Thermal drone deployed to protect curlew chicks

Thermal drone helps protect nesting curlews

A Cumbria-based charity is using a thermal drone to locate curlew nests and chicks before farmers cut their fields, in a bid to arrest the decline of one of Britain’s most threatened wading birds.

Curlew Recovery South Lakes asks farmers to make contact as soon as they suspect a nest or chicks may be present in a field due for cutting. The drone is then deployed to scan the ground before work begins. Drone pilot Barny Sykes, from Brigsteer, said: “Once a nest is fenced, farm operations can continue safely around it. Farmers have been fantastic – some have even adjusted cutting timings to help the birds.”

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Ground-nesting birds face machinery risk

Curlews nest in ground scrapes and incubate their eggs for 27–29 days. Chicks then spend a further five to six weeks with their parents before fledging, a period during which farm machinery poses a direct threat.

By early June the group had found 33 nests, with 61 chicks hatched from 17 of them. Ten nests had been lost to predation or abandonment, six still contained eggs and 16 broods were being actively monitored.

Volunteer fieldworker Susannah Bleakley, from Crosthwaite, said: “We’ve found more nests this year than ever before, helped by farmer tip-offs and what we’ve learned in previous seasons. We’ve had encouraging results over the last two years, with more chicks fledging locally than for many years.”