There’s exciting news this week, as we’ve had our first confirmed sightings of smews for 2014! Two females were spotted on New Flash on Thursday, and a male was seen the day after, also on New Flash. In case you haven’t seen them before, both males and females are small ducks with compact bodies and delicate bills. The male smew is widely reputed to be the most attractive duck there is – with his striking snowy plumage with bold splashes of black, including a dashing black eye mask, this duck is certainly a contender! News hot off the press – a smew has been seen this morning too, so today’s a good day to visit!
We also had our second sighting of the year of an oystercatcher over the flashes on Saturday. Oystercatchers are beautiful and especially distinctive large waders – so noticeable that even I can identify them! Their bold and contrasting black and white colours, in combination with a bright reddish-orange beak and legs make them unmistakable.
Oystercatcher image by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
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They breed on the coast all over the UK, and over the past 50 years more birds have started breeding inland too, so you’ve a good chance of seeing them through the summer, especially in central and northern England and Scotland. Despite their name, oystercatchers mainly eat mussels and cockles, using their long beaks to probe for these shellfish in the sand. When inland, they use the same technique to forage for worms.
Our tiniest bird visitors, the lovely goldcrests, have been putting in more appearances around the discovery trail, with two being seen by the visitor centre on Thursday. They are especially distinctive to look at, with their dull greyish-green plumage (which I always think of as being a sort of lichen-green) with flashes of white and black along the edges of the feathers, and the showy sunshine-yellow crest, which shows up as a splash of colour against it’s sooty black border. But of course you have to notice them first!
Goldcrest image by John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
As Britain’s smallest bird, along with the similar but rarer firecrest, they certainly aren’t the easiest to spot. Luckily though, they’re very active, which makes it easier to distinguish them from the background of wherever they are sat. Although we have our own resident goldcrest population here in the UK, it’s an amazing fact that they arrive in huge numbers from Scandinavia to over winter here! When you see the size of these minute birds, it’s hard to believe they could survive such an ordeal - indeed, in past centuries the popular belief was held that they would hitch a ride on the feathers of larger birds!
Why not visit us this week to set yourself the challenge of spotting one or all of these wonderful birds?