The 2020 Big Farmland Bird Count needs your support

↵Wildlife enthusiasts across Northumberland are being urged to take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC), which is back for the seventh successive year.The nationwide citizen science project calls on farmers, land managers and gamekeepers to spend 30 minutes spotting species on their patch of land between February 7 and 16 next year.Crucially, the results will aim to determine which farmland birds are benefiting from conservation efforts while identifying the ones most in need of help.Organising the count this year is Dr Roger Draycott, who is head of advisory services for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).He said: “Farmers and gamekeepers are vital in helping to ensure the future survival of many of our most cherished farmland bird species like skylarks, yellowhammers, corn buntings and wild grey partridges.“They are responsible for managing the largest songbird habitat in this country on their land but frequently their efforts to reverse bird declines are largely unrecorded. We believe our Big Farmland Bird Count will help remedy this.”Last year was another record-breaking count with 1,400 people counting – a 40% increase on the previous year, recording 140 species over one million acres. We are delighted that many landscape-scale farmland conservation projects are now taking part in the count and we are now able to feedback results at the landscape level as well as the individual farm level.How to take part: Download a count sheet from www.bfbc.org.uk Count your birds! On a day between February 7 and 16, spend about 30 minutes recording the species and number of birds seen on one particular area. Once completed, submit results at www.bfbc.org.uk