The high tides of the 29th October provided good opportunity for the hard working volunteer group to spend a leisurely lunchtime watching the high tide roost from the lay-by while devouring our hard earned sandwiches.
Oystercatchers were already present in good numbers, being pushed up onto an island of grass ahead of the oncoming 10 metre tide. Curlews were arriving from the west and small flocks of dunlin and grey plover dashed around looking for suitable roost spots across the flooded marsh.
Suddenly, “Avocet!”, cried Sandra who had been watching the crowd of oystercatchers on the far bank of the saltmarsh pool.
Avocets can be remarkably difficult to pick out in a flock of oystercatchers, trying to spot the white and black bird amongst the black and white birds. However, this individual was particularly obliging, keeping to the front of the group being easily picked out as it fed and preened in full view.
It is eleven years since the last avocet record on the reserve, with previous records of 2 individuals in September 2002 and a single in April 2004. There have been other records on the Solway meantime – a result of their ever increasing range as both breeding and wintering species in the UK. With regular breeding in the Morecambe Bay area and avocets now breeding as far north as Northumberland on the east coast, we can maybe expect more records in the coming years.
Dave Blackledge Warden Cumbria Coast Reserves RSPB Campfield Marsh North Plain Farm, Bowness on Solway, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 5AG Tel 016973 52225 Mobile 07753 776393 rspb.org.uk
The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654
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