 Wading birds have bred successfully on a brand new wetland area. Dorset Wildlife Trust has created the new habitat on its Tadnoll and Winfrith nature reserve and staff have been amazed at how quickly the birds have moved in.
Sarah Williams, Rivers and Wetlands Conservation Officer at Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: "We were hoping to see waders feeding on the new scrapes over the winter, with the possibility of breeding within a few years. I am over the moon that both lapwings and curlews have found the new habitat good enough to raise their young in the very first year. We hope these will be the first of many waders to breed here."
Lapwing and curlew pairs raised two chicks each, but the curlew chicks are believed to have been killed by foxes or dogs. The two young lapwings made it to full size and have now left with their parents. Lapwings, an endangered species, last bred at Tadnoll and Winfrith 8 years ago and curlews around 20 years ago.
The wetland consists of two scrapes (shallow temporary ponds) on the old Prison Fields. Work started last summer, and sluices were installed on the existing ditches to hold water and shallow temporary ponds (or scrapes) were added to provide wet, grassy flushes.
Wading birds first started using the area last winter, with visiting green sandpipers, snipe and lapwings. This spring, dragonflies were among the insects on the scrapes, attracting hobbies, small falcons which hunt the dragonflies.
There is a new dog-friendly trail which avoids bird sensitive areas around the top of the Prison Fields and a bird hide will be installed in the autumn, so that the public can keep an eye on the waders. The wet area itself is being kept as a wildlife area, as wading birds are very vulnerable to disturbance by dogs or people, even outside the breeding season.
Sarah added: "We hope that people and their dogs will enjoy the new facilities at the reserve. It is very important to keep dogs to the marked walk, as there are still ground nesting birds in the area, including nightjars and Dartford warblers on the dry heath."
Lapwing facts:
o Lapwings are named because of their wavering flight and rounded wings
o They are also known as peewits and green plovers
o They have red status as birds of conservation concern, due to steep decline in population
o They eat worms and insects
Curlew facts:
o Curlews are the largest European wading birds
o They have amber status as birds of conservation concern because the UK is so important for the global population
o They eat worms, shellfish and shrimps
| 
