Ready For Take-Off?

Riddle for today ;  What one word connects the Queen's estate at Sandringham, a floor mop, some eggs, and the Royal Air Force?

Answer; Curlews!

Here's the story...Curlews are Europe's largest wading bird, breeding on rough grassland, moorland and bogs - but they are in significant decline. One quarter of all curlews live in Britain - but the UK population has more than halved in the last 30 years. They love East Anglia - especially all the airfields we have here- the flat ground and rough grassland by the runways is an ideal nesting area. BUT just one curlew taking off at the wrong moment could get sucked into a jet engine and cause a crash, and the loss of millions of pounds of machinery. For some years, the RAF has been able, under licence, to destroy any nests on airfields "For the purposes of ensuring air safety"

Fortunately, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have been able to come to an arrangement with the RAF - they are now collecting eggs from nests on Norfolk airfields. These are being taken to Pensthorpe Conservation Trust,  a wildlife centre just up the road from here, on the edge of Fakenham. Here they are incubated and hatched. Once hatched, the chicks are placed in a box with a heated light - and a 'mop mum'. The head of a floormop is the ideal soft thing for a chick to nestle into and feel safe! After five days, they are placed in large outdoor pens and fed special pellets. This technique of raising them in captivity is called "Headstarting"

Then the birds are released at a few well-chosen sites, including Wild Ken Hill [a Natural England Project, often on TV] and the Queen's Estate at Sandringham. Graham Irving, from Natural England, was the guy who persuaded the RAF to work with them in conservation, rather than apply for licences to destroy. It has worked really well - not all nests on airfields are in danger zones, so some eggs can be left to hatch in situ. 

This project is really helping to stem the decline in the curlew population. Well done to all those who are collaborating to make it happen!