Sounds and conversation from a night spent catching and ringing woodcock in West Wales with wildlife artist Owen Williams. Over the last fifteen years, Owen has ringed more than 2,500 woodcock - find out what he's learned and listen to him ring another bird!

Episode 1 - Owen Williams - the woodcock ringer

Doug Telfer is Chairman of the Clyde Valley Wader Group, a team of farmers working to conserve wading birds in Lanarkshire and East Ayrshire. In this episode, Doug describes why waders are so important to him and explains why we should never give up on conservation.

Episode 2 - Doug Telfer - Waders in the Clyde Valley

Black tailed godwits, golden plover and lapwings provide a backdrop to a chat with David Morris (Area Manager, Cumbria and North East - RSPB) and Dave Blackledge (RSPB Site Manager, Solway Coast Reserves) about early spring waders, farmland restoration and Icelandic godwits at RSPB Campfield Marsh.

Recorded 3/3/23

Episode 3 - David and Dave - RSPB Campfield Marsh

Writer and curlew enthusiast Mary Colwell meets Helen Ryman, farm manager at Mochrum Estate in Wigtownshire to talk about birds on the estate and plans to safeguard an important population of curlews in southwest Scotland. As they talk, the first curlew of 2023 can be heard returning to the estate for the spring... but how will these birds fare this summer?

Recorded 21/3/23

Supported by funding made available through Scottish Government’s Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund

Episode 4 - Helen and Mary - Mochrum Estate Curlews

Recorded at Minginish Community Hall on the Isle of Skye in April 2023, this episode features Charlie and Julia in the aftermath of a meeting to raise awareness of wading bird conservation for farmers and crofters. The two speakers make clear connections between the decline of Gaelic, the loss of traditional land use and the decline of waders like lapwings and curlews.

Recorded 4/4/23

Supported by the Scottish Government's Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund.

Episode 5 - Charlie and Julia - Waders & Gaelic on Skye

David Jarrett is a researcher at the University of Durham specialising in sound recording to measure the success or failure of curlew breeding attempts. In this episode, he sets up "Audiomoth" recorders on a curlew territory in Galloway and explains how his work could provide a useful tool to monitor the productivity of curlew populations in a range of habitats across the UK and Europe.

Recorded 11/4/23

Supported by the RiGG Trust

Episode 6 - David Jarrett - Acoustic Recordings and Curlew Conservation

Join field recordist Pete Smith in the Galloway Hills as he sets up recording equipment to capture the sound of golden plover breeding in one of the most remote corners of the Southern Uplands. 

Recorded 30/4/23 by Pete Smith - http://www.thesoundspace.co.uk/

Supported by RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Government's Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund

Episode 7 - Pete - Recording Golden Plover in Galloway

It's a beautiful day in the South Lakes with Barny Sykes and Susannah Bleakley as they look for curlew nests from a roadside near the village of Brigsteer. All curlew nests are fenced to protect them from predators and agricultural operations in this area, but the birds still face many challenges.

Recorded 4/5/23

Funded by RSPB Scotland via the Scottish Government's Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund.

Episode 8 - Susannah & Barny - South Lakes Curlew Recovery Project

Just for the fun of it, sound recordist Pete Smith sets out to record the weird and wonderful high-pitched sound of hazel grouse calling in the forests of Finland, not far from the Russian border. Leaving his microphones out overnight, he's able to capture fantastic recordings of greenshank and woodcock, along with a host of other interesting species... but will he find the bird he's looking for?

Recorded 11/5/23 by Pete Smith - www.thesoundspace.co.uk/

Funded by the RiGG Trust

Episode 9 - Pete and the Hazel Grouse - Finland

This episode attempts to capture the richness and diversity of sound on a Finnish bog habitat near the Russian border, recorded overnight and into the following morning in May 2023. 

Knowing that many curlews which visit the UK in winter are born and bred in habitats like this, it's a magical experience to hear the world from a wader's perspective and understand the birds as they move across Europe during the course of the year. Alongside the curlews, enjoy fantastic recordings of whimbrel, cranes, golden plover and the steady, almost mesmeric sound of black grouse displaying.

Introduced by Patrick Laurie and David Jarrett, this episode was recorded by Pete Smith and funded by the RiGG Trust.

Episode 10 - Pete, David and Patrick - A Night on a Finnish Bog

UK conservationists often look to Finland for examples of "wild" wader habitats, but this chat with ecologist David Jarrett shows how important commercial farmland can be for birds like curlews on the Russian border. Covering issues like the control of mesopredators(including badgers and pine martens), grassland management and long, harsh winters, this episode shows that it's difficult to extract lessons from Finland for a UK context.

Recorded May 13th by Pete Smith

Episode 11 - Patrick and David - Finnish Farmland Curlews

Tales of conservation from Scotland and beyond - Chat, interviews and close encounters with the world of wading birds like curlews, lapwings and golden plover.

Funded by Working for Waders, the RiGG Trust and the Scottish Government’s Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund

The Curlew Tapes

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