RETURN TO . . . Emsworth Wildlife - Homepage BLACK-TAILED GODWITS NEWS AND SIGHTINGS FOR SEASON 2012-13 Colour-ringing information . . . Godwits season 2012-13 . . . Godwits season 2011-12 . . . Spurting behaviour . . Number of colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit sightings in Emsworth Harbour winter period 2012-13 - . .   B+BL//metal 2 B+YB 1 G+BG 4 G+GY 2 G+WR 10 L+LL 1 O+GB ? 1 O+WL 5 O+YL 1 R+GL 1 R+RN 2 W+GO 2 W+RW 1 W+WN 1 OY+LR 3 WO+LW flag 9 ROL+RLR 9 RYL+RLY 2   WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23 - 2013 Black-tailed Godwit WO LW flag Godwit numbers remain low in the harbour with only 22 counted today at Nore Barn. They included one colour-ringed bird, WO+LO flag which has been fairly regular here this winter. Other waders in the area included about 20 Oystercatchers, plus small numbers of Dunlin, Curlew and Grey Plover. B+YB GODWIT QUERY - 9 January 2013 Pete Potts asked for my photo of colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit B+YB which I saw at Nore Barn on 25 Sept 12. He says the last time it was seen for sure was 12 Feb 2000 but there are two possible sightings for 2003 and 2005. I was not entirely sure at the time about the colour-ringed combination on this godwit and the photo was not conclusive. My notes indicated the Godwit was feeding on the edge of the saltmarshes west of the Nore Barn stream. It had a red marker on the left 'ankle' indicating a Farlington bird and small rings indicating an older ringing. The upper ring on the left leg was very dark, probably blue. The upper ring on the left leg stood out clearly as yellow, but the lower ring was dark, again probably blue. B//R+YB was my best estimate, which was new for Emsworth. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5 - 2012 NORE BARN 12:30 - 13:30 - Tide rising to high water at 15:00. I counted 88 Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the mudflats quite close to the shore at the end of Warblington Road. They included two of our regular colour-ringed birds this winter: WO+LW flag and ROL+RLR. Spurting behaviour On looking through my photos of the Black-tailed Godwits I found two that showed birds spurting water from their bills. One of the godwits appeared to be spurting objects with the stream of water. See the special page on spurting behaviour for more details and photos from today. I have many examples of Black-tailed Godwits and several other waders engaged in this so-called 'spurting' behaviour, but I have never seen one spurting objects before. Spurting behaviour continues to baffle the experts. See the special page on spurting behaviour for full report and photos . . . Spurting behaviour MONDAY OCTOBER 29 - 2012 GODWIT NEWS FROM FINDHORN BAY Richard Somerscocks sends an update on Black-tailed Godwits from Findhorn Bay in Scotland. "Overall, we do not have the numbers of Black-tailed Godwits that you see in Chichester Harbour. The most I have seen this season is around 15. Local birdwathchers say that it is unusual to see many at all over the winter - the more common variety is the Bar-tailed which we see in greater numbers. However, over the last few days I have been watching a group of 4-6 Black-tailed Godwits in one particular area of Findhorn Bay and on checking today I found their numbers had increased to 12 and included for the first time a colour ringed bird. It was WN+OY flag and was seen in this group at location NJ055620 at 15:00 today 29 Oct 12. Given that it had a yellow flag I was wondering whether it was an Icelandic bird ringed by Pete." Here is Richard's photo of a few of the Godwits with the colour-ringed one on the right. They all look like juveniles to me from the cinnamon mottled plumage on their backs SATURDAY OCTOBER 20 - 2012 EMSWORTH HARBOUR - Western Harbour 12:30 - 13:30 - Tide rising to high water at 15:25. The conditions were perfect for birdwatching with no wind, calm sea and a cloudy but reasonably bright sky. I tracked a good flock of Black-tailed Godwits as they gradually moved westwards on the mudflats with the incoming tide. I counted a maximum of 104 by about 13:00. They included several colour-ringed birds: O+WL - 4th sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. L+LL - First sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. L+LL was regular in Emsworth over the past 3 winters. Last winter it was recorded 25 times from 24-Sep-11 to 11-Feb-12. O+GB - First sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. A regular in Emsworth Harbour last winter from 03-Dec-11 to 11-Feb-12. R+GL - First sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. A regular in Emsworth Harbour over the past two winters. Last winter we had 14 sightings from 28-Sep-11 to 07-Dec-11. ROL+RLR - 3rd sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. A regular in Emsworth Harbour over the past three winters. RYL+RLY - 2nd sighting in Emsworth Harbour this autumn. A regular in Emsworth Harbour over the past six winters. FRIDAY OCTOBER 19 - 2012 12:30 - 31 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the near shore of Nore Barn Creek. They included three colour-ringed birds, two of which were Kent ringed. G+WR - Ringed at Farlington on 10-Sept-08 as adult male. A regular in Emsworth Harbour each winter since then. This was our 8th sighting this autumn. ROL+RLR - Ringed on 27-Oct-08 at Kingsnorth Power Station, Medway Est. Kent as an adult male. A regular in Emsworth Harbour each winter. This was our 2nd sighting this autumn. RYL+RLY - Ringed in Kent near Cliffe in autumn 2005 by Bill Jones. A regular in Emsworth Harbour each winter since 2005. Our first sighting in Emsworth this autumn. Usually arrives in early October, so it is a bit later this year. Here is RYL RLY showing me its left leg - just in case I had missed it! MONDAY OCTOBER 15 - 2012 A flock of 34 Black-tailed Godwits arrived on the mudflats off Nore Barn to be followed by more as the tide rose. I counted a maximum of 82 feeding mostly on the edge of the saltmarshes. I found two colour-ringed birds among them: O+WL - My 3rd sighting here this autumn. ROL+RLR - This is a Kent-ringed Godwit (27-Oct-08) with three rings on each leg. My 1st sighting here this autumn. It has been regular in Emsworth Harbour over the past three winters. The first sightings are usually in mid-October and the last ones in Jan-Feb. Last winter we had a total of 43 sightings of ROL+RLR from 08-Oct-11 to 11-Feb-12. Colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits seen in Emsworth Harbour so far this season  B+BL//metal B+YB G+BG G+WR O+WL O+YL R+RN W+GO W+RW W+WN OY+LR WO+LW flag ROL+RLR MONDAY OCTOBER 8 - 2012 I checked the western harbour at 12:00 with about 5 hours to at 17:00. The conditions were poor, with a light drizzle and rather misty. I counted 26 Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the mudflats, including one colour-ringed bird. WO+LW flag - This was ringed as a chick in Iceland by Ruth Croger and Pete Potts on 13th July 2010. Fairly regular in Emsworth over the past two winters: in 2010-11 from 16-Nov-10 to 26-Feb-11 and in 2011-12 from 03-Nov-11 to 07-Dec-11. This was our first sighting here this season. TUESDAY OCTOBER 1 - 2012 Eastern harbour 10:00 - I got down to the millpond seawall just over 3 hours to high water. The tide was rising quickly as it always does in the main Emsworth channel. High water was due at 13.24 ht 4.7. The conditions were not good for birdwatching with a very strong SW wind blowing and occasional showers. I sheltered on the shore behind the seawall. The Black-tailed Godwits were gathered on both sides of the channel along with some Turnstone, Redshank and Black-headed Gulls. Over the next hour I watched the godwits being gradually squeezed onto the small island that remained in the channel. Just before 11am some flew off towards Thorney Island. A little later, the rest drifted off in small groups, some moving onto the town shore. I counted a maximum of 116, including at least 4 juvenile Godwits, with variations in plumage. I managed to check about half the godwits for colour-rings and found just three: G+BG - An Emsworth regular. 4th sighting this season. G+WR - An Emsworth regular. 6th sighting this season. O+WL - This is a tricky one to identify with 100% certainty, particularly the right leg rings. I am going for O+WL though Y+WL or O+YL are possibilities. Two of these colour-ringed combinations have been seen in Emsworth this season: O+WL on Sept 25 at Nore Barn and O+YL in Emsworth Harbour (east) on 17 July and also at Fishbourne on Sept 7. TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 - 2012 Nore Barn 11:00 - When I returned to the stream, just one Black-tailed Godwit was feeding on the edge of the saltmarshes west of the stream. It had a red marker on the left 'ankle' indicating a Farlington bird and small rings indicating an older ringing. The upper ring on the left leg was very dark, probably blue. The upper ring on the left leg stood out clearly as yellow, but the lower ring was dark, again probably blue. B//R+YB - this is my best shot at this combination. This is new one for Emsworth. I have only one previous record of this bird in my file which relates to a sighting by Ruth Croger in the Avon Valley in Jan-Feb-07. 11:30 - Over the next 30 minutes a good number of Black-tailed Godwits flew into the Nore Barn Woods creek and settled on the edge of the far saltmarshes facing the woods. I counted a maximum of 64 Black-tailed Godwits including another two colour-ringed birds: G+BG - A regular in Emsworth Harbour for the past two winters. Our 3rd sighting this season. Y+WL ? or O+WL - I was not sure about the ring colours of this one. There was the usual red Farlington marker ring on the left tarsus. The left tibia ring looked orange in some lights, but I finally decided on yellow. The upper ring on the right leg was also not always clear. I considered yellow as we have had YL previously seen in Emsworth this season, but the upper right ring was clearly white and not yellow, ie WL. This was confirmed by my digiscoped photo. We have had only one previous sighting of Y+WL in Emsworth Harbour which was by Richard Somerscocks on 18-Dec-10. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20 - 2012 EMSWORTH HARBOUR 11:00 - 12:00 Tide rising to high water in about 4 hours. I started on the marina seawall where around 80 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the mudflats and in the channel though there could have been more hidden amongst the boats. As the tide came in the godwits move across to the west bank of the channel where they are best seen from the millpond seawall. From there I counted 128 Black-tailed Godwits which is approaching the number I recorded yesterday. I found three colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits, G+WR, G+BG and the mystery B+BL which I also saw yesterday. See noteabout this bird below. I spotted one colour-ringed Greenshank - NY+GR. There are not nearly so many Redshank in the harbour as in previous years. Only about 20 or so were there this morning. Mystery Godwit - B+BL Anne de Potier replied to last night's news about the mystery colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit that I saw in Emsworth Harbour yesterday - B+BL. Apparently there are two different birds, one has a red ring on its left leg - ie B//R+BL, while the other one (our mystery) that I saw yesterday does not have a red ring, but has a metal ring on its right leg - ie B+BL//metal. Anne's sighting on 19 September last year was of B//R+BL. which she also saw several times last year over at Fareham. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19 - 2012 EMSWORTH HARBOUR 11:15 - 12:30 Tide rising to high water in about 3 hours. From the millpond seawall I counted 134 Black-tailed Godwits in their usual spot on the western bank of the main channel. This was the best count so far this season. As the tide came in they were gradually pushed off the islands in the channel and onto the town shore. About half the birds flew over towards Thorney Island. Two of the godwits were feeding close to the millpond seawall where I was standing. There were 6 Turnstones feeding with the godwits. I managed to locate four colour-ringed birds, though there could well have been more as the birds had their legs in water for much of the time. G+WR - 4th sighting this season. OY+LR - 3rd sighting this season G+BG - 1st sighting this season. A regular in Emsworth over the past two winters. B+BL ? - I am not 100% sure about this bird's ring combination as the rings were thin and grey. I am sure there was no red marker ring on the left tarsus, but there was a metal ring on the right tarsus. I have a record of two sightings of what could have been the same bird at Fishbourne from Anne de Potier on 03-Sep-08 and 19-Sep-11. Anne commented on the first of these sightings . . . "B//+BL//metal, all small rings. Honestly there was nothing on the left tarsus that I could see, and I was close. Definitely not a tall red. And the L was not W." Nick Humphrys wondered at the time if it was B//R+BL which had lost its red ring. Here are two digiscoped photos of the bird, one showing the metal ring on the right tarsus and the other showing nothing on the left tarsus. FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7 - 2012 - Fishbourne Channel I checked the Fishbourne Channel from the Apuldram shore this morning on a rising tide. The weather was perfect with warm sunshine and just a light wind. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a Heidi's jam doughnut on the saltmarshes before I started serious birdwatching. The Godwits were mostly snoozing on the edge of the channel, but some were feeding on the open mudflats. A few were on the far side of the channel. I counted a total of 104 including one colour-ringed bird. There may well have been more colour-ringed birds, but I could not see their leg. Today's bird was O+YL which has been regular in the Fishbourne and Bosham channels since 2006. This is not a good picture, digiscoped at a distance and in a heat haze, but better than nothing! In fact, my last sighting of this bird was earlier this season on 17-Jul-12 in Emsworth Harbour. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 6 - 2012 - Emsworth Harbour I watched the tide rise in the harbour this morning from the millpond seawall from 11:30 to 13:30. The rising water gradually pushed the Black-tailed Godwits closer together on the small islands of rock and mud. They were chattering away quite loudly. A number of people passing by stopped to ask about 'those brown birds' and I was able to tell them a bit about them. Finally, as happened yesterday, all the birds flew to the town beach, which was where I did the final count of 108. So, numbers are building up from 76 on Sept 4. I logged three colour-ringed birds. G+WR and W+GO have already been seen this week. OY+LR - I was able to confirm this combination that I was unsure about yesterday. OY+LR was ringed as a chick in Iceland in July 1999. It has been regular in Emsworth Harbour over the past 5 winters. It tends to arrive in Sep-Oct and leave by Dec. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5 - 2012 EMSWORTH HARBOUR I watched the tide rise in the harbour this morning from 11:00 to 12:30, About 3-4 hours before high water at 15:00. I started on the marina seawall where I could see the Godwits on the mudflats. Since most of them were on the regular roosting spot on the west bank of the main channel, I decided to head over to the millpond seawall to get a better look at them as the tide pushed in. From the millpond I could see 72 godwits on the near side of the channel and another 22 were feeding on the eastern shore making a grand total of 94 - the most so far this season. Juvenile Godwit I think I spotted a juvenile Black-tailed Godwit with a pale cinnamon wash over its neck and breast and neat warm buff fringes to the small brownish upperpart feathers. Pete Potts confirmed that it was a juvenile Black-tailed Godwit. I watched the godwits for about an hour as the water gradually rose and pushed them onto smaller and smaller islands of rock and mud. I scanned each bird for colour-rings, but only located two. G+WR which was also here yesterday. I could only see one colour-ringed combination leg of the other godwit - LR. It is possible that this was OY+LR which has been a regular wintering bird in Emsworth Harbour where it was recorded 11 times last autumn/winter from 25-Sep to 22-Dec. Great Black-backed Gulls At one point around 12.15 the majority of the godwits were clustered together on a small island with an adult Great Black-backed Gull for company. An extraordinary sight which I have never witnessed before. The gull was probably one of the parents from the Slipper Millpond nest earlier in the season. I saw the two juveniles from the brood frequently during the morning flying between the harbour and the millpond. Finally, as the last remaining island disappeared, the godwits flew onto the east beach in front of the town. TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4 - 2012 10:15 - 11:15 - Viewing the harbour from the Emsworth Marina seawall. About 3-4 hours before high water at 14:28. I counted a maximum of 76 Godwits feeding in the low water channel. As the tide rose they assembled along the edge of the main channel making them easier to count. Among them were two 'old friends' - colour-ringed birds. W+GO - Ringed Farlington. 20 Oct 1995 as adult male. A mega-regular wintering bird in Emsworth Harbour since 1996. This was our 112th sighting. It usually arrives here in September and for the past two winters has departed in December. Pete Potts says good to know W+GO is still alive. Our oldest one is c.20 years and the oldest UK record c.23 years and the oldest Dutch limosa bird is c.30 years old so a way to go yet to become the oldest ever islandica and even more to become the oldest godwit of either race! However I am sure we will smash the records given time and continued collaboration. There should be lots juvs on their way to us it has been a good breeding season and some have yellow flags on so please look out for them. G+WR - Ringed at Farlington on 10 Sept 2008 as adult male. It has been regular wintering bird in Emsworth Harbour since that time. We have had 76 sightings of it in Emsworth. Last winter it was here continuously from 08-Aug-11 to 11-Feb-12. 18 July 2012 - Pete Potts reports on his trip to Iceland "The godwit team returned from Iceland on Sunday after 2 weeks of field work. Our team consisted of 10 people with some turnover - with participants from The Netherlands, Ireland, UK plus help from various Icelanders. Iceland has had a good summer with little rain and plenty of sunshine which has helped the breeding season in some areas, it was certainly a much better season than 2011. However, in some core areas very few pairs were found with chicks, no fledged chicks and no flocks were seen on fields suggesting an early departure. We ringed a record number of wader and arctic tern chicks a total of c.410 of 10 species of wader. Arctic Terns have had a good breeding season for the first time for ages. We colour-ringed 115 godwit chicks (with our new yellow flag scheme) and 38 adults in two catches (using the last of the X scheme and the 8 scheme). Jose Alves has also colour-ringed c.50 chicks and 20 adults on his study sites in SW Iceland. So plenty more ringed godwits to look out for. We logged c.45 colour-ring sightings mainly godwits including our birds from the Solent (2), Portugal (2), Brittany (1), N Ireland (1) also birds from the Wash (1) and Iceland. Also colour-ringed Ringed Plovers, Redshanks and Whooper Swan." July 15 2012 - Godwits arrive! Following news of an early influx of migrant Black-tailed Godwits, Richard Somerscocks went looking for them around the local area, including Pulborough Brooks, Pagham Harbour and Fishbourne Channel. His best haul was back in Emsworth Harbour where he counted 72 on the mudflats and he wondered if this was a record for mid July. In fact, Godwits regularly return to Emsworth (east harbour) in mid-July, my record is 97 on 17-Jul-00, though I do have a number of good counts above 50 at this time of the year. July 16 2012 Richard Somerscocks had a quick look at the Godwits in the eastern harbour this evening at 6pm. There were similar numbers to yesterday - 67 this evening. There were also 3 colour-ringed birds. The viewing conditions were poor and Richard's photos not conclusive. We shall need to look at them again in better conditions. R+RN - I have two records from last winter in the Bosham-Nutbourne areas. Richard in fact got a photo of R+RN at Bosham on 23-Oct-11. G+GG - There have been several sightings of this one over the years, the most recent I have is in Fishbourne Channel on 05-Oct-10. July 17 2012 15:30 - I got to the Wickor Bank about 4 hours after high water; the tide was already well out and godwits were feeding in small groups on the mudflats and in the small channels. Most were still in their summer plumage and looked quite splendid. The conditions were reasonably good except for a brisk SW wind blowing straight into my face! I counted a maximum of 74 Godwits including three colour-ringed birds: O+YL - A regular winter visitor to the Fishbourne-Bosham harbours for many years (since 2006), but this was my first ever sighting in Emsworth. My last sighting of it was on 10-Jan-12 in the Bosham Channel. This was the earliest record for this godwit. W+WN - First recorded in Emsworth Harbour on 18-Oct-10. It was very regular in Emsworth last winter with a total of 41 sightings from 21-Jul-11 to 11-Feb-12. W+RY - I am not 100% certain about this combination. The white ring could possibly be yellow. However, W+RY was recorded just once last winter on 14-Aug-11 in Emsworth Harbour (east) by Richard Somerscocks. We did not see it again. If this is W+RY it could be a passage bird that just drops into Emsworth on its way to winter elsewhere.   Richard Somerscocks went to the harbour later in the afternoon when the tide was low and counted 76 Black-tailed Godwits from the millpond seawall. They included R+RN which he also saw yesterday. He was certain on the combination today. So that means we have at least four colour-ringed godwits back in Emsworth, at least temporarily.