Blogs

With temperatures warming and the days getting longer, breeding Lapwing will shortly be back in the Avon Valley. We have been a busy team this winter, establishing 2 new breeding wader hotspot sites and monitoring wintering waterfowl and waders. So, before we get into the 2019 season, we thought it would make sense to reflect on 2018.

The Waders for Real project is implementing various conservation strategies, aimed at reversing the long-term decline of breeding wading birds in the Avon Valley.

The study of bird movement has long fascinated people, if we look back through history ideas on where seasonal migrants go in the wintertime crops up again and again.

Our fox-tagging work in the Avon Valley got underway just as the bitterly cold ‘Beast from the East’ hit towards the back-end of February, and it’s just drawn to a close amid one of the hottest, driest summers we’ve experienced for years. 

Waders For Real Ecologist Clive Bealey outlines the importance of monitoring the vegetation where the project is taking place.

Waders for Real Project Ecologist Lizzie Grayshon describes an unusual start to the year, which has seen the team setting temporary fences in snow and fighting extreme flooding in April.

Back in the autumn, new habitat features were created at Ellingham, a site on the Somerley Estate in the Avon River Valley. These new features will create suitable habitats for a wide range of species, with particular focus on the breeding waders and wildfowl.

GWCT Wetlands Placement Student Ellie Ness shares an insight into her time working on the Waders for Real project.

The Ellingham Floodplain Restoration project is a holistic project that encompasses multiple species benefits. The project is managed by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust based in Fordingbridge in partnership with Somerley Estate, graziers and tenants, with funding from Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund.