Auchnerran Blog

Everyone has their own idea of when spring has arrived; for some it’s the first time they spot daffodils coming up, for others it might be the first gloopy frogspawn in a puddle. Here at Auchnerran, it’s a weird, looping sound that fills the skies, almost reminiscent of somebody trying to tune an old radio receiver.

GWCT is working hard to help these vulnerable species. At our research and demonstration farm, Auchnerran in Aberdeenshire, we are fortunate to have thriving populations of lapwing, oystercatcher and curlew

On 19th April we highlighted an increase in the number of lapwing clutches predated by badgers at Auchnerran, our Scottish demonstration farm. Now, almost a month later, we can provide an update. 3 minute read.

It’s that exciting time of year again when waders start to drift back to their breeding grounds. At Auchnerran, we noticed the first flock of about 40 lapwing on 20 February, which had quickly increased to almost 120 by the 23rd.

Our placement students organised a small trail-camera study to try to capture any action on our newly established wader scrapes. This revealed that there were indeed some waders hanging around and one or two other things as well…

No wonder they have a day dedicated to them each year. But curlew are in dire straits. They have declined across Scotland by 61% (1995 to 2016), twice the rate in England. This is worrying as Scotland holds around 60% of the UK population or approximately a whopping 15% of the world population of this globally declining species. Something needs to be done to help them.

World Curlew Day is a grassroots initiative, supported by major environmental organisations, to raise awareness of the plight of curlews and to encourage activities to help them. We cannot simply preside over extinction. We must take the opportunity to assess all practical options at our disposal to safeguard the future of our curlews.

Over the past month, thrush surveys have been the primary job here at Auchnerran. Luckily we have been able to continue this study despite the COVID-19 pandemic as we are based on the farm, which is in a remote location, and no travelling is required.