The efforts of RSPB staff and local volunteers on a pioneering community engagement project in Hampshire have been rewarded with an increase in numbers of Ringed Plover fledglings. UK numbers of this short-legged wading bird declined by 23% between 2010 and 2019, and they desperately need our help.
At least nine young Ringed Plovers have fledged this summer.
That’s why the RSPB’s LIFE on the Edge project has been supporting the Hayling Plover volunteers at Gutner Point since 2021 to reduce predation and disturbance of nests by walkers, dogs and joggers.
In spring and summer 2023, RSPB Beach Nesting Bird Project Officer Mark Appleton led a team working to temporarily fence crucial shingle nesting habitat, erect signs and updates explaining the project to the local community, and build cages to protect eggs from predation. The results have been encouraging; at least nine young Ringed Plovers have fledged this summer – by far the largest number recorded at this site.
