Update August 2022 and 2023 Season

Update August 2022: After 7 years skylarks have returned to breed on the high hills! – and with a bit of help they could stay

In 1988 there were 54 pairs of skylarks filling the summer skies above Malvern with their song as they have throughout human history. Skylarks last bred on the high Malverns in 2015 – until this year, 2022 when at least one pair and probably 2-3 pairs bred on a small strip of longer un-grazed grass at the top of the Worcester Beacon and in the more lightly grazed area a little lower on the Eastern side of the Beacon. (Update 23 season – two singing skylarks were on the Beacon in March and lasted throughout the season) In both areas the attractive grass flower stems contrast with the surrounding short-cropped grass. They stayed from March and were still singing into June and so probably raised at least two broods. They tolerated high levels of disturbance in a very busy area, even singing just before the Jubilee Beacon was lit.

This fantastic news was hoped for after two skylarks turned up the year before 2021 in the same spot but very late in the season at the end of May. They sang until the end of June but were unlikely to have bred. It is also encouraging that two skylarks were spotted singing on North Hill at the end of May this year, 2022 raising the hope that skylarks could return there in the same way next year.

Other locations on the Malvern Hills commons

As last year there are now only an estimate of 5-7 territories on the surrounding commons – 2-3 on Hollybed Common, only 1 on the main Castlemorton Common and 2-3 on Poolbrook Common. Castlemorton in particular looks vulnerable as grazing there has intensified leaving just one patch of longer grass taken up as a territory.

Why are there so few skylarks left on the hills?

Skylarks need vegetation of 20-40 cm to nest and forage for their young and they need to raise three broods a year to keep up their numbers but they have declined in numbers. Although they used to breed across all of the high flatter slopes the grass has been grazed too short in many places but there was enough left this year to bring them back. The few skylarks we have left on the Malvern Commons are concentrated in limited areas where the grass is still long enough e.g. two-3 pairs on Poolbrook Common managed as a meadow but down to one pair on Castlemorton common in a small area where the grass is just a bit longer. 

Why did the skylarks turn up so late in the year?

It looks like the skylarks displaced from surrounding farming fields were looking for suitable territory. Many skylarks on surrounding farmland set up territories in March but then abandon them too early in the season because winter sown crops grow too dense for them to forage or hay is cut too early.  Last year they were fighting over a small patch of taller grass near the top of the Worcestershire Beacon despite the bank holiday post-lockdown crowds. This year with the grass remaining ungrazed or more lightly grazed they returned to breed throughout the season. The same competitions for scarce territory with the right grass are seen on Castlemorton and Poolbrook Commons.

What could build on this success to keep the skylarks on the high hills and save them from leaving the commons?

Skylarks need a chance to raise their three broods from March to July. The longer grass in their favourite spots on the high hills and commons was long enough in March to get them started and never got too long. But now it has been grazed too tightly the summer before to recover in time – except in the newly successful sites.

1. They do not seem to need big areas of the right 20-40 cms grass – patches of 20m across are enough from what we have seen on the hills. Leaving a few patches of longer grasses, keeping the successful areas of this year and adding to them should be enough
2. They will go where the conditions are right even if that means tolerating disturbance – a quieter spot where they used to breed but the grass is too short is no good. A busy spot near the crowds but with the right grass is clearly viable as this year’s experience shows. This fits with experience in urban skylark conservation in Bristol’s Ashton Court.
3. That they like the high hills as well as the commons is evident because they have been there for centuries. 
4. The grass cannot recover by March if it is tightly grazed late the year before. It doesn’t start growing seriously until after the breeding season starts – too late!

It could help solve another problem too

The high hills are suffering from increasing invasion of coarse Yorkshire Fog grass and bracken smothering the fine wavy hair grass. Yorkshire fog is very damaging to insects, plants, mammals not just the skylarks and meadow pipits that avoid it. It is unpalatable to stock and they eat other grass first. Seeds can be introduced by cattle dung especially in areas they have trodden bare (poached).  The spots near the cattle watering stations were among the first to get invaded and there was very little Yorkshire Fog around before the cows were bought back in 2010 after 10 years absence. The photos below show how this happened and the problem is getting worse as the Yorkshire fog benefits from the fertilising effect of cattle dung and nutrients fixed by bracken and gorse as well as further poaching. More information is here.

Natural England’s grassland management expert advised that Yorkshire Fog increase was to be expected after gorse and bracken clearing but that it could then be controlled by grazing and is normally short lived once the nutrients have been depleted and the much more species-rich wavy hair grass could return. The problem is that it is not being grazed because the animals don’t like it.

What specifically could happen?

High grazing pressure is a known control mechanism for Yorkshire Fog. A possible solution is to fence stock into the Yorkshire Fog areas to force them to eat it and leave more of the nice wavy hair grass for the skylarks, meadow pipits and grasshoppers. Win win.

1. Leave a few more significant patches (of, say a hectare) of wavy hair grass un-grazed in areas previously inhabited with skylarks on the South West slopes of the Beacon and North slope of North Hill and on Castlemorton Common 
2. Concentrate stock on the Yorkshire Fog areas on the high hills – there is plenty of it where bracken has been rolled and gorse cleared and cattle will eat it.
3. Graze remaining Wavy Hair grass areas less intensely
4. Set up a simple project to monitor the impact of these regimes on biodiversity and scrub control. There is no data now available.

Why do this?

1. Target grazing to reverse the Yorkshire Fog invasion
2. Bring skylarks back to the hills and preserve them on the commons
3. Understand how different grazing regimes affect scrub control and biodiversity
4. Benefit other species. We have analysed how many more species on the SSSI citation will benefit – not just skylarks

Reducing grazing intensity like we have seen this year in parts has given the high hills their rugged natural feel back again with 30 cm or so of fine wavy grass flowing in the breeze rather than the short tightly grazed sward with little insect life we have now on much of the high hills. 

What evidence is there to support this idea?

The analysis here fits precisely with extensive research on the breeding habits, decline and needs of skylarks summarised by the The RSPB and BTO British Trust for Ornithology. 

There are also plenty of skylark conservation success stories.  A project at two sites in Bredon Hill only 15 miles away running since 2005 has increased their skylark numbers from 17 to 44 pairs by reducing grazing at the same time as we have been losing ours by intensifying grazing. Other busy sites such as Ashton Court in Bristol and our own Poolbrook Common show that skylarks will tolerate some disturbance if conditions suit them.

Bringing skylarks back to the Malvern Hills has a cultural and historical significance that will make it a story to be proud of. When people look up to see where that wonderful sound is coming from they may not know what it is but it brings a sense of well-being that can change the way they feel about their place in the world and the wildlife that surrounds them.