The story of a cornfield!

When the Rawcliffe Bar Park & Ride was planned, York Natural Environemt Trust and the Friends of Rawecliffe Meadows were concerned that building it on an arable field that was regularly used by nesting birds in the spring would affect the bird population of Rawcliffe Meadows and York. To ameliorate this a cornfield buffer was built into the plan for the Park & Ride between the Country Park and the top of Rawcliffe Meadows. It is an arable field, with field gates at either side and signs saying 'No Public Access'. It is there to provide nesting for some of the nations increasingly rare birds such as skylark and grey partridge. It also provides a relatively safe feeding ground for the flocks of linnets, finches and tree sparrows that inhabit the copse on Rawcliffe Meadows. Skylark and partridge are ground nesters and establish themselves in the cornfield stubble quite early on in the spring. If people ignore the signs and take their dogs through, they won't nest! If people walk through there is also a chance that they will tread upon the nests, eggs or young! This is an arable field, it spends much of the year growing crops that walkers will trample, but the crops are also sprayed and otherwise managed. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER, FOR ANY REASON!