Farmers who took part in the Partridge Count Scheme this spring are being urged to return their counts to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.
The GWCT are collating this season’s results coming in, which will measure spring breeding abundance of wild grey partridges.
The count offers a valuable insight into how well wild grey partridges are doing - how well they breed, survive and benefit from habitat and management.
As part of the Partridge Count Scheme (PCS), farmers and landowners contribute to a better understanding of how partridges are faring regionally and nationally.
PCS co-ordinator Neville Kingdon said: “This year’s extended winter really delayed the start of the count and conditions in the count ‘window’ have made it difficult for those taking part, so it’s absolutely essential we encourage everyone involved to return their findings.”
“I urge anyone who wants to help grey partridges on their land, irrespective of whether they shoot or not, to get involved. The wild grey partridge is an extremely useful ‘barometer’ of wider farmland biodiversity - what’s good for greys is also good for much more in our countryside, especially other struggling farmland birds.”
Grey partridges can bounce back quickly when provided with the right conditions. For many farmers and landowners, this might be a small ‘tweak’ to what they’re doing already.
Those in the PCS receive site-specific results to help better understand what is happening on their ground and helps remove the guesswork of what can be done to get improvements.
As well as individual results, there are currently 15 regional partridge groups which meet to provide opportunities to get face-to-face advice, discuss how to manage land effectively for grey partridges and visits farms that are implementing partridge-friendly management.
The PCS is one of the world’s longest-running farmer-led wildlife monitoring schemes, which began in 1933.
