You may have seen the large flocks of wading birds which have been gathering in the river channel just below Pickerings Pasture car park. They were first noted in mid July; a lot of these birds were brick red in colour and were in full breeding plumage. They are black-tailed godwits.

 

There are two separate races of black-tailed godwit, one race breeds in Europe from Holland, through to the Baltic States: the other race breeds in Iceland. The birds at Pickerings Pasture are almost certainly of Icelandic origin and hopefully this will be confirmed shortly, as several birds were carrying colour rings on their upper tarsus. We have sent away the colour-ringing details and are awaiting news from the organizers of the scheme.

The black-tailed godwits from Iceland have been increasing in recent years: the reasons are uncertain but it is probably due to milder weather, owing to global warming, which has resulted in the birds being able to rear more young. Another possible reason for the increase is that the birds are staying in the UK for the winter, instead of going into southern Europe, where they were more likely to be shot by hunters.

Over the next few weeks, the bird's feathers will lighten, until they are in winter plumage.