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Curlew Recovery South Lakes Annual Report 2024-2025

Registered Charity No. 1201723 linktr.ee/curlewslakes curlewrecoverysl@gmail.com

A Word from the Chair

I am pleased to share this report on the second full year for the charity - Curlew Recovery South Lakes.

The success of our small charity reflects the terrific support from local people, farmers, gamekeepers, donors, funders, volunteers, bird ringers and curlew experts.

In 2024 we had our best year to date, fledging more chicks than ever, expanding our operations geographically and continuing to support other new curlew groups.

If we can continue this success, we can prevent the loss of our local breeding curlew, and, in time, restore curlew populations in the South Lakes.

Barny Sykes, Chair, Curlew Recovery South Lakes

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Barny Sykes, right with
Susannah Bleakley, Trustee. 2
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Among the Leading Projects in the UK

 In the 2024 breeding season, CRSL monitored 24 pairs and recorded 18 - 20 chicks fledge. This is a huge increase on the previous years. If this fledging success was repeated over a number of years, it would be enough to stabilise the population.

 These results mean that CRSL is among the leading curlew conservation projects in the UK and reflects the amazing efforts of farmers, gamekeepers, fieldworkers and donors.

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Excellent Fieldwork

 For the first time in 2024, CRSL had seasonal paid fieldworkers. This was crucial in helping us to find, protect and monitor more nests.

 The paid fieldworkers were supported by a significant grant from Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) which recognized the success of CRSL’s volunteer work to date.

 We continued to innovate and test new methods – notably moving from fence at full clutch to fence on find. And working with Warwick University to develop real time remote acoustic listening devices.

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Curlew Recovery South Lakes (CRSL) Back round g

Curlew Recovery South Lakes (CRSL) was registered as a
charity on 26 Jan 2023.
It grew from the work of dedicated volunteers working in their local community to help curlew survive and thrive. The farming community and relationships between the group and the farmers have always been central to our work.
CRSL is recognised as a leading volunteer-led curlew conservation programme, with operations centred on the Lyth Valley, and a growing network across South Lakes.
CRSL continues to innovate and test novel technologies, having been one of the first to trial thermal drones in 2020 and 2021 and using Canvis for mapping in 2024.

Conservation Activities

Core to our work is locating and fencing nests. Curlews breed in farmland and the nests are vulnerable to predation and can be damaged by agricultural operations. At the start of the season, we hold survey days to bring volunteers together and start the process of nest finding. Once nests are located, they are fenced with the permission of farmers. Nest cameras and thermal loggers are used for monitoring.

When chicks hatch they are ringed by professional bird ringers and colour flags used when available. Each family is then monitored by volunteers locating the birds from a distance each day.

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2024 - Our Best Breeding Season 20 nests found and fenced 24 broods monitored 45 chicks hatched 18-20 chicks fledged

Significant Jump in Fledging Numbers

18 - 20 chicks fledged in 2024, compared to only four in 2023, and perhaps only one, in each of the previous years.

To maintain a stable population, 0.6 chicks must fledge from each pair of adults. In 2024, a minimum of 18 fledged chicks from the 24 pairs monitored by CRSL. This is 0.75 chicks per pair. It was our best year yet, and enough, if repeated over future years to restore curlew populations in South Lakes.

More Nests Found, Fewer Predated

More nests found than in previous years:

18 nests in 2023, 20 nests found in 2024.

3 nests lost to predation. 2 suspected lost to crow; 1 lost to a stoat. The nest cam footage of the stoat attack was widely shared on social media.
Severe storm (extreme rainfall event) on night of 2223 May, tested birds just before hatching, one nest was lost.
Volunteers monitored each curlew family daily giving high confidence in fledging numbers.
Significant jump in fledging numbers up to 18 – 20 fledged compared to just 4 in the previous year.

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Success Factors

 2 seasonal fieldworkers paid by Farming in Protected Landscapes gave a boost to capacity which was critical to success.

The volunteer fieldworkers are growing in
skills, commitment and numbers.

 Targeted predator management with local gamekeepers worked well. Fewer nests lost to predation (3 vs 5 in 2023).

 ‘Fence on find’ rather than wait for full clutch was a success – no nests lost to abandonment after fencing.

Engagement, awareness and farmer
liaison were crucial to success.

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Curlews and farmland

 Our fledging results in 2024 were the best from any comparable project in lowland farmed landscapes.  We have demonstrated that curlews can breed successfully in farmland… if there is great support from farmers, funders and committed volunteers.  Mike Smart, founding trustee at the national Curlew Action programme, said, “you are the only project to have affirmed that curlews can breed in farmland, and you say so with conviction!”  This is incredibly important, as otherwise, in future, breeding curlews will be restricted to reserves, and keepered land.

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Chick 105 Re-Sighting

Hatched and fledged from a field near Burneside, we were excited that this colour-tagged chick was spotted or re-sighted as it’s called on 16 September 2024 on the Calf of Man. The curlews that breed here, migrate west to spend the winter in Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain and some in the UK.

A Five-Egg Nest - All Hatched Successfully

Most curlew nests have four eggs, sometimes only three, with second nests when the first nest has been lost. Five eggs is certainly unusual and was a first for us. Happily, all five hatched successfully. This nest generated a lot of debate about what was going on. Experts concur that the most likely explanation is egg dumping, where the eggs are from more than 1 female.

En a ement, Raisin Awareness g g g

We were featured by Fiona Morley Patterson on ITV Border News, increased our following to over 590 on Facebook, gave 14 talks to local groups, took part in a Cumbria Girl Guide curlew camp, displayed at Kendal Museum’s Cry of the Curlew exhibition, made regular reports in the local Parish News, gave 3 school talks and spoke at national curlew forums.

3 Awards at the North of England Curlew Awards

In August 2024 we were delighted with the i) Young Conservationist Award: Samuel, Charlie and Ben Taylor, ii) Best Volunteer: Barny Sykes and iii) Special Commendation in the Cumbria Project category.

1 Use of Technology Canvis Mapping

 Canvis is an app-based mapping tool that we used in 2024 to allow anyone to share records of curlew sightings and where curlew had been heard. Early season this helped to map and pool records from the community and our fieldworkers. Thanks to Matt Sanderson of Furness Mapping Services for developing the interface for us pro bono.

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2 Use of Technology Acoustic Listening Devices

Devices have been used to record and identify curlew alarm calls in the field, but not in real time . Previously, devices and data were collected at the end of the breeding season.

Working with David Jarratt and Warwick Agritech, we ran a research project funded by Halpin Trust to develop a device that would identify a curlew alarm call in the field, send a real-time alert to a mobile phone, and record the type of call - e.g. predator alarms, territorial calls, contact calls.

Monitoring curlew families with chicks is extremely time consuming. A remote listening device could save hours of field work and may be more accurate in detecting the presence of chicks, as observers cannot be present round the clock.

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Acoustic Listening Device Result - Prototype Device Built & Successfully Field Tested

 A prototype device was built by Warwick Agritech. This used the curlew call classifier that was created by Jarrett Ecology and BTO.  The device uses a Raspberry Pi and transmits real time data over the internet. During field testing it successfully identified the different curlew calls.  Further development is needed. It could save hours of fieldwork and transform our ability to track and monitor curlew families.

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Acoustic Listening Device Research Team, Sunderland Point, 19 November 2024

Acoustic Listening Device 1 Future Developments

Power - The device needs a reliable power source to run in the field for 4 months. Network - testing was done with a Wi-Fi phone hotspot. It would need a sim card with connection in the field. – a durable field case that is Casing waterproof while not interfering with the function of the microphone. - Microphone testing different configurations, directionality, range, etc.

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Acoustic Listening Device 2 Future Developments

Notifications - the frequency should be customisable - e.g. notify every positive record, or hourly/daily. Dashboard - A functional dashboard needs development to plot and analyse results. Field testing – New components must be tested in field environments to ensure reliability. - Scaling increasing production as the research proves the devices’ reliability, moving from prototype.

Lookin Ahead g

Curlew Recovery South Lakes aims to build on
the success of previous years including by:
extending the geographical area of operation, - developing the volunteer team, recruiting and training new volunteers and
testing and developing new technologies.
The charity has a team of skilled volunteers and
has benefitted from FiPL funding this year.
To make our work more sustainable, and support
long-term curlew breeding success, we need funding for further development of the remote listening devices and technical skills in the use of thermal drones.

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Generous Friends – Thank you

A successful FiPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes) bid transformed our equipment and capacity with seasonal fieldworkers, and additional nest fencing kits and monitoring equipment.

Grants and Donations:

£15,825 from 37 individuals
£1,299 from
Underbarrow Parish Council
Kendal Rotary
B4RN Crook
Cumbria Girlguides, Operation Curlew
£11,500 from the Halpin Trust.
Award of over £150K over two years from FiPL to supply
equipment for long-term use and seasonal staff.

Financial Summary

Period Ended 31 March 2025

Receipts:

• Capital grants £39,937 • Revenue grants £68,864 • Donations £17,124 Total receipts for the period: £125,925

Payments:

• Conservation delivery cost £83,839 • Equipment costs £36,485 Total payment for the period: £120,324

Cash carried forward from 2024: £2,317 Cash at bank at end March 2025: £7,918

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Trustees – Curlew Recover South Lakes y

 The trustees for this period were: Barny Sykes, (Chair), Sue King and Susannah Bleakley (Joint Secretary), David Sharpe (Treasurer), Stephen Wilkinson and Richard Griffith (RG joined Jan 2024).

Curlew Recovery South Lakes (CRSL)

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Without this work, curlews will be lost as breeding birds in our landscape – the calls
of curlews will no longer echo through our valleys in Spring.
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linktr.ee/curlewslakes
Our sincere thanks to all the local people, farmers, gamekeepers, donors, curlewrecoverysl@gmail.com
funders, volunteers, bird ringers and curlew experts who support our work. Registered Charity No 1201723
Photo: Kelly Powell
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Iiidependent Exaininor's Report R•port to the truste091 m•mborn of Curfew Recovery South Lake8 On accounts for th? yo•r •nded Charlty no (If ony) 31 March 2025 1201723 sot out on pag 14 I report lo the trustees on my examlnalion ol the accounts of the above chaty {'Ihe Tru8f} for the year ended Ra•ponslbllltlo8 and A8 the charlty trustees of th8 Trust. you are r&sponslbl8 for the preparation ba818 of report of the accounts In accordance wlth the requirements of the Charlties Act 2011 {'Ihe Act'>. I report Sn r88P8¢# of rny examlnatlon oftho Tru8t'8 accounts carrled out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in ¢arrylng out my examlnatlon, I h8ve followed the applicable DlreclSon8 glven by the Charity Commi88Ion undér 88ction 14515llb} of the Act. I havo completed my axaminatlon. I corrflrm that no materfal matter8 have come to my attention (other than that dl$¢lo8ed below.) In connectlon wlth th8 8xamingtion whlch glves me cau88 lo belleve that in, any material respect: accountlng record8 were not kept in accordance wlth Soctlon 130 of Ihe Act or the a¢U do not accord wlth the accountlng rOrdS Indep&nd•nt examlnol8 •l•tfjment I have no concom8 and hav8 come auoss no other matt8r8 In connoctlon wbth the examination to whlch attenllon should be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of th8 account8 lo be reached. ' Ple8 d818te the words in the br8ckets rfth8y do not 8ppIy. 81gn•d: Date: Namo: Chr18topher Brown R•l•v*nt profo88lonal quallflcatlon(8) or body Ilf any}: ICAEW Addre•8: Brown & Co (Kendal) Limited Llbra House, Murley Mo8$ Business Village Kendal, LA9 7RL IER October 2018

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