Chicks on curlew cam – the best thing of the day

Flanders Moss NNR

It is a critical time for the curlews on and around Flanders Moss. Many of the nests will have just hatched or be hatching and the eggs and chicks will be vulnerable to destruction from farming operations and farming operations. We can but hope that the pairs nesting in the area get as many chicks to maturity as possible.

Caroline the willow curlew

After last years immersion in all things curlews with the dawn chorus project with Wallace High, the art produced and Caroline the willow curlew, it feels like I have had a curlew deficient year. So for all those that feel the same have a look at this. On the Welsh / English border there is a project called Curlew Country (find out more here). They have set up a camera on one of the project’s nests so that people can follow how it fares through the season. Today the chicks hatched and have almost immediately left the nest. But you can watch the final 24 hours of the nest and the hatching of the eggs on this bit on youtube. The chicks are cute, the adults are striking and the soundtrack is to die for. If you haven’t seen enough curlew this year fill your boots.

But remember that if the curlew population downward trend continues then this is a sight and sound that will no longer be there for us, our children, our grand children and those that follow, and that would be a very sad thing.