Badenoch and Strathspey curlews celebrated during world awareness day
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Bird lovers in the strath are joining people across the globe celebrating World Curlew Day today (April 21).
For the team at RSPB Insh Marshes, it’s a celebration that comes amidst busy preparations for the breeding season, following on from a winter of works to improve habitat for this red-listed wader.
Curlew populations have almost halved in the UK since the mid 1990s and they are heading for extinction as a breeding bird here, largely because there are fewer suitable places for them to breed and more predators.
At Badenoch's RSPB Insh Marshes, however, staff and volunteers have come together to turn around the fate of the bird.
The reserve is one of five sites around the UK supported through the four-year Curlew LIFE project, managed by the RSPB and funded by the EU, supported locally by the Cairngorms Connect programme.
Over the past two years of the project, a range of works have been carried out on the ground to create the best possible habitat for the struggling birds, as well as comprehensive monitoring and action to reduce predation.
“Like every winter, we have prepared 500 hectares of the floodplain with specific grazing and topping management for wading birds,” said Thijs Claes, Curlew LIFE project officer at the reserve.
“The other 300 hectares are in such a good hydrological condition that little management is needed to provide the right habitat and vegetation structure.
"Curlew like an open landscape so they can see predators and we’ve made our habitat even better for them by removing redundant fences and scrub from another 13 hectares of open wetland area. This reduces the chance of nests and chicks being predated.”
The reserve team has also taken action to boost the amount of food readily available for the curlews.
“We have improved about 15 hectares of land on Insh Marshes where the curlew like to feed,” Mr Claes said.
“By spreading lime on semi-improved grass fields, we hope to see an increase in the numbers of worms for them and their chicks to eat.”
Over the winter, he commissioned a feasibility study to improve the lying water conditions at one of the breeding areas. Specialists put forward a range of practical recommendations for blocking and reprofiling drains, and this will happen after the current breeding season.
After all the works that have been done, he is looking forward to seeing how well the curlew respond to the changes: "It’s no easy task, though, to find nests and then track how many chicks fledge. This year, we will have a helping hand from technology and skilled volunteers.
“Our survey team grows every year and now a team of 10 people will be looking for curlew nests to monitor and consistently record chick sightings.
"Once the chicks hatch they feed themselves, foraging for insects in the vegetation and then digging for worms when their beaks are a bit stronger. They roam quite large distances, watched over by their anxious parents.
"It’s a challenge for us to gauge how many of the chicks fledge successfully. This year, we’ll be using radiotagging of chicks, where we fit them with a transmitter that falls off naturally after a period of time. This will increase our understanding of chick survival rates, the way the chicks use the local environment, and the main threats they face.”
With the reserve staff and volunteers from the local community all working together to help the curlew, the teams are feeling hopeful for a successful breeding season at Insh Marshes this year.
