Page 20 - Out Birding Spring 2024

Ughill Farm, Sheffield
Members who live in and near to Sheffield will know the great work undertaken by our local Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust (SRWT) which works with the local community to protect and enhance the environment in Sheffield and Rotherham.
When the Trust had a unique opportunity to buy and manage Ughill Farm for the benefit of nature, and they put out an appeal to raise £1.2m to finalise the deal, I asked the GBC commi􏰀ee (via Pat) if I could nominate this appeal for a dona􏰁on from our conserva􏰁on fund.
I was so pleased to hear, just before Christmas, that a dona􏰁on of £300 had been made. Although at the 􏰁me of the dona􏰁on the Trust had met its target of £1.2 to repay a loan to the Esmee Fairbairn Founda􏰁on to secure the purchase, it s􏰁ll needed addi􏰁onal funds to start the challenge of managing the site.
SRWT fundraisers sent us a lovely Christmas thank you message and joined our Face- book page.
Ughill Farm
Ughill Farm consists of 132 hectares of marginal farmland in the West of Sheffield. Lying within the Sheffield Lakeland Landscape, it is important for Curlew, Golden Plover, Snipe and Lapwing, all na􏰁onally threatened wading birds that breed on the moorland around Sheffield. The farm consists of a mixture of improved and rough pasture, blanket bog, old sessile oak woodland and stream corridors, and an old quarry (now heathland and a body of water). It includes an area in the interna􏰁onally important Eastern Moors Site of Special Scien􏰁fic Interest (SSSI) and is a Special Protected Area (SPA). It is designated under the Countryside Stewardship agri-environment scheme as a priority area for upland breeding birds which are currently in decline (partly as a result of agricultural prac􏰁ces.)
Now in the Trust’s ownership there is an opportunity to farm the land sympathe􏰁cally with nature. It aims to demonstrate to neighbouring farms, and to na􏰁onal decision makers, that farming can be commercial as well as sustainable, and can enhance wildlife.
An ini􏰁al survey shows the farm supports 63 recorded species including mammals, invertebrates of high conserva􏰁on concern, such as small heath and wall bu􏰀erflies, extensive wildflowers and migra􏰁ng birds such as Merlin as well as the waders and small birds.
The Trust’s first two priori􏰁es are to
Stock proof the site for low density grazing in order to start food produc􏰁on and support biodiversity.
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