In Strathbraan and Glenshee once the evenings start to draw out, if you know where to look you can find Curlew amidst neat rows of saplings, beaks probing exposed moundings, still gamely trying to breed at sites which have been given over to tree planting. At Tarras Valley…
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We always look ahead to exciting signs of coming spring. Several people have been in touch with the project over the last fortnight to let us know that oystercatchers have already arrived on their territories on the River Tweed, and big groups of lapwings have started to appear on the hills in the south of Scotland…
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Working for Waders was well represented at the European Curlew Fieldworker’s Conference in King’s Lynn last weekend. Bruce Cooper and Patrick Laurie were in attendance for the three day event which saw a hundred curlew conservationists coming together from across…
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The last few weeks have been busy at Working for Waders. Having welcomed a number of project proposals from various partners across Scotland, it was hard to narrow down a list of applicants to match the budget allocated for spending. Each proposal offered
Read MoreWoodland expansion is an important driver of wader decline in many parts of the UK. As governments push to plant more trees in a bid to tackle the impact of climate change, wader habitats are being squeezed and fragmented by new forests across large areas of marginal farmland.
Read MoreIt’s been a busy few weeks for the Working for Waders nest camera project. This is the third year we’ve been running cameras to monitor wader breeding productivity across Scotland, and the results have so far helped us to build a really useful picture of the threats and challenges which face…
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As part of a project on wader conservation clusters, we’ve been working on Skye over the last few weeks. It’s really important to understand how farmers and crofters can work together to protect wading birds, and “clusters” are a great way to deliver change across an entire landscape.
Read MoreWe’ve just updated our “The Story So Far” document which charts our progress over the last 12 months, including a range of work across a variety of projects including farmer clusters, research and nest camera work….
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While lots of good work for waders is delivered through agri-environment schemes in Scotland, there’s room to improve this funding mechanism. Some of the options available under AECS (agri-environment and Climate Scheme) attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all approach across…
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Looking ahead into a new year, this has been a very busy time for Working for Waders. Various project partners were involved in meetings right through the Christmas break to ensure that all our plans are in place for the spring…
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During the course of 2022’s wader breeding season, we’ve been running a Nest Camera Project to monitor wader nests and learn more about the challenges facing wading birds in Scotland. This project was established in 2021, but it was considerably enlarged…
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A team from Working for Waders recently headed into Lanarkshire to meet the Clyde Valley Wader Group near Crawfordjohn. This group of farmers has blazed a trail for wader conservation…
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A group from the Working for Waders facilitation team travelled to Grantown-on-Spey last week to learn more about the work of the Strathspey Waders and Wetlands Initiative (SWWI). The meeting was hosted by RSPB Scotland and the Cairngorms National Park Authority…
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The Working for Waders nest camera project is in full swing, with almost eighty cameras currently running on wader nests across Scotland. We’re working with a range of project partners to make this happen, and participants vary from from big organisations like RSPB and GWCT…
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It’s World Curlew Day, so we caught up with Prof Russell Wynn, Manager of the English Curlew Recovery Partnership to find out more about the day and how the birds are doing south of the border
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A local farmer is asking for help to count curlews this spring after national trends showed that the birds are facing a worrying decline. Curlews are a much-loved bird in Galloway, and their beautiful display calls were once a familiar sound across the region, but across Scotland their numbers have dropped by almost two thirds since 1996, and some of the worst declines have taken place in the south west…
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As wading birds return to their breeding grounds during March, preparation for the season ahead has been gathering pace at Working for Waders. Building on the progress made during 2021, we’re really excited to push on with a number of different projects which were set up in previous years. Monitoring work and surveys will continue with our partner organisations in a number of locations across Scotland, and we’re also looking to rerun our Nest Camera Project to find out more about…
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Working for Waders was delighted to learn that Kinclune Organic Farm in Angus won the Food and Farming Award at RSPB’s 10th anniversary Nature of Scotland Awards last month. In the citation for the award, Kinclune Organic Farm “demonstrates that it is in the power…
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The Working for Waders project is excited to announce that thirteen projects will receive support from the 2021 Small Grants Fund. The grants will fund a range of projects from predator control and rush management to the establishment of collaborative farm clusters from Ayrshire to Aberdeenshire…
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