Thank-you for the grant from BGU to help with our work at Darcy Lever Gravel Pits.
Our long term project is to set up a dedicated bird feeding station, that is both vandal proof and squirrel proof. Through the grant we have already been able to purchase bird feeders of different types for many different species, together with the equipment needed to maintain the station, and make it accessible to both volunteers, members of the local community and local school groups. It is hoped that these groups will be able to enjoy and monitor the different bird species within the area, as they come to feed at the station.
It is also hoped that the feeding station will encourage a future increase in both bird biodiversity and species numbers within the site, at the same time allowing members of the local community and schools, to appreciate what wildlife exists on its doorstep and in what numbers.
The next phase of the project is to erect a bird hide so the above can be carried out with little or no disturbance to the birds themselves.
The enthusiastic response from our volunteers for the station, since we started on the project, has been fantastic, and hopefully this enthusiasm will increase as time goes by. Maybe this could create an increase in the number of volunteer members, once they are encouraged to monitor bird numbers and species, for both the group’s and national bird records.
It is hoped that the feeding station will be a welcome addition to the numerous events that GPAG hold for the local community every year in the site, and hopefully may be responsible for an increase in people taking part in the events
We have not had much feedback from locals so far, as we have just started, but a few interested locals have approached us as we are working, enquiring as to what we were doing? It is hoped that this interest will increase, as word gets around about our feeding station, once it is completed.
