Foot It - Regulus

97 species - 119 miles - 249k steps

At this end of proceedings Foot It ticks are occasional drips vs the wild torrent of the first few walks of the year... 

A tip off from my man Joe led me to make the 7 mile yomp to the hide at Micklemere, leaving the house at 06:10 under a crescent moon, I covered the distance in good time and was in position 2 hours and 25 minutes after leaving the house. 

Sun-up West Suffolk style

Despite passing through several territories - I failed to connect with a Barn Owl - which remains firmly off my Foot It list. 

Initially my Pintail targets were not on-view, which did cause an amount of questioning and self-reflection. Why disturb the household stupid early to walk through the frozen darkness, to then sit in an icy hide? Like what is my actual problem?

Drake Pintail - Micklemere 14th January 2026 (image courtesy of local birder Trevor)

I didn’t have to reflect too long before I spotted the two drake Pintail - initially obscured by vegetation. Then in full, glorious view… all self doubt evaporated and I felt like a real-world champion. 

I also gained a new Foot It mammal tick in Fallow Dear. Incredibly, I also learnt that there are Beaver nearby! Albeit penned and on a private estate! 

Footpath crossed a carrot field - took most of it with me

Fallow Deer

Fallow Deer

I decided to cut west, to Livermere, seagulls were my main target - which would prove to be ridiculous - as the mere only held Black-headed Gulls and four Great Black-backed Gulls. On my way through the village I paused to check some hedgerow Goldcrest… hold on one cresty, McCrest Face minute… that isn’t two Goldcrest… it’s a Goldcrest and it’s FIRECREST friend. 

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality) 

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality)

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality)

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality)

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality)

Firecrest - Great Livemere village 14th January 2026 (mobile phone shot hence quality)

Firecrest is a seriously good bird locally. I recall a single bird at Livermere Hall about 15 to 20 years ago. Otherwise, you have to get up to Brandon Country Park to see them reliably. 

On the back of the drake Pintail, I felt like a champion. A legend. Transcending normal birding boundaries. Who finds a Firecrest in the middle of nowhere, in a hedge backing onto a children’s playground people’s gardens?

Off the shitting scale. 

I won’t pretend today’s mileage haven’t taken a toll. I am pretty wrecked - but the satisfaction I feel makes it all worth it. Just three more species to hit the big 100 target... 

First-summer (2cy) form limosa?

I was birding Cley Marshes on the afternoon of Thursday 12th June and morning of Friday 13th June 2025, around work commitments. This gave opportunity to view two nominate form limosa Black-tailed Godwits; one colour ringed and the other un-ringed. These birds were closely associating, helpfully elsewhere on the scrape were a couple of form islandica birds, allowing for for direct comparison. This put limosa godwits firmly in my mind.  

Calling in at Livermere on my way home I was pleased to find a roosting godwit. Initially, the bird was sleeping which didn’t offer any real insight – it did briefly unfurl, indulge in some brief grooming, then resume resting:

The bird was then awoken by nearby dog walkers and gave more instructive views:

Whilst not an id feature as such, the bird was striking in the field, with the structure of the nominate birds viewed earlier in the day still fresh in my mind. Accepting this was a lone, first summer bird, without the more instructive adult plumage.

I recalled reading Mark Golley’s ‘Notes on the field identification of nominate Black-tailed Godwits in Norfolk’ and the section on first summer birds, containing a healthy warning that this is a tough plumage in which to ID birds with certainty. I couldn’t remember the detail in the field but was struck by the birds overall appearance, seemingly long bill and prominent supercilium.

I determined to get some instructive photos, which was timely as nearby dog walkers unleashed their hounds, putting everything on the shoreline up. The bird then flew to the north of the mere, well out of photo or actionable scope view range, for the subspecies detail I required.

Photos secured I ambled home and uploaded the shots to my computer:

This allowed me to compare the photos directly to Mark Golley’s article and the pointers for grey first summer birds therein. I noted some ‘pro’ limosa features:

•  The ‘lanky’ and long-necked appearance;
• Thick bill-base; and
•  Prominent supercilium, including where it meets the bill.

I had convinced myself the bird was a first summer and also that there was sufficient features – beyond my gut feeling – to canvas some opinions. I spoke to some birding friends over the course of Saturday, including while dipping the, long gone, Minsmere bridled tern. This reinforced my belief that there was sufficient pro-limosa features to bother the man himself; Mr Mark Golley. Who Kindly responded with the following:

I think this is a 2cy limosa but it's a bird that I am identifying (and would identify in the field at Cley) purely on instinct as there's not one definitive feather to be able to say to any doubters "yeah, but look at this scap"...

First if all, ageing it. Well, that's pretty straightforward. It's a 2cy (1st summer) and in image 1, as you'll have seen already in your pix, the old, bleached outer primaries are clearly visible in flight, and there's some moult on inner primaries as well plus a start of something on the secondaries as well. Then, of course, it's entirely grey.

I've seen adult limosa and islandica (known breeding birds w/colour rings) simply have a grey summer plumage. They are grey all summer long, choosing to have a year off (often they're older birds, perhaps not breeding anymore). But they always look rather smooth in the appearance with no obvious contrast on the coverts. This bird has two generations of coverts, including old, grey 1w feathers.

So ageing this bird is easy.

It looks like a rangey, slightly gawky and awkward looking bird, long in the neck, long in the leg ~ both soft features for limosa (some females can be really giraffe-necked).

In image 2, as you mentioned in your mail, the bulbous supercilium is a decent pointer to limosa (& it's long too). I also like the shape of the head. A bit more pear shaped, with a smooth "long" forehead (islandica, even females, often looked a little more domed).

Also in image 2, the leg length looks ok for limosa (female islandica can be long legged too). The bill is not only long but it's also deep based, again things I notice continually with limosa, especially females.

Image 3 highlights the long neck look, even at rest. Again, it's something that reminds me of limosa.

But the overall look of the plumage offers nothing! Not one feather. So  naysayers will immediately home in on that and say "nope, can't be done".

What I also find interesting is that there's this lone 2cy Godwit, looking as it does at an interesting location at an interesting time of year. Again, totally subjective, but islandica would likely be in a small group of similarly aged birds (and non-breeding 3cy/adults).

For me, I'd be putting this down in my notebook as 2cy limosa (sex unknown, maybe large male?). It simply has the look...

There may be something in the moult that could become definitive (adult limosas moult weeks ahead of adult islandicas due to different breeding range/strategy &) but I need to do some work on that...

I am really appreciative of Mark’s comments, which vindicate my suspicions at least. Whilst not seeing a Bridled Tern at Minsmere I did take the opportunity to view and photograph some grey plumaged Black-tailed Godwits – which were presumed to be islandica. This offers a helpful direct comparison with the above bird: