Curlew Sandpiper

The Curlew Sandpiper is similar to a Dunlin but in autumn they look cleaner and paler with a white eyestripe and a longer, more down-curved bill.

The Curlew Sandpiper is a passage migrant with most birds being juveniles seen in August and September on the east coast of England. They can be found on muddy and sandy beaches, coastal saltmarshes with pools and lagoons, sewage farms and shallow pools inland.

Curlew Sandpipers are much scarcer in April and May when small numbers of adults in their deep chestnut breeding plumage can be seen en route to their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra.

Date: 07/09/05

Location: Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk