Scotland)

Farm: Mersehead RSPB Reserve, Dumfries & Galloway
Aims:
Mersehead reserve is a grassland reserve primarily managed for breeding waders and geese. The aim was to introduce wild bird cover crops to provide a winter food resource for populations of seed-eating passerines.
Management:
Mersehead reserve, situated on the Solway Coast, is approximately 993ha in size and comprises a diverse range of habitats including sand dune, saltmarsh, wet grassland, scrub and improved grassland. Grassland management at Mersehead is key to attracting breeding waders such as lapwing, snipe and redshank in the spring and Svalbard barnacle geese in the winter. It was recognised that introducing wild bird cover into the land management system at Mersehead could provide a vital winter food supply for seed-eating birds.

Approximately 11 hectares are currently cropped with a wild bird cover mix, consisting of oats, wheat, linseed, phacelia, mustard, sunflower, oilseed rape and kale (Caledonia or Keeper variety). The number and location of wild bird cover plots can vary from year to year depending on the rotation, however they are normally spread across the reserve on up to six plots. The cover is typically sown any time from late April until the middle of May. Crucial to good establishment of the crop is the fact that different seed types are sown separately. First, the cereals (oats and wheat) are drilled, as this sowing method improves their germination rate. Then the smaller seeds such as linseed and phacelia are broadcast with a small seed broadcaster and then given a light raking. A compound fertiliser is applied. The cover crops establish best on new ground in a rotation rather than on ‘stale’ land. Sometimes, rides are cut into these cover crops at Mersehead. This has the benefit of opening up areas of dense cover, thus enabling birds to access the seed more easily.
Achievements:
The wild bird cover at Mersehead has attracted huge numbers of some red-listed farmland bird species i.e. species of high conservation concern, including flocks of up to 2500 skylarks, 900 linnets, 450 twite, 200 reed buntings, 100 yellowhammers and 20 tree sparrows. In addition, flocks of 1000 chaffinch, 260 goldfinch and 50 siskin were recorded. These peak counts were recorded several winters ago on an area of wild bird cover and adjoining oat stubble field at Mersehead following a period of heavy snow. It is thought that perhaps the fields at Mersehead, being right on the coast, were some of the first to thaw thus attracting in so many birds to exploit the available seed.

The wild bird cover plots at Mersehead are ideal for advocacy and demonstration and have been used by the RSPB and other organisations, such as FWAG Scotland, to highlight to farmers and land managers the value of arable habitats in predominantly grassland systems.

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