My interest in curlews was ignited in 2019 after the RAF was approached by Natural England to join forces and run a pilot curlew head start project after curlews had been observed taking refuge on active military airfields – some going on to breed, undeterred by the roar of jet engines.
Having conducted curlew surveys at RAF Coningsby and RAF Scampton, I was keen to volunteer at the coal face of conservation where the hatchling head started curlews are carefully guided through their formative days. Chrissie Kelley and her team took me under their wings in July 2024. I assisted with the various stages of curlew conservation; no job was off limits – from cleaning (including picking up poo with a spoon) feeding, preparing enclosures, maintenance of pre-release pens off site – to assisting with health checks and observing behaviours.
The care taken by the team at every phase of the curlews’ journey was incredible – each life being precious to the wider conservation effort. I will never forget the first time I held a curlew chick whilst it was given medication by one of the team. It’s tiny heartbeat against my gently cupped hands beat in unison with my own. What an incredible privilege.
A partnership of shared passion
I saw at first hand the close partnership with avian vets and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), who joined with the team to conduct health checks, ringing and flagging of the birds during their last few days at Pensthorpe before being transferred to the pre-release pens at Sandringham Estate.
Next stop Sandringham…
I returned in September to witness a crowning moment of the curlew conservation journey – watching a small group take flight from their pre-release pen on HM The King’s Sandringham Estate. We collectively held our breath as they confidently walked out in the long grass and were treated to a flypast as the first curlew soared skywards.
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.
Article and photography: Jayne Lindley