Living alongside wildlife - David Chapman considers some top strategies to help wildlife on your smallholding

12:52pm Wednesday 17th September 2008

By David Chapman

I HAVE been writing about wildlife and its conservation in Smallholder for several years now and I thought it might be time to give a summary of the most useful strategies for wildlife conservation. So here are some strategies for helping wildlife and for helping you to see wildlife on your smallholding, as well as contacts to help you find out more about each idea.

These are all fairly generic points and I should say that we should all assess the specific wildlife value of our land before making changes. So if, for example, you have a rare fritillary butterfly or an unusual bat, using your land then your management should be geared up to support that rather than trying to increase general biodiversity.

Dig a pond
This has a huge impact and is immediate in its effect. Dig the pond deeper than you think you need but leave shallow margins for wildlife to make best use. Take care not to introduce non-native invasive species such as 'parrot's feather'. A pond is best planted with native species both in the pond and around the wet margins.

The main benificiaries are more varied than you might think. These include amphibians such as frogs, toads as well as newts dragonflies and damselflies. Birds and mammals which use the pond for drinking and bathing and other aquatic life including water boatmen, pond skaters also benefit. For more information visit www.pondexpert.co.uk.

Make nest boxes
This will increase the number of birds and mammals using your land and enable you to watch them more easily.

Target the species that you are likely to get in your area. Standard designs for tit species will be most productive and the open fronted designs are less likely to be occupied. Try a few nest boxes for something exciting such as a barn owl or tawny owl. Support species which are in decline so try a few nest boxes for house sparrows under your eaves. Erect some nest boxes low down in trees with the hole against the trunk of the tree, this might attract small mammals. The main benificiaries are birds and small mammals. For more information visit www.lincstrust.org.uk.

Put out corrugated sheets
Put out some corrugated metal roofing sheets and some pieces of old plywood.

TIPS
Put them in varied habitats including bare ground on south facing slopes for reptiles to bask under; in a meadow to provide a field vole with somewhere to nest; or even next to a pond where toads or grass snakes might seek shelter.

The main beneficiaries are reptiles such as grass snake, adder, slow worm and common lizard alongside amphibians and small mammals.

Create log piles in a wide range of habitats to support different types of animals; use different thicknesses of logs and brash to create different grades of log piles. Piles adjacent to a pond will be used by amphibians while those in a meadow will be used by bank voles. Large loose piles will be used by birds such as Wrens to find insects.

Plant a flower meadow
This is a wonderful way to create an attractive environment for you as well as a wide range of flowers and insects.

Basically get the field ploughed; sow it with wildflower seed and a low density of grass; leave it to nature for a few months; graze it only in the autumn and winter; add plug grown plants in subsequent years; try to encourage semi-parasitic species such as yellow rattle and eyebright which will compete with the grass; bird's foot trefoil is a good plant for attracting butterflies and moths.

Apart from growing a wide range of meadow flowers you will encourage butterflies, particularly blues; also native plants whose seeds have lain dormant in the ground will be able to grow and set seed, we now have about 6o orchids growing in our meadow because of the way we manage it. For more information visit www.meadowmania.co.uk.

Feed the birds
Putting food out for the birds is a basic task that we can all do.

TIPS
Use a variety of different feeds including seed, suet, fat, peanuts, niger seed; design a feeding table and feeders that can be moved around to prevent a build up of waste underneath; don't over feed in summer; keep everything hygienic to prevent the spread of viral diseases between birds; you must provide fresh water for the birds; hand a peanut feeder in a bush to feed the small mammals; don't put feeders near to bushes if there are cats in the area.

The main beneficiaries are common garden birds including tits and finches but woodpeckers, nuthatches and jays can also be attracted. For more information visit www.ernest-charles.com.

Coppice some woodland
If you have any hazel trees then coppice a selection of them by cutting the trunks down to a low level.

Trees should be coppiced every fifteen to twenty years for greatest productivity, so if you have between fifteen and twenty trees then coppice just one per year to maximise the variation in growth.

Trees that have been recently coppiced allow more light to reach the ground which encourages flowers such as violets and these in turn provide food for the caterpillars of various butterflies including fritillaries. As the tree develops it will produce a good stool for birds and small mammals to nest in; in time the tree will produce more hazel nuts than it would if it were left alone to get leggy, this is beneficial for small mammals such as the dormouse and wood mouse as well as some birds such as the nuthatch all of which eat hazel nuts.

Leave some longer grass
Try to leave some areas un-grazed around the edges of your fields or fence off some compartments within your fields.

TIPS
When I first erected fencing on our land I left a border outside the fencing which can be grazed but only when I want it to be. If you can leave sections of it long all year then this is good but even if you can only leave it for periods at a time before grazing then this is better than nothing; don't overstock your land.

MAIN BENEFICIARIES
Longer grass is the home of field voles and around the edge of the fields this will also be occupied by shrews, mice and bank voles; if you can support these small mammals then you may also begin to see kestrels and barn owls hunting.

Allow ivy to grow
I know that many people think it is a good idea to cut the trunks of ivy to stop it growing up trees or even on walls but please allow it to grow in places.

Ivy does no direct harm to the trees on which it grows, the only potential problem is that its own weight can add to the burden of the tree.

In spring ivy provides an ideal place for birds and small mammals to nest. Last year, in the ivy growing on our garage, we had the nests of robins, blackbirds, dunnocks, wrens and chaffinches. In winter ivy offers a safe roosting place and food for birds as well as a hibernation spot for insects which will help pollinate your vegetables and flowers next year.