Lodmoor, since the dawning of the New Year, has held a nice wader assemblage with at least eight species present. Our far from home long-billed dowitcher has returned from the fleet as the belated thaw has made feeding once more a possibility. Perhaps most notable after our American guest is the wonderfully elegant avocet which has been in situ for a day or two. Although Poole Harbour and Exe Estuary boast sizable wintering populations we only ever get the odd one or three - perhaps birds moving between these two internationally important winter refuges. It is always nice to see the bird that adorns our Logo on our local patch - but if you want to see many then head east to Arne.
Also currently in residence are redshank;
Dunlin;
the almost ever present wintering lapwing;
and common snipe.
It is always interesting to see how these birds have evolved and adapted to exploit differing quarry. The delicate upturned bill of the avocet is swept side to side in shallow water to detect passing invertebrates by touch, whereas the snipe and dowitcher have long, more robust bills for probing in mud and soil for food organisms. The shorter billed lapwing and dunlin require the soil water table to be almost saturated to concentrate the invertebrate biomass at an attainable probing depth. When you see the birds feeding it is often easy to see how they have chosen slightly differing niches to exploit.
Other waders seen in recent days have included black-tailed godwits, woodcock and ruff.
Lovely photos and great info, thanks as always Nick for your very interesting post.