Welsh farmers and gamekeepers have shown their long-term commitment to conservation alongside productive land-use by completing this year’s GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count in record numbers.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s director for Wales, Sue Evans, said: “We could not be more delighted with the response to this year’s GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count.

"Despite adverse weather during the February count participation in Wales has gone up a spectacular 91 per cent in the last two years. This year 115 farmers in Wales took part, a 37 per cent increase on last year. Participants recorded 107 species across more than 34,000 acres.

“All of this helps us to build a detailed picture of the state of farmland birds in Wales, allowing us to better understand what is really going on with Welsh wildlife.”

The count has shown some encouraging results in Wales.

A total of 22 species from the red list for birds of conservation concern were recorded in this year’s count, with starling, fieldfare, yellowhammer and song thrush appearing in the 25 most frequently seen species list.

Starling, fieldfare, lapwing, linnet and yellowhammer were the five most abundant red listed species recorded with over 5,400 individuals spotted, which equates to more than 21 per cent of all birds counted.

The five most abundant birds seen across Wales were woodpigeon, starling, chaffinch, fieldfare and lapwing. A total of over 9,200 were counted, making up

Farmers from 12 Welsh counties took part in the 2021 count. Powys had the most returns, with 30 farmers completing the survey. It was followed by Ceredigion with 23, Monmouthshire with 17 and Pembrokeshire with 14.

Full results are available at bfbc.org.uk