Knot numbers hit record level at Snettisham
The famous spectacle of massing Red Knot at RSPB Snettisham has reached a new high count, with 140,000 recently tallied at the Norfolk reserve.
The previous record for the site was 120,000, which was set in the winter of 1990-91, according to the RSPB. RSPB site manager Jim Scott said the weekend's record-breaking numbers: "Could be that birds have come here from other parts of The Wash, or it's purely down to the migration numbers peaking; we won't know for sure for a few days yet."
A recent photo of the some of the Red Knot at Snettisham (Les Bunyan).
He added: "It's a showcase for estuaries in the UK. When you come to Snettisham on a big tide and the waders perform in the numbers it just really takes your breath away and shows how important mudflats are to our wildlife."
An autumn or winter visit to the reserve at the highest tides provide one of the greatest avian spectacles in Britain, with thousands of waders moving closer to the hides as the tide advances over The Wash. Red Knot is the most abundant of the species present.