A trip to the RSPB reserve at Minsmere wasn’t ‘mere’ in any way.
It isn’t a mere stone’s throw from the house. It involved a 3 hour coach trip from Watford which meant a very early start on Sunday morning.
It isn’t merely a coastal path but a woodland one too, and a full day trip allowed me to explore both, stopping at the various hides along the way.
While the total number of species seen by the 30+ members of the local RSPB branches (including Watford) was around 100, my personal tally was much lower but was far more than a mere one or two.
However, two species stood out as my personal favourites, perhaps not surprisingly one was a raptor and the other a wader.
Marsh Harriers are the largest of the harriers and can supposedly be recognised by their long tails and a style of flying with wings held in a shallow 'V'. They are distinguishable from other harriers by their larger size, heavier build, broader wings and absence of white on the rump. Females are larger than males and have obvious creamy heads.
I’m sure this is right but must admit that I relied on other members of the RSPB to confirm what they were to me .
Numbers, historically, were declining but there has been some recovery more recently. It is still an Amber List species though. They are a Schedule 1 listed bird on The Wildlife and Countryside Act.
The Harrier lent its name to the famous but now discontinued Harrier jump-jet which I mention, as the other bird I will talk about also has a link to the military.
Avocets aren’t just a beautifully elegant bird with a long, thin bill that ends with an upward flourish. They were the bird chosen to become the icon for the RSPB.
The story behind that choice starts on a sad note and goes back to 1840 when, due to marsh drainage, hunting, and egg collection, breeding avocets become extinct in Great Britain.
Worse still, while some individual birds would still arrive on our shores during migration, due to the on-going fashion for stuffed birds as living room ornaments these were invariably shot.
Nothing much changed in the ensuing century, but then something which was very bad news for humans ended up helping the avocet return.
The event was World War II and the threat of a German invasion.
The low-lying Suffolk coast was seen as a potential landing spot and so numerous strategies were implemented to defend the area including the introduction of ‘Dragon’s Teeth’. These weren’t a crack army unit, but rather steel spikes set in concrete planted in many beaches.
Another and possibly unofficial strategy was deployed by local army captain who decided that flooding the coastal marshes would hamper any enemy landing.
In June 1940, the sea sluice was opened and the barrier that allowed the exit of freshwater from the Minsmere river was closed, flooding the area north of the river completely.
After the war and closing of sea sluices, the water receded but about 400 acres of shallow, brackish pools surrounded by reedbeds remained and quickly became a haven for wild birds.
In 1947, the RSPB agreed to take over management of the site, and in the same year seven pairs of avocets were discovered nesting on Minsmere reserve and later that summer 16 young chicks successfully fledged.
Good news and cause for celebration you would have thought.
However, the following year, 5 pairs duly returned but rats destroyed the entire colony and no chicks hatched.
The RSPB decided something had to be done and raised £5,000 to remove the rats and seal the site. The breeding pairs of avocets returned and in 1949 40 young avocets fledged.
The RSPB decided to build or rather breed on this success and introduced avocets to other sites.
It has become one of the most successful conservation and protection success stories. There are now approximately 1,500 pairs of breeding avocets in the UK found along the east coast in the summer with more elsewhere including Middleton Lakes in Staffordshire, at WWT Washington Wetland Centre on Wearside and in Poole Harbour in Dorset.
The first use of the avocet as a symbol by the RSPB was in 1955, when it was approved at a meeting of the council to be used on a tie.
However in 1970 it was chosen to be the bird represented on the charity’s logo. Ornithologist, artist, and author, Robert Gillmor created that logo.
In 2022 it was decided to update the logo. As the RSPB explains “The avocet is an important part of our history and today remains the star of our logo - an enduring symbol of hope for nature. The new colours represent the land, skies and seas which reflect our ambition to protect all of nature with a bird’s eye view.”
Even without knowing the full story the avocet has always been a personal favourite and the source of many great paintings. It inspired me to have a go too but I’m not sure I’m up to the mark yet.
Anyway seeing lots of them and their fluffy chicks was a simple, natural pleasure, though you may have to look at the pictures very closely to see the chicks - the clue is in fluffy
However as I said at the beginning it wasn't merely these two birds I enjoyed, there were plenty more to see including Chaffinches, Lapwings, Shelducks, Oyster Catchers, Ring Plovers...
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