Observations on the use of a solar park by Corn Buntings in southern England

Ground-mounted solar parks are the largest onshore renewable energy source in the UK. Despite this, relatively little is known about their impact on biodiversity compared to other land uses, particularly on ground-nesting farmland birds. In this study, we present the first published evidence of nesting by any ground-nesting farmland bird on a solar park in the UK – the Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra – a Red-listed species. We describe clutch sizes, number of fledglings, nest success rates and causes of nest failure for five Corn Bunting nests at Westmill Solar Park, Oxfordshire, between 2019 and 2023, as well as 36 nests within an approximate 1-km radius from the solar park boundary. We also conducted focal watches to assess how Corn Buntings use solar parks during the breeding season. These revealed that, when in the solar park, birds spent the greatest proportion of their time foraging. Several birds were also observed carrying food from the solar park to land outside the perimeter fence, suggesting that they were ‘commuting’ to the solar park to forage during the breeding season. Although these observations are encouraging, Westmill Solar Park is currently the only solar park in the UK where a study of ground-nesting farmland bird nests has been published and differs from most other solar parks in the UK in its open design and low-intervention management. Further monitoring and research are therefore needed to understand more about the behaviour of farmland birds on a greater sample of solar parks, and which management interventions can promote favourable conditions for ground-nesting farmland birds on these sites.