As another year comes to an end, the results of the RSPB’s internal
competition to find the best passage wader site, The Golden Wellies, have just been announced. The rules are simple: monthly counts of waders
are recorded; they have to be ‘feet down’ (no fly-overs) on a managed
fresh/brackish scrape or flood (not tidal). The idea behind the competition is
also simple: you may not be interested in rare waders on your site but they
tend to indicate a well-managed site. A
well-managed site will attract many common breeding and passage birds, rare
birds will also tend to arrive at such sites. The better the feeding conditions,
the more likely they are to stay. Extra elements to the competition test good
wetland management throughout the year and also the accessibility of good birds
to weekend birders by having a ‘rare bird Saturday bonus’.
The Premier League champions are, yet again, Frampton Marsh. Frampton
recorded 34 species, narrowly pipping Titchwell (33) who were top of the League
for most of the year. The highlights of Frampton’s year included
Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-winged Stilt, Broad-billed, White-rumped and
Pectoral Sandpipers, as well as peak counts of 258 Curlew Sandpipers and 50
Little Stints. Titchwell could only
muster a feeble Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover and a couple of Pec Sands. Frampton had an average monthly peak of 4,856
waders of 25.1 species, compared to Titchwell’s slightly higher Knot-fuelled
monthly average of 5,267 waders of 23.4 species. Minsmere’s much lower monthly average of 526
waders nether-the-less still maintained a monthly diversity of 24.0 species. If
only they could record a Temminck’s Stint! Snettisham records the most waders monthly –
an average peak of 39,300 birds, but only averaging 15.3 species a month.
The Golden Wellie also
includes a breeding wader productivity award – won this year by Burton Mere
Wetlands on the Dee Estuary. Middleton
Lakes (27 species), the Aire Valley (26) and the Ouse Washes (26 species) all again
demonstrate that well managed inland sites can compete with the coast in
terms of wader diversity if not numbers.
A new entry this year, Wallasea, gained immediate promotion from League
1 with a notable 23 species – what will it get when the site is completed? In the north and west, Loch of Strathbeg,
Conwy and Belfast Lough all perform well given they struggle to record the
southern certainties of Avocet and LRP.
In all, 43 species of wader were recorded during the year, with a peak
monthly count of 111,719 birds being recorded across RSPB ‘wader scrapes’ in
September. Monthly peak counts included 399 Whimbrel in April, 22
Black-winged Stilts in May, 12 Red-necked Phalaropes in June, 228 Green
Sandpipers in July, 16,800 Black-tailed Godwits, 334 Ruff, 411 Curlew Sandpipers
and 123 Little Stints in August, and 3,151 Avocets and 40 Jack Snipe in
September.
Although the Golden Wellie has 48
competing sites across three leagues, the top performing 15 sites in 2016 were
as follows:
Site Wader spp Final score incl. bonuses
1.
Frampton Marsh 34
72
2.
Titchwell 33
62
3.
Minsmere 31 53
4. Cliffe
Pools 28 46
5.
Snettisham 28 44
6. Saltholme 26 42
7. South Essex 27 41
8. Dungeness 29
38
9. Arne
26
37
10. Exe 27 36
11.
Ouse Washes 26 36
12.
Loch of Strath 24 34
13.
Middleton Lakes 27 33
14.
Old Hall Marshes 28
32
15.
Lodmoor/Radipole 26 32
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