We live at 1000' in Southern Scotland, in an area of mixed farming, high on grazing livestock, and increasing Xmas tree plantations.
25 years ago when we first came to live here, there were always a couple of pairs of curlew, and we saw and heard them every day in their season. They nested in the open fields around us.
For the past few years, we have rarely heard the curlew, sometimes when they first arrive, but they don't stay.
A couple of years ago, a pair was seen to be nesting about a mile away in a field destined for hay. One day, my husband saw the owner rolling the grass, with desperate curlews trying to stop the tractor by diving and threatening - to no avail of course. The nest was crushed, after a few days the curlew pair left. We heard them earlier this spring, but not more recently.
That nest was definitely destroyed by 'farming methods' ie rolling the grass crop after the curlew had nested. There are other activities which may damage nests such as spraying.
Being ground nesting birds, of course their nests are subject to predation from foxes, badgers, corvids etc, but that has always been the case. What seems to be the cause of falling numbers and an increase in failed nests is the changes in timings of farming practices, also perhaps the use of giant machinery. In the past, the tractor driver was not high up and often had an open cab, so could see ahead to notice ground nests and avoid them. Birds such as curlew, oystercatchers, whaups, larks and yellow hammers all nest on the ground and are suffering decreasing populations.
I saw a proggie somewhere about saving the curlew and it involved the education of farmers to understand that these birds are seriously at risk. For many people working the land, curlews are part and parcel of the sounds they hear, and perhaps they have not noticed decreasing numbers. Just to get the message out there is a good start. For this programme, an active curlew nest was identified and posts hammered in to mark it, so tractor workings could avoid it. Very simple. Then for timings, the nest could be observed so that once the hatchlings were on the move, the crop could be left undisturbed for a while, or cultivations carried out in such a way that the birds could avoid the machinery.
There is a lot of goodwill out there, so most landowners would probably be co-operative if approached in the right way, but some legislation about the timings of cultivations might help too.
All best wishes to your daughter - she has a wonderful ambition
