‘To discover that one of those young birds has travelled all the way to Spurn is fantastic news’
A marsh tit spotted in Kilnsea, East Yorkshire(Image: Harry Appleyard/Yorkshire Water)
A young marsh tit has made a 33-mile journey to the Humber coast, becoming the first bird of its kind recorded at the Spurn Bird Observatory in 16 years. The bird was hatched and raised at Tophill Low, near Driffield, which serves as one of Yorkshire Water’s flagship nature reserves.
It is here that a dedicated team of volunteer nest box monitors manage 134 nesting boxes each year. While hundreds of blue tits, great tits, and coal tits successfully fledged from the reserve during this breeding season, volunteers were especially delighted to discover a single nest of the much scarcer marsh tit back in April.
The rare chicks were carefully monitored before being officially ringed on May 10 by licensed bird ringer Poppy Rummery as part of the reserve’s ongoing conservation work. Just two months later, bird enthusiast Harry Appleyard spotted and photographed one of the young birds at Spurn Bird Observatory, confirming the bird’s incredible journey from its inland nesting box to the coast.
Volunteer, Roger Darvell, who is part of Yorkshire Water’s nest box monitoring team at Tophill Low said: “Marsh tits are much scarcer on the reserve than blue tits, so finding them successfully raising a brood in one of our nest boxes was a real highlight.
“To discover that one of those young birds has travelled all the way to Spurn is fantastic news. Ring recoveries are relatively uncommon, so this shows the chicks fledged successfully and is a great result for everyone involved in monitoring and conserving the species.
“The movement of the bird highlights the important role Yorkshire Water’s nature reserves play in supporting wildlife and improving understanding of bird populations across the region.”
This milestone comes as Tophill Low continues to champion a wide array of wildlife conservation efforts. The reserve currently supports ongoing bird ringing programmes, research into sand martins in partnership with the University of Manchester, and Yorkshire Water’s dedicated willow tit conservation initiative, which helps protect one of the UK’s fastest-declining woodland bird species.
Nature enthusiasts and visitors wanting to learn more about Yorkshire Water’s reserves and local conservation efforts can meet the team at the Spurn Migration Festival on September 11 and 13 where Tophill Low volunteers will be actively showcasing their work.
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