The Curlew.

Curlew. Brian Rafferty.

I'm lucky enough to be amongst those who have heard the bubbling call of the Curlew when I've been on the moorlands of Bowland and beyond, a call which stays with you forever once heard. In the Curlews Latin name Numenius arquata, Numenius means crescent moon which is the shape of the birds distinctive downturned bill. 

During the winter months, the Curlew can be seen feeding and roosting in large groups in nearby fields and the marshlands of coastal areas, and I got a phone call on Saturday to tell me my notes had been seen on Birds2blog about the numbers of Curlew seen recently in the Cockerham Sands area, with large numbers between 500 - 800 in three visits on and around the flood in the field immediately to the south of Cockerham Sands Country Park. But an impressive count was of at least 2,000 on the mudflats by the Cocker Channel which Brian Rafferty had seen and photographed for himself. 

Curlew. Cocker Channel. 2 Feb. Brian Rafferty.

A 'clik the pik' gives a bigger and better idea of the numbers in the image above, a clear indicator of how the wintering Curlew uses esturine and farmland habitats. 

But this example of the number of birds seen in our area on the Cocker Channel belies the fact that the Curlew is one of our most seriously declining breeding birds which has shown a 46% fall across the UK since the mid-1990's - 2010. The UK holds in excess of a quarter of the European breeding population, but the decline of the species has it listed as globally near-threatened, being one of the few British species on this list, but also on the UK conservation Red List. 

One of the possible reasons listed for this decline is changes in farming practices which has reduced habitat quality....well there's a surprise! But what must also be taken into account, is the amount of disturbance humans like the Commercial Mutt Minder I saw again at Cockersands last week, a mile or more out on to the sands with a dozen mutts unleashed and running wild, disturbing numbers of wildfowl and waders wintering as they do here. This person and his hounds all add to the problems on esturine ecosystems which are under ever increasing pressure from human activities, such as agricultural intensification and developments, another example of which is mechanised cockle dredging in some areas where the Curlew has responded with declines.

The BTO are planning a ground-breaking programme for research to try to understand what conservation actions are needed to help the Curlew recover from the decline. They recently sent me a begging letter for money to fund this programme. I felt an obligation to subscribe, so coughed some up.

Thanks to Brian Rafferty for his images of the Curlews, much appreciated Brian.