Curlews come down from the moors to winter along the coast, especially on estuaries, and are joined by continental curlews from as far away as Russia. They feed on the mud by the shore, but they also like feeding in pasture, and where there are fields near the coast they are often seen there in flocks. Although they are large birds with striking, down-curved beaks, sometimes they can be quite hard to make out against the dry, whitish-brown grass. Fieldfares visiting us from Scandinavia may be found feeding alongside the curlews in the fields. They are very numerous this winter, and if a flock is disturbed, they fly up successively in twos and threes until the whole sky is filled with their sharp “chuck, chuck” calls. They are rather like mistle thrushes, but have a more chestnut-coloured back, and a bluish-grey head and rump. The curlews will start to leave for their breeding sites early in March, but the fieldfares not till April.
Nature Notes
Cherry plum blossoms are starting to sparkle in the hedges signalling an early spring