Rare curlews have returned to nest at Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent, the same site where they were hatched as part of a captive-rearing project to restore the at-risk wading bird to lowland Britain. Estate manager Gareth Fulton said it was "really exciting" that birds from earlier releases had paired up and come back to the reserve, marking a promising milestone for the conservation scheme. Curlew numbers have fallen by around 50% since 1995 due to changing farming practices and rising predator numbers, placing the species on the British Trust for Ornithology's red list of conservation concern.

Elmley, on the Isle of Sheppey, is one of three sites in the South of England Curlew Recovery Project, working with upland conservationists such as those in the Yorkshire Dales, where curlew populations remain healthier. Under licence from Natural England, eggs are collected from vulnerable nests near footpaths or in fields due to be cut, then hatched at Elmley before the birds are released; 33 were freed in 2026, bringing the four-year total to more than 100. Because curlews tend to return to their birthplace to breed, conservationists hope the returning birds — described as still "very young" and "kind of teenagers" — will start nesting and raising chicks of their own at the reserve as early as next year.