Having sewn the wild flower seed in mid-December, we spend an afternoon over Christmas planting, err, wooden lapwings. Hmmm.
Why? I blame Rob Parry, our ever helpful ecologist from INCCymru (Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru www.natureconservation.wales), coupled with my gullibility. The starting point was that Rob had access to around 20 life sized, painted, wooden lapwing models, each mounted on a metal blade (for want of a better term) to push into the ground. Mandeep and I arranged them in a small cluster in the middle of the field, and set the camera trap up to view what, if anything, happens.
What are we expecting? Well, it is a bit of an experiment. The field is not prime lapwing territory … there is water on the land, but nothing really suitable for them at the moment. However, there may be other plovers, such as the golden plover, and perhaps waders such as snipe or woodcock (which I have certainly seen). And the “decoy” lapwings may lead to interactions with these, perhaps getting them to forage around. So we might see something new as a result.
Or, of course, those models may just be carried off by a fox! That’s my hunch, the fox’s lunch.
Time will tell … I’ll report back in due course
Good news you must all feel pleased and excited the family continues to grow thanks for the info keep me in the loop as I am interested in what goes on take care JBD