ace in the south west.”
Read the report in full here Changes in the abundance of some ground-nesting birds on moorland in South West Scotland
Notes to Editors
GWCT’s report on the Berwyn SPA is available to read here:
Further detail from the new studies at Muirkirk & North Lowther Uplands and Langholm/Newcastleton Hills:-
Muirkirk and North Lowther Uplands SPA
Moorland transect surveys at Muirkirk and Garpel covering 2 periods (1994 and 2009/2017)- when gamekeepers managed the moors for red grouse and when they did not- showed a decline in Curlew abundance of 38 percent, associated with the cessation of grouse shooting at Muirkirk.
Golden Plover (a species for which the SPA status still applies) and Redshank were no longer found at Muirkirk after gamekeepers were off the moor. Lapwing and Snipe observations halved from the time keepers were there and when they were not.
At Garpel, repeat surveys after gamekeepers left, failed to find any Waders at all. Garpel was previously described as one of the most favourable sites in Britain for Golden Plover.
Upland Bird Surveys at Muirkirk, from the early 80s to 2015 showed an 84 percent decline in Golden Plover, an 88 percent decline in Lapwing and a 61 percent decline in Curlew.
“Thus, waders and harriers declined in parallel with those of red grouse once levels of moorland management by gamekeepers had been reduced.”
Langholm-Newcastleton Hills SPA
On Langholm Moor where grouse moor management took place in two phases, Hen Harriers peaked at 20 breeding females in 1997. After the gamekeepers were removed in 2000, the breeding Harriers dropped by 61 percent. When the gamekeepers went back on the moor again in 2008, breeding female Harriers increased again to 12 in 2014 before the project was wound up.
No Harrier chicks were lost to predation during the second phase of the Langholm Moor Demonstration project although they were seen on nest camera being predated again after keepering stopped for the second time.
When it was being managed for grouse, the Langholm-Newcastleton Hills SPA boasted Hen Harrier breeding success more than twice that of the Muirkirk and North Lowther Uplands SPA or Glen App and Galloway Hills SPAs (both designated for Hen Harriers), where no grouse management occurs.