Curlew C5

I was on a cruise up the River Dart with Mike Langman recently when he spotted an Eurasian Curlew. I love to see them, as they are a wonderful reminder of what wilderness is like, with their eerie call and wild nature. Disturbance has meant their breeding range is reducing rapidly and serious attempts are being made to reestablish them in areas in which they were formerly common.

This one has a leg ring and a flag, which reads ‘C5’. I decided to see if I could report it, to help whatever study it was part of, and also out of curiosity to see where it has been and how old it is.

Here’s the response I got:

Good morning David, 

Thank you for your report of the colour-ringed curlew, C5.

The curlew was released as part of a re-introduction project in Southern England. Eggs are being taken from ‘at-risk’ nests within stable populations in Northern England, then incubated, hatched and reared in captivity. The young birds are released at three sites in the south: Cranborne in Dorset, Peppering in West Sussex, and Elmley in Kent. The project has been running since 2022. We GPS tag half of the released curlew, so that we can record their movements post-release and monitor their survival. More details on the project are given here: https://www.birdguides.com/news/headstarted-curlews-released-in-sussex/

C5 was released at Peppering, Sussex on 24th July, 2024.  As this curlew is GPS tagged, we know something about its subsequent movements. But resightings are still very important to us, as it provides information about the bird’s welfare, and helps us track the curlew even if their tag has stopped working.

Your resighting is in fact the first that have received for C5 since release, making this a very valuable resighting, especially as your photo seems to show the bird behaving normally and in a good condition.

It’s fascinating to know that it has a GPS tag and that the researchers already knew where it was. I’m glad to have added a little to their knowledge of the bird with my sighting.

It’s only a youngster and I hope it will have a long and productive life.