Migrants and migration at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

admin
, 15 November 2023
Migrants and migration at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
Whimbrel © Barry Yates

Paul Tinsley-Marshall

Site Manager, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Rye Harbour is an incredibly important site for migrant birds, and one of the most easily encountered of these is the Barn Swallow. I’ve heard it said that whatever the month, Barn Swallows will be on the move, either coming or going from our shores. They travel between the UK where they breed, and southern Africa, and in both hemispheres their arrival is celebrated as a sign of spring. It’s not all that long ago that we had no idea where they went for the winter, and for thousands of years even some scientists thought that they hibernated in the bottom of ponds! It was the introduction of bird ringing in the 20th century that led us to discover their true destination.

Barn Swallow © Dave Kilbey
Barn Swallow © Dave Kilbey

The Whimbrel seen at Rye will almost always be birds that are on migration. This elegant cousin of the Curlew has a very restricted UK breeding range mostly confined to Shetland, so they will tend to pass though on a refuelling pitstop twice a year between April and May on their way north, and again from July to September on the return trip to southern Europe and Africa, though some birds do now overwinter with us too.

Osprey © Hugh Clark FRPS
Osprey © Hugh Clark FRPS

From Chiffchaff to Osprey, there are many more species whose annual journeys pass through Rye, and some such as Chaffinch and Goldfinch may not be species we always think of as migrants. Birds don’t only make annual movements either; migration can also be on much shorter timescales. For example, there are the daily movements of species between feeding and roosting sites governed by the cycle of the tides, or from a favoured tree used for roosting to a recently ploughed field.

Long-tailed Blue © Matt Rich
Long-tailed Blue © Matt Rich

And of course, not all migration is undertaken by birds – bats, whales and insects all migrate too. The Long-tailed Blue is an exotic migrant from the Mediterranean with a handful typically reaching UK shores each year – one such individual was found on the reserve this summer.

For what to spot at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in November - see here

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Helen Marr:

    While I have never been to Rye, and at 84 I doubt I will ever get there, I must say that I do so enjoy your site and the information on it. I spend most of my days feeding and watching the birds in my garden, but it’s great to see the birds that visit your reserve!

    03 Nov 2023 08:21:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782750926.67290 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782750926.71020.0373Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782750926.71040.0002Server address: 216.73.217.103
1782750926.71040Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782750926.71040Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve
    [s] => migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve
    [1] => migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve
)
1782750926.71080.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.7120.0012 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782750926.71460.0027 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782750926.71530.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782750926.71760.0023 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22423311
1782750926.71830.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22423311
1782750926.7190.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-29 16:35:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-29 16:35:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782750926.72050.0015 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:35:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782750926.72410.0037 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782750926.72470.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3227 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:35:00'
1782750926.7260.0013 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782750926.72680.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782750926.72760.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=256 LIMIT 1
1782750926.72810.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1782750926.72870.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782750926.72890.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782750926.72990.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:35:00' AND postSlug='migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve'
1782750926.75060.0207Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782750926.75120.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782750926.75330.0021Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782750926.75360.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782750926.75430.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782750926.75540.0011 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782750926.75840.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.75890.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782750926.7610.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782750926.76110.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.76210.001 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.76260.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.76550.0029 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.76670.0012 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.76750.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782750926.77020.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.77120.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782750926.77330.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782750926.77390.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782750926.77420.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782750926.77490.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782750926.77520.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='migrants-and-migration-at-rye-harbour-nature-reserve')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-29 16:35:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782750926.77720.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782750926.77780.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782750926.7810.0032Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782750926.78210.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3227 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782750926.83270.0506 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782750926.83350.0008Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782750926.83360.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782750926.83440.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782750926.83520.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782750926.83580.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782750926.83810.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.83870.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782750926.84070.002 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782750926.84160.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782750926.84220.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782750926.84280.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782750926.84550.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.8460.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782750926.84830.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782750926.85220.0039 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782750926.85290.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782750926.85350.0006 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782750926.85590.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.85650.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782750926.85860.0021 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782750926.86110.0026 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782750926.86180.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782750926.86240.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782750926.86450.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782750926.86510.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782750926.86710.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782750926.86830.0012Request time: 0.1991
1782750926.86830Process time: 0.1989
1782750926.86830Memory: 1.6261