Lodmoor, for a brief time on Friday, was host to a very unusual visitor in the weird, almost cartoonish shape of a Stone-curlew . We have had sporadic spring records (ca. 5 in 30 years) but as far as we can ascertain this was the first 'autumn' bird seen on the moor. Stone curlew are undergoing an upturn in fortunes thanks to designated management, not the least as part of the Wessex Stone Curlew Project , an all encompassing study to understand and redress the species long term decline, both on reserves and in the wider countryside.
Luke's dodgy, distant record shot of the fellow in question. As the Wessex project progresses perhaps migrant stone-curlews will become more regular visitors to 'the moor'.
The industrialisation of agriculture (that old chestnut) was biggest cause for the precipitous declines so work with farmers as part of agri-environmental schemes was an important step in arresting, then reversing the slide towards extinction in the British Isles. To learn more about the cutting edge partnership working undertaken in Wiltshire as part of the project click the link below.
Stone-curlews in their favoured Wiltshire nesting habitat.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details/212603-wessex-stonecurlew-project