Day 10 Real Springwatch Post 1 of 2 at 5 minute interval After sharing footage over the last 4 nights, of the succesfull hatching of one our most iconic farmland waders on the edge of a managed grouse moor, the lapwing. We now turn our cameras onto an oystercather for the next 2 nights. The oystercatcher is an amber listed bird. As can easily be seen from our camera, oystercatcher's generaly just make a simple scrape in a stoney area usually associated to a water source, but some birds favour wa
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Day 10 Real Springwatch Post 1 of 2 at 5 minute interval After sharing footage over the last 4 nights, of the succesfull hatching of one our most iconic farmland waders on the edge of a managed grouse moor, the lapwing. We now turn our cameras onto an oystercather for the next 2 nights. The oystercatcher is an amber listed bird. As can easily be seen from our camera, oystercatcher's generaly just make a simple scrape in a stoney area usually associated to a water source, but some birds favour wa
1.9M viewsJun 7, 2023
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Day 4 Real Springwatch 2023 We have shared images of Dunlin from the Peak District on our PDMG pages before, this is the first time we were able to position a camera on a nest. This particular bird chose to nest within 30 yards from the busy Pennine Way footpath, we were able to monitor it for 11 days. In common with other waders, the dunlin select areas of short vegetation to lay their clutch of 4 eggs in. From data recovered through ringing, one bird lived to over 19 years of age, but the typi
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Day 4 Real Springwatch 2023 We have shared images of Dunlin from the Peak District on our PDMG pages before, this is the first time we were able to position a camera on a nest. This particular bird chose to nest within 30 yards from the busy Pennine Way footpath, we were able to monitor it for 11 days. In common with other waders, the dunlin select areas of short vegetation to lay their clutch of 4 eggs in. From data recovered through ringing, one bird lived to over 19 years of age, but the typi
2.7K viewsMay 30, 2023
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Day 23 Real Springwatch The bubbling call of the curlew is without doubt the harbinger of spring. All moorland gamekeepers have a deep connection with our nesting moorland waders. Driven Grouse Shooting can often be the financial driver for the moorland infrastructure, skills and practices - but it is also without doubt the "blueprint for sustainable moorlands", many other failing moorland areas, with little interest in shooting, would do well to implement a similar regime if they want to see sp
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Day 23 Real Springwatch The bubbling call of the curlew is without doubt the harbinger of spring. All moorland gamekeepers have a deep connection with our nesting moorland waders. Driven Grouse Shooting can often be the financial driver for the moorland infrastructure, skills and practices - but it is also without doubt the "blueprint for sustainable moorlands", many other failing moorland areas, with little interest in shooting, would do well to implement a similar regime if they want to see sp
481.3K viewsJun 19, 2023
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Turn up the volume when you watch the video 🥰 A busy day yesterday setting up cameras on a multitude of nests - we will be starting our hugely popular “Real Springwatch” at the end of May 🥳 Many gamekeepers were able to implement their 2nd transect counts after a week of foggy mornings. Chicks are hatching out of many species, including this adorable snipe chick - well spotted Jim 👌🏼 Ground nesting birds laying eggs isn’t good enough, they need to fledge young to be a viable population. | Pe
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Turn up the volume when you watch the video 🥰 A busy day yesterday setting up cameras on a multitude of nests - we will be starting our hugely popular “Real Springwatch” at the end of May 🥳 Many gamekeepers were able to implement their 2nd transect counts after a week of foggy mornings. Chicks are hatching out of many species, including this adorable snipe chick - well spotted Jim 👌🏼 Ground nesting birds laying eggs isn’t good enough, they need to fledge young to be a viable population. | Pe
4.4K viewsMay 4, 2024
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Day 26 Real Springwatch 2023 Summer sunshine, a wandering chick and a curlew calling....perfection 👌 #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders #wehavewildlife | Peak District Moorland Group
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Day 26 Real Springwatch 2023 Summer sunshine, a wandering chick and a curlew calling....perfection 👌 #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders #wehavewildlife | Peak District Moorland Group
1.8K viewsJun 19, 2023
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Day 25 Real Springwatch As we learnt from Day 14 of "Real Springwatch", curlew are categorised as "nidifugous" birds, meaning on hatching their chicks are mobile and featherd in a number of hours after hatching, other birds are categorised as "nidicolous" meaning they are born bald and helpless... #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders #wehavewildlife | Peak D
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Day 25 Real Springwatch As we learnt from Day 14 of "Real Springwatch", curlew are categorised as "nidifugous" birds, meaning on hatching their chicks are mobile and featherd in a number of hours after hatching, other birds are categorised as "nidicolous" meaning they are born bald and helpless... #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders #wehavewildlife | Peak D
57.1K viewsJun 19, 2023
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Day 22 Real Springwatch 2023 Some interesting comments and messages from yesterdays post - many were correct that this bird had selected nesting in short vegetation, but also directly on an ants nest! Whilst some might think apart from the obvious irritation and discomfort caused by nesting directly on an ants nest, the benefit would be a ready supply of a meal for the parents and the chicks. Another possible disadvantage could be the passing on of the coccidiosis parasite from the ants onto the
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Day 22 Real Springwatch 2023 Some interesting comments and messages from yesterdays post - many were correct that this bird had selected nesting in short vegetation, but also directly on an ants nest! Whilst some might think apart from the obvious irritation and discomfort caused by nesting directly on an ants nest, the benefit would be a ready supply of a meal for the parents and the chicks. Another possible disadvantage could be the passing on of the coccidiosis parasite from the ants onto the
39.2K viewsJun 19, 2023
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Day 18 Real Springwatch 2023 The wildlife diversity is immense on our inby natural woodland areas, something that many a "rewilder" organisation would be envious of - but this natural diversity is here because there has been a generational interest in wildlife and farming. Our pied flycatcher camera captures this red deer calf following its mother after its been called out from its hiding place where its been laid up through the day. #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peak
1.1K viewsJun 12, 2023
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Day 10 Real Springwatch Post 2 of 2 In common with most wader species, both the male and female take turns in incubating their eggs and also looking after the young before they are fully fledged. #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders #wehavewildlife | Peak District Moorland Group
1.1K viewsJun 7, 2023
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Day 16 Real Springwatch 2023 Our red deer are loosing their winter coats, which accounts for their moth eaten appearance. This mature female ,hind, is extremely interested in our redstart nest - probably smelling the scent left from our monitoring team, rather than looking for eggs - as some might interpret it? For the eagle eyed viewer their is a young male deer, stag, which wonders by - his antlers are covered in "velvet" which will subsequently be rubbed off once his antlers are fully grown.
3K viewsJun 12, 2023
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Day 12 Real Springwatch For many visitors this prolonged period of dry and warm weather is looked on as ideal, but for our moorland gamekeepers and land managers its a time of deep concern. Even with maximum efforts to rewet our moorland areas, water is in short supply - for those organisations and landowners that have put maximum faith into rewetting as a means of wildfire prevention, we would suggest you have a very good back up plan, because even the sphagnum is drying out in certain areas an
768 viewsJun 9, 2023
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Day 28 Real Springwatch 2023 The common sandpiper is a diminutive wader weighing less than 60 grammes. In common with all our ground nesting birds, the availabilty of water on the ground is essential for providing good numbers of invertebrate species for feed which is imperative for chick survival. Thankfully we have had a few welcome rain showers in the last week, that have topped up both our natural and man made water supplies - rewetting of moorland has been a phrase adopted by many environme
253.6K viewsJun 26, 2023
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Day 32 Real Springwatch 2023 As we draw to an end of our "Real Springwatch 2023" series, we felt it appropriate that we featured this curlew chick that found itself on the wrong side of a drystone wall, whilst its siblings were on the otherside. Thankfully the gamekeeper who looks after this patch of moor in the Dark Peak, was alerted to the adult alarm callng and grabbed the chick and popped it over the wall. This scene also reiterates why even the most well behaved dogs should be kept on a sho
4.6K viewsJun 30, 2023
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Day 19 Real Springwatch 2023 It isnt just our ungulated red deer that get to wander these woods, these two ponies are thriving in their semi-wilderness, interestingly they still move to the very top of the hill at night time, presumably a trait ingrained in them from ancient times when bigger predators roamed our land... #BASCnews #realspringwatch #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #peakdistrictproud #PeakDistrictProud #nationaltrustuk #rspb_love_nature #nationalgamekeepersorganisation #gwct #waders
2.2K viewsJun 12, 2023
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Episode 12 - RSW 2025 Tonight is our final pre-scheduled episode of Real Springwatch 2025. A huge thanks for everyone that has viewed our posts and sent us messages and thoughts, especially with regards to some of the offerings that the BBC version has been suggesting in our Peak District area. Our final featured nesting bird is a summer visitor that arrives from Africa to rear its young. An amazing bird that our BTO nest recorder has been interested in for sometime. Historicaly, nightjar's were
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Day 12 Real Springwatch Our communities and rural land use are so important for the outcomes for wildlife - good management practices on both farm and estate can tick all the right boxes, which benefits the wildlife assemblages that we commonly find there, and increases the positive public experiences when they come and visit our upland areas. #realspringwatch2024 #managedmoorland #Wildlife #curlew #PeakDistrictProud #pdmg #gwct #SustainableLandUse #britishfarming #regionalmoorlandgroups #NFU |
1.1K viewsJun 7, 2024
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Day 11 Real Springwatch A hunting buzzard causes ever watchful "sentry duty" birds to raise the alarm, our sitting bird is in a dilemma whether to flea its nest or sit tight. Whilst a warm spring day is very welcome for us and the hatching of insects, for our sitting bird it looks decidedly uncomfortable... #pdmg #regionalmoorlandgroups #realspringwatch2024 #Wildlife #wildlifephotography #PeakDistrictProud #BASC #moorlandassociation #curlewrecovery #managedmoorland #curlew #nationalparks #worldc
2.6K viewsJun 6, 2024
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Day 10 Real Springwatch The incubation duties continue for our monitored curlew nest, the investment in laying, incubation and hopeful rearing of fledglings is a huge commitment for these birds, especially when so much can turn against them causing failure in an instance. The cock pheasant poses no harm to the sitting curlew, they know the species that pose a risk...as we will see on Day 11 A huge thanks to all the private messages of praise directed to us in sharing these insights from our area
555 viewsJun 5, 2024
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Real Springwatch 2025 is back for our 5th year running and also to celebrate Peak District Moorland Group 10 year anniversary. We will be scheduling our posts each day at 19:00 hours, Monday to Thursday, an hour before the BBC version, for 3 weeks. We welcome the high budget BBC Springwatch to the Peak District, which has settled itself down to celebrate its 20th year, next door to an upland estate managed for grouse shooting... Thankfully this spring has seen better weather for our bird species
7.6K views11 months ago
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Day 20 Real Springwatch In common with last weekend, we are sharing footage from 2021 (not 2017 as the camera has recorded - the time is correct the dateline isn't). Gamekeepers are open about the negative effects of predators on various species, especially ground nesting birds. If other organisations were more transparent on their management policies, we might not be in the state of polarisation about wildlife management that we unfortunately now find ourself in? This post shows what exactly is
562 viewsJun 15, 2024
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Day 7 Real Springwatch 2024 Yesterday we shared historical evidence of a badger eating 4 lapwing eggs. Today we share a badger sniffing into an egg cup but not eating the eggs, the lapwing is seen shortly afterwards returning to the nest and continuing the incubation. Sadly this was shortlived as this nest too ended up predated just at the hatching, or chipping, stage of the incubation period. This is a well documented trait of mammals observed by land managers and gamekeepers - the sound of the
1.6K viewsJun 2, 2024
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Real Springwatch - Episode 5 Thankfully the weather has improved a little compared to the wet and cool temperatures of last week - looking at the forecast ahead, our concerns are with the windy conditions that are forecast, which can easily scatter young chicks if they are disturbed and take to the wing in a "flutter". Tonight we visit our lapwing that is sat in a farmed field adjacent to managed moorland, showing the benefits of "spillover" from considerate farming practices and a game manageme
1.8K views11 months ago
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Real Springwatch 2025 - Episode 4 Tonight's nesting bird is a favourite to so many, for our followers of an older age, they will undoubtedly remember flocks of lapwing or peewit, in many areas 40 or 50 years ago. Along with other wading species, particularly curlew, populations appear far more stable in our areas on and adjacent to managed moorland with a shooting interest. It is heartening to see that there appears to be a shift in the narrative from purely conservation driven landowners, as th
2.7K views11 months ago
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Day 17 Real Springwatch 2024 The majority of our moorland areas have open access agreements in place under the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000, we actively welcome responsible visitors. Unfortunately some visitors use these access agreements to enter land and tamper with and destroy legal methods of predator control, vandalise equipment and pour glue into security locks - usually under the pretence that they are saving wildlife because they don't agree with certain land management practices a
392 viewsJun 12, 2024
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Day 6 Real Springwatch 2024 In view of this being our 4th year of publicising the nest monitoring work we carry out, we propose that on the weekends in June, we will share historical footage of events that occured in previous years. Although our fledging rates are often consistently higher on areas that have active wildlife management occuring on them, it certainly doesnt mean our monitored nests never get predated. This sequence of events was caught on a camera in 2021 and sadly is replicated t
888 viewsJun 1, 2024
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Real Springwatch 2025 - Episode 8 Such joy for the first class gamekeeping team on this Dark Peak Shooting Estate, their monitored golden plover nest has hatched its clutch of eggs. Opponents to grouse shooting can be sloppy in their condemnation to our profession, often stating we are only interested in red grouse and create a heather monoculture. Nothing is further from the truth - well done the gamekeeping team, lets hope these 4 chicks can now survive through to the successful fledging stage
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Day 30 Real Springwatch The positives from having a dedicated gamekeeper, whether as an individual or as a team, can offer far reaching benefits away from their regular moorland areas. It is usually common for neighbouring landowners on adjacent moorland or lowground areas to request these professionals to carry out wildlife management work for them - this is often referred to as a "buffer zone" around their regular patch. Sadly many lowground areas have seen a marked decline in ground nesting b
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Day 30 Real Springwatch The positives from having a dedicated gamekeeper, whether as an individual or as a team, can offer far reaching benefits away from their regular moorland areas. It is usually common for neighbouring landowners on adjacent moorland or lowground areas to request these professionals to carry out wildlife management work for them - this is often referred to as a "buffer zone" around their regular patch. Sadly many lowground areas have seen a marked decline in ground nesting b
786 viewsJun 25, 2024
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Real Springwatch 2025 - Episode 7 Whilst our main work is concentrated on our moorland areas, many estates in the Peak District also include other habitats, which benefit either directly or indirectly from the work we carry out. Dippers and grey wagtail both rely on healthy waterways to support their growing young with a constant supply of invertebrates. In common with other environments throughout the UK, we have a resident population of non native mink, which if left unchecked, will decimate a
1.4K views11 months ago
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Day 21 Real Springwatch 2023 We have left our pied flycatcher and redstart to feed up their young and potentially try laying another clucth of eggs and rearing another brood of young. Now we are back up onto the moors to see one of our iconic moorland visitors - the red listed curlew. Dispite falling numbers in many other areas, its undoutedly on managed moorland, with a grouse shooting interest (simply because there is landscape scale management of both habitat and predators) where they continu
1.8K viewsJun 19, 2023
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