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Awful weather here today in Devon, UK, a typical dull and dreary day that could be depressing if you let it. I went out anyway and I remember, as I stood there, thinking that it was cold and wet but then I wasn't going to see anything sat on the sofa at home. Thats the way it turned out, nothing particularly special for this part of the world but when it's quiet, Black -tailed Godwits do feed in the long grass and close enough for a photograph from time to time. I have a soft spot for Black-tailed Godwits, they are very photogenic even in their non-breeding plumage. They feed by probing in to the soft earth and with an obviously very sensitive beak tip they find earth worms deep in to the sod. They feed in the same way in the estuary mud. You will also see Curlew feeding in this way however Curlew have a curved beak and are rarely as confiding as Godwit for some reason. These Black-tailed Godwit are of the "islandica" race that breed in Iceland.
This is a bird that we take for granted here in Devon, you can locate them on every birding trip if you have a mind to and like all things that you see regularly, you quite quickly take them for granted……………..but not like me, especially when you can achieve good shots like this with relative ease and a bit of patience. In the shot below, one of the best features of this species can be seen, that's the attractive markings on the wing that you can clearly see in flight. This is a good way to seperate them from Bar-tailed Godwit.
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