Dowlais waders: a short update

The very good news was that at least two pairs of lapwings have managed to hatch chicks but the less good news is the survival seems very poor

Firstly here's a short video of two of the first brood of three seen on 5th May by others and filmed by me on the 6th 


Unfortunately by the 9th May just one was still alive. However a second brood of 4 hatched that day but I was unable to get a picture of them. This pic shows the first brood again



I like this next shot just because it includes the other species I am sure is trying to breed here, Redshank.


Although not able to get to the site every day I have tried to spend time whenever possible looking for the chicks which have become elusive, to say the least.


From my observations it appears that by 10th May we were down to a brood of just 1 and a second brood of just 2.


By the 14th I could only find 2 chicks, each near a different adult and since then none at all. 


The behaviour of the 3 adults still around gives cause for hope. They are still attacking every Crow that flies over, and believe me that's a lot with up to 30 nearby every day, either on the golf course, the Dowlais fields or on Blackstone rocks.


I was very concerned with how much the area was drying. This would have been dreadful for any Redshank chicks, which traditionally hatch a few weeks later than the Lapwings here. Luckily, from their perspective, at least, it has rained heavily and repeatedly and the area is nicely wet again.


As I have mentioned before the area is owned by North Somerset Council and was specifically created for waders. For this reason I have been trying to find out what management plan is in place and whether I and others can help with insect monitoring or other activities to see what is happening to the local biodiversity.


Unfortunately despite an enthusiastic response to our first communication with talk of rewilding etc on their part; all further correspondence has consisted of "your email has been forwarded to person X" -who apparently has no intention of responding as far as I can tell.


A friend tried tagging the Labour party group (As the chair of the Council is a Labour member and is a vocal proponent of rewilding) who enthusiastically "Liked" his tweets about the site until I suggested they might want to respond when suddenly it became -we suggest you tag North Somerset Council.


So I wait to see what kind of engagement does come about. After all, reversing the crash in biodiversity and also helping to enable people to reconnect with the natural world are now acknowledged as important goals, politically speaking.


To finish on an upbeat note here's a picture of one of the Goldfinches that live along Dowlais track and also a short video of some more Common Sandpipers that passed through the pill this month






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