The GWCT is a UK-based wildlife charity whose headquarters are in Hampshire, with several strategic field research bases in the UK. Our goal is to help steer sustainable land management alongside a countryside rich in wildlife through research, advisory and policy. The Trust operates an Upland Research Group based in the picturesque Upper Tees Valley at Eggleston near Barnard Castle in Co. Durham. Here a small team of eight dedicated conservation biologists, research assistants and students undertake research programmes on ecologically and economically important bird species such as red grouse; those of national and international conservation importance including black grouse, grey partridge, curlew and merlin; and run replicated experiments involving management manipulations of designa