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Iconic Suffolk bird enjoys successful breeding season
Last modified: 14 July 2010
A bird with a close association to Suffolk has enjoyed one of its best breeding seasons for several years in the county, despite the dry spring weather.
The avocet, which first re-colonised the UK in Suffolk in 1947, has bred successfully for the first time at RSPB Boyton Marshes nature reserve, near Orford, where five pairs have reared two chicks.
Site Manager, Aaron Howe, said, 'This is a great reward for our recent work to create new habitat at Boyton, including shallow pools to attract wading birds. It's particularly pleasing as this is the first time avocets have nested successfully on our Havergate Island reserves for several years. Sadly, the avocets on Havergate itself failed to breed this year.'
Meanwhile, at RSPB Minsmere nature reserve, near Westleton, 34 chicks fledged from 110 nests – the best year since 2006. This included the first successful nesting on the shallow pools on the Minsmere Levels, where 13 chicks fledged from 13 nests.
'It's great to see the colony spreading to new areas with some success'
Minsmere's Wetland Warden, Robin Harvey, said, 'Traditionally, avocets at Minsmere have nested on the shallow lagoon known as the Scrape. It's great to see the colony spreading to new areas with some success, as this could signal an upturn in recent fortunes. It's even more surprising given the exceptionally dry weather this spring.'
Robin continued: 'Avocets now breed widely throughout eastern England and locally in other areas, although Suffolk remains one of the best places to see them. Once they have finished nesting, the birds move to many of the estuaries in Suffolk and Essex, where flocks of several hundred may be found. The estuary at Snape is a particularly good place to see them.'
Avocets are elegant black and white wading birds with long blue-grey legs and a delicate upcurved bill. They nest on islands in shallow, usually salty, pools where they filter invertebrates from the water for food. They were extinct as a breeding bird in the UK for about 100 years until nests were found at both Minsmere and Havergate Island in 1947. Both sites subsequently became RSPB nature reserves.