Protecting the curlew whose call brings the first sound of spring North Yorkshire's uplands

The call of the curlew is the sign of spring to many in the uplands of North Yorkshire.
David Hill who has curlews on his land and is part of the Partnership organising the Curlew Conservation Project.David Hill who has curlews on his land and is part of the Partnership organising the Curlew Conservation Project.
David Hill who has curlews on his land and is part of the Partnership organising the Curlew Conservation Project.

The evocative sound heralds the bird’s return from its winter habitats to the breeding grounds they will have known all their lives.

And while the majority will spend their winter’s on the West Coast of Ireland or Morecambe Bay, a good number spend the coldest months of the year in Wensleydale.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

North Yorkshire is an important habitat for the bird which is described as one of the most endangered in the world by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Nearly 30 percent of the world’s curlew population can be found in the county and with numbers halved over the past two decades, World Curlew Day, was established to raise awareness of our largest wading bird and help safeguard its future.

David Hill, who has curlews on his land, is also chair of the Northern Upland Chain Local Nature Partnership (NUCLNP), which is developing a Curlew Conservation Project.

He said the birds usually arrived on his land in mid-February.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“To hear the first calling curlews is awe inspiring and bodes of the spring to come.

“Their call is quite extraordinary,” he said.

“It is as if they have their own vocabulary and I get so much pleasure from watching them almost hover, wings in a ‘v’ shape as they descend to the ground calling vociferously.”

World Curlew Day was established two years ago, to highlight the dramatic decline in species numbers. The date, April 21, was chosen as it is around the time the first new chicks hatch, but Mr Hill said this year breeding has been delayed.

“The curlews arrived amidst the wettest winter on record,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“They no doubt found plenty of worms, but the ground is so hard now they can only forage in wet flashes where a spring carries water to the surface. The dryness and lack of growth of the grass sward is delaying their breeding.

“We need rain desperately – something I certainly wasn’t saying in the middle of February.”

Curlews are ground laying birds and need long vegetation to nest in so they are shielded from predators.

Mr Hill said one of the reasons for their decline is the large number of egg predators such as crows, jackdaws and magpies which are encouraged by some of our farming practices.

“Curlews deserve greater respect from us,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We wreck their home through silage making and land practices that support abnormal populations of egg predators.

“Farmers need to make a living and provide our food and they too love their curlews so it makes utter sense to me that we need to address these practices.

“We can surely make life better for this wonderful bird,” Mr Hill said.

“We will all benefit if we do.”

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor