Guest blog by Steve Everett, Minsmere volunteer guide
I spent some time in East Hide the other day watching the various ducks and waders searching for food in the shallow water and mud of the scrape. It took me a little while to get into the hide as I was distracted for some time by all the goldcrests flitting around the bushes outside. These are lovely little birds, fascinating to watch as they search for small insects and spiders, but they’re a bit of a nightmare to photograph as they jump around the bushes. For every decent picture of a goldcrest you end up with dozens of beautiful shots of branches or leaves where there was a bird just a few milli-seconds before. It’s a situation recognised by every wildlife photographer and I can pretty much guarantee that those branches and leaves will be in perfect focus, beautifully exposed. Just with no subject matter. Ah well!
Goldcrest by Steve Everett - one that didn't get away
Anyway, in front of the hide, poking around in the shallows were a couple of black-tailed godwits. These waders are not particularly uncommon at Minsmere, but it’s a treat to see them so close to the hide, so I took advantage of the situation to get a few pictures. It was only when I got home and was sorting out the day’s images however, that I realised the bird was ringed (most of the pictures were of the Godwit in water covering its legs). It was the work of a moment to pop open a search engine and look for any information on godwit ringing. This led me to a University of East Anglia professor, who put me in contact with a colleague of hers in Iceland who was leading the research.
Within a couple of days of taking her picture (the godwit’s a female), I knew that she was originally ringed in Iceland in 2003 (at 12 years old, she’s only middle-aged for a godwit I’ve discovered), regularly spends time at Minsmere and the surrounding Suffolk coastline (sightings at Havergate Island, Orfordness etc have been reported over the years) and likes the occasional trip to Spain and Portugal before returning to Iceland. My sighting and picture have been added to the database, so I feel I’ve done my little bit towards increasing the knowledge of how these birds live.
The ringed black-tailed godwit by Steve Everett
It’s not the first time I’ve reported a tagged bird spotted at Minsmere (regulars will remember seeing marsh harrier A7, originally tagged in Norfolk a few years ago), but it’s worth keeping your eyes open when out and about. With a few clicks of a mouse you can learn all sorts of fascinating information about the most innocuous of birds sitting right in front of you. The Internet has made all this information accessible to everybody and allows us to easily contribute. That’s something we should celebrate!