Page 45 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #05

CURLEWS

CURLEW COUNTRY

This inspiring project in Shropshire and the Welsh
Marches is leading the way for curlew recovery in
lowland farmland. It started work in 2015 and for two
years monitored a total of 40 nests. Not one chick
survived due to predation. Now the project is using
electric fencing and predator control near nests, and
is pioneering ‘head-starting’ – taking eggs from the
wild to incubate in captivity and then replace just
before hatching. (This is done under licence from
Natural England.) In 2017, 10 chicks fledged. Find out
more about the project at www.curlewcountry.org

Curlew Country
is boosting the
number of chicks
that survive.

Far left: curlews
use rough ground crash from a conservative estimate of 5,000 breeding and May 2016, a journey described in my book. It was an
and tussocky pairs to just 120 pairs in 2017. Northern Ireland has odyssey to see where curlews still thrive and to stand in the
vegetation for around 250 pairs left. fields where they no longer call. I talked to as many people
nesting. Left: their And in all these places, curlews face the additional as I could along the way. I met artists inspired by the beauty
eggs are blotched pressure of predation. Our highly managed, of curlews, musicians entranced by their calls, writers who
for camouflage.
Above: intensive intensively farmed landscapes seem to be good for use them as metaphors and, of course, conservationists
farming doesn’t generalist predators such as foxes and corvids. In doing what they can to protect these birds.
give the birds time some locations 100 per cent of eggs and chicks are Very often, however, dedicated people were working in
or space to raise predated, resulting in zero productivity year on year. isolation, and different groups failing to link up. A series
their chicks. Below
left: the waders When there’s a healthy population of birds, they of meetings seemed like a good way to help bring everyone
feed on worms, can fend off attackers by grouping together. As it is, together to work out solutions. So far, ‘Curlews in Crisis’
shellfish, crabs with so few birds surviving, they have no chance and workshops have been held in Ireland, southern England and
and the like. sadly are easy pickings. Wales; the Scottish workshop will take place in September.
The result has been the establishment of various
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS working groups to save curlews. Electric fences are being
Taking all this into account, I believe the decline erected around nests, limited and targeted predator
of curlews throughout Britain and Ireland is far control undertaken during the breeding season and help
worse than we thought. Counting breeding curlews given for collecting data. It’s a modest beginning, but
is notoriously difficult. We now know curlews can some curlew chicks have already fledged in areas that
travel far from their nesting sites to feed and roost, have seen few, if any, for years. At last, we’re changing
+ GET INVOLVED which may cause double-counting in some areas. from monitoring an extinction to actively helping our
Look out for events And agricultural intensification has continued apace. curlews survive and thrive.
and campaigns on There are no more than 400 pairs of curlews Who knows whether we’ll succeed in bringing curlews
World Curlew Day throughout Ireland, maybe 400 pairs in Wales and back to stable and healthy populations; it’s a tall order when
(21April) and during
Curlew Crisis Month fewer than 300 pairs in southern England. That so much is stacked against them. We’ll have to dig deep into
(all May; search for leaves the uplands of England and Scotland to our compassion for wild things to hold onto them. But if we
events at www.rspb. support over 64,000 pairs, which seems unlikely. do, we’ll be rewarded with beauty and gracefulness.
org.uk/events). All in all, the official estimate appears overly
The RSPB has a
Curlew Recovery optimistic given the rapid rate of decline. MARY COLWELL is a naturalist and BBC radio
Programme: http:// All this crystallised for me when I walked 500 producer. Her book Curlew Moon (William Collins,
bit.ly/2DsjEMQ. miles (800km) across Ireland and the UK in April £16.99) is published this month.
Spring 2018 BBC Wildlife 45