Curlew Blog

Around the Shropshire Hills, the golden plumes of laburnum blossoms and the curlew’s call are a lasting reminder of the ways in which people in this area have shaped the countryside, from common moorland, to enclosed pastures and meadows. Laburnum is typically a small deciduous tree, with cascading, bright yellow flowers from the south of […]

We have been so fortunate to have Madeleine and Elspeth our two volunteer trainees working with us this season.  Headstarting work is testing and there have been further unwelcome ups and downs in the journey.  Both have done an amazing job and Madeleine has put in extra efforts to help during other staff absence, when

Each season I hear the familiar phrase ‘leave it to mother nature’, well intended in its delivery.  I hear it from one or more people not convinced that curlew interventions are necessary.  I am always taken aback, unknowing how to respond quickly on the detail of the huge subject of biodiversity that occupies many minds

The wait is over, thank you for everyone who has joined the Curlew pair on Curlew Cam to watch their amazing diligent parenting through the incubation stages, and especially to Peter in Canada who wrote the first email I opened this morning to say that one chick had arrived safely. After 28 days of waiting

Curlew Country is fortunate to work with an enthusiastic and capable band of volunteers, growing year on year.  We have been delighted to welcome a number of new recruits helping us to find Curlew in their territories early on in the season and now to have another blog from one of them.  Our volunteers have

It’s 5.30am, I was out checking cows who are due to calf when I came across a cow balling in the next field along, where the cows with baby calves at foot resident. The mother was making a right fuss and I soon realised why; her two-week old baby had slipped through the gorse bush

Curlew Country welcomes the second trainee headstarter.  Elspeth is from one of our Farming Partner families and has been one of several of a younger generation attending our meetings because of their fascination with Curlews.  We rely on Elspeth’s knowledge to tell us where the pair that nest on her farm have settled.  Many of

It’ s all go at Curlew Country our Project Officer Amber Bicheno has become headstarting supervisor and has taken up residence in the egg incubation chalet.  We welcome two new headstarting trainees, Madeleine Powell and Elspeth Powell (unrelated).  Amber, Madeleine and Elspeth will be enabling us to glimpse progress of our eggs and chicks with

Headstarting to help Curlew Conservation, by project officer Amber Bicheno The call of the Curlew is instantly recognisable and hauntingly beautiful, and it is regarded by many as a herald of spring. The bubbling notes float and resonate throughout the hills and Valleys, as these revered waders return from their winter on the coast. We

This is the first guest blog in the Spring of 2021, brought to us from local farming partner Rhian Pinches.  My first little blog post for 2021! I am really chuffed to have been asked to get involved again this year and hope that my ramblings can provide a few minutes of easy-reading peace for

A look back at headstarting with curlew officer, Amber Bicheno. My time with Curlew Country could only really be described as varied. I started out as a trainee back in 2017 with what was then the Stiperstones and Corndon Landscape Partnership Scheme.  I was doing bits of office work and field work mingled together as

Curlew Country Manager, Amanda Perkins talks about plans for the 2021 Curlew Season After a year of patience, and perhaps some impatience, we are excited to be back in action for the Curlew nesting season. Spring is on its way. The first Curlew sounds and sights are being reported by our farming partners as the