#FarmWaderClub

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. These signs of progress will slowly head northwards over the coming weeks, and while we’re still several weeks away from nest building and egg laying, it’s clear that winter is over and preparations for a new season have already begun.

Nest cameras and monitoring work will be central to Working for Waders this coming spring as part of #FarmWaderClub. We’re grateful to everybody who has contributed records and data to the project in the past, and we’ve been able to draw useful pointers from observations which have been submitted by volunteers across Scotland. We’ll be asking for more information this coming spring, particularly when it comes to using our Farm Wader Calendar to record the appearance and movements of waders between March and July.

Lots of our nest cameras are already in situ across the country, and these will be set out when birds begin to lay their eggs – but we do still have spare cameras which can be loaned out to volunteers who are interested in taking part in this project. And the work is not confined to people using Working for Waders cameras. If you received a trail camera for Christmas, you can put it to good use by joining in with our activities – we have lots of guidance and advice for gathering images of birds at the nest, and we’d encourage anybody who is interested in helping out to get in touch.

More information on how to get involved in our farm wader survey and the nest camera project can be found on this website, but if you have specific questions which have not been covered, please feel free to contact us using the form below.

Please keep in touch as spring continues to emerge – and here’s to a productive, informative and successful breeding season for all our wader species in 2024