THE SPOTTED
REDSHANK OF EMSWORTH
I remember well seeing
the Emsworth Spotshank for the first time in the small
stream at Nore Barn on 15 December 2005. Wow! I had
never seen a Spotted Redshank that close before.
Little did I realise then what a star bird this was to
become and that it would put my home town of Emsworth
firmly on the local and even, at times, on the
national birding map.
Dave
Savage and Brian Fellows looking at the Spotted Redshank
at Nore Barn - 26.02.08
Photo by
Frances Sweeney of 'The Portsmouth
News'
A
REGULAR WINTER VISITOR TO
EMSWORTH
What must be the same
bird has turned up at the Nore Barn stream to the west
of Emsworth every winter since December 2005, arriving
in early November and leaving in mid-March. Here are
my first and last sightings for the bird:
First and last
dates for the Spotted Redshank at Nore
Barn
2005-06: first
15-Dec-05 . . last 20-Mar-06
2006-07: first
09-Nov-06 . . last 22-Mar-07
2007-08: first
05-Nov-07 . . last 17-Mar-08
2008-09: first
08-Nov-08 . . last 18-Mar-09
2009-10: first
21-Oct-09 . . last 24-Mar-10
Link
to more about the history of this amazing
bird
HOW
TO GET TO NORE BARN
Going east along the
A27 towards Chichester, take the A259 into Emsworth.
Then take the third turn to the right down Beach Road
and at the end turn right into Warblington Road. You
can easily park near the end of the road overlooking
the harbour. Walk another 50 yards to get to the
bridge over the small stream at Grid Ref: SU740053.
A
PHOTOGRAPHER'S DREAM BIRD
I think it was Richard
Ford who described the Emsworth Spotshank as a
photographer's dream bird. It certainly has attracted
a large number of photographers over the years. It
must be the most photographed Spotshank in the whole
world. Personally, I have lots of fantastic photos,
fantastic for me that is. I have done some
digiscoping, but often it is not easy to get far
enought away from the bird to make it work. Generally,
I have found my Panasonic Lumix FZ5 on 12x zoom
perfectly adequate.
Here
is Kevin Crisp getting a close-up of the
Spotshank
Trevor Carpenter is
another of the expert wildlife photographers to
appreciate the Emsworth Spotshank. Here are just a
couple of Trevor's lovely photos of our star bird.
This
one taken on 7 November 2007 by Trevor
Carpenter
and
this one two years later on 5 December
2009
SPOTTED
REDSHANK NEWS FOR 2009-2010
WEDNESDAY
21 OCTOBER 2009 - The
Emsworth Spotshank returns!
A most exciting
sighting came towards the end of the morning with my
first sighting this autumn of the so-called 'tame'
Spotted Redshank, feeding in its favourite place in
the small stream at the end of Warblington Road at
Nore Barn at Grid Ref: SU740053.
Welcome
back to Emsworth for the Spotted Redshank
It was looking
healthy and sprightly in full winter plumage as I
watched it for 30 minutes as it fed happily in the
stream with a Greenshank for company, much as it has
done in previous years. This year it is a good two
weeks earlier than usual. This will be the 5th
successive winter that the famed Spotted Redshank has
spent in Emsworth.
Here
is the Spotshank feeding with its friend the
Greenshank
HISTORY
OF THE EMSWORTH SPOTSHANK
Text
of article published in 'Kingfisher' - the Newsletter
of the Hampshire Ornithological
Society
Behaviour
Since I live 15
minutes walking distance of Nore Barn I have been able
to keep an almost daily check on this delightful bird
and study its behaviour closely. It prefers feeding
when the tide is fairly high, usually around 1-2 hours
either side of high water. It is best seen on spring
tides, when can come right onto the beach within a few
yards of where you are standing. No wonder it is often
referred to as the 'tame' Spotted Redshank.
The Spotshank is
certainly amazingly tolerant of people, and even of
dogs, walking over the small bridge over the stream,
not more than a few yards away. I have often watched
an unruly dog rushing into the stream, chasing Mute
Swans with the Spotshank nonchalantly standing its
ground, quite unperturbed at this silly intrusion into
its space.
The
stream at high water showing the Spotted Redshank with a
Greenshank - February 2008
I realise many
visiting birdwatchers do worry about the dog problem
which is quite intense at Nore Barn. I too was
concerned about the disturbance at first, but I have
learned to live with it. My policy is education not
confrontation. I try, whenever possible, to speak to
the dog walkers and tell them about this wonderful
bird that visits their area every year and attracts
people from far and wide to see it. I think I am
winning, since the bird (and me!) are now well known
by locals who look forward to its arrival each year.
Company
it keeps
It often feeds in the
stream in company with other birds, such as Little
Egret, Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank. On
occasions, a second, and sometimes a third, Spotted
Redshank has been seen with it, but these are not
regular.
Spotted
Redshank feeding with a Greenshank on 23 February 2009.
The Nore Barn
area is in fact very good for Greenshank, more often
than not with a variety of coloured rings on their
legs. It also used to be good for Black-tailed
Godwits, but sadly they seem to have largely deserted
Emsworth over the last couple of years.
I have wondered about
what sex the Emsworth Spotshank is. Since, it arrives
relatively late, my guess is that it is probably a
male. I gather the dads of that species are left with
the job of looking after the nippers, while the mums
flit off early to warmer climes.
SPOTTED
REDSHANK PHOTOS
Here are a few of my
photos through the years.
YEAR
2009
The
Spotshank in its typical habitat in the small stream at
Nore Barn
YEAR
2008
Spotted
Redshank in the stream at at Nore Barn -
25.02.08
2007
Spotted
Redshank at Nore Barn, Emsworth - 06.03.07
2006
Spotted
Redshank at Nore Barn Emsworth (digiscoped) -
02.03.06
COLOUR-RINGED
SPOTTED REDSHANK W+GY
A
brief history of W+GY
Spotted Redshank W+GY
was colour-ringed by the Farlington Ringing Group at
Thorney Deeps on 16th Oct 2008. They have ringed a
number of Spotted Redshanks over the years at
Farlington and 2-3 at Thorney but only this one has
been colour-ringed.
Here
is W+GY with its rings
Here
is Barry Collins with the ringed Spotshank at
Thorney
W+GY was subsequently
seen on a number of occasions during the winter of
2008-09 and the following spring, mainly by Barry on
Thorney Deeps and in the stream at Nutbourne Bay, with
the last sighting on 14-Mar-09.
Here
is my photo of W+GY in Nutbourne Bay on 21 Nov
2008
Pete Potts e-mailed on
18-Jun-09 to say that W+GY had been seen and
photographed in Sweden, where it probably bred.
Amazingly, not more
than a week later, it was back on Thorney Deeps where
Barry saw it on 26-Jun-09. Since then, I think Barry
has seen W+GY several times on Thorney Deeps, with his
most recent sighting in the stream in Nutbourne Bay on
26-Oct-09.
Here
is my digiscoped photo of W+GY back at Nutbourne on 27
Oct 2009
JUVENILE
SPOTTED REDSHANK - Emsworth 3 October
2008
I saw a Spotted
Redshank feeding in the low water channel near the
quay in Emsworth Harbour on 3 October 2008. Having
seen the photo of the Spotted Redshank on the web
site, Jason Crook told me the bird is a juvenile
Spotted Redshank, beginning its moult into
first-winter plumage. Looking at some of my other
photos of the bird I can see the underparts are barred
which The Collins Bird Guide highlights as a feature
of a juvenile Spotted Redshank. I do not recall having
seen one before. If it is a juvenile then it cannot be
the same bird we have had coming to Nore Barn over the
past 3 years.
Juvenile
Spotted Redshank feeding near the quay in Emsworth
Harbour - 03.10.08
