As an incentive to encourage more people to get involved in partridge conservation, every year the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) awards a series of regional Grey Partridge Trophies. These partridge trophies are presented to the farm or estate that has contributed the most to the conservation of grey partridges within their region of the country that year.
We have long considered grey partridge a ‘barometer of the countryside’ indicating the health of the farmland ecosystem; where they thrive, biodiversity is high and ecosystem services remain intact. Once one of the most familiar birds of the countryside, grey partridge have faced a rapid decline since the mid-1970s and are now on the UK Red List.
Our Partridge Count Scheme (PCS), a free voluntary scheme set up in 1933 by GWCT, has been running for over 90 years to collect information on the annual abundance and breeding success of grey partridge.
The Partridge Count Scheme relies on the participation of volunteer farmers, land managers, and gamekeepers to gather data on pair counts in spring, and young and old bird counts in autumn, and is a unique example of citizen science in action.
Dr Julie Ewald, GWCT Principal Scientist for Farmland Ecology and GIS explains:
“It is especially important that the Trust and the GWCT ecologists know how partridges are faring across the country, across a large number of farms. This kind of information can help tell us what sorts of agri-environment policy or research is needed to address any changes in grey partridge numbers.”
The success some PCS participants have had in recovering grey partridge numbers indicates that it is possible to increase numbers, though this is not an easy task. We have found that on PCS sites, bird abundance was 24% higher and species richness is greater, with an average of five more species detected per site. This research (Connor, H.E. & Draycott, R.A.H. 2010) demonstrates that the adoption of management strategies as recommended in the PCS are likely to benefit other farmland bird species.
GWCT, in conjunction with local businesses who support the Trust, awards those who have strived to make a difference for this iconic bird on their land, applying GWCT science-led advice and seeing their efforts pay off. This year we would like to commend some of those who have stepped up to the challenge and achieved grey partridge breeding success over the last year on their land.
It is great to be able to share positive news on grey partridge and on the landowners and managers whose efforts are clearly working. In East Anglia, the GWCT Grey Partridge Conservation Award went to Cambridgeshire farming family Richard and Andrew Ramply.
The Ramply’s are arable farmers in Sandy Bedfordshire known for their environmental interests. The award was presented by GWCT Director of Advisory & Education, Dr Roger Draycott and Castleacre Insurance Director, Hugo Johnsen, who said the Ramplys had been proactive in looking at how they could improve the land they farm for the native grey partridge, and it has paid off:
“They are conscious about the environment as a whole and whether farming on their own land in Cambridgeshire or on contracted land they take a sensitive management approach; they do of course like every farming enterprise keep a firm eye on the bottom line, but they are determined to preserve and improve biodiversity where possible.
Helping a fragile grey partridge population always requires additional dedication but overall, the East of England is doing well relatively speaking, retaining the greatest share of grey partridges with over 7600 birds recorded in 2022.”
Winner Richard Ramply, with Hugo Johnsen from Castleacre and Dr Roger Draycott of GWCT
The GWCT Lincolnshire Grey Partridge Trophy was awarded for the 18th time at the Lincolnshire Show to Trevor Rigby. GWCT Advisor Central England, Alex Keeble noted how help from a Hunt, Point and Retrieve (HPR) dog is one of the secrets to Trevor Rigby’s grey partridge counting success:
“Counting grey partridges usually involves driving around the farm to spot the partridges using binoculars and other devices such as thermal imagers. Trevor Rigby, the Lincolnshire grey partridge trophy winner, adopts a method of using an HPR dog to work all the fields to obtain a population calculation. Although labour intensive, this method gives Trevor the ability to cover the whole area to determine an accurate figure of numbers and the favoured habitat of each covey.
As we drove around the farms he counts, he commented on where he would regularly see partridge coveys and explained why he believed the partridges held the parcel of habitat as a territory. Trevor has built an excellent relationship with local farmers and counts on the landowners’ behalf, something we would like to encourage across the country to further promote the Partridge Count Scheme and grey partridge recovery.”
Winner Trevor Rigby, Alex Keeble, William Price, and HM Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire Toby Dennis (previous winner)
GWCT’s Alex Keeble shared that he and the other judges were pleasantly surprised by the extensive habitat provisions put in place at Macaroni Farm, run by winners of the Cotswold Grey Partridge trophy Charles and Sam Phillips. They employ a full-time gamekeeper, James Bendall, who manages the commercial red-legged partridge shoot on part of the farm with the rest of the area managed for grey partridges. Alex explained:
“James is a dedicated gamekeeper who focuses on predation control through spring and summer across the whole land parcel, utilising countryside stewardship and supplementary feeding to provide a haven for wildlife. James was keen to show other wildlife successes on the farm such as the lapwing brood which were utilising the fallow plot sandwiched between a habitat mosaic of flower rich margins and wild-bird seed mixes used for red-legged partridge driving.”
This year at the Cotswold Show, prizes were also awarded to the runner-ups for the Grey Partridge award, Peter Brown of Park Farm, Anthony Colburn, and Henry Colburn of Crickley Barrow Farm.
Mark Tufnell (chair and sponsor of the Cotswold Grey Partridge County Group and sponsor of the Grey Partridge Trophy), James Bendall (Gamekeeper) and winner Charles Phillips (Macaroni Farms)
The Grey Partridge Norfolk award was presented at the Norfolk Show by Justin Ripman from Mills & Reeve to the family of conservationist and farmer Robin Carver as a tribute. Robin and his wife have ‘transformed’ the landscape in the 42 years that they lived at Hole Farm in Hempstead before Robin sadly died in January this year.
Robin and his wife Rose planted 150,000 trees adding 67 acres of new woodland and nine miles of hedgerows. Together they transformed the farm from a barren, windswept prairie into an abundant haven for wildlife. This is not their only award, they have previously won the national Silver Lapwing prize.
The family of winner Robin Carver: Airlie Inglis, Rose Carver, and Charles Inglis, with the Grey Partridge Norfolk Trophy. (Image: Eastern Daily Press)
If you are interested in helping conserve the grey partridge by joining the Partridge Count Scheme, there are no restrictions on how few partridges you have to start with. People on the ground hold the key to the conservation of the grey partridge and the farmland ecosystem. Please join here. FOR MORE ADVICE – book an Advisory visit or join one of our courses. Get in touch: 01425 651013 (England/Wales) or 0131 202 7670 (Scotland). Find out more here.
Notes: Connor, H.E. & Draycott, R.A.H. (2010). Management strategies to conserve the grey partridge: the effect on other farmland birds. Aspects of Applied Biology, 100: 359-363.