West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project

A small group aiming to increase the population of farmland birds in Oxfordshire through supplementary feeding, monitoring, bird ringing and farmer engagement.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

We have been studying the Corn Bunting population at this farm in the Thames Valley for four years and have observed birds feeding in the solar farm @WestmillSolar every year. Today we made a superb find: our first Corn Bunting nest in the wildflowers between the solar panels.

[BBC Breakfast @BBCBreakfast]

'We need to see farming and food production prioritised for water availability'

Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers Union, spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the impact of the dry weather on man farmers

https://t.co/BBaWicYUCU

[Clive Bailye @TWBFarms]

Just 1p on a loaf of bread, passed straight to the farmer who grew the wheat, would transform farming, food security and the countryside 👍

Money’s tight for everyone I know, but in world where a take-away coffee is £4.50 surely a penny to keep farming British isn’t too much to ask ? 🤔

https://t.co/ZSdLZduzyx

#Farm24

@agricontract @wheat_daddy @loosecollie @TheFarmingForum @Tesco @asda @waitrose @AldiUK @LidlGB @sainsburys @marksandspencer @Morrisons

[Prof. Peter Strachan @ProfStrachan]

A deeply troubling read.

"Over the past century, England and Wales have lost 98% of wildflower meadows. We have also destroyed half of Britain’s ancient woodland, half of lowland ponds, 90% of freshwater wetlands and 62% of all 'farmland' wild birds."

We must do better. We are better than this.

#Biodiversity #England #Wales #Nature #Birds

https://t.co/kf9rxSdd5X

[Russell ChalkStreamsInCrisis 🦇🦎🦇🦎 @RussellB1ggs]

Someone destroyed the #ChalkStream by dredging it into a V shaped ditch🤯& now created a woodland🧐every🌳is dead🤷‍♂️was this paid for by Landscape Recovery or guilt from destroying the stream ? If it’s public💷then surely they be forced to water the🌳@EnvAgencyAnglia

[dominic dyer @domdyer70]

The soprano pipistrelle bats died when the holes they used to enter and exit a building were blocked https://t.co/PdfB9vACEi

[dominic dyer @domdyer70]

Scotland has just done something quietly brilliant for its birds 🐦

New buildings across the country will now have to include "swift bricks", hollow bricks built straight into the walls that give birds a safe place to nest.

It sounds like a small thing but it isn't. Swift numbers in the UK have fallen by around 60% since the mid-1990s, and one of the biggest reasons is heartbreakingly simple: modern buildings have nowhere for them to go. Swifts have always nested in the nooks and gaps of our houses, and as those disappeared, so did they.

The birds themselves make it worse by being loyal to a fault. Swifts return to the exact same nest site year after year, having flown thousands of miles from Africa to get there.

When they arrive to find it sealed up, some will keep flying at the spot again and again, sometimes injuring themselves in the process.

The bricks cost about £30 each. They need no maintenance, they don't affect insulation, and once they're in the wall, you'd never know they were there. Sparrows, starlings and house martins use them too, all species in trouble for the same reason.

One RSPB conservationist put it starkly. In his part of Glasgow, not a single swift bred in 2025, the first time in his 30 years there. He called it "nothing short of heartbreaking."

Scotland is the first country in the UK to write this into law. Campaigners are now hoping the rest follows.

[Luke Massey @LMasseyImages]

We ‘rewilded’ too much & actually lost our Red Backed Shrikes for 2 years. This year, just before the shrikes arrived we grazed a little harder, we kept the animals there for a week or so then moved them on, but it was enough. The shrikes stayed, and they bred 🍾

[Jake Humphrey @mrjakehumphrey]

There are plans being submitted to build the largest data centre in the UK on rural land next to a nature reserve in Norfolk.

We can t allow our countryside to be stolen in this way. We need data centres, but this application is wrong on every level.

https://t.co/DAqMDCY58M

[Russell ChalkStreamsInCrisis 🦇🦎🦇🦎 @RussellB1ggs]

Living in a world where the monetary value of a field of crops is worth more than a RARE #ChalkStream 32 degrees & irrigation during the hottest part of the day🤷‍♂️surely it could be carried out in the early evening/morning @EnvAgencyAnglia Time to review borehole permits

[Francis Buner @fbuner]

How about this for a high-quality wildlife habitat on farmland? Seen today near West Wittering Beach thanks to the amazing work of wildlife-friendly farmer @andygentle. Full of insects now, and I bet full of warblers during autumn migration before setting off across the Chanel.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

Over the past few weeks the team has made great progress locating eleven Corn Bunting nests. As part of our project monitoring nests across multiple sites, we hope to elucidate which habitats and management practices support the highest breeding productivity.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

Pied Wagtails have an amazing ability to nest in almost any secluded spot they can find and often benefit from untidy farmyards containing a plentiful supply of hideaways. Last week we found this nest containing four chicks within a builders bag containing stones.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

Little Ringed Plover are a rare breeding bird in Oxfordshire and we’re very lucky to monitor a site with three breeding pairs nesting in the drawdown zone of a small wetland complex. This week two of these clutches hatched revealing these beautifully camouflaged chicks.

[Péter Pál Hajas @PeterPalHajas]

Coriander drilled directly into thick rye mulch is doing great despite the prolonged spring drought in our region. As no herbicide was applied, arable flowers are providing additional pollen. The field is buzzing with wild pollinators and honeybees. #FarmingwithNature #RegenAg

[NestingUpNorth @NestingUpNorth]

A pair of Red-necked Phalaropes, thought extinct as a breeding bird on mainland Britain, copulating on a small pool in the Scottish Highlands.

(Observed with an S1 Licence holder)

Located with @BirderSouth.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

Unlike many species we monitor that have begun breeding two weeks earlier than usual, Swallows appear to be late at the farms we survey. In the last week we have ringed six broods, roughly two weeks later than we have in previous years.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

It has begun! The Corn Bunting breeding season is underway with two nests located yesterday containing eggs. For the next two months our team will be spending most mornings and evenings locating and monitoring Corn Bunting nests for the @_BTO nest record scheme.

[West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project @WOXFarmBirds]

Last weekend the team had fantastic couple of mornings nest monitoring for the @_BTO’s nest record scheme. Among many nests located this included a Skylark and Yellow Wagtail nest only one metre apart in a spring barley crop.

[Raptor Persecution UK @RaptorPersUK]

Catching the people illegally killing Britain's birds of prey - BBC film goes behind the scenes with RSPB Investigations team.

New blog ⬇️

https://t.co/7DXm0KB6z7

[Elmley NNR @ElmleyNNR]

@PaulGri29126854 Hi Paul, while not aware of a minimum number of nest for success there is definitely safety in numbers, more set of eyes to spot danger, more bodies to drive off predators with collective mobbing and distraction tactics. Video of Lapwings and Redshanks driving off a stoat.