Grey partridge News Issue 20: Spring 2014 Introduction Inside this issue: I ended my introduction to the last newsletter, which covered the appallingly wet summer Page 1... of 2012, with: “Finally, let us all collectively hope for a ‘normal’ summer this year, without Introduction massive extremes of weather.” It appears that I was pushing my luck once again. Page 2-3... The spring and early summer of 2013 was unbelievably cold so coveys stayed together Partridge course; Ireland bucking much longer than usual and many relied on feed hoppers because much of the natural the trend; Demonstrating recovery food had gone. New sources of food in the form of fresh plant growth and early seeding in Scotland meadow grass and chickweed, along with emerging insects, just did not appear. Page 4-5... Many bird species put breeding on hold, so that nesting was delayed between a month The Partridge Count Scheme; to six weeks later than usual. But from talking to keepers around the country, most felt that Big Farmland Bird Count grey partridges started laying about the same time as usual. Page 6... Peak hatch time is around the middle of June (a little later the further north you are) Controlling rats and as broods hatched, they had to contend with cold, wet conditions, with hard frosts at Page 7-8... night. But most damaging was the almost complete lack of insects present, which resulted The word on the ground; in the vast majority of these chicks perishing due to starvation. Group news; Contacts. The weather suddenly turned to a wonderfully warm summer right at the end of June. There was hawthorn (called May as that is the month it usually blossoms in) in full flower at the end of June, while spring butterflies such as orange tip flew with summer species like the meadow brown. Most importantly for the later hatching broods of grey partridges, insect abundance exploded. It is such a shame that most greys couldn’t delay nesting like Correction many other bird species, because if they had done so, the chicks that hatched in the last In a previous newsletter (issue 16) we few days of June and into July enjoyed warm sunny weather, mild nights and abundant gave the incorrect dimensions (7.5x7.5cm insect life. or 3 inch) for mesh to use around a Luckily this change in conditions, turned what was rapidly looking like another feed hopper to allow access for grey disastrous breeding season into a season that could be described as ‘a bit below average’ – partridges. If you use 10x10cm (4 inch) obviously with regional variations. Looking ahead to 2014 – I’m not going to say a word. diameter wire netting it is sufficiently large to allow your partridges access to Peter Thompson the hopper, but can also deter pigeons and rooks. Peter Thompson is our biodiversity advisor and an expert on farmland habitat and wildlife. He was a fi nalist in the 2013 Farmers Weekly advisor awards. Special thanks to all those individuals, gamekeepers, landowners and estates, who have contributed to the Partridge Count Scheme. Get your friends and families to join at www.gwct.org.uk/pcs Kindly sponsored by www.gwct.org.uk 1 Family groups should be released near Parent-reared grey partridges holding and escape cover, such as a rape field should be favoured for fostering chicks. next to a hedge. Courses Ensuring your re-introduction is a success Successfully re-establishing run by our scientists and habitat requirements, 2014 Courses populations of grey partridges advisors in 2013. Further predation control, gamebird Monday 3 March - 9.30am-3pm to areas where they have events will be held in 2014 health, different types of Whitburgh Estate, Pathhead, Midlothian. gone extinct or are present in Scotland, northern England rearing and releasing methods Tuesday 4 March - Clune and in only very low numbers and the Midlands. Based on and advice on when each Corrybrough Estate, Tomatin, can be a very tricky business sound science and practical type is appropriate. Feedback Inverness-shire. and often ends in failure. experience, we run these from these courses has been October (date tbc) Scotch Corner Effective and appropriate courses in conjunction with very positive and if you are rearing and releasing Perdix Wildlife Supplies, who considering releasing grey Go to www.gwct.org.uk/courses for methods, comprehensive have technical expertise partridges for conservation more information and to book. habitat management and a in rearing grey partridges purposes, we strongly targeted predation control specifically for re-introduction recommend booking a place. programme are all high projects. The day consists Contact Lynda Ferguson on priorities when considering of a combination of indoor 01425 651013 to book a re-introducing greys. These talks and outdoor practical place or go to www.gwct. were the key messages at sessions covering all aspects org.uk/courses for two popular one-day courses of grey partridge biology, more information. Dublin Ireland bucking the trend The North Dublin grey partridge project has been created, and cereal and kale strips broods successfully reared. When we visited covers three farms, totalling about 1,000 have been planted alongside them. These we were treated to a lovely covey of 12 acres. It is organised by the Irish Grey strips are left for two years to provide food birds bursting out of cover, flying away over Partridge Conservation Trust, working and cover throughout the year. a tall hedge, the sunlight picking out their alongside local biodiversity officers who are Supplementary hopper feeding and heart-shaped brown chests as they turned. also funding the project. areas of wild bird seed mixes are also Another project in Boora, County Offaly, Because grey partridges have been used, while a targeted spring and summer is also a huge success with grey partridges completely lost from most of Ireland, lots predator control programme has been put doing very well. What is equally important of habitat restoration has had to be put in place to limit numbers of foxes, crows, is that the local breeding population of in place prior to releasing grey partridges magpies and ground predators such as rats. lapwing (which has all but disappeared back into the area. Plenty of good nesting The project has already had some from Ireland too) is thriving on the back cover in the form of tussocky grass margins success with breeding taking place and of the project. 2013 was exceptional with 81 lapwing nests producing 178 fledged The Irish grey partridge group. chicks, on just 694 acres. Not bad for a bird which had previously been almost lost as a breeding species in the country. Well done to Kieran Buckley and his team from the Irish Grey Partridge Conservation Trust, and also the Irish Government for the vital funding they are giving to these projects. Not only are they saving the grey partridge, but lapwing and skylark numbers are going through the roof too. Peter Thompson is our biodiversity advisor and an expert on farmland habitat and wildlife. He has been advising the Irish team on the best habitats for grey partridges. 2 Post-breeding density in 2013 was 11 birds per 100 hectares compared with eight in 2012 at our Scottish Grey Partridge Demonstration Project. Demonstration project Demonstrating recovery in Scotland Our Scottish Grey Partridge Demonstration Project is now in its third year and we have been working closely with the team at Whitburgh Farms in Midlothian. Previous management on the site has focused primarily on encouraging grey partridges, so this provides us with a great opportunity to demonstrate to practitioners and “...a great opportunity to Whitburgh habitat; L-R: Graham Rankin (keeper), Alastair Salvesen (owner), Paul Wheelhouse MSP (Minister for demonstrate the require- Environment and Climate Change) and Dave Parish (GWCT senior scientist). ments of grey partridges upshot was that the density of spring pairs As part of our policy work we have and some of the challenges on the main study areas declined by 92% hosted some visitors from Holyrood, namely that managers face. to just one pair in 2013. Interestingly it Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Government’s ” seems that songbirds were also affected by Minister for Environment and Climate the bad weather and showed declines. This Change, Hugh Dignon, Head of Natural policy makers the requirements of grey meant that we were unable to radio-tag Resources at the Scottish Government partridges and some of the challenges that any grey partridges last year. Fortunately and Tom Edwards, Senior Rural Affairs managers face. there are several pairs elsewhere on site. Researcher for the Scottish Parliament. 2012 began well with a reasonably Post-breeding density in 2013 was 11 birds These occasions gave us the chance to raise successful lamping period in March where per 100 hectares compared with eight a wide range of issues from weed problems we radio-tagged 13 hens. However, we in 2012, so we are hopeful of a modest in headlands and raptor predation to rural experienced a very poor spell of weather increase in numbers of spring pairs in 2014. employment. In the summer we held a farm around the key nesting and chick-rearing We are now focusing our monitoring walk in glorious sunshine, enjoyed by more period resulting in very few broods. This activities on songbirds and raptors. We than 30 local farmers. We also showed seemed to be exacerbated by a very high are looking at how the songbirds use the Anthony McCluskey of the Bumblebee predation rate on the adults. All of the 11 various habitats provided, which will Conservation Trust the work we are doing tagged hens that remained on site were include a large-scale assessment of how and we are hoping to collaborate on some found dead with signs of being eaten by breeding success might be affected next future projects.