Secrets

In the past I have been generous with some of the secrets of bird reserves and I thought you might like another one. This will be obvious once I've pointed it out but it stands retelling.

You might have noticed that if you visit a site at different times you might see different birds. The reason is that they try to keep the good ones rested for the weekend. No point in the real star species working to an audience of three on a wet Wednesday so they are rested and the understudies are sent on. Sometimes they will bulk out the numbers in the chorus line so that there is quantity even if the quality is thin - black-headed gulls are ten a penny, you can shift godwits by the cubic metre - you get the picture. Think about paying a tenner for a matinee performance in the West End; you'd not expect to see Olivier and Guilgud would you? This all changes as the schools break up. The reserves want mummy to bring the munchkins to see "the pretty birdies" even if they can't tell a flamingo from a cormorant; the target here is mummy rather than the ankle-biters, so they have to go with the big guns as often as possible. 

Oare Marshes is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust and they were playing a blinder today. Godwits by the skip-full, wall-to-wall avocet action and loads of other stuff including an Egyptian goose. However, this is a really competitive time of year, especially when the sun is cracking the flags, so they've played their trump card. They've got this flock of koniks grazing there. Konik is Polish for small horse and these are semi-feral small Polish horses according to the wisdom of the Wiki.

There you are - another birding secret. Don't say that I never give you nothing.