A friendly competition to win a prestigious silver trophy in Lincolnshire is giving The Game Conservancy Trust's campaign to save the wild grey partridge a boost, by encouraging more farmers and landowners to get involved in grey partridge recovery. The Jas. Martin & Co., Lincolnshire Grey Partridge trophy, is now in its fourth year and was recently presented to the winning estate, F G Battle and Sons Ltd, from Potterhanworth, by the Earl of Romney.
In 2007 some 88 different estates, farms and shoots in Lincolnshire submitted spring counts of English (or grey) partridges to The Game Conservancy Trust and thus became eligible to win this prestigious trophy for grey partridge conservation. A short-list of three finalists were selected and visited by the three judges: Martin Tickler, Regional Advisor for The Game Conservancy Trust, Martin Simpson of R. G. Simpson Ltd (last year's winners) and Andrew Inglis, partner of Jas. Martin & Co, the county based land agents who are sponsoring the award.
By a unanimous decision the judges chose F. G. Battle & Sons Ltd as the winning estate. Represented by Mr Stewart Watt, the farm manager, the trophy - an English Partridge modelled in silver - together with the certificates for the two runners-up was presented by the Earl of Romney, an estate owner in Norfolk and a leading light in the grey partridge recovery project.
The two runners-up included, John Theaker of Home Farm, Wellingore, and John Read Farms of Langton near Horncastle.
Andrew Inglis from Jas. Martin and Co. said, "As we approach the 2010 target date for grey partridge under the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) it is important that the number of counts carried out and the average density of grey partridges reported by all those contributing their spring pair count figures to The Game Conservancy Trust continues to increase.
"The good news is that this year, more than 959 individual areas nationally returned grey partridge counts in the spring and 9,974 pairs of partridges were recorded over 282,000 hectares. Out of this, the number of counts in the old county of Lincolnshire has increased to 88 with l,304 pairs recorded on an area of nearly 34,000 hectares."
The judges were impressed by the enthusiasm shown by all three finalists. However, the winning estate, F. G. Battle & Sons Ltd, have carried out excellent habitat management while at the same time running a commercial farming enterprise. New hedge planting and sensitive cropping and management of field margins and conservation headlands (unsprayed and unfertilised) were particularly impressive, supported by good predator control and the use of feeders.
The detailed comments from the judges on the three short-listed entries are attached below:
John Theaker, Home Farm, Wellingore, has planted good grass margins around most fields under the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme and several mixed game crop areas left down for at least two seasons; making them capable of providing cover and insect rich feeding areas for chicks, as well as winter cover for adults. John also correctly assumes that the several fields of combining peas grown on the farm provide excellent insect rich feeding areas for partridge chicks. All the finalists provided hopper feeding for individual pairs for most of the season and varying levels of predator control.
John Read Farms of Langton near Horncastle. Much is done to provide good year round habitat for grey partridges with winter cover provided, several mixed game crops under Stewardship and on set-aside and eight hectares of over-wintered stubble plus five hectares of summer fallow for Lapwings but also good for partridge broods. Game cover areas are managed in two halves with one half re-sown each year so that some cover continues in spring and summer at each site. Stewardship grass margins provide nesting cover around most fields. Foraging areas for chicks have been created under Stewardship and by voluntarily reducing herbicide and pesticide use on some cereal field headlands to encourage insect food for chicks.
F. G. Battle & Sons Ltd - Potterhanworth
An imaginative Entry Level and Higher Level scheme has been put in place by farm manager, Stewart Watt, to provide an attractive general conservation package favouring grey partridges and several other species. Habitat creation includes 13 hectares of arable reversion to grassland, approximately 35 hectares of over-wintered stubble, some of which is followed by spring fallow for lapwings and five plots each of wild bird seed mix and pollen and nectar mix. Four hectares of conservation headlands where no pesticides or fertiliser is applied, were also providing excellent habitat for foraging game chicks.
6,000 metres of new hedges have been planted and hedge renovation is also carried out under Stewardship, with hedge laying carried out by farm staff. The combination of comprehensive habitat creation and thorough keepering by full-time keeper Allan Williams made them worthy winners.
