We spent a blistering cold day on Havergate last week (26 Jan) with the work party building up the spoonbill platforms which had taken a bit of a battering over the winter with the strong winds. As I have mentioned before it is not easy getting everything we need out to the island but we always find a way to manage! First of all we had to gather and bundle up a load of scrub and transport it to the quay. We then filled the boat and the dingy (why not) with it, head over to the island and chuck it all onto the trailer attached to our gator and then get it all down to where it is needed.
The Spoonbill platforms were originally built 4 years ago to this day in the hopes of making the island more attractive to Spoonbills to breed on. The Spoonbills certainly show the platforms a lot of attention but it has always been in July/ August when it is to late for them to breed.
This year as well as building up the nests again with the scrub we have also built a few platforms. So, we shall see what happens.
Bird wise it has been great on the island, with the last full count showing 55 shelduck, 11 gadwall, 485 wigeon, 63 shoveler, 54 pintail, 830 teal, 85 cormorant, 3 marsh harrier, 77 avocet, 18 grey plover, 7 ringed plover, 11 curlew, 34 black tailed godwit, 45 dunlin, 69 redshank, 4 spoonbill,1 barn owl, 2 short eared owls and 1 peregrine along with the gulls – black headed, lesser black backed , herring and greater black backed.
We added a new trip last month – the around the island river trip. This trip takes you around the island looking at the waders on the mud, and you will hopefully get the chance to see the seals close up as well. your guides will then take you onto the island and to the main hide to look out onto the lagoon for 40 minutes. Our guide Steve wrote an fantastic blog about the trip, what everyone saw and where they went so take a look at that here http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/havergateisland/f/12583/t/193470.aspx.