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| The long-billed dowitcher - present in Lincolnshire since mid-September |
A RARE American wader that was first
sighted at Spurn has now made a temporary home for itself on the banks of a
muddy haven at Saltfleet on the Lincolnshire Coast.
After initial sightings on the north side of the Humber, it was first reported in Saltfleet on September 16 and has been present ever since.
The bird feeds in a very aggressive way -
aggressive not towards other birds but in the frenzied determination which with it probes the mud.
In his Collins Guide to Rare British Birds,
Paul Stancliffe, of the BTO, describes this as “a sewing machine like manner”.
In flight, the white on its back is conspicuous.
Of its status and habitat, he notes
that it is a widespread breeder across North America which
winters in Central and South
America.
“Vagrants here are most likely to
turn up in autumn - some individuals stay for extended periods, occasionally
into spring.”
It can be distinguished from the
short-billed dowitcher, not by length of bill (which is not necessarily
diagnostic) but by its short, shrill call note which would somehow seems modest for a bird of its size.
The bird has also been feeding in
the company of black-tailed godwit and redshank on the banks of the adjacent
Paradise Pool - a notable stopping-off point for migrating waders.
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| The bird likes to make full length of its bill as it feeds |
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| A bird of distinction - and it knows it |
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| Paradise pool adjacent to the muddy creeks of the haven on the southern edge of the village |
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| A habitat much favoured by migrating waders |
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| Redshank and black-tailed godwit are among the species regularly seen |
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