Sunday 21 February 2016

Red Listed Curlew.


For me any visit to a coastal marsh or inter-tidal mudflats would not be the same without the evocative and distinctive rhythmic, rippling flight song or far-carrying whistling "cour-lii" call of our largest wader the [Eurasian] Curlew (Numenius arquata).

During a recent wander, on a very cold and extremely windy morning, around the disused oyster beds on Hayling Island  I was fortunate to find this individual in a water filled gully below my feet thus enabling me to get a few images without disturbing its feeding activities.

Its diet is principally invertebrates located by the sensitive bill tip as it constantly probes the mud.

Due to the continued rapid declining trends of its wintering / breeding range and overall population numbers (1969 - 2010) within the European part of its extremely large global range this species is now classed as vulnerable and has now been placed on the 'RED List'. For more information click here.


All images taken 'handheld' with 70-300mm lens plus 1.4x converter. [ISO 400; f/11; 1/320 - 1/400 @ 420mm].

Linking to:
Through My Lens
Nature Notes

Wild Bird Wednesday

13 comments:

  1. I love coming across these guys on the beach. Nice shots.

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  2. Those are really great results for handheld close-ups. Thank you for linking in with "Through My Lens"

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  3. That's wonderful, Frank. Must have made your day to be able to spend some time with the curlew.

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  4. The relative awfulness of my own shots is beginning to get me down lol

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  5. That's sad. When you observe a bird on the RED list, it's a very special moment.

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  6. Frank, these photos are awesome but it is your depth of knowledge that "makes" them!...:)JP

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  7. This is a fantastic bird to photograph and you did it so well!

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  8. Sooo many birds and other wildlife in trouble and most of it is human caused. Wonderful bird,,,, Michelle

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  9. Hello Frank, thank you for your visit! I leave my comment here, because Eurasian curlew is such an interesting bird. We (Finns) love to hear its call, because it means winter is turning to spring. There is usually a nest rather near our home, but unfortunately there are predators as well in the area.

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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