Project's success buys time to help curlews
Some 60 members of Shropshire branch of the Game and Wildlife Trust will recall a memorable mid-summer’s evening walk on the Stiperstones hearing about the work of The Curlew Project led by Amanda Perkins and GWCT’s Austin Weldon.
By way of an update, I am delighted to say that the recovery project has recently released hand-reared curlew chicks – using a conservation practice known as headstarting – in a bid to help them on a local level.
Within the scheme area, which encompasses farm land in west Shropshire, bordering Wales and including the Stiperstones and Corndon Hills, the curlew population has diminished by 30 per cent in 11 years. This dramatic decline reflects the national and international picture.
The decision to intervene was not taken lightly as project workers spent two years using cameras and data loggers to monitor over 30 curlew nests, from which no chicks survived to hatch. Most were predated at egg stage by foxes, so the Curlew Country project took the much-needed step of applying for a licence to incubate 50 eggs and rear them by hand.
Working on the ground in conjunction with the Shropshire Hills and Welsh Marches, 21 chicks have been reared this summer through to fledging that otherwise would not have made it. It is hoped that the project can fill the gap that natural nesting attempts were not able to.
The first batch of chicks has now flown freely, outside of their original enclosure. This is a landmark event for the project, and for national curlew conservation, as it suggests what could be possible.
Importantly, it taught those working on the project a great deal about the rearing process, ranging from the foods chicks preferred, the stages at which they needed to be moved into larger enclosures and the level of support they required to learn certain skills.
Headstarting chicks is not a long-term solution to curlew decline, but it might buy some time, time in which it is hoped wider solutions can be found.
The reared chicks have been fitted with colour rings with a unique two letter code. This allows them to be re-identified by other birders if the code is read. To find out more visit www.curlewcountry.org. The Curlew Country Project is hosted by GWCT.
Tim Main, Shropshire branch chairman of the GWCT
