RSS Feed
December 31st, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
Pamela Owen
Last updated at 11:33 AM on 31st December 2011
The heart-warming sight of a flock of ‘fat’ Corn Bunting birds has got ornithologists in a flutter as it gives renewed hope for the dying breed.
Numbers of the brown farmbirds have plunged by nearly 90 per cent to 10,000 over the last 40 years and they are now an endangered species.
The ground-nesting birds have been the victim to intensive farming methods that has seen field margins ploughed up, leaving them with nowhere to lay their eggs.
This healthy flock of Corn Bunting birds were spotted near Devizes, Wilthsire, after a scheme to increase numbers
Farmers across Britain have also ceased growing corn and spring barley, which also provided good breeding habitat for them.
They have been replaced by crops like oil seed rape which is too dense for the Corn Buntings to successfully breed.
Those that try end up being mangled by combine harvesters at springtime.
Numbers of the birds have plunged to 10,000
But this healthy flock were spotted making themselves comfortable on a set-aside field near Devizes, Wiltshire.
Natural England has devised scheme to pay farmers to introduce measures to improve their environment their numbers have increased by more than five per cent a year over the last three years.
Such moves include growing fields of spring barley again and leaving stubble over the winter rather then ploughing the fields so seeds are available to them.
Sarah Blyth, the north Wessex region farmland birds project officer for the RSPB, said the sight of a large flock was a welcome and exciting boost to their status.
‘Corn Buntings are part of our heritage and have evolved with us,’ she said.
‘They used to be very common sight in the countryside and they were called the Fat Bird of the Barkey. You would often see one stood on a post singing its heart out.
A Natural England scheme to pay farmers to improve their environment has seen the numbers rise
‘The first skylark signals the start of spring and it used to be that the first Corn Bunting would herald the summer.
‘But their population declined by 89 per cent from 1970 to 2003.
‘They nest in spring barley which has gone down over the last 30 years and has been replaced with crops like oil seed rape.
‘But Natural England set up an Environmental Stewardship Scheme which means that farmers sew barley and get paid to cover their lost income.
‘About 30 or 40 farmers in the Wessex area are signed up to the scheme and the hope is Corn Buntings will increase on these farms.
Corn Buntings breed about three times a year and live for up to six years. Farmers are now starting to preserve their breeding grounds
‘Their population should do better because there is now plenty of winter food as there aren’t any insecticides on the farms involved.
‘These farmers are enthusiastic about reviving these birds which is really exciting and it gives their numbers a real boost.’
Corn Buntings – Miliaria calandra in Latin – breed three times a year and live for about six years.
They are similar to skylarks in appearance but have a dark patch of feathers on their crest and a chunky beak.
Share this article:
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
