The Big Farmland Bird Count returns in 2021, and organisers are asking farmers and land managers – who look after 71% of Britain's countryside – to join in.

The project helps show which farmland birds are benefitting from conservation efforts while identifying the species most in need of help.

The annual count, run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is scheduled for the 5-14 February 2021.

Farmers are being encouraged to take part in this year's Big Farmland Bird Count by spending half an hour recording the birds they see on their land.

The important initiative is a simple way of recording the effect of conservation schemes run by farmers and gamekeepers on their land, such as supplementary feeding or growing wild bird seed crops and game cover crops.

See also:Environment Land Management scheme – what we know so far.

Our image shows a pink footed goose – skeins of these noisy birds have been honking overhead recently and feeding on local farmers' fields.