The Curlews Last Call (Plight of the Curlew) EE15 EP2 

I work on a stud inland in the middle of nowhere in Southern Ireland. A little gem we keep secret. We have a natural spring lake that feeds and nurtures the fields for our mares and surrounding woodlands for fauna. We have a flock of approximately 25-40 Curlews. There are normally more in the Winter but we have a good few that stay year round too, I never knew what bird this was when I came here, but their sound was so beautiful and melodic, far softer and relaxing than the videos show, it's like a song. Nobody but the few locals know of this little gem of Curlews, but they can be heard for miles around every sunset when they take flight around the lake and sing their songs. We also have our local Otter who spends his Autumn months with us

I just love curlews.

I like that lady and her accent. I'm a birder in Michigan, USA.

hi. In WALES where i live the curlew breeding population has dropped dramatacally. where they used to breed they don,t anymore. they do breed in numbers in a couple of places. with the odd one here and there. the last one i seen was around 5 years ago in Builth Wells which had 5 eggs and hatched successfully. it,s a shame they are beautiful birds with an eerie call which is unmistakable.hope these guys keep up the good work.

Excellent as always EcoEye! Just to add on the bogs they lock up twice as much carbon as the world's forests (in Europe it's 5 times) despite only covering 3% of the earth's surface. Also, trees die and then release the carbon on decomposition but the material locked up in a bog releases carbon WAY more slowly due to the flooded anaerobic conditions. It's utterly shameful that we're still extracting from bogs for this reason and for the biodiversity impact. Most gardeners aren't aware that the peat compost they're using is causing such harm and the government (in Ireland anyway) haven't publicised it at all. All extraction from bogs should be stopped immediately and any bogs which have been drained, the drains should be blocked and the bog restored to anerobic conditions.

This is so beautiful. I'm also an earth child

We're working on a follow up episode to this one, where we examine what's happening on a broader scale to birds. Ireland has lost 40% of its wintering birds in less than 30yrs and many farmland birds are on the verge of extinction. We're investigating the causes and hopefully will find a few solutions along the way.

We saw and heard 4 of them tonight in Kerry. Lovely.

Fifty years ago there were many curlew in eastern Washington of the US. I recall seeing them nesting in the grassy desert near the Columbia River but now all of the land has turned to farm land. I have not see one now for decades.

Its summer now and we hear the curlew every night.

Surely there must be space in Ireland ! !. Half the country has no people living in it ? ( well , Donegal anyway ?)

Anywhere with no people and development is filled with horrible Sitka Spruce monoculture plantations and ghastly wind farms for ‘climate change’ which just means a ruse to fill more wealthy financiers accounts even higher and higher.