Listen to Stephen Dean talking about his Havergate Island adventure (10' 11") »

The RSPB's avocet emblem
Havergate Island has a rich human history, but its significance as a haven for wildlife dates back to 1947, when four or five pairs of avocets reared eight young.

The breeding of avocets here (and at nearby Minsmere) that year was hugely significant because, apart from an isolated nesting attempt 65 years previously, the Avocet had been absent as a breeding bird, not only from Suffolk, but from the whole of Britain, for about a hundred years.

Avocet (photo: Chris Gomersall, RSPB)

Havergate Island was purchased by the RSPB in 1948 and the Avocet was adopted as the RSPB's emblem.

From this initial colonisation, the Avocet has spread, not only to other sites in East Anglia, but to other parts of the country and now numbers many hundreds of pairs.

Peace and tranquility on the Island
When we landed we were met by Jerry Elliott, one of the Woodbridge RSPB Members' Group volunteers, who escorts visitors to the Island during the Island Adventures.

Jerry explained that our visit was well timed because the tide was just beginning to ebb, so there was relatively little exposed mud along the river. This meant that the majority of the wading birds in the area were still on the Island. Indeed, as we made our way up the landing stage we saw our first avocets: three birds in flight.

Bird watching hide (photo: Louise Baker)

One of the real charms of Havergate Island is that there is no traffic there. Apart from the occasional passing motor boat, or aeroplane overhead, there is nothing to disturb the sense of peace and tranquillity.

Given the indifferent weather of the week leading up to this trip, it was a great pleasure to visit the Island on a warm, sunny day, with scattered cumulus clouds creating the dramatic backdrop that so epitomises the huge Suffolk skyscapes.

Bird watching hides
In the two hours that we were on the Island we toured its northern half, stopping off at three of the five bird watching hides overlooking pools and islands. All the hides are on the south-eastern side of the Island, which means that for much of the day the sun is behind you as you look out from the hides. Consequently, you're not looking into the light, so you get much better views of the birds.

Greenshank (photo: Chris Gomersall, RSPB)

We saw a good variety of wading birds, including plenty of avocets, with their spectacular black-and-white plumage, long, blue-grey legs and delicate up-turned bills. Others that may well have bred locally included oystercatchers, redshanks and ringed plovers. Some, though, were migrants from much further north: golden plover, dunlin and greenshank all breed in northern Britain, but knot and turnstone are high Arctic breeders, which winter in England as well as much further south.

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