We have undeniably had one of the best springs for waders on site in recent years, after a string of good sightings including little stint, spotted redshank, ruff and the star of the show - our red-necked phalarope. However, it now looks like the autumn may be off to a good start as well, with a black-tailed bonanza on site this week.
On Tuesday, I was treated to a fabulous view of 19 black-tailed godwits down on Phase 3, all still in breeding plumage. And what a stunning bird they are too, with their orange colouration, contrasting with the black and white of the upperwings and rump and tail area and the yellow base to the bill. There was also however, a bird on Phase 1, viewable from the southern edge of the Cromwell Trail, looking north onto the large island. Later that evening, our Conservation Officer Carl Cornish had 24 in the same area, improving on my total by 4. The birds were still around the next day too, with a flock of 10 seen by volunteer Stuart Carlton and then 17 over the visitor trails that evening, again reported by Carl.
This is certainly the highest number of blackwits I've ever known on site - a joy to see such lovely birds!
Also in the last week, we are very pleased to announce the success of breeding avocet on site. 4 young have now fledged and are moving around the site with their parents. Keep an eye open for them looking south from the new viewing screen. This is only the second ever successful avocet breeding on site, the first being in 2011.
And the waders don't stop there either - there were a whopping 7 green sandpipers across the site earlier this week (again, the highest number I've ever known here) and last week's wood sandpiper was still hanging around on Sunday, delighting visitors at the viewing screen.
Here's to the rest of the autumn!
Not our bonanza, but it looked very much like this! Gordon Langsbury (rspb-images.com)
Avocet - a pleasure to have these successfully breed on site. Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)