Project Calendar
Check out what's taking place throughout the year at our different demonstration sites.Belgium
Isabellapolder Demonstration Site
2023
May 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
April 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
- PARTRIDGE Conference in Brussels
March 2023
- Monitoring grey partridges
- Management of spring flower blocks
February 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Monitoring grey partridges
January 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Terrain visit evaluating quality of habitat measures
2022
December 2022
- Installing winter feeders
- Continuation of flower blocks in AES with contracting farmers
November 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks
- Contracting farmers for AES continuation of flower blocks
- Published Flemish factsheets
October 2022
- Bi-annual partner meeting - Edinburgh
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures: Field visits with local farmers to evaluate
September 2022
- Farmwalk with stakeholder cluster group
- Continue grey partridge autumn counts
- Management of autumn flower blocks (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- 'Thank you' event for farmers, hunters and volunteers active at the demosite including update on project results
Event organised for farmers, hunters and volunteers at the demosite
August 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures
- Starting grey partridge autumn counts
July 2022
- Follow-up PARTRIDGE measures
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
June 2022
- Monthly online meeting with EU and Flemish partners
- Denmark study trip
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures
- Breeding bird survey
- Habitat mapping
May 2022
- Farmwalk with team Boerennatuur Vlaanderen
- Bi-annual partner meeting Flanders - Netherlands
Our PARTRIDGE partners are visiting our demosite
- PARTRIDGE poster presentation on local farmland bird symposium in Flanders
April 2022
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
- Breeding bird survey
March 2022
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Stakeholder cluster meeting
- Farmer cluster meeting
- Start management and resowing flower blocks
February 2022
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
- Hare counts
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
January 2022
- Monitoring online meeting with EU partners
- Hare counts
2021
December 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
November 2021
- Transnational online partner meeting
- Start winter bird monitoring
October 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
- Release YouTube video farmer interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gLpSnk-31s
September 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU and flemish partners
- Farm walk with the Flemish Living-lab for agro-ecology and organic farming
Farm walk with the partner organisation of the Flemish Living Lab for agro-ecology and organic farming
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners and Flemish partners
- Farmer stakeholder interview
Farmer video interview
- Partridge covey monitoring
August 2021
- Field visit with Flemish partners and PARTRIDGE farmers to evaluate each AES
- Release of YouTube video about the demonstration site
- Flower blocks and grass margins composition study by VLM students
- Partridge covey monitoring
Taking photos of the demo site with a drone
July 2021
- Field visit with Flemish partners and PARTRIDGE farmers to evaluate each AES
- Release of YouTube video about the demonstration site
- Flower blocks and grass margins composition study by VLM students
June 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Management of flower blocks and the other (experimental) AES
May 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Management of flower blocks and the other (experimental) AES
April 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Management of flower blocks and the other (experimental) AES
March 2021
- Delivering seed mix and advice towards the PARTRIDGE farmers
- Management of flower blocks
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Grey partridge territory mapping
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Meeting with Flemish partners
- Virtual farmwalk
February 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Evaluating PARTRIDGE flower block seed mix and ordering spring seed mix for 2021
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
- Grey partridge territory mapping
- Digital farmer cluster meeting
January 2021
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Online monitoring information session
- Writing management plan 2021 for different habitat measures at the demosite
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
- Early start grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
2020
December 2020
- Transnational online partner meeting and virtual farmwalk
- Winter feeding by local hunters
November 2020
- Two field visit with Flemish partners to evaluate each individual flower block + taking drone photos of the experimental measures
October 2020
- Meeting with Flemish partners
September 2020
- Management of the autumn sown flower blocks
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Partridge covey monitoring
- Field visit + taking drone photos of the AES
Lapwing plot on Isabellpolder demo site.
August 2020
- Meeting Flemish partners
- Partridge covey monitoring
July 2020
- Field visit with Flemish partners to evaluate each individual flower block and the other experimental measures.
- Launch of the Flemish PARTRIDGE booklet
May 2020
- Full partner meeting demo site visit
- Resowing PARTRIDGE flower block
- Establishment of lapwing plot and new beetble bank
April 2020
- Meeting Flemish partners
March 2020
- Farmer cluster meeting with seed mix delivery
- Partridge and hare spring counts
February 2020
- Field visit for innovative measures
- Partridge and hare spring counts
January 2020
- Start of new AES contracts
2019
December 2019
- Winter bird monitoring
- Agreements for new innovative measures
November 2019
- Field visit with farmers
- Flemish partner meeting
- Full partner meeting Göttingen
- Winter bird monitoring
October 2019
- Field visit with farmers
- Lunch talk @ national farmers union
September 2019
- Partridge Counts
- Local stakeholder group meeting
- Farm walks
August 2019
- Partridge counts
July 2019
- GWCT insect sampling
June 2019
- Meeting hunters and volunteers & presentation of monitoring results
May 2019
- Resowing half of the flower blocks
- Sowing of beetle banks
- Renewing AES contracts Flemish government
March 2019
- Farmer Cluster Meeting
2018
November 2018
- Farmer cluster meeting
- Full partner meeting Belgium
September 2018
- Farm Walk with local stakeholder group
- Farm Walk with local environmental council
August 2018
- Public Farm Walk and presentation of PARTRIDGE info panel
- Construction and sowing of two beetle banks
May 2018
- Sowing of PARTRIDGE flower blocks
2017
November 2017
- Skype meeting monthly progress
- Meeting Flemish partners
- Full partner meeting in Loddington
- Farmer excursion to the GWCT Allerton Project and Hope Farm
- Managing the winter feeding by local hunters
- Construction of the first beetle banks
October 2017
- Farmer excursion to beetle banks in Brabant demo area in Netherlands (12 October)
- Meeting with the regional Water board’ (20 October)
- Local stakeholder meeting (26 October)
- Skype meeting monthly progress
- Start of winter feeding plan by local hunters
- Presentation of the PARTRIDGE project on the poster session of Flemish-Dutch Farmlandbird symposium in Leuven
September 2017
- Convincing farmers to establish new göttinger plots
- Skype meeting monthly progress
- Partridge autumn count
August 2017
- Farm walk for stakeholders and national policy makers, including a visit from Flemish minister of Environment, Nature and Agriculture
May 2017
- Demo site visit between local partners and GWCT (11 May)
April 2017
- Farmland bird surveys start
- Establishment of first PARTRIDGE wild flower mixes
March 2017
- Farmer meeting, Wednesday 01/03 at Assenede (19h30 at Café De Gouden Appel; Boekhoutedorp 16, 9961 Assenede)
February 2017
- Improved predator control in place
- Extra feeders now in place
- Game species being monitored with the help of hunters
January 2017
- Field visits with hunting groups, GWCT offered management advice on winter feeding and predator control
2016
December 2016
- Meeting with hunters to discuss monitoring protocol for hare counts and partridge count and also discuss and develop a winter feeding and predator control plan for the demonstration site
Ramskapelle Demonstration Site
2023
May 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
April 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
March 2023
- Monitoring grey partridges
- Management of spring flower blocks
February 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Monitoring grey partridges
January 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Terrain visit evaluating quality of habitat measures
2022
December 2022
- Installing winter feeders
- Continuation of flower blocks in AES with contracting farmers
November 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks
- Continuation of flower blocks in AES with contracting farmers
October 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks
How our flower blocks look in the Autumn
- Soil sampling at a selection of flower blocks - earth worm counts
- Article: co-operation falls on fertile ground for PARTRIDGE flower blocks in Flanders
- Release Ramskapelle demosite video
September 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- Continue grey partridge autumn counts
- 'Thank you' event for farmers, hunters and volunteers active at the demosite including update on project results
Thank you event for hunters, farmers and volunteers
August 2022
- Management of autumn flower blocks (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures
- Starting grey partridge autumn counts
July 2022
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
June 2022
- Follow-up of PARTRIDGE measures
- Breeding bird survey
- Filming at the demosite and interviewing farmers for the PARTRIDGE film
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Habitat mapping
Flowering enhanced spring mix in Ramskapelle
May 2022
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Breeding bird survey
Bluethroat in the Ramskapelle flower blocks
- Farmwalk with international PARTRIDGE partnership
International group of partners and stakeholders visiting Ramskapelle demosite
April 2022
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Breeding bird survey
- Recording spring footage PARTRIDGE video
March 2022
- Monitoring feeders with trail cameras
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Farmer cluster meeting: delivering the seed mixes and discussing spring management
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Inspection of autumn sown plots, discussing needed management
February 2022
- Monitoring feeders with trail cameras
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Hare monitoring by lamping among fixed transects
- Meeting with Flemish partners on spring management of the flower blocks
January 2022
- Monitoring feeders with trail cameras
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Terrain visit with Flemish partners evaluating winter condition of measures
- Hare monitoring by lamping among fixed transects
2021
December 2021
- Monitoring feeders with trail cameras
- Farm walk with people from ANB (Agency of Nature and Forest)
- Winter feeding by local hunters
Winter Feeder
November 2021
- Webinar ‘winter feeding of partridges’
Winterfood
- Recording video series on partridge management and measures
- Digital international partner meeting
October 2021
- Farmwalk: sharing PARTRIDGE experience with ‘Faune & Biotopes’
Farm walk with ‘Faune & Biotopes’
- Sampling earth worms in flower blocks
- Management of autumn flower blocks
Flower blocks as food resources at Ramskapelle
September 2021
- TV interview PARTRIDGE for the China Global Television Network
TV crew from CGTN
- Management of autumn flower blocks
- Re-establishment (resowing with autumn mix) of some of the thistle infected flower blocks
- Farmer-hunter cluster meeting: discussing the progress of the project
Our farmer and hunter cluster meeting included walk, seminar and time to discuss the Project
- Partridge covey monitoring
August 2021
- PARTRIDGE summer expo in Ramskapelle
- Insect monitoring beetle bank
- Small-scale experiment with mechanical treatment of thistles
- Partridge covey monitoring
Our flower blocks in August
July 2021
- Grey partridge telemetry study
- PARTRIDGE summer expo in Ramskapelle
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Monitoring vegetation of flower blocks and grass strips
June 2021
- Grey partridge telemetry study
- Premiere of the PARTRIDGE film - "demosite Ramskapelle"
- Start of PARTRIDGE summer expo in Ramskapelle
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Monthly online meeting with Flemish partners
May 2021
- Grey partridge telemetry study
- Flower block management (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- Monitoring breeding birds
- 11th PARTRIDGE parnership (online) meeting
- Monthly online meeting with Flemish partners
- Writing progress report
April 2021
- Grey partridge telemetry study
- Online farmer cluster group meeting
- Virtual farm walk
- Flower block management (seed bed preparation/sowing)
- Filming at the demo site and interviewing farmers for PARTRIDGE film
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Monthly online meeting with Flemish partners
- Inspection of vegetation development in the flower blocks
March 2021
- Delivering seed mix
Seed mix delivery
- Providing individual advice to PARTRIDGE farmers and discussing flower block management
- Flower block management (seed bed preparation)
- Ending monitoring study of winter feeders with trail cameras
- Monitoring beetle bank: incubation of soil samples
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Grey partridge territory mapping
- Start of the grey partridge telemetry study
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Filming at the demo site and interviewing farmers for PARTRIDGE film
- Inspection of vegetation development in the flower blocks
- Monthly online meeting with EU partners
- Monthly online meeting with Flemish partner
February 2021
- Monitoring study on winter feeders with trail cameras
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Evaluating PARTRIDGE flower block seed mix and ordering spring seed mix for 2021
Farmer interview
- Grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
- Grey partridge territory mapping
January 2021
- Field visit with project partners to evaluate each individual flower block
Flower block in January
- Skype project meeting
- Online monitoring information session
- Monitoring study on winter feeders with trail cams
- Interviewing farmers at the demosite and filming habitat measures for project video
- Writing management plan 2021 for different habitat measures at the demosite
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
- Early start grey partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Online hunter cluster group meeting
2020
December 2020
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Monitoring study on winter feeders with trail cameras
- Skype project meeting
- Inagro newsletter article on the impact of PARTRIDGE flower blocks on soil biodiversity (earth worms)
Beetle bank in December
November 2020
- Transnational online partner meeting
Winter feeder monitoring
October 2020
- Monitoring of earth worms and soil conditions at several PARTRIDGE flower blocks
Earth worm sampling
September 2020
- Ending of the PARTRIDGE exposition
- Management of the autumn sown flower blocks
- Public farm walk targeting nature conservationists, farmers and hunters
- Partridge covey monitoring
August 2020
- PARTRIDGE exposition
- Insect monitoring beetle bank
- Partridge covey monitoring
Flower block
July 2020
- PARTRIDGE exposition
Flower block on Ramskapelle demostration site
Teasel attracting a bumble bee
June 2020
- Start of PARTRIDGE exposition (open until September 2020)
- Public farmwalk
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Insect monitoring beetle bank
- Inagro newsletter on beetle banks
May 2020
- International partner meeting in Ghent, Belgium
- Managing of the measures (mowing and resowing)
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Farm walk with students agriculture
April 2020
- Farmwalk with stakeholder cluster group
- Managing of the measures (mowing and resowing)
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Partridge telemetry study
March 2020
- Farmer cluster group meeting: seed mix delivery + discussing upcoming management of measures
- Managing of the measures (mowing and resowing)
- Monitoring of winter feeders with trail cams
- Inagro newsletter on management of the PARTRIDGE measures
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Insect monitoring beetle bank
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Partridge territory mapping
- Partridge telemetry study
February 2020
- Ordering seed mixes for resowing of the flower blocks
- Monitoring of winter feeders with trail cams
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Farmwalk with local hunters – evaluation terrain measures and future management possibilities
- Public farm walk for general public
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
- Partridge monitoring using playback counts
- Partridge territory mapping
January 2020
- In-field evaluation of the PARTRIDGE measures
- Monitoring of winter feeders with trail cams
- Skype project meeting with partners, monthly progress reports
- Internal meeting with Flemish partners on species composition of the flower blocks
- Winter feeding by local hunters
- Feedback meeting with local hunters
- Hare monitoring by lamping along fixed transects
2018
September 2018
- Local stakeholder group meeting
August 2018
- Farm walk for general public + presentation of PARTRIDGE info panel
June 2018
- Farmer cluster group
- Farm walk with French organisation of ornithologists and policy makers
April 2018
- Sowing of PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Planting of new PARTRIDGE bushes
- Construction and sowing of beetle bank
2017
November 2017
- International partner meeting at the GWCT Allerton Project
- Farmer excursion to the GWCT Allerton Project and Hope Farm
- Planning the creation of first beetle bank
- Deployment of 50 feeders
- Flemish partner meeting
October 2017
- 12th October: Farmer excursion to beetle banks in Brabant demoarea (Netherlands)
- Employment of camera traps in the demoarea
- Poster presentation at the farmland bird symposium
September 2017
- Farm walk for farmer cluster group and BBQ
- First plots of ‘Partridge Autumn Seed Mix’
- Contracting participating farmers
- Partridge counts
August 2017
- Farm walk for local stakeholders and press
- Media event on 31/8
May 2017
- Demo site visit between local partners and GWCT (12 May)
April 2017
- Farmland bird surveys start
- Establishment of first PARTRIDGE wild flower mixes
March 2017
- Farmer meeting, Thursday 02/03 at Ramskapelle (19h30 at De Lanterfanter; Ramskapellestraat 66, 8620 Ramskapelle)
February 2017
- Locations identified for planting winter cover crops
- Extra feeders now purchased
- Alternative seed mixes being trialled
- Improved predator control in place
January 2017
- Field visits with hunting groups, GWCT offered management advice on winter feeding and predator control
2016
December 2016
- Meeting with hunters to discuss monitoring protocol for hare counts and partridge count and also discuss and develop a winter feeding and predator control plan for the demonstration site
Germany
Diemarden Demonstration Site
2023
February 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Monitoring grey partridges
January 2023
- Started hare survey
- Start of grey partridge counts
2022
December 2022
- Winter habitat mapping
October 2022
- End of breeding bird survey
- Conference “vivid landscape” in Oberfranken – talks by Francis Buner and Eckhard Gottschalk
- Meeting with farmers – how to prolong the PARTRIDGE measures beyond PARTRIDGE?
- Fieldwalk with the new german-wide project “Rebhuhn retten Vielfalt fördern!”
September 2022
- Article on partridge decline Focus Magazine
- Fieldwalk with Birdlife Swiss
- Talk by Eckhard Gottschalk at the "Landcare Association day" - "CAP on trial"
Field walk with Birdlife Swiss
July 2022
- End of breeding bird survey
- Conference “vivid landscape” in Oberfranken – talks by Francis Buner and Eckhard Gottschalk
- Meeting with farmers – how to prolong the PARTRIDGE measures beyond PARTRIDGE?
- Fieldwalk with the new german-wide project “Rebhuhn retten Vielfalt fördern!”
Fieldwalk “Rebhuhn retten – Vielfalt fördern!”
June 2022
- Insect sampling with Francis Buner
Insect sampling with the famous UK D-Vac
- Field trip to Denmark
- Interview with Focus Magazine
- Breeding bird survey
- Field walk with green party Göttingen
- Field walk with public
May 2022
- Breeding bird survey
April 2022
- Start of breeding bird survey
- Installation of 6 wryneck nest boxes
- Field walk with department of Wildlife Science, university of Göttingen
Visit from the Department of Wildlife Science, University of Göttingen
March 2022
- Continuing partridge spring count
- Visit of all plots in Diemarden to discuss spring management of the flower plots
- Visit of partridge Project in Bad Zwesten
Visit to Bad Zwesten
February 2022
- Continuing hare count
- Started partridge count
January 2022
- Starting hare count
2021
December 2021
- Preparations for hare count
- Winter habitat mapping
November 2021
-
online 3-day PARTRIDGE partnership meeting
October 2021
-
Fieldwalk with 16 students
August 2021
-
Fieldwalk, visit from partridge conservationist from Luxembourg and Hessia
July 2021
-
Fieldwalk with the Green party from Göttingen
Visit from the Green party
June 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
- Visit of journalist Christian Mühlhausen (HNA)
- Placement of additional signs on demonstration site
- Corn crake and quail monitoring
Putting up additional information signs on demonstration site
May 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
- Corn crake and quail monitoring
- 11th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
April 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
March 2021
- Inspection of all autumn sown plots in demo area
- Partridge spring counts
February 2021
- Partridge spring counts
- Winter habitat mapping at demo and reference sites
- Hare count
- High snow cover and low temperature: Creating space with the tractor for birds to land and forage, spreading wheat
January 2021
- Hare count
- Talks to farmers to discuss the management of the autumn plots
- Treatment of autumn plots in Diemarden
2020
December 2020
- 10th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting, including Steering committee meeting (online)
- Writing the 7th progress report
- Online presentation and discussion with Landcare association ‘Uckermarck-Schorfheide’
- Preparations for hare count
- Inspection of all autumn sown plots in Diemarden
October 2020
September 2020
June 2020
- Film team on skylark protection
- Breeding bird survey
- Visit of Journalist Thomas Krumenacker from RiffReporter
May 2020
- Farm walk with students
- Online partnership meeting in Göttingen
- Breeding bird survey
April 2020
- Master thesis on bird-species richness in PARTRIDGE flower blocks started
- Start of breeding bird survey
March 2020
- Delivery of seed mix
- Spring count partridge finished
- Skype project meeting
February 2020
- Hare count completed
- Winter habitat mapping completed
January 2020
- Hare count
2019
December 2019
- Partridge Symposium Rottenburg am Neckar
- Meeting with water protection board
- Meeting with city of Göttingen to discuss partridge protection measures
November 2019
- Support of the planting 1 kilometer hedge – organic farmer in project area
- Installation of feeders – hunters Diemarden
- Barbeque and cluster meeting with farmers and hunters of the demo site
- PARTRIDGE Partnership meeting
October 2019
- Meeting with organic farmer to prepare hedge planting
September 2019
- Meeting with city of Göttingen to discuss partridge protection measures
- Autumn partridge count
- Meeting with the local hunting association
July 2019
- Participation in Workshop Socio-economic work package in Bruges
- Fieldwalk with German Association for Landcare (DVL)
June 2019
- Field trip to Transylvania (Romania) – Visit to potential project partners
- Partnership Meeting in Zeeland
May 2019
- Visit of Minister Birgit Honé
- Partnership Meeting in Zeeland
- Fieldwalk with two new conservation projects
- Fieldwalk with the Ecological hunting association
- Breeding bird survey
April 2019
- Breeding bird survey
- Installation of field signs
- Visit of Farmland bird symposium
March 2019
- Partridge spring count
- Interreg network meeting in “Braunschweig”
February 2019
- Hare count with hunters and volunteers
- Winter habitat mapping
January 2019
- Hare count with hunters and volunteers
2018
December 2018
- Winter bird monitoring with volunteers
- Infrared camera breeding success survey
- Winter bird count
November 2018
- Conduction of in depth interviews with stakeholders for socio-economic research
- Test flight with drone and infra-red camera to count partridges
- Winter bird monitoring
October 2018
- Start of winter feeding by local hunters
- Conduction of in depth interviews with stakeholders for socio-economic research
September 2018
- Joining the Partridge Autumn count in Sussex
August 2018
June 2018
- Breeding bird monitoring concluded
- PARTRIDGE partner field excursion to Switzerland 7-8 June
- ‘Early bird’ field walk with public
- Shooting for documentary on farmland bird loss with German television channel ‘ARD’
May 2018
- Sowing PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Partnership meeting in Scotland 2-4 May (Whitburgh)
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Shooting for documentary on farmland bird loss with German television channel ‘arte/ZDF’
- Barbeque with farmers and hunters at local farm
- Field walk with students from the University of agricultural ecology ‘Witzenhausen’
April 2018
- Sowing PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Breeding bird monitoring started
- Fieldwalk to discuss measures planned by the city and by the PARTRIGE Project
March 2018
- Winter partridge count with volunteers by playback method completed
- Habitat mapping completed
February 2018
- Hare count completed
- Winter partridge count with volunteers by playback method
- Conducting of habitat mapping
January 2018
- Hare count
- Winter partridge count by playback
- Feeders for additional winter food with the support of local hunters installed
- Conducting of habitat mapping
2017
December 2017
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Preparations for hare count and habitat mapping
- Presentation about declining of farmland birds and introduction of PARTRIDGE at political event of the green party in Göttingen, by Eckhard Gottschalk
November 2017
- Project team meeting in Loddington, United Kingdom
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Preparations for hare count and habitat mapping
- Flower block in Diemarden turned out to be good – even before sowing!
October 2017
- Field walk with students
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Presentation at the Flemish-Dutch Farmlandbird symposium in Leuven by E. Gottschalk “How to save the partridge”
September 2017
- First four flower blocks with new perennial seed mixture installed
- Monitoring of partridge clutches (breeding success)
- All contracts for the Diemarden demonstration site concluded
August 2017
- First contracts with farmers for flower blocks concluded
July 2017
- New seed mixture (for sowing in autumn) composed and ordered
- Meeting with local nature conservation association to discuss possible synergies
- Habitat mapping finished
- Breeding bird surveys finished
- Meeting with several farmers to negotiate flower blocks
- New seed mixture (for sowing in autumn) composed and ordered
June 2017
- Partnership demo site visit
- Partnership meeting in Göttingen
- Breeding bird surveys
- Meeting with several local farmers to discuss measures of the PARTRIDGE project
- Recruitment of project site manager for Germany
- Partnership visit to Arundel demonstration site
- Partnership visit to Rotherfield demonstration site
May 2017
- Start of breeding bird surveys
- Meeting with farmers in Diemarden to discuss conditions of flower blocks
April 2017
- Meeting with the lower nature conservation authority to discuss measures of PARTRIDGE
March 2017
- Grey partridge transect counts (inside and outside of PARTRIDGE project area) with volunteers, farmers and university staff
- Hare transect counts with hunters and university staff
- Field trip to project area with Francis Buner, Head of PARTRIDGE (GWCT)
February 2017
- Grey partridge transect counts (inside and outside of PARTRIDGE project area) with volunteers, farmers and university staff
- Hare transect counts with hunters and university staff
January 2017
- Meeting with Andreas Kinser, co-financing “Deutsche Wildtierstiftung” to discuss details of the PARTRIDGE Project
- Hare transect counts with local hunters and university staff
- Meeting with local farmers and hunters to introduce PARTRIDGE project
Nesselröden Demonstration Site
2023
February 2023
- Monitoring hares
- Monitoring grey partridges
January 2023
- Started monitoring hares
- Started grey partridge counts
2022
December 2022
- Winter habitat mapping
- Started hare surveys
November 2022
- Presentation of PARTRIDGE at German Hunting Association
October 2022
- Bi-annual partner meeting - Edinburgh
September 2022
- Fieldwalk with Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW)
Field walk with the Institute Wildlife Research
August 2022
- Podcast on partridge conservation
- Inspection of all plots to ensure habitat quality
Inspection of summer habitat
July 2022
- End of breeding bird survey
- Paper on predation risk for grey partridges at the PARTRIDGE sites by Amelie Laux (PhD candidate)
Breeding bird survey
June 2022
- Field trip to Denmark
- Breeding bird survey
- Talk on "Deutscher Naturschutztag"
May 2022
- Field walk with students of the department of Conservation Biology, university of Göttingen
- Breeding bird survey
April 2022
- Start of breeding bird survey
- Installation of 6 wryneck nest boxes
Installing a wryneck nest box
March 2022
- Continuing partridge counts
February 2022
- Continuing hare count
- Started partridge counts
- Visit of all plots in Nesselröden to discuss spring management of the flower plots
January 2022
- Started hare count
2021
December 2021
- Preparations of hare count
- Winter habitat mapping
October 2021
- Talk at Seminar organised by "Landesbund Vogelschutz Bayerne e.V.", online
August 2021
-
Release of German PARTRIDGE video on flower blocks
July 2021
- New Blog on thistles within conservation measures
June 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
- Corn crake and quail monitoring
- Research on breeding success and habitat use of skylarks, master thesis on demonstration site
May 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
- 11th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Corn crake and quail monitoring
- Research on breeding success and habitat use of skylarks, master thesis on demonstration site
April 2021
- Monitoring breeding birds
March 2021
- Partridge spring counts
- Inspection of all plots in Nesselröden
February 2021
- Partridge spring counts
- Winter habitat mapping at demo and reference sites
- Hare counts
January 2021
- Hare count
- Online presentation for 30 ecological farming students
2020
December 2020
- 10th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting, including Steering committee meeting (online)
- Writing the 7th progress report
- Online meeting with LPV Goettingen
- Preparations for hare count
September 2020
- Fieldwalk with Landcare Association ‘Uckermark Schorfheide’ and Landcare Association ‘Mittlere Oder’
June 2020
- Breeding bird survey
May 2020
- Master thesis on pollinating insects started
- Online partnership meeting
- Breeding bird survey
April 2020
- Start of breeding bird survey
- Start of new flower block measure in Nesselröden
March 2020
- Delivery of seed mix
- Spring count partridge finished
February 2020
- Hare count completed
- Winter habitat mapping completed
January 2020
- Hare count
- Participation on Workshop for Farmland Bird Experts
2019
December 2019
- Master thesis winter bird counts started
- Exhibition stand at Interreg conference Bremen
November 2019
- Talk on partridge symposium - Rottenburg
- Installation of feeders – hunter Nesselröden
- PARTRIDGE Partnership meeting
October 2019
- Field walk with biodiversity students
September 2019
- Autumn partridge count
- Meeting with Farmers to inspect the PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Talk on partridge conservation at the German wide hunting association day
July 2019
- Filming for documentary on partridge protection
June 2019
- Corncrake and quail playback count
- Field trip to Transylvania (Romania) – visit to potential project partners
- Breeding bird survey concluded
May 2019
- Partnership Meeting in Zeeland
- Breeding bird survey
April 2019
- Attending small game symposium Mainz
- Breeding bird survey
- Installation of field signs
March 2019
- Partridge spring count concluded
February 2019
- Meeting with the land tenant association to discuss hedgerow management
- Partridge spring count
- Winter habitat mapping
- Hare count
January 2019
- Hare count with volunteers
- Winter habitat mapping
- Partridge spring count
2018
December 2018
- Project visit by Péter Pál Hajas (Hungary) and Werner Kuhn (Lebensraum Feldflur)
- Winter bird count with volunteers
November 2018
- Conduction of in depth interviews with stakeholders for socio-economic research
- Winter bird monitoring
- partnership meeting in Bruges
October 2018
- Start of winter feeding by local hunters
- Conduction of in depth interviews with stakeholders for socio-economic research
June 2018
- Breeding bird monitoring concluded
May 2018
- Sowing of PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Breeding bird monitoring continued
April 2018
- Sowing of PARTRIDGE flower blocks
- Breeding bird monitoring started
March 2018
- Winter partridge count with volunteers by playback method completed
- Habitat mapping completed
February 2018
- Hare count completed
- Winter partridge count with volunteers by playback method
- Conducting of habitat mapping
January 2018
- Hare count
- Winter partridge count by playback
- Feeders for additional winter food with the support of local hunters installed
- Conducting of habitat mapping
2017
December 2017
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Preparations for hare count and habitat mapping
- Field walk with local hunters and farmers in Nesselröden
November 2017
- Project team meeting in Loddington, United Kingdom
- Ongoing negotiations with farmers
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Preparations for hare count and habitat mapping
October 2017
- Preparations for winter feeding with local hunters
- Ongoing negotiations with farmers
September 2017
- Negotiations with farmers continue
August 2017
- First contracts with farmers for flower blocks concluded
- Flower blocks from spring 2017 turned out to be successful
July 2017
- Habitat mapping finished
- Breeding bird surveys finished
June 2017
- Breeding bird surveys
May 2017
- Start of breeding bird surveys
April 2017
- First two flower blocks established by local farmer
March 2017
- Grey partridge transect counts (inside and outside of PARTRIDGE project area) with volunteers, farmers and university staff
- Hare counts with volunteers and University staff
February 2017
- Meeting with local famers and hunters to introduce the PARTRIDGE Project
- Grey partridge transect counts (inside and outside of PARTRIDGE project area) with volunteers, farmers and university staff
- Hare counts with volunteers and university staff
January 2017
- Hare counts
Netherlands
Burgh-Sluis Demonstration Site
2023
July 2023
- Wrapping up final progress reports
- Preparing blogs and articles on our results
- Article inhouse magazine Het Zeeuwse Landschap summer edition
- Completing administrative and financial reports
June 2023
- Wrapping up final progress reports
- Farmwalk
- Preparing blogs and articles on our results
- Monitoring breeding birds
Farmwalk in the Burghsluis region (Photo: Suzanne van de Straat)
May 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Farmwalk during National Birdweek
- Final PARTRIDGE Conference in Brussels.
- Monitoring breeding birds
April 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Monitoring breeding birds
March 2023
- Monitoring grey partridges (last rounds)
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Management of spring flower blocks
Goldfinch feasting on wild teasel in the Burghsluis region (Photo: Suzanne van de Straat)
February 2023
- Monitoring of mammels (hare last counts)
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Monitoring grey partridges
Female Hen Harrier in one of the flower blocks in the Burghsluis region (Photo: Merijn Loeve)
January 2023
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts)
- Monitoring grey partridges
- Meeting about verge management Burghsluis for 2023 mowing pilot
- Meeting and farm walk with the monitoring volunteers for the partridge monitoring project
Farm walk for monitoring volunteers in the Burghsluis demo area (Photo Naomi Oostinga)
- Winter counts of partridges
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Live interview (January 3, 2023, at 17:15 hrs) on regional radio (Omroep Zeeland) on the results of six years PARTRIDGE project (no online link available)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
- News item on website BirdLife Nl and on website Nature Today, Results of six years PARTRIDGE Project: Zes jaar beschermingswerk aan de patrijs | Vogelbescherming
2022
December 2022
- Winterbird point counts
- News item on national radio referring to the PARTRIDGE project (see: Patrijzen in rijp | Zelf Geschoten - Vroege Vogels - BNNVARA)
- Meeting with the farmers- sharing results and experiences
November 2022
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Winterbird point counts
- Solving issues on measures with issues
October 2022
- Blog on plant species richness in Burghsluis for our NSR Interreg project website: Plant Species Richness in Burghsluis: a virtual plant tour
September 2022
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Second training day of the BirdLife NL training course for field coordinators
- Farmwalk Oosterscheldeweek 8th september
August 2022
- Monthly online partnership meeting NL
- Skylark research
- Farmwalk IVN zomerweek 4th August
- Storymap Burghsluis went live
The habitat map as part of the story map for the Burghsluis demosite
July 2022
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Skylark research in demosite
Putting a small transmitter on a skylark to trace its nesting and foraging behaviour in the demo area (photo: Suzanne van de Straat)
- Data input habitat mapping
- HZL public daytime excursion25th July
- Farmwalk IVN zomerweek 31st July
June 2022
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Skylark research
- Habitat mapping
- Arable flora monitoring
- Finishing the 10th Project progress report.
- DIOPSIS camera set-up - insect monitoring research
- Adapted mowing management nest protection skylark
- Grey partridge specialist meeting
Grey partridge nest close to a golf course
- Finding of a grey partridge nest near a golf course, with a golf ball in the nest. This led to a huge amount of publicity in local, regional and national newspapers, their websites and even on the Dutch national radio and TV!
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- HZL public evening excursion
- PARTRIDGE partnership study trip to Denmark, visit to our Danish partner the Danish Hunters Association and some of their project
Partnership visiting farmland wildlife conservation projects in Denmark
May 2022
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Working on the progress report
- 13th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting, including visits to the demo sites om Ramskapelle (B), Assenede (B), Burghsluis (NL) and Oude Doorn (NL)
The partnership visit to the Burghsluis demosite (photo: Frans van Alebeek)
- Public excursion as part of the BirdLife’s national week of birds
- Project request for extended breeding/winter bird- monitoring in demosite granted ‘’Verfijning maatregelen akkervogels"
- Provincial leasing meeting in favour of PARTRIDGE demosite
April 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- First rounds breeding bird monitoring
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower block
- Breeding bird monitoring
Grey partridge pair in Burghsluis (photo: Naomi Oostinga)
- Private excursion for the new director of HZL, head of department Projects and programs (HZL) and organic goat farmers from Noord-Beveland
- Requested excursion for National Park Oosterschelde
Farmwalk for employees and volunteers of National Park Oosterscheldge
March 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Monitoring mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Spring counts of partridge (audio playback)
- Discussing new management plans with farmers inside the demo site area
- Field visit with project partners to discuss management practices and improvements in the demosite area
- Blogpost about volunteers on the website of the PARTRIDGE Interreg North Sea Region (see press releases)
A beetle bank in the Burghsluis demo site (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
February 2022
- Winterbird monitoring (point counts)
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Partridge audio-playback monitoring
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Data input of habitat mapping
- Management of feeders (filling and relocating)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
- Video for Stichting EIS about the use of DIOPSIS camera’s in Demosite
A message from our local demo site manager Suzanne (for our PARTRIDGE Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts)
January 2022
- Meeting with volunteers to start the new season
- Monitoring of winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts)
- Interview - Suzanne with Vogelbescherming
Mammals monitoring (hare counts) in the evening with strong lamps
2021
December 2021
- Winter bird monitoring (point counts)
- 12th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Article in HZL inhouse magazine
A screenshot of some of the participants of our 12th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting
November 2021
- Article in BirdLife NL's member magazine "Vogels", on how to observe partridges in the PARTRIDGE demo site Burgsluis.
- Winter bird monitoring (point counts)
- Field visit with project partners of Brabant to discuss management practices and improvements in the demosite area
A flock of finches feeding on our flower mix (Photo: Naaomi Oostinga)
October 2021
- Blog on the BirdLife NL website about the uptake of the PARTRIDGE approach and measures in new areas.
- Winning photo from our demo site in the ZLTO competition on agri-environmental management.
Competition winner (Photo: Jannie Timmer)
September 2021
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farmers cluster field meeting
- Evaluation with the new volunteers
- Excursion for province Zeeland and PWT Noord Holland
Visit from province Zeeland and PWT Noord Holland
August 2021
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Field visits: checking the development of the flowerblocks
July 2021
- Habitat mapping
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Research on skylark foraging behavior in strip cropping
June 2021
- Start of research on skylark foraging behavior in strip cropping
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies).
- Field visits: checking the development of the flowerblocks
- Habitat mapping
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Working on 8th progress report
- Updating the Interreg website with text and pictures
Three pairs of partridges observed during breeding bird suveys in the Burgh-Sluis demo site (Photo: Suzanne van der Straat)
May 2021
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Monthly online Dutch partner meeting
- 11th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Article in regional newspaper on the installation of a new beetle bank (following PARTRIDGE instructions) outside our demo site region
- News item for the regional radio and TV channel, on the use of drones for the detection of partridge nesting sites
April 2021
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Webinar for volunteers and farmers about the protection of meadow birds
- Presentation about the Partridge project to 300 farmers of the collective of Poldernatuur Zeeland
Lapwing nest in a stubble field in demo site Burgh-Sluis (Photo Jimmy Pijcke)
- First rounds breeding Bird monitoring
- Snow and severe night-frost in the breeding season!
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower blocks
- Article in regional newspaper on the PARTRIDGE online survey
March 2021
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Monitoring mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
Roe deer resting in a stubble field in demo site Burgh-Sluis (Photo Naomi Oostinga)
- Partridge Spring counts (audio playback)
- Discussing new management plans with farmers inside the demo site area
- Article on the BirdLife NL website on the PARTRIDGE online survey concerning agri-environmental schemes (AES)
- Article on the agricultural news site Nieuwe Oogst on the PARTRIDGE online survey (including the project video, in Dutch)
- Start with the protection of meadow birds in the demosite
Focus areas for meadow bird protection in Burghsluis
February 2021
- Winterbird monitoring (point counts)
- Monitoring partridge audio-playback
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Monitoring mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Data input of habitat mapping
- Reviewing management plans for farmers in the demo site area
- Article on the BirdLife NL website on winter survival of partridges
- Article on website of one of the Dutch hunters associations (NOJG) on the PARTRIDGE online survey concerning agr-environmental schemes
January 2021
- Monitoring mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Partridge winter counts
- Monitoring winter birds (point counts)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference sites
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Updating the Interreg website with text and pictures
- Tour with new volunteers through the area
- On-site meeting to instruct new volunteers that will assist in the PARTRIDGE monitoring in the Burgh-Sluis demo site
Welcome and starting kit for new PARTRIDGE volunteers in Burgh-Sluis (Photo: Naomi Oostinga)
- Article in regional newspaper on how the project inspires other farmers to also engage in creating more habitats for partridges and other farmland wildlife (in Dutch)
2020
December 2020
- 10th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- 7Th Meeting (online) of the PARTRIDGE Steering Committee
- Working on the 7th progress report for Interreg
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring winter birds & mammals
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
Winter bird counts (Photo: Suzanne van der Straat)
Winter bird counts (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
November 2020
- Preparing winter counts for partridges and hares
- Adjusting winter feeding bins together with hunters
- Monitoring winter feeding
- Visit of BirdLife NL (Dutch coördinator) to the demo site region, meetings with Stichting Landschapsbeheer Zeeland, Het Zeeuws Landschap, Provincie Zeeland, Collectief Poldernatuur Zeeland en Ecologisch adviesbureau Wieland.
- Radio interview for the Regional Radio Station SLZ, to recruit volunteers to assist in monitoring the PARTRIDGE demo area: https://omroepzeeland.bbvms.com/view/regiogrid/4022036.html
- Also see: https://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/123984/Boer-Remijn-is-best-blij-met-de-patrijs-op-zijn-land .
- Article in regional newspaper on the establishment of new beetle banks in the province of Zeeland: https://www.de-bevelander.nl/nieuws/algemeen/1023773/eerste-keverbank-aangelegd-in-arnemuiden
Monitoring of mammals and winter bird (Photo: Suzanne van der Straat)
Installing new beetle banks in the Province of Zeeland (Photo: Jimmy Pijcke)
- Another article in regional newspaper to recruit farmers to engage in partridge protection: https://www.stal-en-akker.nl/artikel/373333-boeren-helpen-patrijzen-en-bijen-op-tholen/
- 1st monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting, monitoring update
- NSR Interreg Photo competition outcome: PARTRIDGE photo wins first prize in category “A Greener North Sea Region”
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Meeting (online) with 6 new volunteers that will assist in the PARTRIDGE monitoring in the Burgh-Sluis demo site
October 2020
- Presentation about the PARTRDIGE and strip-cropping at a meeting on biodiversity and agriculture in Zeeland, with links on how it would fit in within the European Green Deal
- Article in regional newspaper on the project: https://www.pzc.nl/tholen/wie-helpt-de-bijen-en-patrijzen-op-tholen~aba9205a/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- Discussing habitat management with farmers in demo area
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
September 2020
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Thematic online partnership meeting about habitat management
- Monthly online project meeting
- Online habitat management meeting with project partners
Monitoring partridge coveys for brood success (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
August 2020
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies) with lots of caterpillars of the peacock and small tortoiseshell butterfly found on the beetle banks in the demo area.
- Evaluation of habitat measures and management of weed problems in the wildflower blocks
- Regional partner meeting (HZL and SLZ)
July 2020
- Habitat mapping
- Insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
June 2020
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies), encountering the red listed leaf-cutter bee Megachile circumcincta on a beetle bank in the demo area.
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Habitat mapping
- Working on the 6th progress report
- Discussing weed problems with farmers and adjusting the management plan
May 2020
- Breeding bird monitoring
- 9th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies), encountering two red listed bee species in the demo area: the sand bee Andrena labialis and the specialised cuckoo-bee species Nomada stigma.
- 7Th Meeting (online) of the PARTRIDGE Steering Committee
- Regional partner meeting (HZL and SLZ)
- Habitat mapping
- Working on the 6th progress report
April 2020
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Teams online Dutch partner meeting, discussing project progression
- Breeding bird monitoring started
- Earthworm sampling
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower block
- Setting up WhatsApp group with farmers in demo area
March 2020
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
February 2020
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Visiting farmers to discuss management flower blocks for 2020
January 2020
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Visiting farmers to discuss management flower blocks for 2020
- Farmer cluster meeting
- The New York Times mentions the PARTRIDGE project in a recent article
- Presentation of PARTRIDGE-project for agricultural organization ANV Milieucoorperatie Zak van Zuid Beveland
2019
December 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Visiting farmers to discuss management flower blocks for 2020
November 2019
- Preparing winter counts of partridges and hares
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farmers consultation in the field
- Monitoring winter feeding bins
- Partnership meeting in Göttingen (D), discussing project progress and plans
- National grey partridge symposium in the Netherlands
- Dutch national radio interview about the national symposium on grey patridges
October 2019
- PARTRIDGE NL Partner Meeting on progress, the project extension and working plans
- Farm walk for agricultural organization ANV Groene Oogst
- Farm walk for birdwatcher groups in Zeeland
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
September 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Field inspection of habitat measures quality, farm visits
August 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Field inspection of habitat measures quality, farm visits
- Farm walk for the general public
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
July 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Article about the PARTRIDGE project in the magazine of the Dutch Hunters Association
- Finishing the 4th progress report for Interreg
- Demosite Burgh-Sluis participates in a national pilot project to monitor insect densities in agricultural fields and natural habitats
June 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- PARTRIDGE study trip to Romenia
- PARTRIDGE project extension approved by Interreg
May 2019
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- PARTRIDGE International Partnership Meeting in Wilhelminadorp (NL)
- Farm walk with the National Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Minister of Agriculture to the Burgh-Sluis demo site
April 2019
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- PARTRIDGE NL Partner Meeting on progress, the project extension and working plans
- Farm walk and Open Farm for the general public by one of the farmers in Burgh-Sluis, with over 300 visitors
- Skype meeting
- Discussion on insect monitoring in the demo area
March 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
February 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- PARTRIDGE Presentation for the Dutch provincial ecologists and policy officers
- Preparation of plans and budgets for project extension
January 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
2018
December 2018
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
November 2018
- Preparing winter counts of partridges and hares
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring and winter feeding
- PARTRIDGE Partnership Meeting, Ramskappelle (B)
- Dutch PARTRIDGE Launch Event in Burgh-Sluis 2019-11-21
- Heart-warming major Dutch PARTRIDGE event in a cold barn
October 2018
- Farm walks in demo area for members of VBN
- National Launch Event PARTRIDGE in the Netherlands
September 2018
- Farm walk for the general public
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Stakeholder interviews for socio-economic research
- Farm walk for professional ecologists form the largest Dutch Nature Organisation
August 2018
- Farm walk for the general public
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Stakeholder interviews for socio-economic research
- Field inspection of habitat measures quality, farm visits
- Farm walk 'Boeren voor Akkervogels' for the general public and residents
July 2018
- Farm walk for the general public
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Excursion and presentatie Natuurmonumenten Jong
- Stakeholder interviews for socio-economic research
- Finishing the 2nd full progress report for Interreg
June 2018
- PARTRIDGE excursion to Switzerland, visit to the Swiss Ornithological Institute
- Farm walk for the general public
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Excursion Soortenwerkgroep provincie Zeeland
- Excursion Raad van Advies HZL
May 2018
- Placement in the demo area of PARTRIDGE field signs and information panels
- Newspaper article on PARTRIDGE demo area
- Newsletter for inhabitants of the demo area
- Skype meeting on earthworm monitoring protocol
- Meeting for all participants and residents in the demo area (32 people)
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Presentation and excursion Zeeuwse Milieu Federatie
April 2018
- Open Farm day for general public on one of the PARTRIDGE farms (200 visitors)
- Press Release
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Website news item, invitation for PARTRIDGE information evening (May 8)
- Press Release
March 2018
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- OMS reporting meeting for Dutch partners, Giessen (6 people)
- Presentation on PARTRIDGE for Farmers Collective Groene Oogst
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Dutch National Television item on PARTRIDGE project (> 550,000 viewers)
- Website news item about television broadcast
- Participation in the VLM workshop on interviewing for the socio-economic WP
- Presentation and excursion Interreg Grenspark Groot Saeftinghe
- Presentation Jaarvergadering VELT zeeland
February 2018
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Presentation on PARTRIDGE for farmers during AES meeting (80 people)
- Video filming of PARTRIDGE projects for Dutch TV
January 2018
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Farmer cluster meeting
- Meeting for all participants and residents in the demo area
- Hunters evening
2017
December 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Province of Nrd Brabant Symposium Biodiversity
- Poster presentation of the PARTRIDGE project
- Excursion and discussion for Scientific Advisory Committy HZL
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Discussion 'how further after PARTRIDGE' with province of Zeeland
November 2017
- Volunteers assist in habitat management (e.g. trimming of hedges) in PARTRIDGE demo areas during national nature management day
- Project team meeting in Loddington, United Kingdom
- First Progress Report & Financial Report uploaded to Intereg
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Partnership farm walk at Loddington demo site
- International Farmers Cluster Visit to Hope Farm (RSPB)
- Discussing additional habitat measurements and additional contracting for 2018 with participating farmers in demo areas
- Farm walk and presentation for Natuurmonumenten (7 pers)
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
October 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farm walk for employees HZL
- Visit and excursion to beetle banks with Flemisch farmers (20 pers.)
- Dutch participants in Symposium on farmland birds, Leuven, Belgium
- Dutch project meeting on reporting in OMS (6 pers)
September 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Visit to project area by all employees and board of St. Landschapsbeheer Zeeland
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farm walk for general public and residents
- Meeting with Water Board on habitat management (dykes and shrubs)
August 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Visit of project leader to demo area to discuss management of newly established beetle banks with two local farmers and local project managers
July 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Meeting with members of the Waterboard, about vegetation management
- Habitat and vegetation mapping of summer situation
June 2017
- Project excursion with farmers and villagers
- Monitoring of breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
- Official 'kick-off' of the Dutch part of the PARTRIDGE project, with two field meetings in the two project regions for local and regional stakeholders, plus field excursion
- Public meeting for all households in the demo area
- Excursion in Demo area for farmers collective Goes
- Excursion in Demo area for 'Statenfractie Groen Links Zeeland'
- Excursion in Demo area for the Rotary club 'Lions Goes'
- Farm walk for Coordinators farmland birds conservation
- Farm walk for Farmers Collective Goes
- Order of 1000 Partridge pins, to be distributed among the Dutch volunteers, farmers and other stakeholders in the project
- Monitoring insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes (weekly)
- Monitoring breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
May 2017
- Project excursion with farmers and villagers
- Farmland bird excursion
- Monitoring of breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
- Presentation and discussion with farmers collective Zeeland about following Burgh-Sluis example
- Contracting farmers in the two demo-areas for PARTRIDGE on the measures they will realize
April 2017
- Project excursion with farmers and villagers
- Farmland bird surveys start
- Establishment of first Dutch beetle banks
- Establishment of first PARTRIDGE wild flower mixes
- Contracts with farmers in the two demo-areas for PARTRIDGE on the measures they will realize
- Ordering of seed mixtures
- Farm walk for general public in Burghsluis
February 2017
- Meeting with the regional Water Board
- Visit to participating farmers
- Hare counts
- Winter bird counts
- Meeting with local farmers and villagers including project presentation
Oude Doorn Demonstration Site
2023
July 2023
- Wrapping up final progress reports
- Preparing blogs and articles on our results
- Completing administrative and financial reports
June 2023
- Wrapping up final progress reports
- Preparing blogs and articles on our results
May 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
- Final PARTRIDGE Conference in Brussels.
April 2023
- Management of spring flower blocks
March 2023
- Monitoring grey partridges (last rounds)
- Management of spring flower blocks
February 2023
A male Grey Partridge, responding very aggressive towards the sound play during our partridge monitoring survey in January 2023 (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Monitoring hares (last counts)
- Monitoring grey partridges
- Outreach on social media with a short story of a very aggressive male Grey Partridge observed during the monitoring in Oude Doorn (https://twitter.com/jsloothaak/status/1621075460552822787?s=20&t=PgU9q6NLKit3R98PFbVBNA)
January 2023
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) for the last time in the official project period
For the last time in the project, the hare count - a family affair (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Winter counts of partridges
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
- News item on website BirdLife Nl and on website Nature Today, Results of six years PARTRIDGE Project: Zes jaar beschermingswerk aan de patrijs | Vogelbescherming
Habitat mapping in the Oude Doorn site (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
2022
December 2022
- Winterbird point counts
- News item on national radio referring to the PARTRIDGE project (Patrijzen in rijp | Zelf Geschoten - Vroege Vogels - BNNVARA)
November 2022
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Local municipality adopts nature-inclusive requirements for their agricultural tenancy (Patrijs profiteert van maatregelen Altena - Duurzame Gronduitgifte - Duurzame Gronduitgifte (in Dutch)
- Winterbird point counts
October 2022
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Winterbird point counts
- Third training day of the BirdLife NL training course for field coordinators
- 14th Partner Meeting Edinburgh
- Article in regional newspaper on project results
- Critical article about the project on website Foodlog
September 2022
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Second training days for the BirdLife NL training course for field co-ordinators
- 6 years of PARTRIDGE - presentation for involved volunteers and farmers (30 September)
August 2022
- Monthly online partnership meeting NL
- Last monitoring round of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
July 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Farm walk with Flemish PARTRIDGE participating farmers adn volunteers in the Oude Doorn demo site
Visit of Flemish PARTRIDGE participating farmers and volunteers to Oude Doorn
June 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Breeding bird monitoring
A well-deserved breakfast after another round of the breeding bird survey
- Habitat mapping
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Insect monitoring in the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Grasshopper warbler (Locustella naevia) territory in a flower block in the demo site
- Finishing the 10th project progress report
- PARTRIDGE partnership study trip to Denmark, visit to our Danish partner the Danish Hunters Association and some of their projects
Visit to our partner, Danmarks Jaegerforbundet
- Presentation in the first training day of the BirdLife NL training course for field coordinators
Two proud teachers in the training course for field co-ordinators
May 2022
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Working on the progress report
- Webinar PARTRIDGE about habitat measures for Dutch KNJV young hunters association
- 13th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting, including visits to the demo sites om Ramskapelle (B), Assenede (B), Burghsluis (NL) and Oude Doorn (NL)
The partnership visit to the Oude Doorn demosite as part of the 13th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting
- Fieldwork and interviews of participating farmers by students from the Agricultural College (HAS ‘s Hertogenbosch)
April 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- First rounds breeding bird monitoring
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower block
- Excursion for members of Brabants Landschap for 90-year jubilee
- Field Visit World Benchmarking NGO
A sample of quotes on our project from participating farmers in our demo sites in five countries (Design: Francis Buner)
March 2022
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Winter feeding bins
- Spring counts of partridge (audio playback)
- Field visit with project partners to discuss management practices and improvements in the demo site area
February 2022
- Partridge audio-playback monitoring
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Data input of habitat mapping
- Yearly meeting of all farmland bird conservation volunteers in the Province of Brabant
- Winterbird monitoring (point counts)
Coffee break during the winter bird monitoring (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
January 2022
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts)
- News item on Dutch National Radio on the hare counts in the Oude Doorn demo site
- Monitoring of winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
Detailed habitat mapping, an ongoing and precise effort! (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Short video of one of the volunteers assisting in radio-tracking partridge
2021
December 2021
- The new director of BirdLife NL, Mr. Floris van Hest, visited the Oude Doorn demosite
- Videoing the project for the News Years reception of Brabants Landschap
- Our 12th Partnership Meeting (unfortunately, again, online)
- Maintenance of feeders
- Winter bird counts
Enjoying a drink together, after 3-day long discussions during our 12th PARTRIDGE partnership bi-annual meeting (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
November 2021
- Hedge management demonstration event with volunteers in the demo site and with the Dutch Expert Group on Agricultural Landscape Conservation
Visit of the Dutch Expert Group on Agricultural Landscape Conservation, participating in a hedge management workshop (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Installation of winter feeders
- Hedge planting events in the demo area, as part of a national day for volunteers working in nature conservation, and with school classes
- Winter bird counts
October 2021
- Farmers cluster field meeting (management of hedges)
- Winterbird point counts
- Planting new shrubs and hedges
- Earthworm sampling with student
Students participating in earthworm sampling in Oude Doorn (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Planting new shrubs and hedges
- Blog on the BirdLife NL website about the uptake of the PARTRIDGE approach and measures in new areas
September 2021
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farm walk for project partners Brabant
- Presentation
- Creating new basic shape files for the Oude Doorn demosite and reference area Genderen, and updating the habitat mapping of the previous years in these files.
August 2021
- News item about breeding bird survey
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
July 2021
- Insect monitoring in the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Developing management plans for farmers with insect-rich grassland
- News item on the results of partridge counting
- Farm walk with field coordinators and board of regional farmers collective
- Farm walk for policy makers of our Minstry of Agriculture and the governmental control institute
June 2021
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Habitat mapping
- News item about delayed mowing
Teaching associate degree students in agronomics and ecology about partridge conservation (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Creating new basic shape files for the Oude Doorn demosite and reference area Genderen, and updating the habitat mapping of the previous years in these files.
- Radio-tracking of partridges in the demo site
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies).
- Insect monitoring in the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Working on 8th progress report
- Updating the Interreg website with text and pictures
- Press release about first partridge chicks
- Advising neighboring farmer collective about measure ‘Vogelakker’
Arable farmer Tjerk de Regt was interviewed about his management to protect partridges
May 2021
Breeding bird survey in Oude Doorn (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies)
- Fifth year insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Radio-tracking partridges in the demo site
- 11th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Working on the 8th progress report
- Press release about PARTRIDGE measures on estate
April 2021
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Radio-tracking of partridges in the demo site
- First rounds breeding bird monitoring
Snow and severe night-frost in April, in the breeding season! (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Earthworm sampling
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower block
March 2021
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Monitoring mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
Fitting a radio transmitter on a partridge for tracking in Oude Doorn (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Radio-tracking of partridges in the demo site
- Spring counts of partridge (audio playback)
- Article on the BirdLife NL website on the PARTRIDGE online survey concerning agri-environmental schemes (AES)
- Article on the agricultural news site Nieuwe Oogst on the PARTRIDGE online survey (including the project video, in Dutch)
- Discussing new management plans with farmers inside the demo site area
February 2021
- Winterbird monitoring (point counts)
- Partridge audio-playback monitoring
- Field visit of a candidate member of the Dutch National Parliament during the partridge audi monitoring, brief video report
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting
- Article on the BirdLife NL website on winter survival of partridges
Snow in the Oude Doorn demo site (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Article on website of one of the Dutch hunters associations (NOJG) on the PARTRIDGE online survey concerning agr-environmental schemes
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Data input of habitat mapping
- Developing new management plans for farmers inside the demo site are
- Management of feeders (filling and relocating)
January 2021
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) - observing 3 foxes and 4 coveys of partridges in one night
- Monitoring of winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges
- Winterbirds monitoring (point counts)
Winter habitat mapping in Oude Doorn (Photo Jochem Sloothaak)
- Habitat mapping of the demo and reference site
- Monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online international partner meeting,
- Updating the Interreg website with text and pictures
2020
December 2020
- 10th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- 7Th Meeting (online) of the PARTRIDGE Steering Committee
- Visiting participating farmers, to prolong the contracts for the project extension period
- Promotion of the PARTRIDGE approach at national symposium with the Dutch Minister of Agriculture
- Working on the 7th progress report for Interreg
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Camera trapping at feeding bins
- Monitoring winter birds and mammals
Winter bird counts (Photos: Jochem Sloothaak)
Seasons greetings and a present for volunteers and relations of the project (Photos: Jochem Sloothaak)
- Monthly online partner meeting
- National website Nature Today, interview with PARTRIDGE volunteer from the Brabant demo site on radiotracking and breeding bird monitoring: https://www.naturetoday.com/intl/nl/nature-reports/message/?msg=27026&utm_source
- Sending seasons greetings and a present to all volunteers and relations of the project
- Preparing winter counts of partridges and hares
November 2020
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Advising partridge projects in Twente
- Camera trapping at feeding bins
|
Installing feeding bins for supplementary winter feeding (Photos: Jochem Sloothaak) |
- Online presentation of student’s report on breeding bird monitoring in the Brabant demo and reference areas
- 1st monthly online NL partner meeting
- Monthly online partner meeting, monitoring update
- NSR Interreg Photo competition outcome: PARTRIDGE photo wins first prize in category “A Greener North Sea Region”
- Brabants Landschap newsitem: https://www.brabantslandschap.nl/ontdek-de-natuur/fotogalerij/fotos-nieuwsberichten/brabantse-inzending-wint-internationale-fotowedstrijd/
October 2020
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
September 2020
- Monthly online partner meeting
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
Monitoring partridge coveys for brood success (Photo: Jochem Sloothaak)
- First farmers cluster field meeting since the Covid-19 epidemic
- Farm walk for delegates of the Provincial government
- Presentation for the Brabants Landschap board
August 2020
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies), including lots of caterpillars of the peacock and small tortoiseshell butterfly on the beetle banks in the demo area
- Creating an online quiz about partridges
- Signing a new contract with a new farmer in demo site area
July 2020
- Habitat mapping
- Insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Developing management plans for farmers with insect-rich grassland
June 2020
- Breeding bird monitoring - first breeding records of the Marsh Harrier and Stonechat in the demo site
- Radio-tracking of partridges in the demo site
- Farm walk with delegates from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environmental affairs and the Dutch association of waterboards and Provinces discussing the future CAP, National Strategic Plan and how the PARTRIDGE approach could fit in.
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies), including hundreds of bumble bees that can be found in the habitat measures of the demo area.
- Insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Habitat mapping
- Production of a series of YouTube videos on habitat measures in the Oude Doorn demo site (in Dutch), June 2020.
- Working on 6th progress report
May 2020
- Breeding bird monitoring
- Monitoring of pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and hoverflies) and the reproduction of the swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon) in the wildflower blocks.
- Fourth year, insect monitoring of the beetle banks and wildflower blocks
- Radio-tracking of partridges in the demo site
- 9th PARTRIDGE partnership meeting (online)
- Working on the 6th progress report
- 7Th Meeting (online) of the PARTRIDGE Steering Committee
- Converting field data into shapefiles for INBO
- Shooting video’s for new movie
April 2020
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Teams online Dutch partner meeting, discussing project progression
- Earthworm sampling
- Radio-racking of partridges in the demo site
- Seedbed preparations for the new wildflower block
- Preparations of a new insect survey with the Dutch Butterfly Association, discussing the approach and determining transects
March 2020
- Teams online monthly partnership meeting
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Spring counts of partridges (audio playback)
- Monitoring of winter birds (point counts)
- Start radio-tracking of the 3 partridge species in the demo site
- Selecting photos for the Interreg photo competition
- Advising a large landowner (Landgoed de Hoevens) about the PARTRIDGE habitat measures
- Updating the Interreg website with text and pictures
- Developing new management plans for farmers inside the demo site area
February 2020
- Winterbird monitoring
- Partridge audio-playback monitoring
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
January 2020
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Habitat mapping of the demo site
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- The New York Times mentions the PARTRIDGE project in a recent article
2019
December 2019
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring winter birds & mammals
- November 2019
- Preparing winter counts of partridges and hares
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Partnership meeting in Göttingen (D), discussing project progress and plans
- Field visit with Dutch young birders magazine
- National grey partridge symposium in the Netherland
- Dutch national radio interview about the national symposium on grey patridges
October 2019
- PARTRIDGE NL Partner Meeting on progress, the project extension and working plans
- Article in regional newspaper on the PARTRIDGE project and radiotracking of partridges
- Sum up results of covey counting & earth worm sampling
- Talk at meeting Dutch Ecologists
September 2019
- Skype project meeting
- PARTRIDGE presentation for nature organization and farmers collective in the ‘Bollenstreek’ (Zuid-Holland) for their new partridge conservation project.
- Earthworm sampling in the habitat measures
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Field visit with regional press
August 2019
- Skype project meeting
- Field inspection of habitat measures quality, farm visits
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
July 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- PARTRIDGE inspires European politicians during a farm walk
- Article about the PARTRIDGE project in the magazine of the Dutch Hunters Association
- Finishing the 4th progress report for Interreg
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Insect surveys
- Insect sampling by GWCT
June 2019
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Insect surveys
- Farm walk for a general public
- PARTRIDGE study trip to Romenia
- PARTRIDGE project extension approved by Interreg
- Lecture and farm walk for students HAS Den Bosch
- Shooting for new project film
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
May 2019
- Skype meeting
- PARTRIDGE International Partnership Meeting in Wilhelminadorp (NL)
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Short TV item on PARTRIDGE in Noord-Brabant demo site
- Insect surveys
April 2019
- First rounds breeding Bird monitoring
- PARTRIDGE NL Partner Meeting on progress, the project extension and working plans
- Article about PARTRIDGE regio coordinator Jochem Sloothaak in member magazine of BirdLife NL
- Skype meeting
- Discussion on insect monitoring in the demo area
- Catching 3 partridges for radio-tracking
- Farm walk for the general public and members of Brabant Landschap
- Article in Dutch birding magazine on habitat use of partridges in Noord-Brabant
- Two talks (at meeting ‘Brabants Farmer Yought Association’ & at meeting local hunters association’
March 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Short Instruction video about Spring Monitoring of Partridges
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Meeting with Noord-Brabant regional stakeholders about The Dutch Initiative ‘Deltaplan Biodiversiteit’ to discuss options for a Living Lab on alternative financial arrangements.
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Preparation of plans and budgets for project extension
- Info-meeting about radio tracking partridges
- Farm walk and planting of a hedge with the Regional Waterboard (Dutch: Waterschap Rivierenland)
- Visit from Brussels – PARTRIDGE draws attention
February 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- First partridge audio-counts
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Second report of Insect Monitoring in PARTRIDGE habitat measures NL
- PARTRIDGE Presentation for the Dutch provincial ecologists and policy officers
- Give a workshop about partridge monitoring for Farmer Collectives in Utrecht
- Visit EU-parliament member Schreijer at demosite
- Giving a talk and a farm walk at regional meeting of Dutch birders (West-Brabant)
January 2019
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- PARTRIDGE Presentation for farmers collective in Flevoland
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Farmer cluster meeting
2018
December 2018
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- NSR PARTRIDGE project featured on Dutch national television
- Talk at meeting of local ‘rotary club’
November 2018
- Preparing winter counts of partridges and hares
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding
- Monitoring winter birds
- PARTRIDGE Partnership Meeting, Ramskappelle (B)
- Farm walk ‘religion & farming’
- Two talks (at symposium and farmer cluster meeting)
October 2018
September 2018
- Farm walk for general public and residents
- Farmwalk Landschapsbeheer Gelderland and Collectieven
- Farmwalk Danisch Hunters Association
- Presentation about PARTRIDGE at a High School
August 2018
- Field inspection of habitat measures quality, farm visits
- Farm walk "Boeren voor Akkervogels" for the general public and residents
- Stakeholder interviews for socio-economic research
- Meeting with Dutch local waterboard (Waterschap Rivierenland) about management of ditchsides
- Field visit with UK experts & coordinator
- Article in magazine of Dutch Association of Hunters Organisations, on the PARTRIDGBE project
- Article in magazine of Dutch Association of Hunters Organisations, on one of the farmers in the PARTRIDGE Oude Doorn demo site
July 2018
- News item on website VBN about spectacular increase of insects in beetle banks and flower blocks of PARTRIDGE
- News item on website Nature Today about spectacular increase of insects in beetle banks and flower blocks of PARTRIDGE
- News item (derived from VBN item of 023/07) on National news site, discussing success of PARTRIDGE and beetle banks
- Press excursion by VBN in Oude Doorn Demosite for Dutch national Television and Newspaper
- News item on Dutch National Television (NOS) on the increase of insects in PARTRIDGE beetle banks, prime time (18:00 & 20:00hrs)
- News item on Dutch National Radio on the increase of insects in PARTRIDGE beetle banks (Vroege Vogels, 8min long item)
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- PARTRIDGE farm walk for the general public
- Stakeholder interviews for socio-economic research
June 2018
- PARTRIDGE excursion to Switzerland, visit to the Swiss Ornithological Institute
- Official presentation of PARTRIDGE field signs by Regional Official
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Breeding Bird monitoring
- Farm walk for hunters associations in demo area
May 2018
- Placement in the demo area of PARTRIDGE field signs and information panels
- YouTube video of PARTRIDGE activities
- Skype meeting on earthworm monitoring protocol
- Website news item, invitation for PARTRIDGE farm walk (July 13)
- YouTube video of PARTRIDGE activities
- Information meeting on foxes and predation
- Breeding Bird monitoring
April 2018
- 2nd year of breeding bird monitoring started
- 2nd year of insect monitoring started
- Earthworm sampling
- Press Release
- Monitoring of the use of sand beds in demo area
- Press Release
March 2018
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Workshop at national meeting for collectives
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Radio Recordings of PARTRIDGE winter counts
- OMS reporting meeting for Dutch partners, Giessen (6 people)
- Presentation on PARTRIDGE during Provincial Meeting on Farmland Bird Protection (300 people)
- Provincial award for PARTRIDGE farmer Rens Kolff
- News item on website Dutch National Radio (Vroege Vogels)
- 2 workshops on PARTRIDGE approach in Annual Meeting of Framers Organisation (38 people)
- Article in local newspaper on award for PARTRIDGE farmer Kolff
- Information meeting on PARTRIDGE for Women's organisation (38 people)
- Farm walk "Rondom de Dussen" (22 people)
- 2nd article in local newspaper on award for PARTRIDGE farmer Kolff
- Tweet on radio item about the PARTRIDGE winter counts
- Dutch National Radio (Vroege Vogels) about PARTRIDGE winter counts (500,000 listeners)
- Farm walk for farmers, hunters and regional officials of Limburg (30 people)
- Construction of sand beds for partridges in demo area
- Participation in the VLM workshop on interviewing for the socio-economic WP
February 2018
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Presentation about Beetlebanks (to 13 people)
- Presentation on PARTRIDGE for Farmers Collective Raamvallei (to 21 people)
January 2018
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
- Winter counts of partridges and overwintering farmland birds
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Facebook item on winterfeeding PARTRIDGE
- Press release
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Farm walk for the general public (25 people)
- Website news item about farm walk
2017
December 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Province of Nrd Brabant Symposium Biodiversity
- Poster presentation of the PARTRIDGE project
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
November 2017
- Volunteers assist in habitat management (e.g. trimming of hedges) in PARTRIDGE demo areas during national nature management day
- Project team meeting in Loddington, United Kingdom
- First Progress Report & Financial Report uploaded to Intereg
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Article in newspaper on the planting of hedges (in Dutch)
- Article in newspaper on hedges as habitat for partridges (Brabants Dagblad, in Dutch)
- Information meeting for volunteers for monitoring of mammals and winterfeeding in Partridge demo area
- Article in newspaper on the planting of hedges (in Dutch)
- Volonteers assist in habitat management (e.g. trimming of hedges) in PARTRIDGE demo areas during national nature management day
- Partnership farm walk at Loddington demo site
- International Farmers Cluster Visit to Hope Farm (RSPB)
- Discussing additional habitat measurements and additional contracting for 2018 with participating farmers in demo areas
- Farm walk and presentation for Natuurmonumenten (7 pers)
- Monitoring of mammals (hare counts) and winter feeding bins
October 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring partridge coveys for clutch size and brood success
- Farm walk for Village Board of Almkerk (55 pers)
- Visit and excursion to beetle banks with Flemisch farmers (20 pers.)
- Dutch participants in Symposium on farmland birds, Leuven, Belgium
- Dutch project meeting on reporting in OMS (6 pers)
- News item on beetle banks on website of TV canal 'Vroege Vogels" (in Dutch)
- Preparation of monitoring mammals and of winter feeding bins
September 2017
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Monitoring of partridge clutches (breeding success)
- Farm walk for students of HAS Den Bosch (10 pers)
August 2017
- Visit of Dutch delegation to Belgian farm walk in Isabellapolder
- Monitoring insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes (weekly)
- Monitoring of partridge clutches (breeding success)
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
July 2017
- Monitoring of insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes (weekly)
- Farm walk for general public
- Skype project meeting, monthly progress reports
- Meeting with members of the Waterboard, about vegetation management
- Habitat and vegetation mapping of summer situation
- Monitoring of patridge clutches (breeding success)
- Contracting farmers for habitat improvement (mainly flower blocks)
June 2017
- Field walk for colleages from Brabants Landschap
- Presentation about PARTRIDGE project and visit to demonstartion site with the Member Council and Supervisory Board of Birdlife Netherlands
- Monitoring of insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes (weekly)
- Monitoring of breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
- Official 'kick-off' of the Dutch part of the PARTRIDGE project, with two field meetings in the two project regions for local and regional stakeholders, plus field excursion
- Farm walk for colleagues from Brabants Landschap
- Presentation of PARTRIDGE project for and visit to demonstration site with the Member Council and Supervisory Board of Birdlife Netherlands
- Presentation of PARTRIDGE project in VBN for Team Conservation
- Order of 1000 Partridge pins, to be distributed among the Dutch volunteers, farmers and other stakeholders in the project
- Monitoring insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes (weekly)
- Monitoring breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
- "Thank you-breakfast" in the field for volunteers bird monitoring
May 2017
- Letter sent to Brabant participants with results of hare monitoring
- Monitoring breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
- Contracting farmers in the two demo-areas for PARTRIDGE on the measures they will realize
- Drilling seed mixes for flower blocks
- Evening presentation for farmers in a neighbouring municipality to explain the project
April 2017
- Meeting with local wildlife protection charity to discuss PARTRIDGE project
- Farmland bird surveys started
- Establishment of first Dutch beetle banks
- Establishment of first PARTRIDGE wild flower mixes
- Visit of Mr Hogan, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Affairs
- Contracts with farmers in the two demo-areas for PARTRIDGE on the measures they will realize
- Meeting for volunteers and residents discussing PARTRIDGE progress
- Start of student research, sampling of insect densities in beetle banks and other biotopes
- Letter to residents in the Brabant region on insect sampling activities
- GIS-mapping of February conditions at the demo site and reference site
- Monitoring of breeding farmland birds in project regions (several rounds)
February 2017
Hare count volunteers
- Meeting with local farmers to discuss habitat improvements
- Meeting with local farmers and volunteers to discuss PARTRIDGE project
- Additional winter cover for grey partridges installed using recycled Christmas trees (shown below):
January 2017
- New winter feeders installed in line with GWCT winter feeding guidelines. First grey partridges recorded using camera traps on 3.1.2017 (shown below):
UK
The Allerton Project
2022
April 2022
- Start of breeding songbird count
March 2022
- Partridge call-back transect counts
- Design of improved PARTRIDGE wildbirdseed mix for heavy soil at Loddington together with Kings
February 2022
- Hare monitoring (transect counts)
January 2022
- Continue hare monitoring (point counts)
2021
December 2021
- Start of hare monitoring (point counts)
September 2021
- New wild bird mixes and wild flower mixes sown for the new AES agreement
August 2021
Crop plots established for the PARTRIDGE project with associated nesting cover and wider landscape
July 2021
- Habitat field observations carried out at Loddington and reference sites
- Categorised field and field boundary habitats of both sites to produce maps
- Started game counts
- Farm tour with the National Farmers Union (NFU) Young Ambassadors
Visit from the NFU Young Ambassadors
June 2021
- Carrying on with songbird counts
May 2021
- Started songbird counts
April 2021
- Carrying on with partridge spring counts
March 2021
- Starting partridge spring counts
February 2021
- Finishing winter hare counts
- Started partridge spring tape lure counts
January 2021
- Carrying on with hare counts
- Starting partridge transect call-counts
2020
November 2020
- Starting winter hare counts
September 2020
- Starting partridge autumn counts
August 2020
Interreg Mix 31 acres (Photo by Phil Jarvis)
July 2020
Interreg mix Collie Bottom (Photo by Phil Jarvis)
June 2020
- Finishing summer breeding bird counts
May 2020
- Re-sowing of PARTRIDGE mixes
Sowing the Interreg mixes (Photo by Phil Jarvis)
- Carrying on with summer breeding bird counts
April 2019
- Starting summer breeding bird counts
February 2020
- Carrying on with hare counts
- Starting partridge transect call-counts
January 2020
- Starting winter hare counts
2019
June 2019
- Finishing summer breeding bird counts
April 2019
- Starting summer breeding bird counts
February 2019
- Carrying out hare counts
- Carrying out partridge transect call-counts
- Secretary of State Michael Gove visits Loddington
January 2019
- Starting winter hare counts
2018
June 2018
- Finishing summer breeding bird counts
May 2018
- Re-sowing of PARTRIDGE mixes
- Starting summer breeding bird counts
April 2018
- Carrying spring game counts
- Habitat creation and management (topping for next establishment)
March 2018
- Finishing hare counts
- Starting grey partridge counts
- Habitat creation (hedge laying) and management
February 2018
- Planning habitat creation and management
- Preparing for hare and grey partridge counts
- Carrying out hare counts
2017
November 2017
June 2017
April 2017
- Preparing for songbird count
- Farmland bird surveys start
- Habitat creation and management
March 2017
- Hare countsGrey partridge counts
- Planning habitat creation and management
February 2017
- Discussions with farmers in the comparison site
- Project meeting with staff
- Planning habitat creation and management
- Preparing for hare and grey partridge counts
- Hare counts
Rotherfield Demonstration Site
2023
March 2023
- Grey partridge conservation management farm walk for Manhood Peninsular Farmer Cluster Group
Farm walk with the Manhood Peninsular Farmer Cluster Group
February 2023
- Final hare and partridge counts
Mr Partridge saying "Goodbye" to the Project monitors
January 2023
- Final hare counts
Beth trying to blend in whilst counting
2022
November 2022
- Winter habitat survey
Flower block in winter
October 2022
- Partnership meeting held in Edinburgh with visit to the Balgonie demosite
- Hedgelaying world record attempt by National Hedgelaying Society (555.4m laid)
Hedge laying World record in progress by the National Hedgelaying Society
July 2022
- Farm walk with Natural England’s arable specialist group
Natural England visitors looking at PARTRIDGE measures
- Summer habitat mapping
Amelia carries out surveys
June 2022
- Breeding bird surveys finished
- Barn owl breeding success survey
Ringing a barn owl chick
May 2022
- Natural England new starters induction day
- Breeding bird surveys
Yellowhammer
April 2022
- Start of last breeding bird survey period
February 2022
- Partridge call-back census
Grey partridge transect count
January 2022
- Hare counts
Spotted a short-eared owl whilst hare counting (photo by Amelia)
2021
November 2021
- Natural England new starters induction day
July 2021
- Natural England arable expert meeting
- Insect D-vac sampling
June 2021
- Breeding bird survey
- Habitat mapping
- Selborne Landscape Farmer Cluster members farm walk (26 June)
Farm walk with the farmers from the Selborne farmers' cluster
May 2021
- Breeding bird survey
Ellie carrying out her bird surveys
April 2021
- Grey partridge spring pair count
- Breeding bird survey
March 2021
- Winter farmland bird count
- Drone imagery collected
February 2021
- Hare count finished
- Partridge call-back transect count finished
- Arable margins Oakbank mix sown
- Winter farmland bird count
January 2021
- Hare count started
- Partridge call-back transect count started
- Winter farmland bird count
2020
December 2020
- Winter farmland bird count
November 2020
- Winter farmland bird count started
October 2020
- 9/10/2020 farm walk for Natural England staff
"Social distancing"
- 16/10/2020 farm walk with special advisors to the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon George Eustice MP
September 2020
- 9/9/2020 farm walk with Oakbank Game and Conservation advisor Ian Gould
- 25/9/2020 GWCT Hampshire members farm walk
- PARTRIDGE Oakbank autumn mixes sown
June 2020
- PARTRIDGE Oakbank advanced wild bird mixes sown
- Farmland songbird counts finished
May 2020
- Farmland songbird counts
April 2020
- Partridge spring pair count
- Farmland songbird count started
March 2020
- Hare counts finished
- Partridge transect counts finished
- First ‘dogs on a lead’ sign installed
February 2020
- Hare counts
- Partridge transect counts
January 2020
- Hare counts
- Partridge transect counts
- 15 January: Hedgerow management course, start 10:30am Colemore Church
2019
November 2019
- Partnership meeting in Goettingen
October 2019
- Farm walk with Oakbank director to discuss PARTRIDGE seed mix improvements
- Farm walk with Rotherfield estate management to discuss habitat management for 2020
September 2019
- Autumn partridge counts
- Farm walk for Natural England staff
July 2019
- Insect sampling at Rotherfield, Ramskapelle and Oude Doorn
- Farm walk for CLA vice president
- Farm walk for Danish Hunters Association students
June 2019
- Farm walk for Hampshire Ornithological Society
- Farm walk for local farmer
- Visit of PARTRIDGE partner ECO2
- Songbird monitoring
May 2019
- Farm walk for Alton Natural History Society
- Tree pipit farm walk for Selborne Farmer Cluster
- Farm walk for Hampshire Farmer Club
- Songbird monitoring
April 2019
- Spring partridge counts
- Songbird monitoring
February 2019
- Call-back partridge counts
January 2019
- Talk for Alton Natural History Society
- Hare counts
- Call-back partridge counts
2018
November 2018
- Farm walk for Natural England advisors
- Hedgerow management course
October 2018
- Visit of Spanish Hunters Association
- Farm walk with South-East NFU Hampshire and Natural England
September 2018
- Partridge autumn stubble counts
- Public farm walk together with NFU.
July 2018
June 2018
- Breeding songbird monitoring continued
- PARTRIDGE partner field excursion to Switzerland 7-8 June (Info exchange seminar at Swiss Ornithological Institute and demo site visit in the Klettgau, Schaffhausen)
May 2018
- Partnership meeting in Scotland 2-4 May
- Breeding songbird monitoring continued
- New PARTRIDGE flower mixes planted
April 2018
- Gamebird spring pair counts
- Breeding songbird monitoring started
- Start of in-depth stakeholder interviews
February 2018
- Hare counts completed
- Partridge call counts
- Hedgerow management course for local farmer cluster
- Lapwing field course with South Downs Farmland Bird initiative
January 2018
- Hare counts started
Balgonie Demonstration Site
2022
December 2022
- Winter feeding
- Hare surveys starts
- Winter bird surveys
November 2022
- Winter feeding
- Winter bird surveys commence
- Meeting with farmer to discuss results
October 2022
- Winter feeding starts
- PARTRIDGE partner meeting to Scotland
Flower block with 3 different types of vegetation (photo by David Parish)
September 2022
- Covey counts completed resulting in our best count yet!
- New PARTRIDGE students start
August 2022
- Partridge covey counts start
- Habitat mapping
July 2022
- Breeding bird surveys finish
- Attended Scottish Game Fair
- Drone footage captured
Established and resown parts of the PARTRIDGE mix (Photo by Fiona Torrance)
June 2022
- Breeding bird surveys
- Pollinator mixes sown around potatoes at Balgonie in conjunction with Kings
- Meeting to discuss PARTRIDGE legacy
- Attended Scottish Agronomy open day
May 2022
- Breeding bird surveys continues
- Habitat mapping
- PARTRIDGE mix sown
- Winter bird surveys finish
- Farm meeting to discuss habitat
April 2022
- Partridge pair surveys
- Breeding bird surveys commence
- NatureScot visit to Balgonie
March 2022
- Hare surveys finish
- Partridge playback surveys continue
- Winter feeding
- Winter bird surveys finish
- Farm meeting to discuss habitat
February 2022
- Hare surveys continue
- Winter feeding
- Winter bird surveys
- Partridge playback surveys start
January 2022
- Habitat mapping
- Hare surveys commence
- Winter feeding
- Winter bird surveys
2021
December 2021
- Winter feeding
- Winter bird surveys continue
November 2021
- Winter feeding continues
- Winter bird surveys commence
October 2021
- Winter feeding starts at Balgonie
September 2021
- Partridge covey surveys completed
- Attended Scottish Game Fair
Covey of partridges (photo by Tanith Jones)
August 2021
- Partridge covey surveys start
July 2021
- Breeding bird surveys now completed
- Insect sampling
Buff-tailed bumblebee and hoverfly on phacelia (photo by Tamra Spivey)
June 2021
- Breeding bird surveys continue
- Pollinator mixes sown around potatoes at Balgonie in conjunction with Kings
- PARTRIDGE blocks resown
Newly sown PARTRIDGE mix (photo by Fiona Torrance)
May 2021
- Breeding bird surveys continue
- Habitat mapping
April 2021
- Breeding bird surveys commence at demo and reference site
- Partridge pair surveys started
- Meeting at Balgonie
March 2021
- Hare and playback surveys at demo and reference site completed
- Winter feeding
- Project meeting with site team
- Half of PARTRIDGE blocks topped to provide brood rearing habitat
Cut and uncut sections of PARTRIDGE mix (photo by Tamara Spivey)
February 2021
- Hare and playback surveys at demo and reference site
- Winter feeding
January 2021
- Hare surveys commence
- Habitat surveys
- Partridge playback surveys start
2020
December 2020
- Winter feeding continues
- Winter bird surveys begin
November 2020
- Winter feeding
- Earthworm sampling
Earthworm sampling (Photo by Fiona Torrance)
October 2020
- Habitat surveys at Balgonie and reference site
- Winter feeding starts
- Complete covey surveys
September 2020
- Partridge covey surveys
August 2020
- Insect pitfall trapping in potato tramlines/partridge mix
July 2020
- Breeding bird surveys completed
- Sweep net insect sampling
- Team meeting
Pitfall trap in a tramline (Photo by Molly Crookshank)
June 2020
- World Environment Day webinar
- Breeding bird surveys
May 2020
- Brood-rearing mix for partridges sown around potatoes in conjunction with Kings
- Breeding bird surveys start
April 2020
- Habitat maps created
March 2020
- Half of PARTRIDGE blocks topped to provide brood rearing habitat
- Partridge playback surveys finish
- Hare surveys complete
- Interreg podcast (25mins in)
- Interview on BBC radio Scotland (see audio clip)
February 2020
- Present project at Barley Away Day conference
January 2020
- Hare surveys commence
- Farm meeting to discuss habitat
- Habitat surveys
- Partridge playback surveys start
- Communication signs erected
2019
December 2019
- Winter feeding
- Present project to farmer cluster
November 2019
- Winter feeding
October 2019
- Habitat surveys at Balgonie and reference site
- Winter feeding starts
- Complete covey surveys
September 2019
- Partridge covey surveys
- GWCT farm walk
August 2019
- SNH visit to discuss future Scottish agri-environment schemes
July 2019
- Attend Scottish Agronomy open days to publicise the PARTRIDGE project
- Stand at Arable Scotland to raise awareness of the projects aims
(Photo by Fiona Torrance)
June 2019
- Project meeting to discuss future events
May 2019
- Brood-rearing mix for partridges sown around potatoes in conjunction with Kings
- Breeding bird surveys continue
April 2019
- Breeding bird surveys start
- Old wild bird seed mix strips replaced with PARTRIDGE mix
- Farm walk with farmer cluster
- Winter feeding finishes
March 2019
- Vehicle-based partridge pair counts
- Half of PARTRIDGE blocks topped to provide brood rearing habitat
- Partridge playback surveys finish
February 2019
- Partridge playback surveys
- Big Farmland Bird Count
- Project meeting with team to discuss management of plots
- Hare surveys complete
(Photo by Fiona Torrance)
January 2019
- Winter feeding recommences
- Habitat surveys at Balgonie and reference site
- Hare surveys
2018
December 2018
- Hare surveys begin
Whitburgh Demonstration Site
2022
December 2022
- Winter feeding
November 2022
- Winter feeding
October 2022
- Winter feeding begins
September 2022
- Partridge covey counts completed
August 2022
- Partridge covey surveys start
July 2022
- Breeding bird surveys finish
- Radio-tracking
- Attended Roxburghe Estate to discuss grey partridge management
June 2022
- Breeding bird surveys
- Radio-tracking
May 2022
- Breeding bird surveys
- Habitat mapping
- Radio-tracking
April 2022
- Partridge pair surveys
- Meeting at Whitburgh
- Breeding bird surveys commence
- Partridge radio-tagging
Partridge being radio-tagged (Photo by Katherine Thorne)
March 2022
- Hare surveys finish
- Partridge playback surveys continue
- Winter feeding
- Partridge pair surveys start
February 2022
- Hare surveys continue
- Winter feeding
- Partridge playback surveys start
Whitburgh at sunrise (Photo by Holly Owen)
January 2022
- Habitat mapping
- Hare surveys commence
- Winter feeding
2021
December 2021
- Winter feeding
November 2021
- Winter feeding
- Presentation at GWCT staff conference
October 2021
- Winter feeding starts
- PARTRIDGE team meeting
September 2021
- Breeding bird surveys complete
- Attended Scottish Game Fair
August 2021
- Partridge covey surveys start
July 2021
- Breeding bird surveys now completed
June 2021
- Breeding bird surveys continue
- Pollinator mixes sown around field edges
May 2021
- Breeding bird surveys continue
- Habitat mapping
Whitburgh PARTRIDGE block (photo by Fiona Torrance)
April 2021
- Project meeting with site team
- Partridge pair surveys
- Breeding bird surveys commence at demo and reference site
- Meeting at Whitburgh
March 2021
- Hare and playback surveys at reference site only (no access at Whitburgh due to Covid-19)
- Winter feeding
- Half of PARTRIDGE blocks topped to provide brood rearing habitat
Topped PARTRIDGE mix (photo by Fiona Torrance)
February 2021
- Hare and playback surveys at reference site only (no access at Whitburgh due to Covid-19)
- Winter feeding
January 2021
- Winter feeding
2020
December 2020
- Winter feeding
November 2020
- Winter feeding
October 2020
- Winter feeding commences
- Complete covey surveys
September 2020
- Habitat surveys at both Whitburgh and reference site
- Partridge covey surveys
August 2020
- Insect sampling in cereals to determine partridge chick food availability
July 2020
- Breeding bird surveys complete
June 2020
- Breeding bird surveys
- Annual pollinator strips sown
Whitburgh annual pollinator mix (Photo by Fiona Torrance)
May 2020
- Breeding bird surveys start
April 2020
- Online team meeting
- Winter feeding stops
March 2020
- Vehicle-based partridge pair surveys
- Playback surveys finish
- PARTRIDGE blocks topped
- Raised awareness of the project at fundraising auction
PARTRIDGE demo site manager Fiona Torrance speaking at the West of Scotland Auction
February 2020
- Partridge playback surveys begin
- Hare surveys
- Habitat mapping at Whitburgh and reference site
January 2020
- Hare surveys start
- Habitat surveys
2019
December 2019
- Winter feeding
November 2019
- Winter feeding
October 2019
- Winter feeding commences
- Complete covey surveys
September 2019
- Habitat surveys at both Whitburgh and reference site
- Partridge covey surveys
- Farm walk with visiting farmer cluster
August 2019
- Insect sampling in cereals to determine partridge chick food availability
(Photo by Hannah Brunsden)
July 2019
- Project meeting with farm team to discuss management of wild bird seed plots
- Radio-tracking finishes
- This year’s breeding bird surveys complete
June 2019
- Radio-tracking
- Breeding bird surveys
May 2019
- Old strips replaced with PARTRIDGE mix
- Breeding bird surveys continue
- School visit to Whitburgh
- Radio-tracking
April 2019
- Breeding bird surveys start
- Winter feeding stops
- Radio-tracking
March 2019
- Vehicle-based partridge pair surveys
- Radio-tracking
- Playback surveys stop
February 2019
- Big Farmland Bird Count
- Partridge playback surveys begin
- Radio-tracking
- Hare surveys finish
January 2019
- Radio-tracking starts
- Habitat surveys at both Whitburgh and reference site
- Hare surveys
2018
December 2018
- Hare surveys begin