The hegemonic dominance of single land-uses in our uplands is one of our biggest problems, be it forestry in Dumfries & Galloway, intensive sheep grazing in the Lake District or DGS on the North York Moors, all of which can create species poor homogeneous upland landscapes.
Over 30 headstarted curlews (raised in captivity then released) are now flying free in Shropshire - for 3rd year running. Huge congrats to @CurlewCountry, led by Mandi Perkins. Her dedication in the face of so many obstacles is inspiring 🙏🙏🙏🙏🐦🐥@CurlewAction
Could this be a Marsh Fritillary web? - on Succisa pratensis on a site with them present for the last 2 years.
Leaf folded over and mostly eaten.
@BC_Cumbria@savebutterflies @leeinthelakes @JFDIecologist @martinswarren @mwain2@wildlyth
@farmer_richiet I agree….however his original tweet re river pollution is v concerning….something that I’ve witnessed myself in my local rivers after slurry spreading, sewage release. We need far better river/water quality protection….
South Walney is famous for our gull colony, which was once the largest in Europe with 45,000 pairs of Lesser black back and herring gulls in the 70s. The colony has been in decline since the local tip shut, but since at least 2015 there's been zero chicks fledged
The Lake District, where did it all go wrong? If one can be arsed…I found this blog an engrossing read today. I thought I wrote some emotive essays online but this one is rather superb in an academic way! Written by a young individual from Ambleside: https://t.co/DRyxuQwkUD
@morss_alex 2/2 These NGO’s then cover up the ‘deal’ or sell a story to their membership (who often don’t understand the complexity or full story) It’s all about £. When a real fight is needed none of these NGO’s are prepared to show any teeth…
@morss_alex 1/2 So often those in NGO senior positions sell out under pressure. Fearful for their careers they detach themselves from their integrity & capitulate in the face of meaningless false promises. It’s so depressing for those in more junior roles who genuinely care.
An empty curlew nest in the New Forest. It was their 2nd attempt. Camera trap showed a fox taking the eggs at night. All nests in this area failed. The harsh reality of waders in Britain. @CurlewAction @curlewrecovery @waderquest @WaderStudy
Pied Flycatcher bonanza this year on our Loweswater nest monitoring scheme - we have 65 chicks in total and 13 have already fledged!
Most will fledge in the next few days.
#LakeDistrict#PiedFlycatcher#Conservation
A flying visit to curlew central, aka Shropshire, visiting Curlew Country's curlew headstarting project. These folks are seriously amazing. No sleep whilst eggs hatching and round the clock monitoring. Just fantastic efforts to save the species from extinction.
To you it may just look like a bit of water and mud, but to me it is the start of a new wildlife habitat for our farm.
After only 5 days work, Danny @UllswaterCic has turned a canalised 220m straight beck into a series of squiggly channels, scrapes and ponds.
It is awesome!
Here is the story of one curlew, which summarises their plight. Thanks to Chris Wells for sending it. "In October 2013 an adult female Curlew was caught on her wintering grounds on the Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire and fitted with a metal BTO ring.