Page 64 - Ickford NP Consultation Report

64 VISION FOR ICKFORD : ICKFORD NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN CONSULTATION REPORT

Annex 17.

Ickford Wildlife Survey.

In line with Plan objectives,

Ickford residents have taken part in a Wildlife Survey. Also we have sourced
other published data, for example, the Thame & Chiltern Bird Atlas
distribution survey and that of the British Butterfly Conservation. This has
strengthened our evidence base for some of our policies relating to Ickford’s
biodiversity.
32 questionnaires have been analysed providing the following data:

Birds
46 species were identified and certain conclusions can be drawn:

• The wetland environment and its preservation is very important with
evidence of a broad number of species attracted to this special habitat.
17 species associated with the habitat were identified with the
endangered Curlew, seen by 21% of respondents and 43% reported
seeing the Heron.

• Within the Village area interesting sightings included:

Barn Owl (50%),
Raven (29%) and
Red Kite (80%).

In fact, encouragingly, 7 different raptor species were reported. However,
Little Owl and Sky Lark, both common 20 years ago, were not reported.
The extent of the raptor population tends to signify that a healthy small
mammal population is present in our location.

Mammals
Respondents recorded 18 different mammal species in the area which is
encouraging. Pleasing were the reports of;

Hedgehogs (50%)
Muntjac (80%) – a recent addition to the locality, and
Badger (64%).

There were plenty of reports of a range of small mammals. The Rabbit population
appears to be widespread but low sightings of Hare suggest a declining population.
There were reports of:

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