05/05/22 - Whimbrel roost

Following the departure of the Iceland bound Black-tailed Godwits, the last few weeks have all been about our passage Whimbrel as they move through the reserve, with the peak count occurring around the 1^st May each year. 

We’ve been counting the roost since the mid 1980’s, and have been studying the birds in more depth since 2004 - since then our team have ringed over 130 individuals as well as radio and satellite tracking a small sample. On average most individuals stay in the LDV for around eight days, feeding on worms and leather jackets (cranefly larvae), in order to almost double their body weight for their onward migration to Iceland and northern Europe.

Whilst it was good to ring a new sample this year, it was also pleasing to catch an old friend – an individual originally ringed back in 2008 (already at least two years old at the time of ringing), meaning it will have now clocked up over 220,000 km of air miles between the LDV, Iceland and the wintering grounds in Guinea since that time.