In Shetland, the Species on the Edge team are working with some local crofters, helping them grow crops which will benefit pollinators in the summer and provide food for birds such as twite in the winter. Recently Matt Willmott, Conservation Officer with RSPB Scotland, led the Shetland Field Studies Group on a walk to see this work. Jill, who joined Matt for the walk, has kindly written about her experience of seeing one of our colourful strips of biodiversity-friendly crops for the first time.
By Jill Slee Blackadder, member of the Shetland Field Studies Group
Shetland Field Studies Group members heard about the Species on the Edge project a while ago and for months we had been looking forward to meeting up in September to see the results of one of the rig[1] sowings. We were not disappointed.
Our first glimpse of the rig came quite early in the day, as we were being given a wonderful introduction to the Spiggie bird hide and the loch itself. There were waterfowl and, especially exciting, lots of swans with plenty of their youngsters, or “cygnets”. There were also tufted ducks and, as my eye followed one of them as it landed on the still water with a silvery splash of spray, I caught site of several rigs behind the loch; bands of rich, intense greens – all except for one.
Our guide, Matt Willmott from RSPB Scotland, explained that the lurid fields were all for silage, but not the narrow band which was a blur of many different colours and we asked Matt what that crop was. When he realised which rig we were referring to, he was delighted. We had actually noticed from a distance the very place we were due to visit next! “That’s what we have come to see!“ he grinned, and eager to get a closer glimpse, we headed back to the minibus..
Just minutes later we were walking through the yard and down to the top of the rig, our eyes overwhelmed by the shock of colours; what a spectacular display! But then we became aware of two very different senses, hearing and smell. The whole field was alive with bumblebees and the humming was a background of soft music. We didn’t realise that there was one more of our senses to be awakened, still to come!
I bent closer to try to recognise some of the less familiar plants and breathed in deeply the strong honey scent. A curious movement at my feet caught my eye and I reached out a fingertip, to invite a sleepy bumblebee for ride. It had sated itself and was half on its back, slowly trying to extricate itself from the mesh of stems. Once one slender little leg touched my fingertip, it soon got a grip, and climbed up, settling into the warmth of my palm.
By the time nearly all the group had felt the pleasure of those claw-tipped feet, we began to take our leave, but not before we had tasted one of the short, gleaming pods of the specially selected plants, which, when ripened, would maybe make the difference between life and death to the wintering birds, whose numbers have been falling steadily for many years.
We thanked Matt for his excellent and vivid explanation of the whole scheme. Several of us had crofts ourselves and were keen to sign up as well.
[1] A rig is a narrow strip of raised land that is cultivated
