Wildlife | Sunnymead Farm

Wildlife on the farm

Lapwings

Lapwings are found on farmland throughout the UK particularly in lowland areas of Northern England, and the borders of Eastern Scotland. In the breeding season they prefer spring sown cereals, root crops, permanent unimproved pasture, meadows and fallow fields. They can also be found on wetlands with short vegetation. In winter they flock on pasture and ploughed fields.

The suitable habitat of Lapwings is farmlands, which has caused a significant decline in the numbers recently - particularly in southern England and Wales, where there has been the most farming changes. Between 1987 and 1998 lapwing numbers dropped by 49 per cent in England and Wales. Since 1960 the numbers dropped by 80 per cent.

This information is from www.rbst.org.uk. To read more about Lapwings, visit -https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lapwing/

Wheatears

The wheatear is a small mainly ground-dwelling bird. It hops or runs on the ground. These birds are summer visitors to Britain. They spend winter in tropical Africa, then head north in spring. They arrive in the UK during March – sometimes as early as late February, and usually around the coast at this time, before they move to their inland breeding sites.

By mid-May the female Wheatears have usually laid 4-7 eggs in a rough nest on the ground but early first clutches can be laid before the end of April. The young take about 30 days to mature.

By August, most breeding wheatears start heading back south, they cross the Mediterranean to Africa via Spain. They migrate by night, relying on their fat reserves for energy. Many make a refuelling stopover in North Africa.

This information is from www.rbst.org.uk. To read more about Wheatears, visit -https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/wheatear/

Lapwing

Wheatear