Mammals & Birds
Big Farmland Bird Count
Spend 30 mins counting birds in one spot on your farm. All the details including help with identification, recording sheets to download and information on uploading your results to the BFBC so you can be part of this national monitoring scheme.
Cost
No cost.
When to use
First 2 weeks of Feb each year.
Time Requirement
The count is supposed to take 30 minutes but it is worth familiarising yourself with the birds you are likely to see, download a recording sheet and then you will need a bit of time to submit your results to BFBC.
What will it tell me?
If you do it each year, in the same place and in roughly the same weather conditions then you will get an idea of resident bird numbers on that part of your farm. If you have created new habitat on the farm like wild bird seed then you may see some new species.
Farmer Pros
Great to be part of a bigger project to monitor birds on farmland. The resources are really good and you start to develop an interest in what birds you’ve got on the farm. Have a time window to do the count helps motivate you to get out and have a look.
Farmer Cons
Can be hard to identify birds when they are bobbing about but it says on the website to just give it your best shot! Gets quite chilly standing still for 30 minutes, it can be best to do it from a vehicle.
How to access
Go to www.bfbc.org.uk
Acoustic Bat Monitor
An acoustic monitor (15 x 10 x 5cm) is mounted on a stake about 2m above the ground and located in a habitat of interest i.e. field margin, woodland, near a wetland etc. The monitor can be set up using an app on your phone and it is set to record for a period of 6 hours from sunset into the night when bats are active. The data is stored on a memory card which can be removed to download the data.
Cost
Monitor, batteries and memory card costs around £800 but M&S may set up a library system where bat monitors can be borrowed for a few weeks. There are costs associated with data processing but this is minimal or could be included in the ‘library system’.
When to use
Throughout the spring, summer & autumn while bats are active. Ideally one monitoring period during the breeding season (April-early July) and one post breeding (Mid July – Oct).
Time Requirement
Locating bat monitor where required and moving if multiple locations are being investigated. Downloading data from memory card & uploading to Acoustic Pipline.
What will it tell me?
Bats are insectiverous so bat abundance and diversity is a really good indication of biodiversity and the quality of habitat on farms. You learn what bat species you have on your farm.
Farmer Pros
Easy to put out monitors. Output from Acoustic pipline is a long list of records which can be compared from year to year or between farms.
Farmer Cons
Handling data is more tricky, takes a long time to download from the CD card and upload to acoustic pipline. Needs help from someone technical.
How to access
Download instructions from the two sources to the right and watch the video below to se how G’s Farmer have used acoustic monitors.
Resources
Hedgehog/small mammal tunnel
Locate small mammal footprint tunnels in linear features around the farm i.e. along side hedges or field edges. Put ink pad and white paper in the tunnel to see mammal tracks. If using to track hedgehogs then the tunnels need to be baited with hotdog sausage
Cost
The mammal footprint tunnels can be made from wood or thick plastic or purpose made tunnels can be purchased at £15/each from NHBS.
When to use
Throughout the spring, summer & autumn.
Time Requirement
Setting up footprint traps with ink and paper in different locations around the farm. Changing the paper regularly (maybe every day depending on activity) The Peoples Trust of Endangered Species have a methodology for monitoring hedgehogs which involves having 10 locations monitored for 5 nights.
What will it tell me?
Determine if there are hedgehogs present on your farm by using the PTES methodology. Or monitor other small mammal activity. It is difficult to identify small mammals except for hedgehogs from the footprints.
Farmer Pros
Interesting to see how many mammals are about. Very exciting if you get hedgehog tracks!
Farmer Cons
Very difficult to identify footprints but we didn’t get any hedgehogs. Very time consuming as you have to check each tunnel every day for 5 days and a bit messy with ink. Tunnels quite expensive if you buy 10 of them.
How to access
Guidance for setting up mammal traps for monitoring hedgehogs is available on the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species website.