Surfbirds News

The RSPB recorded 121 pairs of Stone-curlew across Hampshire and neighbouring counties this year, four times higher than when work with the bird began in the 1980s.

RSPB Stone-curlew project manager Phil Sheldrake said: 'While we witnessed other species having a hard time this summer, the Stone-curlews proved their toughness. They made the most of the softer soil, feasting on normally hard-to-reach food which had down-pours had brought to the surface.'

Stone Curlew © William Bowell, from the surfbirds galleries

He added: 'It's a heartening sight watching stone-curlew chicks making short work of earthworms which were often longer than the birds themselves! Some of the chicks gained weight as much as 25% faster than normal – all thanks to the poor summer we had.'

Despite the good news, conditions are becoming increasingly grim for Stone-curlews and fellow migrants such as whitethroats and reed warblers.

A shift in EU policy means land designated as 'set aside' – on which crops cannot be grown – will be scrapped next year. Ten per cent of the region's Stone-curlews currently nest on such areas and, with no plans to find an alternative, these already threatened birds could face a bleak future.

Bruce Fowkes, the RSPB's South East England's farm conservation advisor, said: 'In previous years, farmers had to create a certain amount of set-aside on their farms. From 2008, this will no longer be the case, and could have adverse affects on all the fantastic efforts of Hampshire Downs farmers to provide safe nesting plots for this amazing bird.

'This is potentially a huge blow to the great progress made to date, and the RSPB is working closely with these farmers to find alternative ways of creating suitable stone-curlew habitat.'

Projects, such as that run with the MoD on Salisbury Plain and Porton Down are helping to counteract the threat to birds over set-aside, with the SITA Trust granting some £110,239 – through the Government's Landfill Communities Fund – towards stone-curlew nest and chick protection.

Mr Fowkes added: 'The majority of the RSPB's work is funded by membership subscriptions, but a boost like this one from SITA Trust is most welcome. Especially as, despite their productive summer, the shadow of the loss of set-aside is hanging over the birds.'