Watch for waders
Winter wader watching on the beach can be a cold affair, and it can be equally confusing as waders at this time of year are mostly in their less ostentatious non-breeding plumage and are, for the most part, grey and white. If coloration, then, is not going to be helpful in identifying them, you need to turn to something else. Structure is a good place to start and also where the bird is and what it is doing, write Rick and Elis Simpson of Wader Quest (waderquest.org) The whitest of our small coastal waders and certainly the most active. They are often described as looking like clockwork toys, although they never seem to unwind very quickly. A bird of muddy or sandy beaches that gathers in small flocks at the tide line. Smaller than the Knot, they are still plump and short-billed but their legs are black and proportionately longer, turning to a blur when they run about, making it impossible to see the trademark lack of hind toe that separates them from all other Calidris waders. They feed by sight, chasing morsels that the last wave has stranded on the sand, but they will probe when away from the wash of the waves. One very characteristic field mark is the dark patch at the shoulder which is sometimes obscured by breast feathers when the bird fluffs itself up. In flight smaller than Knot but look for the dark central tail feathers and paler back. Quite often seen in the company of other waders such as Dunlin, which is slightly smaller and Turnstone. Their call is a harsh ‘twick-twick’, made most often in flight or as they move from one part of the beach to another. Bird length: 18-21cm A beach bird rarely seen inland, preferring mud flats and estuaries. There they spread out across the area and can be seen feeding by touch with their sensitive-tipped bills. At high tide they gather in enormous flocks, huddled closely together, earning them their collective noun of a ‘pack’ of knots. They are robust birds that travel enormous distances. They appear dumpy with relatively short, straight bills and shortish greenish-grey legs. They are larger and heavier looking than Dunlin with a distinctive white supercilium and grey cheeks. In flight they show a grey tail, pale upper tail and darker back with a white wing bar on a dark wing. They often roost behind the beach on pools at high tide such as at Snettisham, Norfolk, where one of the most exhilarating experiences with waders can be enjoyed watching the swirling high tide ’inspirations’ over the estuary. When the tide turns, thousands of Knot whizz over at head height into the estuary to feed; the last to go performing amazing aerobatics to confuse predators. Generally Knots are silent, but they do make a low ‘nut’ sound and together in ‘packs’ they produce a murmuring sound like an expectant audience chattering in whispers before a performance. Bird length: 23-26cm The Golden Plover closely resembles the Grey Plover but is smaller and more delicate with a less heavy bill and no hind toe. In flight, they lack the black ‘armpits’, and have an all dark rump. The wings are very pointed, which is an adaptation enabling long, fast migrations and rapid flight. It is unusual to come across a single Golden Plover as they are a flock species during the winter. They can sometimes be found loafing around on mudflats in these ‘congregations’ but are more often encountered doing so on fields, all facing upwind, enabling rapid take off if threatened. When disturbed as a flock, they can circle for long periods before returning to their chosen feeding or resting place, often flying very high where their pale underparts can look very white against the sky. They also feed in fields, rushing about randomly in typical staccato, plover fashion searching by sight for prey. In colour, they are obviously more yellow or golden, especially in early morning or evening light. Call is a rather plaintive mono-syllabic ‘pee’ or bi-syllabic ‘pooee’. Bird length: 28-31cm
The Grey Plover is medium-sized like the Greenshank but has a shorter stubbier dark bill. They are much plumper and heavier looking with a rounded head and more often to be found on the mud or sand than in the water. As with all plovers they deploy the classic run-stop-peck feeding action which quickly separates plovers from all other waders. They have large eyes which they use to detect prey by sight. In flight they can be told from other plovers by the black ‘armpits’ and from Greenshank by the broad white wing bar and no white patch on its back. In winter, they look very grey but, in spring and summer plumage, they take on a much more dashing appearance, warranting their old name of ‘silver plover’. Uniquely among the Pluvialis plovers, they have a hind toe, although it is small and can be hard to see. However, if you are in doubt about which plover you are watching it is diagnostic. The call is a lovely, plaintive ‘pee-o-ee’. Individuals will sometimes hold a feeding territory which they defend by hunching their shoulders and advancing on an intruder; although they will happily gather together at high tide roosts. Bird length: 26-29cm The Lapwing is Britain’s commonest wader; familiar to many, it is frequently seen in flocks over farmland well inland as well as at the coast. Easily distinguished by its buoyant flight, jinking from side to side or lazily, lofting around. It is a distinctive bird which looks black and white from a distance. Up close, the crest is always present, although this can vary in length between seasons and with sex and age. In winter, they are duller than in breeding plumage with less black on the face and chest and have buff fringes, which fade as winter progresses, to the green back feathers. Often encountered in mixed flocks with Golden Plovers in fields. If disturbed, once aloft, they soon separate into distinct species groups. The Golden Plovers will fly high and fast while the Lapwings will generally remain lower and settle more quickly back on the field. In flight, the obvious difference in their wing shape can be seen, Lapwings having rounded wings. The call is a distinctive peeawee. Bird length: 25-28cm The Greenshank is an elegantly put together, medium-sized, classic wader. They have long legs, a long bill and neck and a slender body. They are longer in the leg and bill than the previous two species and they are also conspicuously noisier. They have a distinctive three note ‘tew-tew-tew’ call which betrays their presence long before they are seen. In flight, they share the white rump and pointed patch on the back with Redshank but lack the latter’s white wedge at the trailing edge of the wing. The bill is slightly upturned and bluish on the basal half and the legs, which give the bird its name, are a greenish-yellow in colour. It is an active and energetic feeder often to be found in shallow water where it will pursue small fish with much agility, twisting and turning not unlike an egret. It is also encountered in very soft, wet mud where it charges around like a bulldozer, head down, bill inserted into the ooze. Sometimes, however, they will feed in deeper pools up to their belly when they will pick at the surface or plunge their heads completely below the water to probe the mud below for prey. Bird length: 30-34cm