Blogs

Thirty years ago today, I drove from my then home in Hampshire to Loddington in Leicestershire to conduct a night-time spotlight count of brown hares. That was the start of thirty years of data collection on what was to become the Allerton Project research and demonstration farm.

The Owl Box Initiative is supporting National Nest Box Week by highlighting the importance of providing nest boxes for a range of bird species across our landscapes. 

Rigorous counting from gamekeepers has given hope to the Peak District’s population of mountain hares, showing their numbers are much better than feared.

At 6:13am, on the 24^th January 2022 the camera attached to our resistivity counter on the flow gauging weir on the main stem of the River Frome at East Stoke, recorded a SEAL ascending the weir.

The Government has drawn a line in the sand for the sugar beet industry by stating that by 2023 it is hoped that it will no longer rely on neonicotinoids through developing alternative production strategies.

Check out what some of our supporters had to say about the Big Farmland Bird Count and why they believe is it important to take part in this initivative. 

The GWCT recognises the importance of muirburn as a vital conservation and land management tool. It is used by farmers and crofters, as well as wildlife managers and gamekeepers, for a variety of reasons including grazing improvement, habitat restoration and wildfire mitigation.

The period immediately following sunrise is usually said to be the best time to survey for most diurnal species, but was it the same for pipits?

Bees that forage enter the flower from the front, and in turn pollinate the flower when retrieving nectar. When they rob, they chew a hole at the back of the flower or use a hole made by another bee and they steal the nectar without pollinating the flower – a lot of people are unaware that bees even do this!

On 19th & 20th January the team at GWCT’s Allerton Project was delighted to welcome BBC Countryfile for two days of intensive filming, with the 320ha Loddington estate acting as the ‘hub’ for an episode that was broadcast on Sunday 6th February 2022. You can watch it on iPlayer here >