One of the exciting prospects of the long-term management and development of the habitat on Dropping Well Farm is the potential it has to attract birds that historically called the heath home and have since been lost. Add to this the potential for seeing abundance of birds increase or the opportunity for other species to expand their current ranges into and across the area.  

This leads us nicely into talking about pipits. In the UK we have three breeding species of these small, brown, insect-eating birds all named, very logically, after their preferred habitat. Two of them, meadow and tree pipits, use heaths and similar habitats to breed or overwinter on. In the case of the Worcestershire Sandlands, we are now missing one. 

Both these pipits are your typical LBJs - little brown jobs. This is a common term amongst birdwatchers for birds that have no bright distinguishing plumage features that clearly make them stand out from other birds or, in this case, from each other.

What helps differentiate one from the other are their habits and habitats. 

Meadow pipits are seen regularly during winter on Dropping Well Farm and, luckily for birdwatchers like me, tree pipits are already on their warm wintering grounds by the time the meadow pipits arrive. In the past when the heath was more extensive and wetter than it is today, they probably bred here.

Tree pipits, well, they’re another matter. Their absence is quite noticeable. We've already reproduced habitat suitable for them on the heath and as Dropping Well Farm develops into a rich, varied landscape, the area should become even more suitable for them. They already breed in the  wider Wyre Forest so we're hoping they'll spot our restoration work and drop in.

Obviously, there are many reasons why any bird population vanishes from an area but current visitor disturbance levels certainly won’t be helping facilitate their return to our heathland. Which is why Project Yellowhammer has such an important role to play in changing visitor attitudes and behaviours when on the nature reserve. We're asking all visitors to keep dogs on a short lead and stick to paths. By pledging to do this, visitors will help to support not only the yellowhammer’s eagerly looked for reestablishment and population increase, but every other species that uses, or could potentially return to, the reserve will also benefit. Hopefully, the tree pipit’s sweet lilting song will once again be heard, alongside the yellowhammer’s, across both the heath and Dropping Well Farm.