Here is another guest blog from the Brecks, which is another special insight into a day in the life of a stone-curlew field worker. Jo Jones writes about stone-curlew monitoring on a site a bit different from farmland... and not very far from RSPB Lakenheath Fen!
I am at RAF Lakenheath, which is a USAF air base. Stone-curlews started nesting here about twelve years ago. They took advantage of large areas of short Brecks heath surrounding the airfield and surprisingly little disturbance from people. Looking down the old runway, I see a bird sitting. As soon as our vehicle stops, although we are 400m away, the bird gets up and crouching, runs away. Richard, the Environmental Officer with whom I liaise and I search the area and soon find two eggs laid in a crack in the old concrete, a few feet from the grassy edge. Stone-curlews started nesting on this old gantry as soon as it stopped being used as a storage area. I think they like the warmth of the concrete and although vehicles are passing regularly and they have views plane spotters would envy of F-15 jets taking off and landing, few people actually come out onto this area. I weigh and measure the eggs so I can calculate their hatching date and grass cutting in the vicinity can be stopped accordingly to stop chicks getting caught in the mowers.
The next nest we find has been made at the bottom of one of the bases many internal wire fences. The bottom of these fences are sprayed off, which for stone-curlews produces many metres of 20cm wide sandy flinty areas, mimicking their favoured areas found on more ‘normal’ Brecks heaths where rabbits have been active. Clearly, this pair are unable to read as they have laid their two eggs directly under a notice that clearly says “Warning, no unauthorised personnel”. As I weigh the eggs, a plane takes off, the noise vibrating through my body. We decide that stone-curlews nesting here must be of a special race with a unique ability to close their ears...
We would like to thank Richard Southgate for these brilliant shots of Jo and for helping us share this brilliant example of partnership work in the Brecks.