Speaking about the bird’s breeding success, the Trust’s Head of Communications Erin McDaid said:  “We are delighted to confirm that avocets bred successfully at Besthorpe this summer, rearing four chicks. Breeding attempts in the county are still quite rare – so efforts are made to keep their presence quiet to boost their chances of success. The success of the pairs – and others at sites including the neighbouring Langford Lowfields site and in the Idle Valley underlines the importance of creating and conserving high quality wetland habitats.” 

Having become extinct in the 1840s due to loss of wetlands as a result of agricultural drainage and large numbers being shot, the bird represents something of a conservation success – having made a dramatic and unexpected return to the UK in 1947. After a gap of more than a century, the birds benefitted from the flooding of coastal marshes to boost defences during World War Two – providing additional habitat and secure, isolated sites in East Anglia for their unexpected return.  Having initially spread south and west in coastal areas as their numbers increased,  the birds have gradually colonised inland areas and moved further north – breeding in Yorkshire in the early 1990s and in the Idle Valley over the past decade.  

Erin continued: “The gradual return of the Avocet is a great positive conservation story and underlines the value of the amazing network of restored former sand and gravel quarries throughout the Trent Valley – but it also illustrates the importance of careful management of these sites to ensure that scarce species have the right conditions to thrive. We’d also like to thank the local birdwatchers who kept an eye on the birds and kept news of their presence quiet until it was safe to announce.”