SPECIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
Knot
Breeding in the High Arctic, this mediumsized, dumpy wader will have lost its brick-red breeding plumage by October, making its key distinguishing feature no longer a distinguishing feature! With knot, however, it is all about the power of the collective, with large swirling, whirling flocks often forming when pushed off the mud by the advancing tide.
Oystercatcher
Large and stocky, with black-and-white plumage and a distinctive carrotlike bill, this noisy and excitable wader is an ever-present feature across our mudflats from autumn onwards. The oystercatcher’s main foods during winter are mussels and cockles, which are either prised or stabbed open with a strong bill.
Shelduck
Larger than a mallard, with a bottle-green head, chestnut breastband, black shoulders and a bright-red bill, the shelduck is a handsome addition to any mudflat during winter. Following a post-breeding moult, shelduck return en masse to our mudflats, principally for a tiny estuarine snail called Hydrobia, which they sieve from the mud using their bills with a scything action.
Brent goose
No larger than a mallard but distinctly plumper and with short black legs. The head, neck and small bill are all dark, apart from a distinctive white neck slash. Breeding in the High Arctic, three
subtly different races visit Britain’s mudflats for the winter to feed on eelgrass and a variety of other saltmarsh plants.
Lugworm
Living its life out of sight, the lugworm is rarely seen at close quarters except by those who dig it out for fishing bait. Evidence of its presence, however, is obvious in the form of coiled mud castings at low tide. Reaching 20cm in length, this large marine worm lives in a U-shaped burrow and is often only observed naturally when extracted by the bill of a curlew or godwit.