A rare migratory bird is due to return to the moorlands above Sheffield within the next fortnight, completing a thousand-mile journey from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. But conservationists warn the welcome may not be a warm one.
Ring ouzels, closely related to the blackbird, are expected back at Stanage Edge and Burbage Moor in the final week of March. This stretch of moorland is now the most southerly breeding population of the species in England.
The species has already vanished from Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Shropshire Hills, and the Peak District. They have stopped breeding at Curbar and White Edge, leaving Stanage and Burbage as their last remaining nesting spots.
Chris Greenwood, a trustee of the Sheffield Bird Study Group and volunteer on the ring ouzel monitoring team, says visitor pressure since Covid has made an already fragile situation worse.
“Footfall has massively increased in those areas. People these days want to do what they want to do, and they don’t want to be told they can’t do anything,” he said.
Dogs off the lead are one of the biggest threats during the breeding season, which runs from March to August.
“The birds don’t know the dog is going to go home and get a Pedigree Chum. The birds think it’s a wolf.”
Tommo Thompson, a volunteer ranger on the Eastern Moors whose blog ‘The Path Less Travelled’ documents conservation work at Stanage, wrote:
“For the folks trying to protect habitats for wildlife, ground nesting bird season is the most difficult of the year. We will be lied to, sworn at and threatened over the coming months.
Yet, the story is not all bleak. After nearly two decades of cooperative monitoring with the climbing community, Stanage’s ring ouzels have become habituated to human presence.
“People see a photo of Stanage Edge with all the climbers on and we point out where there are birds in amongst where people are climbing, and they cannot believe it,” Greenwood said. “It’s a really unique local phenomenon.”
“We’re so lucky not only to have them but to have them so near to the city. That proximity is a blessing and a curse.”
Visitors should keep dogs on leads between March and August, stick to paths, avoid fires and never use drones. Sightings can be reported to the Eastern Moors Partnership on 0114 2891543.