I am very lucky to be involved in a unique Heritage Lottery Funded project, Wings over the Brecks. This is a partnership project between the RSPB, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Forestry Commission and the BTO. It aims to unlock the door the lives of the most iconic and secretive species in the Brecks.
A large proportion of land in the Brecks is protected on a national and international level for the rare species found here, but many of you reading this will appreciate how hard many of them are to see! That’s where Wings over the Brecks comes in. We have picked some of the most iconic and specialist bird species in the Brecks: the stone-curlew, woodlark, nightjar, goshawk and hobby.
Last year, the project saw live footage of nesting hobbys being streamed to High Lodge Forest Centre in their cafe, and this year we have added more species to the mix!
At Weeting Heath nature reserve the Norfolk Wildlife Trust set up their camera on the heath and they were successful in securing the first ever live camera footage of stone-curlews on their nest. This was streamed live to their visitor centre and recorded footage was sent to High Lodge in Thetford Forest. The footage has provided a fantastic window into their nesting behaviour but also featured the antics of the reserves other wildlife including a lapwing family and rabbits chasing their arch enemy: the stoat. The celebrity stone-curlews managed to successfully hatch their chicks and to date the chicks can be seen out on the heath from the hides.
The project has also been successful in securing live footage of one of the most impressive hunters found in Thetford Forest: the goshawk. Live footage of the female chick (sadly, only one egg hatched) has been streaming at High Lodge, where visitors have been treated to views of the parents and the family feasting on woodpigeons. This is perhaps not the best viewing for lunch hour!
The goshawk live footage has been fascinating to watch, and even though I have never seen an adult goshawk the live footage is spectacular to watch. By the time you read this, the chick will have fledged but you can still see the footage by visiting High Lodge and looking at the archived footage. The next star species if all goes well will be the agile hobby and the eerie nightjar.
For those of you who haven’t had a chance to see the footage yet, here are some snapshots of the cameras being set up and action from the nests.
Weeting Heath nature reserve nest camera and snapshot:
Image credits: Norfolk Wildlife Trust
The Weeting Heath nature reserve team team getting the camera ready:
Image credit: Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Goshawk chick ringing:
Image credits: Sammy Fraser
Goshawk feathers:
Image credit: Ian Smith