As part of their commitment to LEAF and the environment, Walberton and Binsted Nursery’s LEAF volunteers recently took part in the Big Farmland Bird Count 2019. Sponsored by the NFU, the nationwide ‘citizen science’ project aims to identify bird species that are flourishing and those that are not, as a result of conservation efforts, through the help of willing volunteers.

13 volunteers across the two businesses spent half an hour each between 8th and 17th February monitoring bird species across the sites. Habitats on the nurseries range from wetlands to hedgerows, and open fields to sheltered lagoons. All in all, 34 different bird species were spotted ranging from regular visitors, such as blackbirds, robins and goldfinches, to more uncommon species, like sparrowhawks, bullfinches, reed bunting and pochard.

Our LEAF volunteers look forward to taking part in the Big Farmland Bird Count 2020, and to the upcoming project of more detailed species monitoring as part of the business’s Conservation Plan.

A big thank you to all those who took part, and a full list of species sighted is shown below: