2025

The UK is home to around 270 different bee species. Just one of these is the familiar honeybee, another 24 are bumblebees, and the rest are solitary species that are often overlooked or mistaken for flies or flying ants.

The GWCT carries out research on a number of shorebirds and waders. From studies of the migration routes of snipe, lapwing and curlew, to the monitoring of nesting habits of lapwing in wet meadows and arable fields, to developing new techniques to protect them from predators.

What does it take to bring back a bird on the edge of extinction? For curlew, one of the UK’s most threatened breeding birds, the answer is anything but simple. Their story captures the tangled challenges of modern conservation, balancing farming, land use and our own connection to nature.

Releasing red-legged partridges can be both rewarding and frustrating, with a variety of factors affecting the success of release.

As a farmer I have always been fascinated by field drainage systems; invisible networks of drainage channels running underneath much of our farmland carrying away excess water to field-edge ditches, thence away to streams and rivers.

By now, most people have heard of the dreaded Asian hornet — large, scary, and most definitely evil-looking… or so the rumours go. Many claim they’ve seen one. But how common are they in the UK, and are they really a problem?

GWCT urges all those involved in shooting, especially those responsible for managing gamebirds and shoot owners, to be vigilant of avian influenza and any control zones implemented in their area. 

Thanks to Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, we have helped create a safer haven for beach-nesting birds on the North Solent National Nature Reserve in Hampshire. With our partners, we’ve transformed a 1.7ha area of scrub-grassland into an open expanse of coastal vegetated shingle and this tailor-made ‘hotel for birds’ opened for business in March this year.

Game cover crops this year have been a nightmare to establish and although some parts of the country have had some rain, many are continuing to struggle.

In July and August, GWCT staff and their pointing dogs revisited study sites across the North of England and Scotland to count red grouse. After the pair counts in the spring, which aim to determine the number of breeding pairs, these brood counts in July aim to estimate the breeding success. The current monitoring regime extends over 21 sites in England and 24 sites in Scotland.