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Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Foraging in one of the shallow lagoons in the Salthouse Marshes Nature Reserve.

Avocets are black and white patterned waders with a long up-curved beak. The avocet is the emblem of the RSPB and its return in the 1940s and subsequent increase in numbers represents one of the most successful conservation and protection projects. Avocets can be seen on coastal lagoons on the east coast in summer and the Exe estuary in winter. The birds feed on aquatic insects and their larvae, crustaceans and worms. There are an estimated 877 breeding pairs in the UK. Link


The salt marshes below the village of Salthouse - an area encompassing 66 hectares of coastal grazing marsh populated by saltmarsh plants and traversed by brackish dykes and drains - are one of a number of important sites for migrating and breeding bird species such as avocet, redshank, lapwing, meadow pipit, skylark, reed bunting and sedge and reed warblers. A shingle bank protects the marshland from the North Sea.