International Dawn Chorus Day - The Best Possible Start To May
1st May is a music festival like no other, with headliners including blackbirds, robins, wrens and yellowhammers. For our dawn walkers it was worth getting up at 3am to hear the stunning magical finale.
The dawn chorus walk was led by conservationist Nick Patel. We were joined by 33 intrepid locals, including some children, and were lucky to have a mild, still morning. Nick led us on a walk around the permanent pasture and natural flood management scheme, into the orchard, surrounded all the way by tall, thick native hedging which provides habitat for farmland songbirds.
Nick’s talk was very informative and we were impressed by his ability to recognise individual birdsong among the chorus. Nick will be back at FarmED in June to lead a Pollinator Farm Walk & Lunch. Booking now!
FarmED is the new Centre for Farming and Food Education based at Honeydale Farm in the Cotswolds.
Our mission is to accelerate the transition towards regenerative farming and sustainable food systems by providing space and opportunity for inspirational education, innovative research, practitioner-led knowledge exchange events and personal development.
The farm is a diverse mix of low input arable and temporary grass, and organic permanent pasture. Our trial plots include blocks of sainfoin, herbal ley, barley, heritage wheat, wild bird seed and various cover crops. The grassland is managed by mob grazed sheep.
At the heart of FarmED are two impressive eco-buildings – one providing space for conferences, lectures, workshops and special events; and the other a farm to fork kitchen and food space, and a regenerative business incubator.
Our audience includes local communities, schools, universities, researchers, farmers, new entrants, foodies, businesses, environmental groups and policy makers.
Our Website - https://www.farm-ed.co.uk