Curlew

1. The largest British wader, 1½ feet long and its long bill may be another 5 inches.
2. Grey-brown plumage.
3. Nests in moorlands, rough pastures and sand dunes.
4. 3 or 4 eggs pear-shaped, rather shiny, olive-green brown marked eggs, laid in a big saucer of dry grass in quite open ground.

Common Tern (Arctic Tern similar)

1. Long tail streamers measuring about 14 inches long. Light-red bill with black top and red legs.
2. Summer visitors.
3. Intensely aggressive at their breeding colonies, known to dive-bomb intruders and to draw blood from a man’s head.

Redshank

1. Medium sized wader 11 inches long.
2. Distinguished by the barred tail with a white rump and white patches along the trailing edges of the wings. Red legs.
3. Breeding habitat ranges from moorlands, rough pastures and marshes to gravel pits and sand dunes.

Black Headed Gull

1. The commonest gulls of our waterfront towns and countryside.
2. Legs deep red with a chocolate brown head in the breeding season, rest of the year a pale grey bird with white breast.
3. Commonly follows the plough.
4. A lot of people do not recognise it for in winter its plumage does not include a dark head.

Cormorant

(Shag similar, 6 inches shorter, no white markings)

1. Can be seen regularly at Barton Ponds (eat fish rifle shooting). Usually indicate that fish are plentiful.
2. Can consume more than its own weight in fish per day.
3. Very strong underwater swimmer.
4. Cormorants fly in V formation, shags in line ahead.
5. Feather not oiled like other water birds must be dried by spreading its wings when coming ashore.

Great Crested Grebe

1. Regular visitors to Barton (9 breeding pairs).
2. Almost extinct at beginning of century [20th century] - exterminated for decorative feathers for ladies hats.  Also breast feathers for mittens.
3. Famous dancing courtship ceremony.

Little Grebe (sometimes called dabchick)

1. Can be seen regularly at Barton.
2. The smallest of the British grebes and is widespread on inland water.

Bittern

1. Nested at Barton for the last 4 years.
2. The boom is something between a “mooing” cow and a foghorn.
3. If it suspects danger it will freeze with its neck and beak stretched vertically.  The streaky plumage is an excellent camouflage among the dried reeds.

Brent Geese (future at Foulness in danger):

1. Two races of this small goose are seen in Britain, one having darker, and the other lighter underparts.
2. Their size, darker underparts and absence of a chin patch distinguish them from the Canada Goose.
3. Dark-breasted race is generally found to the east, and the pale-breasted to the west of Britain.  Often the two types mix together.
4. Depend very much for food on the eel grass (zostera)
5. Roost mainly at sea, line in tight flocks. Fly in wavy lines rather than V formation.

Canada Geese

1. Length over 3 feet.  This big goose has a grey-brown body with darker wing-tips, a white area around the tail, a black head and neck with white chin patch and black bill and legs.
2. The large eastern range of Canada goose was introduced as an “ornamental wildfowl” from North America about 250 years ago.
3. Graze on crops.
4. Lays 4-6 creamy-white eggs in a nest of down.
5. The young fly after 6 weeks.

Oystercatcher

1. Wader
2. Shellfish - they rap with their bills and then prise open.
3. Approximately 19,000 breeding pairs in the British Isles.

Kingfisher

1. Two pairs at least breeding at Barton.
2. Its bright colours are a defence adaptation, predators have learnt to leave this bird alone because its flesh is very foul-tasting.
3. Excavates its nest hole in river bank or sand/gravel pits. 6 or 7 glossy white eggs.

We have not knowingly infringed anyone’s copyright on this site. However, should we inadvertently have done so, please contact us immediately by clicking here, so that we may correct the situation forthwith.

Have you tried the other Winteringham websites ... Winteringham History and Genealogy ... Winteringham Parish Council ... Winteringham Modern Photo Archive ... Winteringham Recipes ... Winteringham Football Club ... What the Papers Have Said about Winteringham