Egg rescue helps boost population of rare bird

5th June

Press Association 2018

Conservationists who rescued eggs from muddy farmland have helped boost the population of a rare wading bird which is likely to be threatened with extinction in the near future.

There are around 60 pairs of black-tailed godwits in the UK, where they are red-listed by the RSPB and possess Near Threatened status globally.

Flooding forced godwits in East Anglia’s Nene and Ouse Washes, where about 46 of the UK’s 60 pairs can be found, away from the safety of their natural wetland nesting habitat and on to farmland.

Some of the eggs, on land hit by heavy spring downpours, were in “such bad condition that they resembled muddy potatoes”, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) said.

Conservationists, working with farmers, rescued 32 eggs from the farmland.

The WWT said 42 chicks have hatched so far this year as part of the wider Project Godwit.

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Rare black-tailed godwit eggs rescued from farmland after flooding

10th May

Eggs belonging to rare black-tailed godwits have been rescued after flooding forced tens of thousands of birds to nest away from the safety of wetlands.

April downpours forced huge numbers of birds away from the Fens in East Anglia, as the Ouse and Nene Washes became submerged, leaving them having to nest on unsuitable farmland, conservationists said.

Wildlife experts trying to protect the black-tailed godwit, which nests in very small numbers in the UK, discovered clutches of their eggs on nearby farmland, trapped in the mud, they said.

But “Project Godwit” experts who are working to boost numbers of the rare bird, teamed up with farmers to rescue 32 eggs, which are now being incubated at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s Welney Wetland Centre.

Project Godwit, a partnership between WWT and the RSPB, is using a technique known as “head-starting”, in which eggs are collected in the wild and the chicks raised to fledging in captivity to boost their survival chances.

As well as keeping the young birds away from dangers such as predators and flooding until they are ready to take to the wing, the process can stimulate the adults lay a new clutch of eggs, which also helps boost numbers.

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Bird nests in the RSPB’s Great Crane Project hit by flooding on the Somerset Levels

By WG_SMorgan | Posted: March 04, 2014

FLOODS on the Somerset Levels could prevent rare birds that have been reintroduced to the area from breeding.

The RSPB’s Great Crane Project runs a breeding ground near Langport and aims to restore healthy populations of wild common cranes throughout the UK.

Last year eggs were brought over from Germany and hatched on to the Levels.

But while the birds are able to access higher ground for safety and feeding, the floods could affect nesting.

Damon Bridge, project manager, said: “For many local people, businesses and farms the flooding has been very damaging indeed.

Read more: 

Dabbling ducks struggling in floods

Wildlife organisations are being very careful in assessing the impacts of the recent flooding on species and the environment.

"We are not saying this is a disaster or this is something where wildlife has really suffered," Grahame Madge from the RSPB told me, keenly aware that when people's lives and homes are being threatened by rising waters, concerns about animal life comes a distant second.

Certainly the December storms and tidal surges had potentially very serious implications for many coastal habitats and species.

A report drawn up by Natural England showed that over 40 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England had been affected.

However, the impact of the unprecedented downpours on the Somerset Levels, the Thames and the Severn is much harder to gauge.

Continued