FREEZING temperatures and snowfall have hindered land owners’ efforts to complete the annual Big Farmland Bird Count. The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has had to extend the wildlife survey so people can do the count safely. More than 1,500 people took part in the event last year, as land owners are being asked to go outside for half an hour and count the birds they see. It usually ends today, but now people can continue the count until February 21. The GWCT’s Dr Roger Draycott, who organises the event, said: “We have heard from a number of farmers and gamekeepers that they are keen to complete the count, but the weather has so far been unsuitable or unsafe.
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The 2021 GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count is underway. From today (February 5) until Valentine’s Day farmers and land managers across the country will be picking up their binoculars and heading to a corner of their land to spend 30 minutes counting birds. And it is not too late to get involved.
The event, organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is a nationwide survey of farmland birds undertaken voluntarily by farmers and land managers. Last year more than 1,500 people took part.
Participants are asked to spend just 30 minutes recording the birds they see on their land and submit the results to the GWCT for analysis. The count helps to identify the farmland birds that are flourishing and the ones most in need of support.