In July we released the first 20 headstarted curlew of the year.
At Ken Hill all the birds flew out of the pre-release pen into the breeze, but soon returned to the field to forage in the pools. Due to the lovely habitat here some of the birds like Dill (JC) have yet to make it over the sea wall and onto the mudflats, whereas three headstarted curlews including Dario (NA) and Densel (NP) have been spotted from the beach at Heacham South.
Declan (NL) was the star of the show at the Sandringham release as he waved goodbye before immediately heading to the coast near Thornham, which was a very impressive first flight! He has since been exploring the marsh and pools in the fields and we are looking forward to seeing where he goes next!
Keep your eyes peeled for Declan (NL) when you visit RSPB Titchwell and please report any sightings of yellow flagged curlews on our website here:
Which curlews have been spotted over the years?
Since we released the first birds in 2021, 63 of the 159 birds have been seen and reported back to us by members of the public. They have mainly been seen around The Wash with sightings on both the Norfolk and Lincolnshire sides but we’ve also had some more well-travelled birds with ones seen in Staffordshire, Pembrokeshire, Devon, Wexford (Ireland), Guernsey and Brittany (France). Just looking at re-sightings in 2024, at the end of winter, before the summer really began, we had ten birds seen principally around The Wash, and since then we’ve also had at least another ten or more birds seen in Norfolk including some near existing breeding Curlew populations which is quite exciting to know!
We hope to see many more popping up around the country so please do keep an eye out for any of our birds – their yellow flags are nice and clear! – and let us know where you saw them by reporting a sighting below!
Curlew transfer day
Transferring the curlew to the pre-release pen is always an exciting day as it marks the success of how well the birds have developed.
The team starts early so all the birds can be fed before the BTO and ZSL DRAHS teams arrive. Each bird is caught and given a final health check by the vet before being processed by the BTO where wing length, tarsus length and bill length are recorded. They are then placed into their transport box and weighed before being driven to the pre-release pens.
The BTO staff then choose which birds will be GPS tracked so we can monitor their movements post release over the following months or years. Once the tags are fitted the bird are placed into the pre-release pen where they will remain for the next week before being released into he wild.
Please report any sightings of our yellow flagged curlews and any unique letter combinations that you see.