I was scanning the reed bed yesterday from Bittern hide looking in hope to spot either a bittern or an otter (or two) when I spotted another one of Minsmere’s iconic species that I have yet to have a close encounter with; the konik pony. Through the binoculars I thought they were absolutely beautiful and so therefore I set out on my lunchtime stroll today in search of a closer look. As I walked along past the Wildlife Lookout and South Hide I had to fight the temptation to have a look out over the Scrape from the hides as I had heard over the radio in the morning many reports of interesting sightings. Mediterranean and caspian gulls had been spotted as well as many avocets, red shank and a huge variety of ducks.
I stomped on regardless in search of the koniks and didn’t have to go far before I saw a small herd of five koniks snoozing in the afternoon sun. They looked so lovely with their eyes closed and their long manes blowing in the bitter wind. I was not alone when I stopped to admire them and take some photographs.
When I got back from my walk I found my head was buzzing with questions about the ponies. I wanted to find out more about their role at Minsmere and why they are here over other grazing ponies and what has to be done on the reserve to maintain them. I was in luck as one of our wardens Katie was in the wrong place at the wrong time and managed to answer my burning questions for me!
The konik ponies are not just here to make an attractive feature for my lunchtime stroll they are actually doing a really important job in terms of reserve management. They are an extremely hardy primitive breed of pony originating in Poland. They were brought over from Poland by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust in 1995 and were initially loaned to the RSPB. We bought our first koniks in 2001 and have now established a breeding herd of 29, the 29th being born only three weeks ago! The Konik ponies are such an important addition to our conservation work at Minsmere because they are ideal for managing wet habitats which other more modern livestock breeds are unable to do due to the quality of the food in these habitats not allowing them to grow quickly. The koniks are expert at grazing the reed bed edge which helps create ideal habitats for bitterns, snipe and other threatened species.
In terms of their maintenance all the livestock have daily health checks by a warden observing them from a distance to ensure they are in good condition. They also have a yearly check by the farrier and vet. The farrier trims the konic’s hooves as they are not worn down much by the soft wetlands that they graze. The farrier and vet's visit is coming up in their diary very shortly and after showing my obvious interest in them I have been invited along to help. I am really looking forward to this as it means I will have another opportunity to get close to these wonderful animals and probably write another blog about them!
Snoozing in the spring sunshine!
Photographs by Amy Lever
Awwwww! Love that last photo, Amy.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.