While on Islay, my time was divided between working with the wardens to carry out surveys and practical conservation work, and talking to the farmers, and land managers about their management practices. Most of my time was spent at Loch Gruinart Reserve, where I was able to spend time with Eion the farm manager, discussing the benefits and limitations of farming on a nature reserve. Most of our conversations took place while tagging calves, running for our lives from mental heifers, and shovelling up a number of unmentionables from the calving pens. Our conversations reminded me a lot of conversations with my father on the farm, or indeed with any farmer. We started off having a pleasant chat, until something went wrong (invariably, a swift kick to the shin from a calf, an escapee bull, or an interfering visitor), and things would quickly descend into a number of expletives being shouted, followed by “Do you see what I have to put up with?!” There is no doubt about it, farming is hard. It is made even harder by the number of rules and regulations which have to be adhered to. As a farmer on an RSPB reserve, Eion has additional rules to stick to. There are literally thousands of geese on his fields, which have munched every last scrap of grass available, so he will have to pile on the fertiliser once the geese leave (about now) to ensure he has enough grass to feed his cows. He is also restricted in his silage cutting dates; he has to wait until the flooded fields are dry enough, and in many areas has to wait until August to ensure he doesn’t harm any nesting birds. However, for Eion, conservation is at the heart of his farm and he enjoys seeing the benefits of his work. He is passionate about what he does and his work really does make a difference to the wildlife on Loch Gruinart.
Barnacle geese flying in to roost on the saltmarsh at sunset.
I spent some time with Andy Schofield, manager of the Oa reserve on the south of the island. The Oa is one of the RSPB’s biggest reserves, and Andy has a lot of good ideas to manage the site. While I was there, he showed me his plans to control a huge area of rush which is preventing the site being suitable for the majority of birds. He had started to cut some of the rushes in order to encourage lapwing to nest next to one of the lochs. He also has plans for a number of abandoned fields, which he intends to bring back into agricultural production. He grazes a huge area of cliff for chough, and I was lucky enough to see the resident golden eagles at the same time, pretty exciting!
The cliffs on the Oa reserve, where the golden eagles roost.
Overall, my time on Islay was incredibly rewarding. Not only did I learn how to identify a number of bird species, but I also learn how the management activities on the Reserve were having direct impacts on the wildlife. It just goes to show how conservation and farming are dependent on each other.