Ever wondered what it takes to support birds like curlew, snipe, and lapwing during their breeding season? We’re using careful monitoring and collecting data to create the perfect mix of wet, wild, and wonderful habitats that these species need to thrive in a special conservation space.

At Hammond’s Field nature reserve, we’ve been monitoring the habitat to see how well it supports wading birds like snipe, curlew, and lapwing, especially during their breeding season. These birds need a mix of habitat features to thrive – different grass/rush heights, areas of standing water, moist soil and patches of dense rushes. Hammond’s Field is a special conservation space, not open to the public. This means it is undisturbed, helping to create the right environment for waders to breed successfully.

Here’s why this is important:

• Snipe love dense undisturbed rushes with some patchy open areas to allow the birds to move around, feed and breed. They nest in the shorter sward while the reeds provide essential cover for breeding.
• Curlew like a mix of tall and short vegetation. Tall vegetation for nesting with good visibility of the surrounding area.
• Lapwing prefer less dense vegetation, and need open habitat to be able to see their prey or any potential predators.

Our monitoring involves walking through the site, checking key features, and measuring how well the habitat matches the needs of these birds. This careful observation is part of our evidence-led conservation program, meaning all our decisions are based on solid facts rather than assumptions.

How Hammond’s Field is doing:

• Moist soil: At least 30% of the site had moist soil during surveys in 2019, 2021, and 2024 – a big win for breeding birds. In particular for breeding waders. The soil needs to be moist enough for snipe and curlew to probe the soil to feed on earthworms and insect grubs with their long bills. 
• Standing water: At least 5% of the site had standing water in 2021 and 2024 (though not in 2019, since that survey happened later in the summer). Damp grassland and open muddy water margins are rich in insect larvae and especially important for feeding chicks.
• Tall rushes: In 2021 and 2024, over 30% of the site had tall, tussocky rushes, providing excellent cover for birds like snipe.

Grass/rush height (or sward height):
We measured grass and rush leaf heights across the field and found a good mix for all three bird species:

• Some areas had a very short sward, ideal for lapwing.
• Other areas had tall, dense rushes, perfect for snipe. 
• Grass/rush heights increased toward the southern part of the field, creating a variety of habitats across the site for all three wader species. The mixture of heights is good for curlew.

Where we’re still working:

• Short sward targets: We didn’t quite meet the target for having 20–50% of the site with a very short sward, but overall, the variety is still good.
• Pond edges: Some areas around ponds had more vegetation than we’d like for waders, but we want to keep some marginal vegetation for other species such as dragonflies, damselflies and amphibians.
• Bare ground: Bare ground cover is still slightly higher than our target, but we’ve seen steady improvements over the years. Some bare ground provides feeding and nesting areas for waders but we want to avoid having too much (which can be created by cattle but we have a low stocking density here).

Why it matters:

By tracking these details, we’re ensuring that Hammond’s Field provides the right conditions for wading birds to breed successfully. It’s all part of our commitment to evidence-led conservation, where every decision is based on careful monitoring and science. With this approach, we’re helping to protect these wonderful birds for generations to come.

© Made possible with Heritage Fund

Our Evidence-led Conservation is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.