Curlew Chronicles

somewhere-nowhere

Curlew Chronicles, 2020 ongoing

The arrival of Covid-19 and a lockdown turned plans upside down for everyone – and also offered the catalyst for new things that were unexpected. For us, it was the phone call from a local farmer who invited us to visit his fields daily and watch out for curlews in the hope that we could identify a nest site, so that it could be protected. Eurasian Curlews come to the fields where we live in south Cumbria every year to nest and breed; but like curlews across the UK they are endangered. Their numbers have fallen by more than 70% in the last 50 years (and by 90% in Ireland).

Tracking curlews, connecting with ornithologists, ecologists and farmers locally and elsewhere in the UK, and forming a local WhatsApp group to discuss the status of curlews in our small region became our focus for three months in 2020. We brought photography and poetry into the mix and in 2021, the work continues and we are part of a growing community drawing on the power of head and heart to inspire meaningful change for these endangered birds.

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FIELDWORK DOCUMENTS