Breeding wader recovery in the Avon Valley


An old, re-vegetated scrape (left) and a recently dug one (right). Scrapes with bare mud provide increased chick foraging habitat away from field edges.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


We would like to thank all the landowners, farmers and keepers in the Avon Valley for their support and co-operation. The project is part-funded by the EU LIFE+ programme.


The Avon Valley is typical of lowland river valleys where breeding waders were once numerous and are currently a conservation priority, but where reducing predator impacts is constrained by the landscape and multiple land ownership. The ‘Waders for Real’ project combines a local farmer-led initiative within the private sector (farmers and landowners), conservation charities (GWCT, Hampshire & IOW Wildlife Trust), and the public sector (Natural England and the Environment Agency) in an attempt to find workable options for wader recovery. Our approach is to put into practice the three principles applied in wild game management, namely (1) ensuring appropriate nesting habitat; (2) creating brood- rearing habitat; and (3) reducing predation pressure. Habitat assessments, monitoring data and tracking data from radio-tagged lapwing chicks from previous studies have allowed us to plan habitat improvements more effectively. We have removed 1.3 kilometres (km) of old fence lines, 1km of willow scrub and 14 small trees to open up some of the smaller fields and reduce the number of perching posts for corvids. This creates open areas where sward structure can be better managed to encourage lapwings to nest in loose colonies. We have re-profiled 2.9km of ditches, dug 1.6km of new ditches and created 23 scrapes to add more in-field wet features. These are providing increased chick foraging habitat away from


Figure 1


Lapwing chick survival in 2016 was significantly higher than survival in 2015


2015 2016


0.8 1.0


0.6


0.4


0.2


0 0 22 | GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2016 5 10 15 20 Chick age (days) www.gwct.org.uk 25 30 35


Lapwing chicks. © Lizzie Grayshon/GWCT


© Lizzie Grayshon/GWCT


Survival rate


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