Update on the Patshull Project - Colin McShane

Relationships with key personnel at Patshull remain very positive, and much conservation work has been done; in summary:-

• most of the gaps in hedgerows identified in our initial report have been in-filled

• several completely new hedges have been planted with a mix of species

• the woodland management plan is being put into effect, with thinning taking place in several areas

• thousands of trees have been planted in areas around the estate

Work has been progressing at pace to set up the pig and chicken units, and they now appear to be in full swing. At least one of the cottages on the estate has been refurbished and is being let to holidaymakers. The activity centre has been refurbished and added to, and bookings are now on the rise.

The involvement of Belvide Ringers has been reduced significantly at the understandable request of the owners, given that bird flu is of significant importance to the chicken dimension of the business.

However, in our drive to promote birding to young people, we are working in partnership with the Patshull Activity Centre; offering a series of bird ringing demonstrations—some of which have already occurred. Feedback has been superb. For example, the leader of the 3rd Blackheath guides contacted us after a recent demo. In addition to a range of very positive comments, perhaps the most relevant was: ‘’The girls loved it and spent the rest of the day talking about it and they designed a new game to recap on what they had learned. Jen was just amazing’’.

As explained above there is less to report about ringing on the rest of the estate than we had hoped.

Kevin Clements was given permission to ring at the entrance hedge to the Meadleys side of the estate since this is furthest away from the chicken areas—he ringed 477 Redwing, several Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Yellowhammer during winter 2022.

One big disappointment for us is that it appears that the Pied Flycatchers may have failed to breed over the last 2 years after an encouraging, successful breeding season in 2021.

On the positive side however, we have confirmed breeding of Grey Partridge on the site, and there are increasing reports of Corn Bunting nearby and on the estate.

The friends of the project living around the estate are still logging the birds they see, and we are looking to produce a bird report at the end of 2023—one theme of which will be to set the parameters for how we produce a follow-up report on our major 2020 report.

Colin McShane