During the spring and summer months, there is nowhere we would rather be than Minnis Bay. It is a very important site for our daring dozen during winter, hosting the largest high tide roost site in Thanet, and expansive beaches with plenty of food to sustain a large population of waders. But, during the warmer months is when the place really shows why it is special. We had great breeding success last year, details of which can be found in a previous blog post. And this year is set to be even more successful. The Avocets have returned once again, this time choosing to build their nest at Cold Harbour lagoon, the pair have been taking turns sitting on an unknown amount of eggs. This is likely the same pair as last year, as it has been observed that Avocets will return to successful nest sites year after year. So thank you to everyone that viewed the birds responsibly last year, it has meant that they saw the site as viable and therefore returned. But what’s been even more exciting is that near the end of the month, a whopping 7 individuals have been spotted spread over the two lagoons! Avocets do not start to breed until they are around 2-3 years old, so there is a chance that some of these extra birds are the offspring of the original pair, but could also be future breeding individuals checking out the area. 

On top of this breeding success, Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers and Shelduck have been spotted sitting on nests and/or with young, further proving how successful this site is for breeding birds. With continued support from the public, we could see even more birds using this site to raise their young, and could even see the return of breeding Little Tern, a species that has not bred in Thanet since the 1990s due to increased human presence on our beaches. 

We recently implemented some new signage surrounding the two lagoons and the adjacent beaches offering information on the history of the lagoons, what wildlife can be found in the area and how we can help protect them. This includes signage showing which areas of the beach are particularly important, and we are asking people to avoid walking on this section of the beach year round. In particular, the shingle area directly behind each of the lagoons. This is where hundreds of birds roost at high tide during winter, and is a perfectly viable area for a multitude of breeding species to build nests and raise their young. With your cooperation we could help create a haven for our struggling birds. So please look out for these signs attached to the lagoon fencing!

The return of our summer birds was also exciting, such as the Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Swifts. As well as some less common birds such as Yellow Wagtail, Lesser Whitethroat and Cuckoo! 

There are still some of our wintering waders present, such as good numbers of Sanderling in various stages of plumage. Once it comes to spring/summer, they moult their bright silvery feathers and replace them with beautifully patterned rusty coloured ones. This isnt something we see very often so it has been great to observe. We also managed to spot 2 Grey Plovers in their breeding plumage, something else that we do not see often! Many other countries call these birds Black Bellied Plovers, due to the fact they have dark black feathers going from their face all the way down to their belly! These 2 birds were also accompanied by a breeding plumage Knot, and just less than 20 Whimbrels! They were roosting on the beach behind Plum Pudding lagoon, so despite our excitement to see and photograph them, we kept our distance so as not to disturb them. So unfortunately we do not have many photographs to show you all. There has also been some Turnstone still hanging around in various stages of plumage, and the odd Dunlin too. 

We cannot wait to see what June will bring us along the northern wall, hopefully we will see some of the birds hatching, and watch them being tended to by their parents, and we plan to carry out a full survey of nesting ringed plovers in due course. Keep following us on socials to see what we spot!