Virginia Portman, General Manager at the White Cliffs, said: “After many decades of intensive farming, it’s fantastic to see this stretch of the Cliffs buzzing with wildlife again. Peregrine falcons are reaping the rewards too with one of the fields now occupied by 1,200 wild pigeons - the falcons’ main source of prey. Ground nesting birds are already benefitting from the changes, with numbers of amber-listed meadow pipit, and red-listed partridge and corn bunting on the rise. Aided by a wet winter in 2019, this has resulted in an explosion of color, including most recently a sea of red poppies.īumblebird mix.
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Other fields were planted with wildflowers, grasses and low input cereal to give cover for nesting birds and help create a mosaic of habitats across the Cliffs. The skylark, whose melodic song has inspired many famous literary and musical works over the years, is thriving, with 48 birds counted at the site in the first week of May alone.Ī ‘bumblebird’ seed mix was sown in the autumn to provide birds with a supply of food through the winter and a range of nectar-rich plants for pollinators in the summer.
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Today, fields on the world-famous Cliffs are providing a haven for wildlife, including the nation’s songbird, the skylark, following efforts to restore the land to its natural grassland state. Since the acquisition, work has been underway to reverse 70 years of intensive agriculture which had depleted the land of wildlife.
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Courtesy of National Trust/Nick Upton.Īn area of farmland on the White Cliffs of Dover is awash with wildflowers, butterflies and endangered birds, two and a half years after it was saved by a public fundraising appeal led by the National Trust and Dame Vera Lynn. The appeal raised £1million which was used to purchase 178 acres in the Wanstone site.