Straying from trails and footpaths

Most wildlife disturbance isn’t intentional – a lot of the time it’s purely accidental. You may venture off a footpath to walk what looks like the route-less-travelled, but this route could be hiding ground-nesting birds and their chicks.

This is especially true if you’re walking across farmland, or on the moors, hills and fells. These wonderfully wild places are strongholds for many threatened birds that nest on the ground, including the curlew, lapwing, skylark and snipe. They lay their eggs amongst the grass and stay well hidden, so you often won’t realise you’ve stumbled across a nest until you’re right on top of it. If you stray too close to a nest, the parent bird will fly away, meaning:

• They may not lay eggs.
• Eggs could chill and fail to hatch.
• Chicks could die from cold or lack of food.
• Eggs and chicks could be eaten by predators.

Breeding season really takes a toll on parent birds, and they need to conserve as much energy as possible. This is hard for them when they need to fly away from us, especially when it happens multiple times a day.

Dogs off-lead

Our four-legged friends, no matter how playful their intentions, have the same effect on ground-nesting birds as we humans. Unfortunately, they may also take a bird in their mouth if they find one. Even if your dog is just curious, this could have devastating consequences.

Your dog may also investigate areas where hares and their young are lying low, or where roe deer have left their kids after heading off to feed. Remember that on access land, dogs should be kept on a lead of no more than two metres-long during breeding season (between 1 March and 31 July). We also ask that you walk your dog on their lead at our dog-friendly nature reserves.

It’s a good idea to keep your dog on their lead by the coast too, especially in winter. In the same way that birds need to conserve energy during breeding season, they need to conserve it in winter, when food is scarce and staying warm is a top priority. Our wetlands and coasts are inundated with hundreds of thousands of wading birds each winter. They feed along the shoreline, following the tide, and will take to the air when disturbed by humans or off-lead dogs. That’s a lot of vital energy that could be used to stay warm.

Getting too close

A lot of the issues with humans and dogs disturbing wildlife arise from us basically getting too close.  Keeping a respectful distance from wild creatures will stop them feeling threatened and as if they need to escape. This doesn’t just go for recreational activities like walking and running – it also goes for wildlife watching and photography.

It can be really exciting to see wildlife up close, get a full view of a rare animal or line up your dream shot, but is it worth it, at the expense of that animal’s welfare? With so many species suffering tragic declines in the UK – from willow tits to adders – we need to do our very best to give them the best chance of bouncing back.

Drones

Permission to fly a drone over an area must always be granted by the landowner, but there aren’t currently any specific regulations surrounding the use of drones around wildlife. However, in the same way that we humans can disturb wildlife by getting too close, so can drones.

It isn’t hard to understand why wildlife would see the noise, motion and appearance of a drone as a threat. Instead of causing birds and other animals to scatter unnecessarily, avoid flying drones over nesting areas, roosts (where birds gather to rest and sleep), and important feeding areas. The exception to this is drones flown for scientific research or conservation purposes, when the flight is supervised and carried out by a professional.

We don’t allow drones at our nature reserves, in order to protect the wildlife that lives there. If you’re ever in doubt, check our drone policy for Brockholes.