Thanks for the alt text explanation Chris.

Here's a short clip of a passing curlew at the Essex Wildlife Trust site at Mucking.

#WorldCurlewDay

[AD= a grey day looking across the Thames Estuary from the top of the Wildlife Trust building. Low tide. Cranes and ships at the London Gateway Port in the distance. The sound of a curlew.]

We shall henceforth use that. 👍

That's a good description.

Not heard that before. Thanks for sharing Carl!

drawing of a curlew with its long curved beak

Description of the curlew - eggs, nest, food, haunts, general notes. The notes say: the cry of the Curlew is well known, a sad, not-unmusical sound of 'curlwee' of which the '... wee' is heard most often. The cry is heard both by day and night as the Curlew is a night flyer. The brownish plumage is barred and patterned, the bill long and curved for mud and sand probing. On the Continent, the Curlew is a migrant, moving north in spring and then flying south in the early autumn. Here it is a year-round resident.

From Koch describing a recording of a curlew: "with scarcely a pause, we pass to the remarkable bubbling chorus or "song" uttered as the bird glides slowly through the air. It lasts just under ten seconds, working up to its climax in the two before the end. As aeroplane, although distant, can be heard plainly in the background and just as the chorus closes we catch the sound of a train starting some way off.

text from Bird Watching for Beginners: ".... but the curlew's song is a lovely sound, to many people the most thrilling of all spring voices."

How would you describe the sound of a curlew?

Here are some different descriptions we've found.

#WorldCurlewDay

1 & 2 - Spotting Birds, 1976
3 - More Songs of Wild Birds - Nicholson and Koch, 1949
4 - Bird Watching for Beginners - Campbell, 1952

Wow!

Love them!

small red vase with a tiny bunch of blue forget-me-not flowers and leaves as well as a sprig of curry plant against a white wall

Picked this morning, inspired by @silverpebble2.bsky.social.

They're amazing aren't they. Always love spotting them on train trips through the Chilterns where there seem to be loads!

grey skies over an estuary on a summer's day. no-one around but us. the water is silvery in the reflection of the clouds.

A favourite listen in praise of the mighty curlew - Lento's spirit bird - for #WorldCurlewDay.

Episode 79 - Essence of estuary (32 mins)

Remote Essex. Road noise free. Just the sound of wind and birds in a creek.

> radiolento.podbean.com/e/essence-of... <

Such a gorgeous time of year. The garden looks idyllic.

Introduced to the UK in 1904 according to this.

So beautiful!

Here are some top bluebell facts.

top half of a handkerchief tree. its blossom looks like white handkerchiefs hanging from the branches. on a sunny day this week.

Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday to the magnificent handkerchief tree (davidia involucrata) in bloom in the cemetery at the moment.

Sounds of Spring - YouTube Radio Lento episodes and short videos made in the UK in Spring. Get a burst of bird song, blossom and bees. No loops or music, just the sounds from places.

Oh no. Hope you have got some tea and she is ok.

Here's our new spring playlist on YouTube in case a sunny distraction helps. A few videos as well as episodes.

Goodness. Hope she is ok and the wait is not too long.

Amazing! First of the year!

👍

Couldn't resist!

back cover of a text book showing two maps - one of the geography around milford haven in Wales, the second showing the north atlantic drift

map of how a hydro-electric power station works. the power station is underground with a dam at the top.

map inside the book showing fruit and vegetable growing areas across england and wales. strawberries in essex. bulbs and potatoes in lincolnshire

Found a 1960s geography text book in the street.
Nice maps.

#MapMonday

Starting to see promotions for Dawn Chorus Walks.
Is there one near you?

Lovely!

Spotted the heron chicks for the first time today. Four in the trees on the island.

That one's horrid!

We saw five herons in the trees on the island at the weekend. Most ever!

Glad to see the goslings thriving.
One less coot chick though when we saw them last week.

Plus this chap!

Amazing!

Ooo, we've not seen half sized ones!

We've seen the donut one more than the chips or hot dog one.

advertising fiberglass character made of donuts. One large one for the body, then ring donuts for legs and arms.

They're so creepy. Donut one too.

screenshot of all the cuckoos - from the BTO website. Arthur. Ashok. Cleeve. Cuach Cores. Frederic. Hafren. Jim. Joe.

We have our ears pricked for the sounds of swifts and cuckoo.

The cuckoos are on their way back. You can track them here via @btobirds.bsky.social's amazing project.

www.bto.org/get-involved...

❤️