This year has been one of the most emotionally draining seasons I have been part of.
For us the season began last winter when we secured funding from the Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Habitat and Monitoring Mitigation Fund to enhance our beach cordons and to revamp our signage at both Snettisham and Titchwell. As part of the project I spent time in late winter developing a monitoring programme of people’s behaviour when on the beach and developing a workshop for our face to face team.
With ringed plovers arriving and occupying territories as early as late March we had made the decision to install cordons earlier than normal. As we were planning this coronavirus was spreading across the world. We successfully installed a new cordon at Thornham Point, however the following week all reserve work ceased, and reserves were closed. We were entering lockdown.
What would this mean for our beach nesting birds? With people being encouraged to stay home and only go outside for a limited period, would these birds be allowed to breed without being disturbed?
Shortly after lockdown began, the RSPB entered the governments job retention scheme, resulting in my role being furloughed along with about 50% of roles across the RSPB. I was now having to deal with being paid to not go to work.
Norfolk ringed plovers have declined by 70% in thirty years through a combination of habitat loss, high tides, human disturbance and predation. They are priority species for Titchwell and Snettisham, with Snettisham bring a stronghold on the North Norfolk coast.
As there was evidence of an increase in local people visiting Snettisham it was agreed that Jim and Hayley could resume the monitoring of ringed plovers and installation of beach cordons to protect nests. They were also able to do the same at Titchwell, with support from volunteer Chris. Although I was frustrated to not be able to help, it was a relief to hear that they could resume this important work. At this point it is important to note that I completely understand why the RSPB entered many of its staff into the furlough scheme. It is about protecting the welfare of its workforce and safeguarding the organisation.
With lockdown easing and after 6 weeks of being on furlough I was able to return to work. The easing of lockdown restrictions coincided with peak breeding season for our ringed plovers and our reserves were not yet ready to reopen. However, the Norfolk coast like many other beauty spots were becoming incredibly busy with visitors.
Therefore, I was able to bring back some of our volunteers to act as roving rangers at Snettisham. Our volunteers spent many hours engaging and educating visitors on ringed plovers and why we ask people to keep off the beach.
Jim, Hayley and I spent much of the summer moving cordons as birds nested, hatched or failed at both Titchwell and Snettisham.
Finally at the end of August the cordons and signage were taken down and packed away for another year
The results
We are pleased to announce that following nest monitoring by the reserve team we had the highest number of ringed plover pairs in 10 years at Snettisham. This reconfirms how important and special this beach is for Norfolk ringed plovers.
Pairs of Ringed Plovers at Snettisham (2010 - 2020)
However, they were less successful at raising their next generation. The 18 pairs had 39 nesting attempts, fledging 19 chicks from just 9 nests.
At Titchwell, the number of pairs increased to 5 pairs. Between them they had 11 nesting attempts, fledging just 5 chicks from 2 nests.
Pairs of Ringed Plovers at Titchwell (1990 - 2020)
Why the high failure rate?
Starting with Snettisham, we know that three nests failed as a result of the high tides and seven nests were certainly predated; but we are unsure why a further 20 failed.
It was disappointing for us to discover that one nest inside the cordon near the sailing club was partially trodden on by a person, resulting in one egg being squashed and this entire nest eventually failed to hatch.
We also had two incidents where vehicles drove onto the beach and narrowly missed driving over two nests. This isn’t acceptable.
As Titchwell remained closed until the middle of July with the beach being largely devoid of people, we can safely say that people were not the cause of failure. However, we do know that most nests failed because they were drowned out by the exceptionally high tides in May and June. This is becoming an increasing problem on Titchwell beach. Nest predation was also an issue at Titchwell coming from both mammalian and avian predators.
Sea foam covers Titchwell beach posing a threat to ringed plover nests.
The late August Bank holiday weekend encapsulates the emotions of the season. With our only two broods of chicks expected to fledge over the Bank Holiday weekend at Titchwell I headed to the reserve on my day off to check on them. Having found the two remaining chicks near to the main Titchwell creek I positioned myself on the edge of the dunes watching them fall asleep in the sun. I was about to send Hayley a photograph when all I could hear was someone calling their dog. Unfortunately, it was an untrained working cocker that was searching for a scent. Knowing how vulnerable these birds are at this stage I shouted at the owners to get their dog back under control. That didn’t happen. I could now sense what was potentially about to happen. Sure, enough the worst happened. The dog picked up the scent of the ringed plovers, flushing them and it entered hunt mode and grabbed one of the chicks. The owners once again attempted to call the dog back, eventually the dog was put on a lead but it was too late for this chick. The dog had killed one of our ringed plover chicks. Heartbroken and angry are complete understatements, not just felt by me but the entire team that have worked so hard this year to ensure these birds can successfully rear their next generation.
Deceased ringed plover chick
My faith was restored when shortly after this horrific incident a couple approached the area putting their dogs on a lead. We had a lovely conversation, and they mentioned they were regulars who knew about the birds and hence putting their dogs on a lead.
This combined with other conversations reassures me and the rest of the team that our approach is working but it will take time.
I would therefore like to thank everyone who has supported our ‘share our shores’ campaign this year you are helping safeguard this vulnerable population of ringed plovers in Norfolk.
Thanks for reading
Lizzie Bruce
North West Norfolk Reserves Warden