Winter feeding important for farmland wildlife
At one of our Scottish demonstration sites, Balgonie, there are nearly 30 feeders placed around the site, providing farmland wildlife with an additional source of food, in our case wheat.
To monitor what type of wildlife our feeders attracted, trail cameras were placed next to many of the feeders and monitored for several weeks. The results were very encouraging, with nearly 20 species of birds and 5 species of mammals caught on camera. These ranged from Wrens to Grey partridge and even Sparrowhawks. The diversity of species photographed illustrates how important feeders are to all farmland wildlife and confirms the significant role they play in providing extra food during the winter months, especially now as alternative sources of food are depleted in the notorious ‘Hungry Gap.’
Blackbird enjoying a bath on a feeder
Brown hare keeping watch
Robin searching for food
Roe deer herd
Weasel (circled)
Yellowhammer foraging in the snow
Sparrowhawk using feeder as a perch
By Fiona Torrance