On 1 January we launched our second challenge in The Steps Series. We got the water pipit back to the Alps, now we have to get a black-tailed godwit back to Iceland! It's over double the distance at 1369 miles equating to 3,011,800 steps! How long do you think it will take us? The water pipit took 15 days so we are hoping we can reach Iceland in a month.
Can you help RSPB Rainham Marshes keep up with this magnificent species?
Black-tailed godwits by Les Harrison
That means we need all the help we can get! Hopefully lots of you have got New Years Resolutions to get a bit fitter and exercise a little more, so please come for lots of walks with us, on the trails through the centre or on the river wall, it all counts! We have pedometers you are more than welcome to borrow (but please return them at the end of your walk), and lots of smart phones have steps counters on these days just search for a health type app and it should be in there. And even some of you may have been lucky enough to get Fitbits/Garmin and other brand activity trackers for Christmas!
It's perfect if you do have an activity or step goal - one loop of the main trail is about 5,000 steps!For this challenge we have stop offs along the way at some of our reserves where we might see the bird have a rest:
This picture shows the 'route we will be taking' through the UK until we head off to Iceland.
The Steps Series is a set of challenges – everyone can help us walk or run the same distance as a migratory route of one of Rainham’s wildlife visitors, or even distances to places - all your steps can count! Get outdoors and active – great for your health and a great way to explore. Rainham Marshes is a perfect place to explore if you are trying to walk or run a certain distance or number of steps, or just get outside to enjoy the fresh air.
For this second challenge in the series we are trying as a whole reserve to match the distance that a black-tailed godwit flies on its migratory route, from the Rainham Marshes to Iceland (1369 miles or 3,011,800 steps!), all your steps count!
This picture is of a wintering black-tailed godwit by Jerry Hoare
Black-tailed Godwits are a long legged wading bird with a body a bit bigger than a Lapwing with a long bill and black and white wings and tail. At RSPB Rainham Marshes we have a good number wintering with sometimes up to 300 out on the reserve and along the River Thames. Our birds are from the Icelandic breeding population and head south into Europe to escape the freeze. Colour ringing has tracked birds all the way down the UK at various estuary locations and into Europe where some birds even stay for a few weeks in Spain and Portugal before the long journey back to the peatbogs of Iceland for the summer months.
Rainham Marshes is a fantastic place for black-tailed godwits – you can often see them out on the muddy edges of the pools where they hunt for insects. In winter we manage the pools and waterways on site to make them good places for wildlife; the muddy edges are good for birds looking for insects in the mud, and the open water is good for a variety of ducks and geese.
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. Each Step Series will focus on a different element, and all of your steps will go to the reserve’s total – can you help us reach our goal? Borrow one of our pedometers, use your smart phone,or if you have Fitbits, Garmins, Tomtoms, Apple watches, Samsung gear or other trackers, use those to record your steps and let us know at reception how many steps you have taken at Rainham Marshes.
So join us on the journey and have a happier, healthier 2018 with us!