Highland estates unite to boost rare birds
Upland estates and landowners have joined forces to help some of Scotland’s rarest birds to nest and breed.
There are now 22 land managers in the greater Loch Ness region working together to create habitats for rare species such as curlew, oystercatcher, redshank and lapwing.
"The results have been outstanding," said the Loch Ness Rural Communities Moorland Group, "with more birds returning to the region each year and a significant rise in the number of nests which produce chicks successfully."
In some areas there has been a 50 per cent increase in moorland and wading birds over the past ten years, with curlew and lapwing the main beneficiary.
The group covers 33,000 hectares of moorland spanning 32 miles from Fort Augustus to Farr and includes estates such as Garrogie, Aberarder, Dunmaglass, Glendoe and Corriegarth.
Their collaborative approach to conservation is supported by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and RSPB.
Jenny McCallum, coordinator of the group said: “Many of the farms and estates in the Loch Ness region are managing habitat specifically for waders. This means excluding livestock or keeping the stocking density low in areas where nesting is preferred and creating wader scrapes to allow chicks access to shallow, wet areas to feed on insects. Land managers are trained to carry out wader surveys in the spring to assess the breeding success.
“We also control predators such as carrion crows and foxes, which is an activity registered with Police Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage and subject to stringent conditions. This combination of methods helps the waders to nest successfully and we are delighted with the results.”
Other birds which benefit from the moorland management practices in the region include golden plover, snipe, greenshank, twite, hen harrir and dotterel. All of them, apart from the golden plover, are on the red list or the amber list for birds considered to be of conservation concern because of their low numbers.
