Welcome to our South East Christmas Countdown no.3.
Did you guess it was the lapwing that wobbles, zigzags, rolls and dives? There’s a clue at the bottom to tomorrow’s story. If you missed no.4 in the Countdown, you can read it here.
Christmas is a time of celebration! In our countdown to Christmas, we would like to share with you some of this year’s success stories, about some of our most threatened birds in the South East. In September, the State of Nature 2016 report was published. It highlights the alarming decline of many UK species, but it also showed that we can turn the fortunes of our wildlife around, given determination, resources, public support and conservation action.
About lapwings
The lapwing has a spectacular song flight; the male wobbles, zigzags, rolls and dives while calling to advertise his presence to rival males and potential mates. Lapwings breed on both arable and grassland, and their chicks need access to areas with a rich source of insects to eat. Changes in farming practices driven by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) mean that this important food is now less available. Large flocks of lapwing gather on RSPB coastal reserves in October.
Despite our efforts, and promising successes on RSPB reserves, we are still very concerned about lapwings because populations continue to decline in the wider countryside. In the South East over half of the lapwing population has been lost, suffering a decline of 53% between 1995-2014*. Lapwings are becoming increasingly concentrated in a small number of sites, and that makes our nature reserve network increasingly important for them.
Good news from 2016
This year, 367 pairs bred on our South East Reserves, with significant flocks at RSPB Shorne Marshes in Kent, which had 94 breeding pairs, RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex which had 68 breeding pairs and RSPB Northward Hill which had 31 breeding pairs. Lapwings reached their highest ever numbers on RSPB reserves in 2015, following a decline between 2009-2012, so this is good news indeed!
The chicks are vulnerable to predation, so we installed expensive anti-predator fencing to protect them, which was generously funded by Veolia North Thames Trust, Biffa Award, FCC WREN and Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust through the Landfill Community Fund. The Douglas Glanfield Memorial Trust and Kent Ornithological Society also helped to fund this work, which has significantly increased the breeding success of lapwings on our reserves.
Our work wouldn’t be possible without your continued support, through membership, volunteering and even your Christmas purchases in our shops. On behalf of our teams and all the wildlife you have helped us to save, thank you, and have a great Christmas!
Our story for November
We’ll celebrate another story tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it, but in the meantime here’s a clue to keep you guessing…
Which of our conservation priority species “parachutes” from tall trees, singing as it goes?
*data sourced from Breeding Bird Survey bird population trends