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BIOMETRICS & PARTRIDGES - GREY PARTRIDGES AT BALGONIE |


TABLE 1


Grey partridge count results for Balgonie, 2014 (baseline year – no intervention) to 2016 Spring pairs


Autumn totals Pairs


2014 2015 2016


24.5 30.5 31


Area


570 688 688


Pairs/ counted (ha) 100 ha


4.3 4.4 4.5


48 62 69


49


112 139


97


174 208


1.02 1.81 2.01


Adult Young Total Y:O ratio Area


688 688 688


Total/ counted (ha) 100ha


14.1 25.3 30.2


we are keen to pursue in future years. Why these headlands were not more attrac- tive to birds generally is not clear, as they were far weedier than the conventional crops and hedge structure was similar for all headland types. Perhaps more predictably given the amount of seed provided by these conservation crops, winter density of all farmland birds went up four-fold compared with 2014. The project is moving into another exciting period as we are part of the


EU-Interreg PARTRIDGE project. This provides partial funding that we hope to put towards further improvements in the quality of the habitat at Balgonie for grey partridges and, importantly, demonstration to a much larger audience of practitioners and policy makers across Europe of how grey partridge management works and the multiple benefits it can provide.


KEY FINDINGS


The autumn density of grey partridges at Balgonie has increased each year since our baseline survey in 2014. Breeding success and total autumn density increased by 11% and 19% respectively in 2016 compared with the previous year. The number of all birds wintering on the farm increased four-fold after the conservation crops were introduced. Breeding songbird abundance does not appear to be higher in these habitats, but is higher where hedgerows are larger and with fewer gaps. Balgonie is now part of the GWCT’s exciting new EU Interreg-supported project, bringing together demonstra- tion sites across northern Europe to improve grey partridge habitats and show others how beneficial such management can be.


Dave Parish


A radio tag removed by the bird still covered in feathers. © Dave Parish/GWCT


www.gwct.org.uk GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2016 | 39


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