Land management, asset management and continual monitoring. Why should you do it?

RANTING ON THE JOB9 - IT IS A PRIVILEGE 2 (WILDLIFE AND ASSET MONITORING)

A 2020 sound clip while out surveying. Featuring Blackbirds and Skylarks in song.

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 10 - FARMLAND SONGBIRDS (BLACKBIRD & SKYLARK)

A great sounding Skylark in song, plus a couple of other facts thrown in by the sound recorder (Tony Powell).

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 24 (EDITED) - SKYLARK SONG

Listen to this not so shy and very vocal Bullfinch. Not every songbird is equal. Monitoring around the farmer's fields, and I come across this beauty.

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 23 (EDITED) - BULLFINCH SONG AND CALLS

Organic farmers conserving Buntings in abundance. What's not to like and certainly something to shout about.

2021 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 1 - BUNTING BONANZA

One lucky Robin. Not something you witness every day. A Robin preyed upon by a Kestrel, which is more normally a small mammal specialist. Bear in mind, in times of seasonal dearths or gluts of food supply, this proves all Songbirds can become vulnerable to other species, which rarely would give them any hassle.

2021 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 2 - ONE LUCKY ROBIN

Don't box me into a corner, says Mrs Hare to Mr Hare. A rather fortunate sighting of what has become an increasingly rare treat to observe.

2021 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 3 - HARERAISING EXPERIENCES

Stocktaking as I steadily go around my client's fields means I don't get to see every individual bird species. Also, detecting birds by ear isn't plain sailing either. Songbirds with strange songs were commonplace this day.

2021 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 15 - SONGBIRDS WITH STRANGE SONGS

Aren't hedgerows beautiful? When thickset, complete with a lush understory and predator-proof, these places thrive with wildlife. Don't hedge your bets on birds feeling safe in any old hedge; it has to be predator-safe for birds to rear successful numbers of offspring.

2021 RANTING ON THE JOB 2 - PREDATION PROOF HEDGES

More proof as if we needed it, that doing the right thing by our increasingly imperilled ground-nesting birds is no easy task. Selective and successful removal of nest predators alongside habitat enhancements and constant surveillance delivers higher numbers of threatened species. If we humans were getting rarer by the day and required regular interventions, would we stand by and let things collapse all around and under us?

2021 RANTING ON THE JOB 6 - FARMERS AND BIRDS WORKING TOGETHER 3 - LAPWING CONSERVATION

My take on just what it takes to address the wildlife conservation issues on farmland. The perfect mix of appropriate land and species management in a food-producing landscape. What's not to like?

2022 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 9 - FARMLAND CAN DELIVER FOR THE WILDLIFE

Another description of just how you can, as a landowner or land manager, quickly realise when you are delivering wildlife conservation successfully. Data, data, data.

2022 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 23 - KNOWING WHEN YOU'RE DELIVERING CONSERVATION SUCCESSFULLY 2

A brief description of just how my Benchmarking might work for you. I am calling all landowners, land managers and others interested in Avian and other wildlife conservation practices.

2022 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 28 - BENCHMARKING INTRODUCTION

This is a second edition of why I suggest folks listen in to discover why I'm in awe of farmland habitats and the wildlife's ability to adapt to their surroundings.

2022 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 29 - FARMLAND AND ADAPTIVE SPECIES 2

Debating the use of Larsen Traps. They are a legal and effective conservation tool used worldwide, but unsurprisingly, people have a love-or-hate relationship with them.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 10 - CONTROVERSIAL CONSERVATION

The soil beneath our feet needs conservation, especially within our food and wildlife-producing farmlands. Within this sound recording, you might find evidence of how our farmers and land managers are doing just that and how it feeds the birds.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 13 - SOIL AND LAND MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON FARMLAND BIRDS.WAV

Given the opportunity where Land and Wildlife Managers use all the legal conservation tools, Farmland birds can thrive. This place and associated sound recording is a testament to that very fact.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 14 - ADAPTABLE FARMLAND BIRDS WITH A TOUCH OF INTERVENTION.WAV

Conservation gone Cuckoo? A close encounter with a Cuckoo and what are the chances a rare bird like a Cuckoo could be outwitting a common species such as the Carrion Crow.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 16 - CUCKOOS AND CROWS - CONSERVATION GONE CUCKOO.WAV

A Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) will try to alert its partner to potential predators when raising its offspring; such behaviours are known as off-nesting. When birds emit distraction calls or produce distraction displays, it often means a nest of young or fledged young are present nearby.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 17 - CHAFFINCH DISTRACTION TECHNIQUES.WAV

Whitethroats (Sylvia communis), being long-range migrant species, need all the luck they can muster when it comes to raising a successful brood. What they don't need is someone or something near their nests. Again, when birds emit distraction calls or produce distraction displays, it often means a nest of young or fledged young are present nearby.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 19 - BACK OFF MR AND MRS WHITETHROAT ARE NESTING HERE.WAV

What's not to like with these birds? They are such beautiful songbirds. Keep your garden feeders and birdbaths clean, as bacterial infections such as Trichomonosis have been known to kill these birds and their songbird friends. And I don't know about you; I want to keep hearing their songs on my travels out and about and in my garden, from where the pictured bird was photographed.

2023 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 25 - A SINGING GREENFINCH NO LESS

Woodland Wrens

Early Cuckoo on my field monitoring trips.

Early Cuckoo 2019

Our beautiful birds of song. What would the world be like without them? In this clip from the fields and woods of lowland England, we have the Red-listed Song Thrush and Amber-listed WiIlow Warbler, alongside a few words of my own.

STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS3 - BIRDS OF SONG (SONG THRUSH AND WILLOW WARBLER)

The beautiful Songbird that is the Chaffinch, in full voice. Recorded a few years back, I hope this captures the essence of what these birds are all about.

CHAFFINCH SONG

Well-intentioned human interventions. - Meat-eating and helping farmers to conserve our precious songbirds.

RANTING ON THE JOB10 - WELL INTENTIONED HUMAN INTERVENTIONS 3 (MEAT EATING AND HELPING OUR WILDLIFE)

A European robin (Erithacus rubecula) in full voice. Despite this sound clip being recorded on a cold January morning, it doesn't stop this feisty songbird proclaiming his territory. What a Songbird!

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 1 - ROBIN SONG (MASTERED VERSION)

Big Farmland Bird Count in February 2020. Larks, Buntings, Tits and lots more besides. A tad blustery to begin, it gets better in the end. Conservation farming at its finest.

2020 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 2 - IN - THE - FIELD SONGBIRD DELIGHTS ON BFBC WEEK

How to describe this track, there are no words to describe it. Listen in for the full 30 seconds. For more information on just how to conserve Blackbirds in the wider countryside, view the following URL.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/standing-up-our-rural-songbird-communities-blackbird-tony-powell/

BLACKBIRD SONG - TURDUS MERULA AT ITS MOST BEAUTIFUL

English hedgerow Bird Song. Learn the fieldcraft and the birds come to you!

Songbirds included within are:

Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, In-field Skylarks, Great Tit and Long-tailed Tits, among others.

2020 STRAIGHT FROM THE FIELDS 4 - HEDGEROW SONGBIRD DELIGHTS - THRUSHES - TITS - AND MUCH MORE

Stocktaking around my client's fields and hedgerows and I came across this beauty defending his patch. Acting in self-defence is all this bird knows when it comes to surviving. He or she will likely only have two or three years on this earth of ours. The competition is rife, even in amongst his Avian friends or enemies. Other species to be heard or seen nearby are Carrion Crows, Mistle Thrush, Great Tit and Green Woodpecker.

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 2 - ROBIN SONG VERSUS THE COMPETITION

When in the field, observe and listen from the sounds around you. Birds such as Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) put so much effort into making themselves heard, why do you or I choose to ignore them?  A world without birdsong is not a world I want to be part of.

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 3 - CHAFFINCH SONG

Listen carefully to the gurgling bubbling type call, as uttered the wonderful gamebird that is the Reeves Pheasant. Part one of two sound recordings see also:

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 25 - REEVES PHEASANT CALLS (NOT ALL GAMEBIRDS ARE EQUAL) PART 2

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 16 - REEVES PHEASANT CALLS (NOT ALL GAMEBIRDS ARE EQUAL)

Not all gamebirds are equal,  the extraterrestrial sounding calls of the Wonderfully beautiful male Reeve's Pheasants.

2020 BIRD SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD 25 - REEVES PHEASANT CALLS (NOT ALL GAMEBIRDS ARE EQUAL) PART 2

Why conserve songbirds? I think if you open both your eyes and your ears to the world around you, you'll realise why, if not, do listen in to my debating here. Featured within one of my personal favourites is the Lesser Whitethroat (not the Common Whitethroat congener as incorrectly suggested on the track).

2020 RANTING ON THE JOB 1 - WHY CONSERVE SONGBIRDS (EDITED)

Who be that in the woodland block on my farmland bird walk then? The problematic species that is the non-native Grey Squirrel. They are especially a problem for my desirable songbirds and their fragmented dwindling suitable habitat sections here in lowland England.

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