Where are we with breeding Curlew’s in Lincolnshire?
Alan Ball’s article (No) Future for Curlews in Lincs in the November newsletter got us all thinking and talking about the points he raised. The position of confirmed Curlew breeding records in 10 km squares (Hectads) from the four atlases conducted since 1968 are shown in the Table below. It indicates that the breeding Curlew population has shifted from the Trent and Ancholme Valleys to the Limestone Heath. Why that has happened we don’t know but it appears that the range has increased rather than contracted over the last 50 years. The shaded squares are those where Curlew records may have come from the county or across the county border.
Looking at our Lincolnshire Bird Report for 2015 to 2020 there are no reports of confirmed breeding from anywhere in the county. So are the three RAF stations that Alan mentioned where Curlew eggs are being collected for head starting and transferring to other parts of the country the only breeding Curlews in the county? Those RAF stations are Scampton, Waddington and Barkston Heath.
We simply don’t know the answer to that question, but do you?
Are you aware of any breeding records in the county in the last 7 years that haven’t been reported? If so please let me know so we can try and improve our understanding. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any details you have. If you wish your record to be confidential please say so and that will be respected.
If you have any specific knowledge of the breeding position of Curlews on these three RAF stations, or themanagement of the airfields to limit Curlew numbers we would like to hear from you too, again if you would prefer those details to be confidential that will be respected.
That covers what has been happening up until now but what about going forward? The committee have in mind the formation of a Lincs Curlew Action group, LCA for short. We are looking for volunteers from the membership to join the group. One of it’s first actions will be to organise a survey of breeding Curlews in Lincs. Given that the best time to conduct surveys for this species is at the start of the breeding season in late March and early April we anticipate that the full survey, which will take a great deal of planning, will take place in 2024 with some preparatory test field work this year.
That doesn’t stop any of you going out this spring to look for displaying Curlews and sharing any details with LCA.
We have had some discussions with BTO about survey design and it is likely our survey will be on a tetrad basis and focus on airfields (to the extent they can be accessed by agreement or viewed from the perimeter) and a 2km buffer zone around them. We will also look at a sample of previous known breeding sites from material in LBR 2012 onwards and the last BTO Atlas of 2008/2011. We have made a data request to BTO for details of Lincolnshire tetrads where breeding Curlew were confirmed or probable in their last Atlas.
If you’d like to get involved with LCA or volunteer to help with preparatory surveys please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
