Curlews, Godwit, Snipe & Woodcock
I've grouped these small families together as they contain all our long-billed waders.
A flock of Curlew at Worcs WT Upton Warren in January
Curlew - Our largest wader. Females are the largest. They're currently a big concern due to a significant decline in numbers during recent years. Fairly easy to see on our coats and estuaries, particularly during Winter. They have a delightful, evocative and far reaching call which many recognise. You often become aware of their presence first due to their call.
Whimbrel - Clearly a close relative of curlew. Whimbrel are smaller, shorter and straighter billed and have a much more distinctive pale stripe above the eye. Unlike the curlew they are only passage migrants to most of us. Some breed in N.Scotland. It's always rewarding to pick one out amongst a flock of curlew.
Both taken at Hilbre Island, on the Dee Estuary.
Bar-tailed Godwit - Similar to what the Whimbrel is to the Curlew. The "Bar-wit" is the smaller, shorter legged and shorter billed one of the godwitits. With a more obvious pale stripe above the eye. You don't hear much about bar-wits. I think they're very under-rated. It's the black-tails that get all the attention. Bar-wits over-winter here on coastal and estuarine areas. They are a true salt water wader, unlike the Black-wit, which can often be found inland on fresh water. Both species are reasonably confiding, so you can get fairly close with care. Bar-wits don't have the obvious wing stripes (in flight) of the Black-tailed Godwit.
All shots are of wintering birds in non-breeding plumage. Taken along the N.Norfolk coast between November and February. Can't think of anywhere I'd rather be that time of year.
Black-tailed Godwit - A lovely, elegant wader with long legs and bill. One of our largest waders. A few are resident but this is mainly a Winter visitor and passage bird. They are plain grey in Winter but become much more brightly coloured in the Spring, with orangey brown necks, chests and bellies. They can be seen in breeding colours on spring passage to their breeding grounds, like the flight close-up opposite. Much declined but still reasonably common.
Photos 1 & 5 show birds on Autumn passage after breeding. 2 is a winter bird. 3 is a juvenile and 4 shows birds on spring passage, in breeding plumage.
Jack Snipe - Smaller and rarer than Snipe. They also have a much shorter bill. Their other distinctive feature is that they constantly bob up and down. These are Winter visitors only. Then tend to be seen in very small numbers or individually. The photos show my only encounter to date, at Upton Warren in Worcs in October.
Snipe - A lovely little fresh water wader. They widely breed here but it's always a bit of a challenge to find them around water and marshland, as they're small, very well camouflaged and tend to skulk around reed tufts. It's always nice when you see them venture out into the open. They are longer billed than Woodcock and Jack Snipe and are distinctive in having a buff vertical stripe on top of their crown. Jack Snipe have a dark brown vertical stripe and woodcocks' are horizontal.
Woodcock - One of our few nocturnal birds. I haven't had the pleasure of finding one during daylight. You have to wait for them to leave their traditional roost areas just as it goes dark to see them. They have a very distinctive silhouette though. The only similar bird is Snipe, which have longer bills and finer wings. More numerous in Winter, swelled by migrants.
Photos taken at dusk in June at SWT's Highgate Common.