A Norwegian Ruff

After witnessing the shorebird spectacle at Snettisham, Hasan and I made a quick visit to the Titchwell RSPB Reserve in a hope to find one of the Yellow-browed Warblers. As we tried to get better views of this autumn beauty, a lady informed us about the presence of a Jack Snipe at the far corner of the Freshwater Marsh. We gave it a try as not every day one can have a satisfying view of this elusive shorebird species.

As we joined other birders, I immediately spotted a colour marked female Ruff feeding just in front of us. After having a quick look at the hiding Jack Snipe, I made efforts to read the leg flag code. It took a good 20 minutes to confidently read the code through a spotting scope. Hasan managed to grab some short video clips as well.

I made some research in the IWSG Colour Marking Register to find out more about the colour marking scheme. The report came back quickly from Norway. This juvenile female Ruff was winged 32 days ago on a small island in Western Norway from where it flew 1,100 km to refuel in east England.

Ruffs are regular migrants of the north coast of Norfolk. Photo by Hasan Al-Farhan

By now, the originally lime coloured leg flag looks faded and stained but the code is well readable. Photo by Hasan Al-Farhan

It’s another nice example of the effectiveness of colour markings in waders, especially with the coded leg flags.

Thanks to Hasan for another memorable trip to Norfolk and the permission to use his photos.