World Curlew Day.

Forest of Bowland Moorland Group

World Curclew Day took place on the 21st of April. Curlews are the largest wader that nests in the Forest Of Bowland. Their evocative calls are a welcome sign of spring!

Their numbers are relatively stable in the Forest of Bowland but nationally they are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and predation.

One of our estates have sponsored four curlew to be part of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trusts Wader Tracking Study. As well as numbered and unique coloured rings, the birds were fitted with a small GPS tag. The tracker records the birds location every 30 minutes. Local schools were asked to choose names for the tagged birds and settled on Sinbad, Acanthus, Bella and Harla. The schools receive updates on the birds locations so they can also become involved in the conservation of these fantastic birds.

I’m sure you can all agree that we would not want to see any more decline of these birds and they thrive on managed moorland, once again showing good management is a vital conservation tool.