We are now well into the nesting season, which is always later than many other curlew breeding areas, such as moorland, where there are already chicks present.
Ornithologist Tony has been out relentlessly searching for curlew nests, and to date 23 different nests have been located. A proportion of these nests have had the eggs removed to be incubated, and we now have 40 eggs in the incubators, being carefully monitored by our headstarting assistant Rosie. Rosie works for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and is helping us this season to maximise the number of chicks we get to fledging stage.
Some of the nests located are being fenced and monitored, to see how they fare in the wild. These include the wonderful Curlew Cam nest, which you can click here to view.
Unfortunately, as with every year, we have already experienced some losses. We’ve had nests that have been predated before they could be fenced or dummied (if we find an incomplete clutch, we swap the real egg for a replica to encourage the bird to keep laying), dummies predated, and some nests inadvertently destroyed by farming activities. Whilst we try our best to reach nests first, and save or protect the eggs, we cannot always get there in time.
If you would like to support the on-going work of the project, you can donate here.
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