Blog Posts from Curlew Action
Most people have welcomed the forthcoming GCSE in Natural History, but there are critics, most notably Mya-Rose Craig. The issue is not nature education in principle, but inequalities in access to nature and the need to address existing social and racial disparities within the environmental sector. Mya-Rose argues that, unless these barriers are addressed, the GCSE could benefit those who […]
by Graham Appleton Everyone associated with Curlew Action, or the wider world of curlew conservation for that matter, will be delighted to learn that Mary Colwell has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List. Although officially a recognition that she is now a ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire’, wouldn’t it be great […]
Conservation is becoming increasingly complex. Climate change, biodiversity loss, food production, renewable energy and land use all demand attention, yet the solutions to one problem can sometimes create challenges for another. It is one of the reasons I find Curlews so fascinating. They sit at the intersection of some of the greatest environmental challenges facing humanity and force […]
Hi! My name is Bud, I’m 13 years old and I’ve been into wildlife for as long as I can remember! I have early memories of hearing booming Bitterns at RSPB Westhay and watching Redpolls on my feeders in my old home in West Wales. However, 3 years ago, sparked by a book from my […]
Southwest Scotland is one of those places where the challenges facing ground-nesting waders become vividly clear. Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank, Snipe and Oystercatcher still breed across these rolling hills and farmed valleys, but their future depends on navigating a web of farming practices, land management, predation, forestry, wind farms and economic pressures. Here, many competing demands are placed on […]
It was a pleasure to catch up with David Jarrett from the British Trust for Ornithology in Scotland and explore how his thinking has evolved since we last met more than two years ago. David combines scientific rigour with a genuine passion for Scotland’s uplands and wader populations. Thoughtful, analytical and always open to debate, he is helping to […]
Curlews and Rewilding Few subjects in modern conservation generate as much passionate discussion as rewilding. It is a conversation that matters because it asks fundamental questions about how we restore nature, how much we intervene, and what kind of landscapes we want to leave for future generations. Recently, I received thoughtful and challenging comments about Curlew conservation and […]
A Visit to Insh Marshes If I were a Curlew, I’d choose here – as many do, listening to the calls echoing all around. Standing on a viewing point above the western end of the RSPB’s Insh Marshes reserve, Thijs Claes, Estate Operations Manager, and Colin MacLennan, RSPB volunteer, described their hopes for this remarkable landscape. The western end of the RSPB Insh Marshes The wide floodplain stretched away on either side of us, […]
Curlews Between the Runways Munich Airport has to be one of the strangest places I have ever visited to look for Curlews. Situated northeast of Munich between the cities of Freising and Erding, the airport occupies what was once a vast lowland peatland landscape, now heavily altered by drainage, intensive agriculture, urbanisation and modern infrastructure. […]
Initial Reflections Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall kept coming into my mind as we visited four more reserves for wading birds strung along the banks of the Danube and Isar. We had just left the affecting Wiesmet, described in the previous blog, and now stood on a rise overlooking the Stöcklwörth meadows and woodland, with […]
A group of us walked slowly through a field towards a dot marked on a map. We were so close but could see nothing. Was she still there? Then suddenly Jan pointed to a brown shape just a couple of metres away. Hidden, crouched low with her head and neck flattened to the ground, a […]