Forestry England – Ground-nesting birds – Keeper Report – Early Summer
Austin Weldon, New Forest Keeper, Forestry England
As a Forestry England Keeper here in the New Forest, I probably have one of the best “offices” there is. A key part of my job is to help monitor and look after the Forest’s wildlife. At this time of year, we are particularly focused on ground-nesting birds, species which as the name suggests take the rather precarious approach of building their nests and rearing their young on the ground.
Among other statutory designations, the New Forest is a Special Protection Area for birds. This is because of the wide range of species that live here and visit to breed, attracted by the area’s rich mix of woodland, heath and wetland habitats. Ground-nesting birds are of particular importance, and the New Forest is one of the last remaining habitats in the country where you will find such diversity of this group. The ability of these birds to successfully breed and raise young has become critical to their survival in the UK.
Key species found here include Lapwing, Curlew, Snipe, and Redshank who favour the heathland and wetland areas, and those such as Woodlark and Wood Warblers who nest on the ground in and around the edges of woodlands.
Over the last couple of months, our team have been closely monitoring the ground-nesting birds arriving here and their fortunes as the season progresses.
We use a variety of methods and in recent years, advancements in stealth camera technology have taken our knowledge of the challenges these birds face to new levels. These hidden devices allow us to closely observe the nesting process, and better understand why and how this can fail. Also, by watching the parents’ behaviour we can assess where the birds are in the breeding season, looking at things like courtship, territory establishment, or how parents attempt to deter and distract predators.
This year we are also collaborating with Bournemouth University, and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust with support from Wild New Forest to monitor the ground nesting bird season and in particular the fortunes of Curlews. The data we collect will help inform and improve our understanding of the key challenges currently faced by these birds.
Back in April we saw the arrival of Lapwing and Curlew. Since then, they have been busy with courting rituals and establishing their nests. We are also lucky to have a population of UK resident Woodcock which remain here year-round rather than migrating east, which the vast majority do. Some of the migrant birds amazingly travel as far as Siberia to breed before returning here for the winter. Some weeks ago, the Woodcock males made their presence known by “roding” – flying high around areas at dusk, croaking and squeaking to claim their territories and attract the attention of females.
Like Woodcock, Lapwing are also early nesters, and we have seen a few of their broods successfully hatch and are now on the cusp of fledging. One of the nests we have been most closely watching demonstrates how previously little-known behaviour can be gleaned with modern nest camera technology. A female lapwing left her nest just before dusk and as her chicks were at the very early stages of beginning to hatch. She returned at dawn the following morning and immediately got to work protecting her new brood by removing the empty eggshells from the nesting site. Once the chicks where fluffy and dry she moved them on to a new area and away from the nest. It is thought that lapwing do this to try and outwit predators by reducing the scent and evidence of the nest. They are known to go to great lengths to achieve this, moving eggshells up to 50 metres or so away.
Curlew are another species we monitor closely. Currently on the conservation red list due to their near endangered status, their numbers are reducing globally. In the UK lowlands numbers have dropped by as much as 60% in recent years.
With 25% of the global population of these birds are resident in the UK, halting the decline here is critical to the survival of this species. We are playing our part and working across England to support the work of the Curlew Recovery Partnership.
Curlew are some of the hardest birds to monitor due to their secretive nesting behaviour, but due to patience and persistence the team have managed to locate and monitor a high proportion of this year’s nests. We will be following their fortunes closely.
It is still early in the season and some birds such as Nightjar have only just laid eggs, having flown here all the way from Africa. They favour heathland and woodland edges in recently cleared areas. The New Forest is a stronghold for them with around 15% of the UK population found here. Their wonderful churring call and wing clapping makes warm summer evenings in the New Forest very special.
We will be continuing to monitor the progress of many species as we progress through the season, which ends in late August. Finding out more about why breeding attempts fail is critical to the long-term survival of these birds. The more we know about the threats to them during this time, the better we can protect them in the future by making more informed management decisions.
Anyone spending time on the Forest at this time of year can help support these incredible birds by taking a few simple steps to avoid disturbing them and causing parents to flee their nests. Please stick to the main tracks and keep your dog with you and do not allow them to venture off these or out onto the open heathlands. You can also look out for special orange and red signs that help you know when you are in very sensitive nesting sites.