Farms in Holbeach St Marks introduce breeding tubes to help declining duck population

Two farms are making efforts to raise the population of ducks by introducing breeding tubes for mallards.

Both farms in Holbeach St Matthews are following the Europe-wide campaign to boost duck populations and have introduced 20 nesting tubes.

Flooding and disturbances from humans, dogs and livestock are all said to be contributing factors to the decline in breeding.

The raised nesting platforms create a safe, dry, and warm environment for nesting and raising ducklings.

In total, the nesting tubes are in eight different locations across the Wash.

These tubes will be closely monitored to see how many ducks use them. It’s hoped that the results will help tailor to the conservation of ducks.

John Harlow, chairman of Holbeach and District Wildfowlers Association said: “The club jumped at the opportunity to be part of the project, already constructing twenty nesting tubes. Take up was slow, but six of the initial ten tubes were used by breeding mallards last year and we are hopeful for more success this year.

“Our marsh has a popular coastal path on the sea wall, so these duck tubes provide an effective nesting base away from possible disturbance.

“We have placed the duck tubes in areas close to The Wash and where no shooting takes place.

“We have already identified suitable locations for further duck tubes to be established before spring 2024 and the results of this year’s nest tube occupation, breeding and hatching success will be gathered in due course as the club made the decision to leave the areas undisturbed through the breeding season.

“This information will then be submitted by the club to the Waterfowlers Network who back in 2021, launched a research project to collect data on the use and nesting success of ducks and other waterbirds in artificial nest structures.”

The UK-leg of the monitoring project is being led by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).

Ian Danby, BASC’s head of biodiversity, said: “We are delighted with the uptake of these nesting tubes across the country. They are now becoming a common sight on ponds, waterways, and reservoirs across the UK.

“Our members are dedicated conservationists; they want to ensure that the species is in a healthy condition for its own sake, not just so that they can take and share a sustainable harvest of mallard during the shooting season. This citizen science-led campaign will help the mallard recover back to their previous levels ensuring the species and wildfowling’s future.”

Chris Wright, BASC’s wildfowling advisor, said: “The success rates from nests on the ground can be very low as mallard, like many other ground nesting bird’s nests are often destroyed before the eggs even have a chance to hatch. This can be because of various reasons including predation, trampling from livestock or disturbance from members of the public.

“In other countries, it has been proven that these nesting tubes can significantly boost fledgling success. BASC’s project aims to learn more about the breeding success of mallard in the hope we can help boost the population. The uptake and participation in the project from wildfowling clubs has been fantastic.”