Tim writes: this was the first time I had managed a decent shot of a Curlew Sandpiper. I took it at Adwick washlands near Barnsley early morning in September. The sun was shining without a breath of wind and this Curlew Sandpiper was close. The water surface was rippleless creating perfect mirrored reflections. I managed to capture this just before the gentlest of breezes started and demirrored the water surface.
Curlew Sandpipers breed in NW Siberia but migrate through Britain in variable numbers on passage to and from their wintering grounds in West Africa and SW Europe. The numbers peak in September and this one is a juvenile, identified by its Weetabix plumage. They are a tad larger than Dunlin with a white rump, longer legs and a longer, downcurved bill, hence the name Curlew Sandpiper. It has been shown that the age structure of Curlew Sandpipers correlates with the Siberian Lemming cycle. When Lemmings are scarce, the proportion of juveniles is also low. This suggests that Arctic predators switch to waders when Lemming numbers are low. But the number of Curlew Sandpipers arriving in Britain has more to do with weather patterns than Lemming cycles. Also of interest, there are scarcely any records of Curlew Sandpipers overwintering in Britain.
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