Conservation Of Threatened Birds

Transcription

1 Conservation Of Threatened Birds The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Sustainable Development Fund Project Report

2 CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS CONTENTS CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS... 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION... 1 INTRODUCTION... 1 PROJECT AIMS... 1 SDF FUNDING... 2 OUTPUTS... 3 FUNDING... 3 OUTPUTS, FUNDING AND SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA... 5 OUTPUTS... 5 FUNDING... 5 SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA... 5 CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS... 6 ACTIVITIES & OUTCOMES... 6 LAPWING AND CURLEW SURVEYS, & CONSERVATION ACTION... 6 DIPPERS... 7 NEST BOXES FOR WOODLAND BIRDS... 7 BARN OWLS... 8 LONG MYND... 8 i) REPEAT UPLAND BIRD SURVEY... 8 II) GROUND NESTING BIRDS RECOVERY PROJECT... 8 SNIPE... 9 TRAINING LOCAL PEOPLE... 9 PUBLICITY PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCLUSION APPENDICES Outputs & Funding 2. Upper Onny Wildlife Group Report 2009 Executive Summary. 3. Importance of the Upper Onny area for Lapwing and Curlew 4. Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group Report 2009 Summary. 5. Upper Clun CWG Manage our Wetlands for Wildlife leaflet 6. Kemp Valley Lapwing Project Report 2009 Executive Summary 7. Dippers in the River Teme Catchment Report Executive Summary 8. Ground nesting Birds Recovery Project Snipe Survey 2009 Results

3 CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS PROJECT DESCRIPTION INTRODUCTION The AONB Partnership requires an Annual Report from projects which receive support from the Sustainable Development Fund. This is the Report of the Conservation of Threatened Birds in the AONB Project for the year Much of the Project s work has already resulted in reports, newsletters and publicity materials which have been circulated within the area, and where relevant these materials or Executive Summaries are appended to this Report, rather than the material being duplicated. Some of this material has already been supplied to the relevant members of the AONB Team. Parts of the Project were carried out by other people. Detailed Project Briefs were prepared for them in previous years (similar to those included in the Report), and these Briefs were updated verbally for This work contributed to other Reports prepared by the Project, and no separate reports of their work are reproduced here. The sections of the Report describing the work and results for each part of the Project can be found from the Table of Contents. Leo Smith undertaking Survey Work in the Shropshire Hills PROJECT AIMS The original Application for set out the Project Aims as follows:- The AONB is the stronghold of many target species in the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) particularly Curlew, Snipe, Dipper and Ring Ouzel. In addition, safeguarding the Lapwing population is a stated objective in the AONB Management Plan. The new AONB Management Plan will incorporate the local BAP Targets. Most of these species are also high priorities for Natural England s Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme. The Project aims to help safeguard the breeding populations of these threatened species, and deliver the BAP and AONB Management Plan Targets within the AONB. The Project is building up long term monitoring trends and results, and will now be in a better position to increase the real conservation benefits being delivered. Continued SDF support for the Project, which has substantially exceeded all its 1

4 Output and Outcome targets to date, is essential if the planned work is to be completed. It will continue to invove many local people, and actively seek to involve more. They will contribute to the results and learn new skills. It will be delivered mainly through the Upper Onny and the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Groups, and a new Kemp Valley Lapwing Project (which may develop into a further Community Wildlife Group). This continues with work started in , to build long term data sets and community involvement, which are essential to developing effective conservation policies. It is part of a wide-ranging multi-annual project, working through the Upper Onny Wildlife Group, the new Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group, the RSPB, the Shropshire Ornithological Society, Natural England, the National Trust, and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. SDF FUNDING The original Application outlined the activities that SDF funding will support as follows:- Monitor the population, population change and habitats used by Lapwing and Curlew in the Upper Onny area, and the Upper Clun area, and publicise the results. Improve the breeding success of these species, by advising farmers of their presence on their land, and the action necessary to safeguard nests and chicks. Advise farmers and other land owners of habitat requirements, to encourage retention of existing habitats and increase them in future, through general and targeted publicity, personal visits, seminars and public meetings. Seek to develop landscape scale solutions to conserve these species, particularly, through the Lapwing Recovery Project. Monitor population and population change of Snipe, Curlew and Ring Ouzel on the Long Mynd, and advise the National Trust of appropriate land management. Support the National Trust s Ground-nesting Birds Recovery Project on the Long Mynd Monitor the population, population change and breeding success of Dippers, by providing nest boxes, counting birds at winter roost sites, and ringing, and using the results to inform Environment Agency work on Water Quality in the River Teme catchment, particularly the Rivers Onny, Clun, and Redlake (where work in the last two years has found a particularly worrying decline), and their tributaries. In cooperation with the Shropshire Barn Owl Group, provide nest boxes to increase the population of Barn Owls. Provide nest boxes for Redstart and Pied Flycatcher, and other woodland birds, in part to replace the natural nest sites lost in the short term through landscape restoration work (the coppicing of Alders AONB project, and ESA schemes to restore Hawthorn hedgerows, which result in large scale removal of mature Hawthorn trees with nest holes from the landscape). Increase the involvement of local people in this work, by leading local wildlife walks, increasing membership of community wildlife organisations, and building their capacity by providing training and volunteering opportunities. Feed the results into longer term planning of Environmental Stewardship schemes, to sustain the viability of local farming when financing through current ESA agreements expires. Seek to influence all relevant Statutory, Voluntary and Community Organisations to develop and implement policies and actions which benefit these threatened birds, and thus the landscape in the AONB. The work in the Upper Onny area and the Upper Clun area will be carried out through the relevant Community Wildlife Group. 2

5 New developments in included The introduction of a Bird Group Programme by the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group, including evening meetings and field visits specificially designed to introduce new people to bird watching and then to recording and conservation Carrying out a survey of Snipe in the South-west Shropshire Hills, to repeat the 2004 survey to assess population change (a specific BAP target for 2009) A new Kemp Valley Lapwing Project, whereby local residents will locate Lapwings, so the relevant landowners can be approach to encourage protection and habitat improvements A Birdwatching and Conservation training course for beginners, organised through the National Trust in Carding Mill Valley. OUTPUTS The final Application, revised downwards from the original application to take into account the approved (lower) level of SDF Grant, outlined the Outputs that the Project will deliver:- Manufacture & Installation of Nest Boxes 20 for Dippers 3 for Barn Owls 50 for Woodland Birds Reports Upper Onny Wildlife Group Annual Report & Survey Results 2009 Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group Annual Report & Survey Results 2009 Dippers in the River Teme Catchment 2009 Kemp Valley Lapwing Project 2009 Scarce Upland Breeding Birds on the Long Mynd (Report on three years Survey Work) Public Meeting for Farmers and Local People to consider results of survey work in Upper Clun area Support 3 existing and one new local Community Wildlife Organisations Upper Onny Wildlife Group Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group SWT Clun & Bishop s Castle branch Kemp Valley Lapwing Project and also the Shropshire Barn Owl Group, which is County-wide Lead 3 wildlife walks Provide indoor and fieldwork training for at least 50 local people (and add to the training provided for many more in previous years). FUNDING The initial Approved Budget for the Project was as follows:- SDF 3,005 Voluntary Effort 10,500 In Kind Funding 1,765 Other Funding 10,730 Total Project Cost 26,000 Voluntary Effort included survey work by members of the Upper Onny Wildlife Group, the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group and the new Kemp Valley Lapwing Project, the manufacture & monitoring of Nest Boxes (Dipper, Barn Owl & Woodland Birds), and training local people for Survey & monitoring work. 3

6 The total Other Funding was estimated at 10,730, based on initial discussions and / or budget estimates with a number of different organisations. The cost of the Training Courses is shown as an In Kind Contribution. The amount of Other Funding actually secured and spent in the year totalled and was provided by 1. Natural England contribution (total 3,730) Upper Clun Lapwing and Curlew work - 1,000 Kemp Valley Lapwing Project Snipe Survey (sites in the AONB) - 1,080 Dipper project - 1, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, for Admin / running costs and supporting Community Wildlife Groups ( 1,625) 3. Shropshire Wildlife Trust, for the Snipe survey at Rhos Fiddle ( 375) 4. The National Trust, for survey work & reports on The Long Mynd ( ) 5. The National Trust, for payments in respect of the Introduction to Bird Watching and Conservation Course ( ) 6. Field Studies Council Biodiversity Training Project ( 500) The National Trust has committed a total of 3,000 in for the Repeat Upland Bird Survey, but only half of that has been claimed to date, as the completion of the Report has been deferred at the Trust s request pending an update of the habitat maps which are used to analyse the birds distribution. The balance of 1500 will be included in the SDF Project funding. 1,200 was also secured and claimed from the Trust for the Snipe Survey 2009, and the total estimated contribution to the SDF Project by the National Trust was rounded up to 4500 for expenses, ect.. A further (not included in the original Budget) has been secured from the National Trust for Evaluation of Bird Species Composition, Population & Distribution, as part of the projects funded through the new Long Mynd Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme agreement with Natural England. The original budget, as reflected in the SDF Grant Offer Letter, showed the total cost of the National Trust Introduction to Bird Watching and Conservation Course as an In Kind contribution to this SDF Project. The final total was substantially more, as participants made additional payments for field trips However, the direct payment to Leo Smith Ornithological surveys and Consultancy for providing training, and administering the Courses is a cash contribution to the Prodject, and this final SDF Grant Claim shows it as such. A funding contribution of 200 to the Dipper Project has also been secured from Severn Rivers Trust. A direct comparison between the original budget, as reflected in the SDF Grant Offer Letter, and the actual cash and in kind contribution to the Project, is shown in Table 1. The amount of cash spent on the Project (i.e. total Project expenditure shown in the Final Claim less the value of Voluntary / In Kind funding) = 15, This should equal the above Other Funding Total + the SDF Grant, but this totals only 15,245. The discreopancy, , represents an overspend on cash paid out compared with 4

7 Project resources, and is in effect a donation to the Project by Leo Smith Ornithological Surveys & Consultancy. Table 1. Comparison between SDF Grant Offer Letter and Actual Cash & In Kind Contributions Secured Other Funding (Cash) B udget ( ) Actual ( ) Natural E ngland National Trust S WT FS C S evern R ivers T rust Total Other Funding (Cas h) Other Funding (In K ind) B udget ( ) Actual ( ) National Trust In addition the value of almost 1100 voluntary hours totalled 13,770.05, a considerable increase over the budgeted amount of 10,500. The total value of the Project, as set out in the final Claim, is 31,893.86, more than over the approved total budget. OUTPUTS, FUNDING AND SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA OUTPUTS The Project Approval Letter from the AONB identified a number of Output Targets that should be achieved. A list of these outputs, together with the results actually achieved, are set out in Appendix 1. FUNDING The Project has been very successful in drawing in additional funding (including volunteer time and contributions in kind), compared with the initial application. Thus the total value of the Project has been considerably more than the 26,000 budget in the initial approval letter. The total value of the Project, as set out in the final Claim, is 31,893.86, more than over the approved total budget. SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA The SDF Application Form requires answers to a number of specific questions on different aspects of the Sustainable Development Criteria. Full answers were provided on the Application Form to those questions. The Project has been implemented in accordance with the answers to those questions. The Project will continue in 2010, and an application for SDF funding in has already been approved. The answers to the questions on the application form reflect the same commitment to sustainable development. 5

8 CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS ACTIVITIES & OUTCOMES LAPWING AND CURLEW SURVEYS, & CONSERVATION ACTION This part of the Project was carried out in the Upper Onny area and the Upper Clun area, and a Lapwing Project was launched for the 2009 breeding season in a new area in South Shropshire (Kemp Valley). In the Upper Onny area, surveys of 122 square kilometres were carried out by members of the Upper Onny Wildlife Group. Detailed follow up survey work was carried out, mainly by Leo Smith Ornithological Surveys and Consultancy, and partly by two members of the Wildlife Group living in the core area of the Curlew population. Concurrently, the Project has continued to work with the owners of Lower Stapeley Farm and Lodge Farm, and Natural England, to safeguard and improve Lapwing habitat in the area. This work was described in the 2008 SDF Project Report. Partially as a result of the Project s work at these two farms, and the successful breeding season in 2007, the number of Lapwings in the area was the highest since the Upper Onny Wildlife Group started monitoring population and breeding success in the area in 2004 (27 pairs, plus another 4 pairs in the north-east of the area, which were only present in the Group s area in 2009 as a result of crop rotation on the relevant farm). The results of the Survey, and the Lapwing Recovery Project, were described in Lapwing, Curlew and Other Wildlife in the Upper Onny Valley: Report of the Upper Onny Wildlife Group Several new members joined the Group, and participated in the 2009 surveys. The Conserve Our Curlews leaflet was further promoted in the Upper Onny Area. The appendices include:- 2. Upper Onny Wildlife Group Report 2009 Executive Summary. 3. Importance of Upper Onny area for Lapwing and Curlew (briefing note prepared for proposed AONB Stiperstones Corndon Landscape Partnership Scheme). In the Upper Clun area, the Lapwing and Curlew Survey was carried out by the Community Wildlife Group, with follow-up surveys by Leo Smith Ornithological Surveys and Consultancy. Members also mapped 16 other Target Species, and recorded the habitat they were using. The Group has published a Conserve our Curlews leaflet, similar to that produced for the Upper Onny, and a guidance note for all landowners in the area, Please Help Hedgerow Birds, based on the results of the 2008 and 2009 habitat surveys. The leaflet and Guidance Note were included in the 2008 SDF Project Report. A full report on behalf of the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group for 2009 has been prepared, setting out the results of the surveys, and highlighting the importance of the 6

9 few remaining wetlands in the area. These wetlands are going to be surveyed in 2010, together with vegetation surveys by the UCCWG Plant Group. A leaflet, Managing our Wetlands for Wildlife, has been produced. A Summary of the UCCWG Report is attached as Appendix 4. The leaflet is attached as Appendix 5. These results were conveyed to all local people, including farmers and landowners, at a public meeting in November The meeting was widely publicised in the area, and over 50 people attended. Elsewhere in the AONB, the Kemp Valley Lapwing project also monitored this species in the 2009 breeding season. Twelve local people participated in the project, spending well over 90 hours surveying 10 tetrads. Ten other tetrads in the area were surveyed in 2008 or 2009 as part of the National and County Bird Atlas Project, so all 20 tetrads in the Target Area received some survey work over the two years A separate Report of this project has been prepared, and the Executive Summary is attached as Appendix 6. Lapwing is a target species in the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan, and the Project is working with Shropshire Wildlife Trust in implementing a county-wide Lapwing strategy. DIPPERS Nest boxes for Dippers have been made and installed by John Swift on the Rivers Onny and Clun, and their tributaries, and this was extended to the River Redlake in This part of the Project builds on work carried out through the Upper Onny Wildlife Group since This work is described in the Upper Onny Wildlife Group Report 2009, and is referred to in the Executive Summary attached as Appendix 2. During 2007 it was extended to the Upper Clun area through the new Community Wildlife Group, and that part of the work is described in that Group s Report for In addition, a local ornithologist, Tony Cross, has been monitoring the Dipper population in the whole of the River Teme catchment since the late 1980s, through ringing young birds in the nest, and counting, catching and ringing birds at roost sites during the winter. This provides a data set going back over nearly 30 years. Tony Cross continued with this work in A full Report, Dippers in the River Teme Catchment, was produced and distributed. Appendix 7 reproduces the Executive Summary. The Report shows that the nest boxes increase the breeding success of Dippers, and, partially as a result, the number of Dippers found at winter roost sites was the highest since monitoring began. NEST BOXES FOR WOODLAND BIRDS In the Upper Onny area, sets of ten nest boxes for woodland birds have been provided to individuals with good potential habitat who undertake to maintain the boxes, monitor their use, and produce an Annual Report for the group. In total, 283 nest boxes have been installed at 18 locations since Results in 2009 are described in the Upper Onny Wildlife Group Report, and referred to in the Executive Summary attached as Appendix 2. 7

10 This part of the Project was extended to the Upper Clun area in 2007, and, in total, 86 nest boxes have been installed at 7 locations. Results in 2009 are described in the Community Wildlife Group Report, and referred to in the Executive Summary attached as Appendix 4. A further 56 boxes have been installed in the Upper Clun area. Precise details of nest boxes installed this year are not currently available, because of serious illness of the person organising this part of the Project, but the cumulative total of boxes installed through this SDF Project substantially exceeds the cumulative total of Outputs required by the individual SDF Grant Offer letters. BARN OWLS In cooperation with the Shropshire Barn Owl Group (SBOG), another four nest boxes have been installed in the Upper Clun area. The Project has also installed a further seven boxes in the lower Clun and Kemp valleys. In 2009, a total of 25 sites were surveyed in the Upper Clun, lower Clun and Kemp valley areas, including 21 which already had nest boxes installed, mostly in the last year or two as a direct result of this SDF Project. These new boxes were installed thanks to the efforts of Sallie Pittam, who has responsibility for Barn Owls for UCCWG, and who also carried out the monitoring. In addition, nestboxes installed in previous years in the Upper Onny area were checked by Allison Littlehales to see if they were being used. Four were, and a brood of four chicks was ringed by Tony Cross (see photo.). Unfortunately, both Sallie Pittam and Allison Littlehales will have to give this work up in 2010, but people to take it on have already been identified (to be supported by SBOG if appropriate), and their training has started. The work in the Upper Onny and Upper Clun areas is described in the relevant Group s 2009 report, and referred to in the Executive Summary attached as Appendix 2 and Appendix 4 respectively. The publicity leaflet, widely distributed in the area, was included in the Report. A table identifying all Barn Own nest boxes put up in the area, through this and related projects, is being maintained. LONG MYND i) REPEAT UPLAND BIRD SURVEY II) GROUND NESTING BIRDS RECOVERY PROJECT The population, distribution and habitat requirements of twenty species were monitored on the Long Mynd over the five years The populations of several species of ground-nesting bird - Ring Ouzel, Curlew, Snipe and Teal - have been monitored since then. In 2006, a new complete survey of the Long Mynd started. The parts of the earlier survey were repeated over the three years During 2009 several more days of fieldwork were undertaken, to visit areas not adequately covered in the previous 8

11 three years. The data collected will contribute to a Report of revised population estimates and distribution maps for the target species, and their habitat preferences. The final report has been deferred, at the request of the National Trust, to allow updating of the habitat maps used to analyse the birds habitat preferences. This Report is now planned for late in 2010 In addition, a report presented to the National Trust in 2004 on the decline of groundnesting birds led to the Trust initiating a Long Mynd Ground Nesting Birds Recovery Project. A full report detailing the reasons for this Project, and the actions needed to address the decline, was finalised prior to the launch of the Recovery Project by the National Trust in March This was fully described in the 2007 SDF Project Report. The Recovery Project continued in 2009, and a Report presented to the Trust s Conservation Advisory Panel during their visit to Long Mynd in September 2009, based partly on the results of the full Upland Bird Survey, and partly on the 2009 Snipe Survey, show that the decline of ground-nesting birds has continued, but the downward trend may perhaps have been reversed. This Report is attached as Appendix 8. SNIPE A survey of all the sites in 580 square kilometres of the South Shropshire Hills where Snipe might breed was carried out in Only breeding pairs were found: 7-8 of them were on the Long Mynd, owned by the National Trust, and 3-4 were on Rhos Fiddle, owned by Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Only three other sites were found to hold breeding Snipe - two farms, and a common, but only one pair was found at each of these three sites. This survey was repeated in 2009, as part of the five-year Snipe survey carried out as part of the Shropshire BAP monitoring. A separate Report has been prepared on this Survey. The results for the AONB are summarised in Appendix 9. The Snipe population on the Long Mynd has been monitored by the repeat Upland Bird Survey referred to above. As a result of the continuing decline, Natural England has part-funded work by the Trust to improve habitat for Snipe (mainly rush control). Further monitoring of Snipe on the Long Mynd was included in the 2009 Snipe survey. TRAINING LOCAL PEOPLE More than 50 people have been trained for undertaking Bird Surveys through the Project in April - October 2009, as follows:- 1. Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group three Bird Walks Rhos Fiddle 26 April - 5 participants (4 new this year) + 3 Committee The second event was cancelled on the day because of bad weather (one person, Shirley Gould, turned up in spite of the weather) 12 people came on the Bird Walk at Bryn Mawr 2. Around 50 people attended the National Trust & SOS Church Stretton Branch Introduction to Bird Watching and Conservation Course. In addition, More than 30 people have been trained through the Project in March 2010, as follows:- 1. Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group Finding Priority Birds in our Area 25 March participants, including 3 new participants 9

12 2. Kemp Valley Lapwing Project on 22nd March participants, including 6 new participants 3. Fieldwork training sessions Kemp Valley 27 March 7 participants (including 3 not at previous evening meeting) Upper Onny 28 March - 2 participants (both new) People who attended previous Courses have also received ongoing support. a. A feedback meeting was held for the Kemp Valley Lapwing Project on 22 nd June 2009 b. Three meetings of the Upper Onny Wildlife Group to review and plan Lapwing and Curlew surveys have been held. c. Two further meetings, one in the field, have been held with the recent Graduate (local resident), who was trained last year to monitor Curlew population in Upper Clun, to provide practical experience to supplement degree qualification. His Report made a useful additional contribution to the UCCWG results d. A Newsletter summarising the Survey Results has been sent to 50 people who undertake bird surveys for UCCWG, or send us records e. I spend a lot of time on the phone, at meetings and answering s to provide ongoing support to people trained on a one-to-one basis PUBLICITY Two sets of Exhibition Panels, provided to Leo Smith by the Blue Remembered Hills Project in 2005, have been used extensively to promote different parts of this Project. A number of laminated coloured display posters have been produced, which in different combinations can be used to present The Upper Onny Wildlife Group all work, but particularly Lapwing & Curlew Survey results The Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group all work, but particularly Lapwing & Curlew Survey results Lapwing & Curlew in South Shropshire Updated versions of the Dipper and Barn Owl Posters, which were included in the SDF Project Report, are small scale versions of part of these displays. PROJECT MANAGEMENT Overspends on other parts of the Budget meant that no funds were available to pay for the substantial amount of time spent on Project Management time for this Project, or for the development of the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group. CONCLUSION Almost all parts of the Project were completed as envisaged in the original approved Application, or improved upon. Most parts of the Project have exceeded expectations, particularly in respect of the contribution by other Agencies, and in the number of local people involved and trained The total value of the Project is over 5,000 more than the Approved Budget. The Project will build on this work in Leo Smith April 2010

13 CONSERVATION OF THREATENED BIRDS APPENDICES The following Appendices are attached:- 1. Outputs & Funding 2. Upper Onny Wildlife Group Report 2009 Executive Summary. 3. Importance of the Upper Onny area for Lapwing and Curlew 4. Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group Report 2009 Summary. 5. Upper Clun CWG Manage our Wetlands for Wildlife leaflet 6. Kemp Valley Lapwing Project Report 2009 Executive Summary 7. Dippers in the River Teme Catchment Report Executive Summary 8. Ground nesting Birds Recovery Project Snipe Survey 2009 Results 11

14 Appendix 1. Outputs and Funding PROGRESS TOWARDS PROJECT OUTPUTS Output Progress at Year End Manufacture & installation of 105 nest boxes Dipper (20) Barn Owl (3) Woodland birds (50) Total target (73 boxes) 3 put up and claimed. Some others put up, not yet claimed 7 put up 56 put up in UCCWG area. Some put up, not yet claimed, in Upper Onny area 66 put up and claimed. Some others put up, not yet claimed (largely due to serious illness of the Project worker) Production of the following reports: Upper Onny Wildlife Group Annual Report & Survey Results 2009 Completed and Distributed March 2010 Upper Clun C.W.G. Annual Report & Survey Results 2009 Scarce Upland Breeding Birds on the Long Mynd Completed and distributed December 2009 Survey work complete. Report deferred, at request of National Trust, to allow updating of habitat information in Dippers in River Teme Catchment Completed and Distributed April 2010 Kemp Valley Lapwing Project Completed and Distributed March Public meeting for farmers and local people to consider results of survey work in Upper Clun area Support 3 existing and one new local Co mmunity Wildlife Organisation: Upper Onny Wildlife Group Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group SWT Clun & Bishop s Castle branch Kemp Valley Lapwing Project UCCWG Annual Public Meeting held: 26 November Around 50 people attended All organisations supported throughout (see body of Progress Report). Lead 3 Wildlife walks 3 Birdwalks for UCCWG 1. Rhos Fiddle 26 April 2. Newcastle 7 June (cancelled due to bad weather) 3. Bryn Mawr 4 July 12

15 Provide indoor and fieldwork training for at least 50 local people (and add to the training provided for many more in previous years). Introduction to Birdwatching and Conservation Course started April, completed: 22 November (50 participants). UCCWG Birdwalks also organised as training events Identification handout, prepared by Project, issued to all participants. Training for 2010 bird surveys completed in March 2010 Funding & Expenditure The revised final SDF Project Approval is based on an 11.56% grant towards a total planned expenditure of 26,000. The actual value achieved was at least , as shown in the following Table extracted from the Project s Final Grant Claim. Budget subheading (delete or amend as appropriate) Amount budgeted (as in offer letter) F irs t Interim Claim 12 July Second Interim Claim 31 December Final Claim April 2010 Actual amount spent to date (for final claim include total for whole project) Set up costs 0.00 Staff costs 0.00 Volunteer time 10,500 8, , , , P urchase of goods / equipment (inc. running costs) 0.00 Costs of works carried out 0.00 R unning costs 2, , , , Other costs (please state what they are) 0.00 S urvey work 5,485 4, , , Preparing reports 4, Training courses 2, , Nest box schemes TOTAL 26, , , , , Total expenditure relating to this claim 13, , , I therefore claim payment of (T otal expenditure for this claim x % rate of grant) 1, , The amount of cash spent on the Project (i.e. total Project expenditure shown in the Final Claim less the value of Voluntary / In Kind funding) = 15, This should equal the above Other Funding Total + the SDF Grant, but this totals only 15,245. The discreopancy, , represents an overspend on cash paid out compared with Project resources, and is in effect a donation to the Project by Leo Smith Ornithological Surveys & Consultancy. 13

16 Appendix 2 THE UPPER ONNY WILDLIFE GROUP LAPWING, CURLEW, & OTHER WILDLIFE IN THE UPPER ONNY VALLEY Survey Results & Report 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Upper Onny Wildlife Group repeated the Breeding Bird Survey in 2009, concentrating on Curlew and Lapwing. It covered a total area of about 126 square kilometres, primarily within the parishes of Ratlinghope, Wentnor, Norbury, Myndtown, More and Lydham. Most of this area is within the Shropshire Hills Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and the Shropshire Hills Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA). Monitoring and conservation work on Dippers, Barn Owls and woodland birds also continued, and recording of 16 plant species. The Programme Of Action, to promote the conservation of Lapwing and Curlew, was also implemented with the extensive and valuable support of Partner organisations. Both Lapwing and Curlew have declined substantially in this area in recent times, and very few breeding pairs were found by the Survey, or during intensive Follow-up work 31 pairs of Lapwing (only 17 within the designated AONB and ESA, 10 of which were on one Farm) pairs of Curlew (all except 5 pairs within the designated AONB and ESA boundaries), The Lapwing population was the highest since monitoring started in 2004, largely as a result of good breeding success in Cattle pasture has been the most important Lapwing habitat in the ESA, and most of the pairs in the ESA nested on it again in Many broods on both pasture and arable land came from repeat layings to replace clutches lost as a result of predation. Although trampling of nests was not a significant problem in 2009, because the main pasture habitat was ungrazed, several pairs lost nests as a result of agricultural activity. Although a small further increase in the Lapwing population was found, breeding success was again insufficient to sustain the population. Loss of set-aside has reduced the available habitat, and urgent action is needed to compensate for this loss. Lapwings are restricted to six farms and concentrated on only two. They are still seriously threatened in the area. Swift and radical action is needed to improve and re-create suitable habitat, and combat predation.

17 Curlews are more difficult to monitor, but almost half the pairs had apparently failed again by mid-june. This level of breeding success is insufficient to halt, let alone reverse, the decline. Nests and chicks are vulnerable to agricultural activity, particularly hay and silage cutting. The decline has been confirmed by comparing survey results from 2004 and 2005 with those for 2007 and 2008, which show a loss of four pairs more than 10 % of the total population. An addition of new pairs to the population was off-set by loss of established pairs. However, decline elsewhere in Shropshire has been much quicker, and the Upper Onny may now hold a quarter of the County population. The number of fledged young appears to be insufficient to sustain the existing population, which has declined by over 10% in only four years. Even in this important area, Curlew are likely to become extinct within 10 years, unless action is taken. The timing of preparing and cutting hay and silage appears to be the biggest factor limiting breeding success, and the Please Conserve Our Curlews Campaign is continuing. Nest boxes for Dippers have now been installed under almost all bridges. Seventeen nests of 12 different pairs of Dippers nests were found, 10 in boxes. Several pairs have moved into boxes on bridges that were otherwise unsuitable, so new additional territories have been occupied. The work has also shown that brood sizes in boxes are bigger, so the project has already helped increase the population. The Barn Owl nest box scheme has continued. In total, 20 boxes have been put up before the breeding season. Four were used. Some natural nest sites were also occupied. The boxes should help increase the population of around 10 pairs. More nest boxes for woodland birds were installed, and 166 were monitored at nine separate sites. Of these, 74 were used by four different species. Unfortunately the plans to find more Mountain Pansy sites, continue monitoring Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterflies, and start monitoring Glow Worms, were all cancelled due to bad weather. However, work continued on finding 16 types of plant, and research and survey work on all these species will continue in future years. The Group s work has been actively promoted in the area, and a public meeting was held in March 2009 to present it and get more people involved. All this work is detailed in the Report. The itemised Contents list, and the Index of Maps, Tables and Figures, allows the content and results to be found quickly. The Group wishes to encourage action to reverse the decline of Lapwing and Curlew, both of which are priority Target Species for the Government s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Natural England, the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, and the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan. The Report therefore makes proposals to increase the area of suitable habitat, and improve breeding success, through a Programme of Action. This includes work with farmers and landowners, and recommendations for action to Defra, Natural England, and the AONB Partnership. The Group will work with farmers and landowners to maintain and increase the number of Lapwing and Curlew in the Area. We invite other local people, and Community, Regional and National Organisations, to continue to participate in the Programme of Action to achieve this important objective. John Muller Chairman

18 Appendix 3. Importance of Upper Onny Area to Lapwing and Curlew Curlew In 1990, An Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Shropshire estimated the Curlew Population in the County at around 700 pairs By 2002 the population had declined considerably. A national Birds of Wet Meadows Survey found a 56% decline at 11 Shropshire sites between 1982 and In this area, the Stiperstones population had declined from four pairs (1996) to zero, and on the Long Mynd from a dozen (1995) to three. Curlew - BBS Monitoring Curlew became a Shropshire BAP Species in The BTO Breeding Bird Survey has monitored every species in over 50 one-kilometre OS grid squares in Shropshire since Population trends can be estimated for the species that are recorded in most squares. The result for Curlew suggests a decline of 70% since Aggregating the two periods together suggests a Shropshire population of around 140 now. POPULATION INDEX % CHANGE POPULATION INDEX % CHANGE YEAR BAP target A better population estimate will be available in November 2010, when we have three years results from the new Bird Atlas Project. However, it is likely that the Upper Onny population of over 35 pairs represents around a quarter of the Shropshire population. Lapwing Lapwing too is in steep decline a 4% sample survey of the tetrads in Shropshire shows the population now is less than 20% of what it was in BBS monitoring has shown a rapid decline in Shropshire since Breeding Pairs Estimated Shropshire Lapwing Population (4% sample survey) Lapwing - BBS p Monitoring g BAP target Breeding Pairs Year Baggy Moor Maesbury Marsh Melverley Upper Onny Upper Clun Total Year YEAR The SWT Lapwing Project has been monitoring the population in 5 areas in Shropshire. In four of the five areas, Lapwing is heading for extinction. The Upper Onny area is the only one where the decline has been reversed. This has been achieved by a combination of community action and intensive work with Natural England and farmers with Lapwings nesting on their land Leo Smith 24 November 2009

19 Appendix 4 Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group Aims & Objectives The Group aims to find all breeding pairs of Lapwing and Curlew, monitor other important farmland birds, and promote their conservation. Barn Owls, Dippers and woodland birds are also helped through provision of nest boxes. Specific wild flowers, typical of important habitats, have been searched for, and we are now conducting full plant surveys where they were found to see if these places should be adopted as County Wildlife Sites. The two Nature Reserves are being surveyed. As knowledge has increased, the Group is actively promoting conservation of popular flagship wildlife species by working with farmers, landowners and Government Agencies to protect and restore important habitats and sites. Survey Work Most of the Birds and Plants surveyed are Target Species in the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan. Three years results ( ) have now been presented in Annual Reports to Public Meetings. All members carrying out the surveys have received personal encouragement, training and support. The Bird Group found only two pairs of breeding Lapwing in 2007 and 2008, but none at all in Lapwings are on the verge of local extinction, unless immediate and effective action is taken to save them. Curlews have continued to decline as well even fewer were found in 2009 (10 14 pairs) than 2008 (14-17 pairs) and 2007 (20-22 pairs). At the current rate of decline Curlews too will be locally extinct within 5 years. Another 14 species were also surveyed only Skylark Dunnock and Yellowhammer were found in more than half the 31 survey squares, with good numbers in a few places, particularly where over-winter stubbles were left because bad weather prevented planting of the normal autumn cereal crops late in Other important farmland birds like Tree Sparrow were very scarce, and some were not found at all. Well over 60 people have undertaken surveys or provided information. Also, 14 breeding pairs of Dippers were found in 2009, but only 2 pairs of Barn Owls. Red Kites returned to breed in 2007 after a gap of over 130 years, and 4 nests were found in 2009 (3 were successful). The Plant Group searched for 36 different plants in 2008, 12 typical of each of grassland and woodland, together with the 12 started in Of the 31 squares, 10 contained more species than the rest, usually in places that have escaped agricultural improvement because the ground is too steep or wet. In 2009, full surveys were carried out at 11 existing Wildlife Sites and 17 other areas identified through the previous work. Of these, 6 looked to be very good candidates for new Wildlife Sites. Over 90 target plants were recorded, some several times. These plants are good ecological indicators because they are uncommon and indicate an unimproved, unspoilt habitat. Altogether, over 50 recorders have undertaken surveys, and other people helped provided information. Lower Short Ditch / Turbary SWT Nature Reserve has been surveyed, mainly to find the typical heathland birds, and 3 pairs of Stonechat and 2 pairs of Whinchat were counted in The extremely important local Snipe population at Rhos Fiddle SWT Nature Reserve was resurveyed, and 4 pairs were found, more than in No breeding Snipe were found anywhere else in the area. Conservation Action As well as working with individual farmers and landowners, we have promoted conservation by publishing Please Conserve Our Curlews Please Help Hedgerow Birds Help Improve Important Wetlands Response to Shropshire Hills AONB Management Plan Consultation These leaflets have been included in an Annual Report, and further copies are available on request. Several new County Wildlife Sites have also been identified and adopted. Co-operation with Farmers, Landowners & Other Organisations The vast majority of the area is farmland, and almost all of the birds and plants that the Group wishes to conserve live on it. Close co-operation with farmers is therefore crucial to our success. We have already started talking with the farmers at the two Curlew hot spots, around Rhos Fiddle and Black Mountain, and five farmers have already received increased payments from Natural England, in return for managing their farms to provide better habitat for our Target Birds and Plants, as a direct result of the Group s work. We work closely with individual farmers and landowners, and with Government Agencies. We have the support of the Land, Life and Livelihoods project, the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the local Clun & Bishop s Castle Branch, and the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership. Report & Annual Meeting Full Annual Reports of our activities and results since 2007, including the Conservation Action outlined above, have been presented to well attended Annual Public Meetings each November, most recently on 26 November Further Information, and copies of Reports, from Leo Smith ( ). January 2010

20 Appendix 5 Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group MANAGING WETLANDS FOR WILDLIFE Most of the wetlands, the rush pastures, wet meadows and mires, in the hills above the Clun Valley have been drained over many years. The few remaining sites, such as Gors Bank, are important havens for wildlife, and support birds and plants that are now very scarce elsewhere in the area. Many of them are used as rough grazing, but a few are hay meadows rich in wild flowers and butterflies. Gorse bushes and hedgerows on and around the wet grasslands provide valuable additional habitat for scrub & hedgerow birds. Gors Bank Michelle Frater Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Linnet and Reed Bunting are the typical birds of these wetlands, while Lapwing, Curlew, Snipe, Barn Owl and Cuckoo also feed at some of them, and Yellowhammer nest in the surrounding hedgerows. Reed Bunting is dependent on the wetlands Mike Richards (rspb-images.com) Ways to improve Wetlands At present, little management work is carried out to ensure these sites retain their value for wildlife, but farms moving into HLS in the next few years will have the opportunity to be paid for carrying out such work. ESA agreements can also be extended. sites dominated by Soft Rush should be cut in rotation on a three year cycle, so that the vegetation is of variable height and density; this could be maintained by carefully managed cattle grazing creation of small pools or scrapes in some of the wetlands would increase habitat for Lapwing, Curlew and other target birds Most of these birds are target species for the Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme (HLS) in the area, and in the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan. They are also national Farmland Bird Indicator Species, and listed as Birds of Conservation Concern. The wetlands are also important for plants, and many of them have been adopted as County Wildlife Sites by Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Plants dependent on these habitats include Marsh Violet, Yellow Mountain Pansy, Bog Asphodel, Cottongrass and Bog Pimpernel, and they are threatened by its loss. Marsh Violet Fiona Gomersall

21 opening up the rushy swards would benefit plants such as the scarce Marsh Violet, the food plant of the locally threatened Small Pearlbordered Fritillary butterfly, a target species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. the few remaining patches of gorse need rotational management to create a variety of ages and densities from seedling through to mature bushes, ensuring thick cover for birds such as Linnet to nest in, and a good food supply of invertebrates and seeds Small Pearl bordered Fritillary West Midlands Butterfly Conservation Working with Farmers We are already working with farmers willing to improve habitat for Lapwing and Curlew. Two farmers have been helped with Environmental Stewardship HLS applications, and four more have been helped with extending their existing Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) agreement. This has increased the farm incomes. However, the conservation and enhancement of all the scarce rush pastures, mires and species rich grassland is also vitally important. We particularly want to encourage the rotational management of Soft Rush and Gorse on farms with such habitat, especially on the wetland sites. We will help and support any farmer who wishes to enhance an existing ESA Agreement with Natural England. More importantly, we will help any farmer to apply for HLS when an existing ESA agreement comes to an end, provided that the application to Natural England includes maintaining and enhancing Wildlife Sites and / or habitats for the priority bird and plant species. Financial Help Farmers can apply to Natural England for money for work to help these Target Birds and Plants. Those in the ESA can still get additional capital and annual revenue grants to upgrade the Tier Category for fields that are managed sympathetically, and a Wet Area Supplement for creating and maintaining wet grassland areas and damp patches. The Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme also offers revenue and capital incentives to reward farmers for managing fields to benefit these Target Birds. Farmers can get more information and advice from James Griffiths at Natural England, telephone The Community Wildlife Group will help farmers with Target Birds and Plants to make an application More Information HLS details can be found on the Natural England website www. Further information can be provided on behalf of the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group by Leo Smith Further advice and information on this and other ways of managing your farm for wildlife can be obtained from Shropshire Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group RSPB / FWAG / GCT Farming for Wildlife leaflets, including one on rush management, and other RSPB information leaflets can be obtained from Leo Smith, and they, together with other advice, can be found at Official Support This initiative by the Upper Clun Community Wildlife Group, and the advice to farmers given in this leaflet, is endorsed and supported by: (Include Logos)

22 Appendix 6 Kemp Valley Lapwing Project Project Report 2009 Summary Although at least eight pairs of Lapwing nested in the area, only one brood was found, in spite of intensive searching. Apparently only one young fledged. Recommendations have being made to farmers, and to Natural England, to help safeguard and improve the breeding habitat for Lapwing. The Project will be repeated, and expanded to survey addition species of threatened Farmland Birds, in The Lapwing breeding population in the Kemp Valley is likely to become extinct in the next few years, unless rapid and effective action is taken to improve and increase the available habitat, and protect nests from predation and agricultural operations.

23 Dippers Cinclus cinclus In the River Teme Catchment 2009 Photo John Swift Summary Dippers were monitored at around 70 winter roost sites in the River Teme Catchment from 1987 to This Project resumed this monitoring in 2006, and has also implemented a nest box scheme. By the start of the 2009 breeding season, boxes had been installed at around 100 sites, and more than one-quarter of them have already been used. Comparison of results obtained in with those from the 1980s and 1990s show an initial overall decline in the number of Dippers, with a much greater decline on the lower reaches of the rivers than on the upper reaches, and a deterioration in the condition of the birds (measured by average body weight). This is attributed to a loss of food as a result of reduced quality of the rivers, primarily due to pollution from, and silting up by, agricultural activities. However, more Dippers were found in 2009 than in any previous year, and this is attributed to an increase in the number of nest sites, and improved breeding success, in the upper reaches of the rivers as a result of the nest boxes. Further long term monitoring of the Dipper population, and extending the nest box scheme, is recommended, to iron out any effect on the results from annual fluctuations, and the Environment Agency is recommended to analyse water sampling results from these river systems for the last 25 years, to ascertain if specific causes of the Dipper decline can be identified. 1

24 Appendix 8 THE LONG MYND BREEDING BIRD PROJECT Ground nesting Birds Recovery Project The decline of Ground-nesting birds was first highlighted by the Long Mynd Breeding Bird Project in Research on Ring Ouzel showed the decline was due to predation of nests, probably by crows, and (in the absence of any apparent habitat changes), this is likely to be the reason for the decline of the other species as well. Predators of ground-nesting birds have increased considerably in the area, as a result of a relatively recent large and rapid increase in available carrion (dead sheep and lambs since 1990, and pheasants put down by shoots). The decline continued, and the National Trust initiated a Ground nesting Birds Recovery Project in The Executive Summary of the Project Proposal is reproduced overleaf. The Project was considered and endorsed by the National Trust Nature Conservation Panel in March 2007, and a member of the Panel (Prof. Jeremy Greenwood) came on a fact-finding visit on 7 th March A monitoring study of all species all over the Long Mynd was carried out in , and the four G-nBRP target species were also monitored in 2009 (including a dusk survey targeted at Snipe). Crow and Fox control has been carried out by the Trust each year since 2007, but the effectiveness of this work has been limited by lack of resources. Rush control to improve Wild Moor for Snipe (part funded by Natural England) was carried out early in There was a small but welcome increase in the Curlew and Snipe population in It is too soon to say whether this is due to the efforts of the Recovery Project, and thus the improvement will be sustained, or whether it is a blip in the continued decline as a result of extremely wet weather (and hence a good breeding season for wetland birds) in However, the prospects are good the decline of Curlew was due to very poor breeding success, but at least one brood fledged in 2009, and young probably fledged in 2008 as well. % 1995 Population (Breeding Pairs) LONG MYND: ESTIMATED POPULATION CHANGE Ring Ouzel Curlew Snipe Teal Estimated Population Species (Breeding Pairs) Ring Ouzel Curlew Snipe Teal Year Leo Smith 21 September 2009

25 Appendix 9. Shropshire Snipe Survey Interim Report 2009 INTRODUCTION Snipe is a Target Species in the Shropshire Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). A breeding season Snipe Survey was carried out in the South-west Shropshire Hills in The BAP includes a commitment to repeat the survey every five years. Therefore a survey was carried out in 2009, covering the sites where Snipe were found in RESULTS The population found at sites in the AONB, and a comparison with the 2004 results, is set out in the Table below. Site Estimated Population Long Mynd Stiperstones 0 1 The Hollies Farm 1 1 Stapeley Common 1 2 Rhos Fiddle 3 4 Black Mountain 1 0 Total Discussion of the Results, and management recommendations for the sites, are included in the Survey Report