{"id":2922,"date":"2004-10-05T14:38:29","date_gmt":"2004-10-05T14:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2024-08-07T16:11:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T16:11:18","slug":"a-controversial-curlew-at-minsmere-5th-oct-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/a-controversial-curlew-at-minsmere-5th-oct-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"A Controversial Curlew at Minsmere – 5th Oct 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEurasian Curlew – <\/span>Possible 1st winter female Slender-billed Curlew – Numenius tenuirostris .<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t5th October 2010 – Minismere, Eastbridge area, Suffolk.<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tOn 28th September 2004 Brian Small posted two photos on Surfbirds of an <\/span>interesting looking Curlew species, found on the Minsmere Levels, Suffolk. On 29th <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tSeptember 2 more photos were posted by Jeff Higgott and by early October, the bird <\/span>was being considered to be a 1st winter female Slender-billed Curlew!! Even one of <\/span>Europe’s experts on the species, Didier Vangeluwe had been to see it. The bird was <\/span>featured on October 1st on a local “Look East” BBC News broadcast and it was <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\treported as being confirmed as a 1st year Slender-billed Curlew, probably a female. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tDespite all this, there were still many experts who had nagging doubts about its <\/span>identification. I went to see it on 5h October 2004 and the following shows my digiscoped images and my notes on the bird. I like many UK birders have no experience <\/span>of SBC. Albeit the majority of UK birders who do have knowledge, will be of male <\/span>birds in Morocco during the mid 1990’s. There are very few people in Europe who will <\/span>have seen any 1st year females and there are even fewer world records of 1st year <\/span>birds. So this species is not straight forward to identify and of course the possibility of an odd Eurasian Curlew or Eastern race Curlew – N.a.orientalis or even a hybrid <\/span>cannot be ruled out. The first accepted British record of Slender-billed Curlew was on <\/span>4th  May 1998, when a first summer, probably a female, was discovered at Druridge <\/span>Bay, Northumberland. It was accepted by the BBRC and firmly identified by field <\/span>notes and photographs, videos, together with literature and museum skin <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tidentification. <\/span>See Birding World – Vol 11 – No:5 page 181. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\tThe bird certainly showed a much shorter bill than on Eurasian Curlew (e.Curlew). <\/span>However note the thick base to the bill. The bill length was  considered to be approx <\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t1.25 times the length of  the head. In flight it certainly appeared thin,  straight and with just a “drooping” tip. At times the bill appeared thicker possibly due to soil and <\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\tmud accumulation on it whilst the bird was feeding. I noted the colour as black <\/span>possibly pale at the base. The bird showed a darkish crown, faintly streaked and this <\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\tenhanced the supercilium. There was also a very neat and obvious cream\/buff eyering. <\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t \n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t \n\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\tThe head and neck were pale brown and in this image contrast well with the darker <\/span>mantle feathers. At a distance the bird’s bill looked neat and thin however at closer <\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\t\trange it appeared thick and heavy looking. nevertheless it was shorter than any <\/span>Curlew that I had previously observed during the day (8 individuals). Doesn’t appear <\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\tto be very thin at the tip! Also note the extremely white rump feathers showing <\/span>through the folded wing. The primary tips do not appear to extend beyond the tail. To <\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\tme it never appeared “Slight” in build or had any “Delicate” appearance. The neck <\/span>appeared thick-set and when alerted, it certainly didn’t show any “Jizz Appearance” of <\/span>Upland Sandpiper.<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t \n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t \n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t \n\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\tIn this image the birds bright white underparts can be seen, however to me it still <\/span>appeared“Bulky Looking”. It was slightly smaller but not obviously smaller in size to <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tthe 2 E.Curlew it was with. In flight it did look obviously smaller and I found it easy to <\/span>pick out. It seemed to have a different flight profile, probably due to the shorter bill. I <\/span>guess that the largest built female Slender-billed Curlew would fit this bird?I could not <\/span>detect any spotting on the flanks. All  I could see were small “Arrowheads” <\/span>and “Chevrons”. However it certainly wasn’t so heavily marked as in the E.Curlews. <\/span>In 1st year S.B.Curlew, according to the literature, there wouldn’t be any “Spots”, just <\/span>streaking. I couldn’t detect any white on the chin and throat. The neck and breast <\/span>however were finely streaked darker brown on a pale milky coffee background. This <\/span>gave the bird a pale necked appearance at a distance and also in flight.<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>    \"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tHere the bird is preening and it looks less bulky. The mantle feathers were very dark <\/span>centred with buffish\/ginger fringes. Also note the very pale secondaries showing <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tthrough which contrast with the mantle and scapular feathers. In flight the bird <\/span>appeared very “Frosty” looking and the pale secondaries contrasted prominently with <\/span>the dark brown primaries, giving the bird a distinctive appearance in flight. It almost <\/span>had a “Bleached Look” across the upper-wing. I only saw it well in flight once as it <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\ttook off out of a stubble field and flew around for about a minute before flying off into <\/span>the distance and into other fields.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>    \"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe bird showed pure white underwings and axillaries. I didn’t detect any grey or <\/span>barred axillaries as in E.Curlew. The rump also appeared white and the tail was <\/span>whiter that the E.Curlew but appeared to be well barred. I couldn’t honestly say what <\/span>the leg colour was. Most of the time the bird was feeding in stubble and as can be <\/span>seen from the photos, the legs were well hidden. I believe they could best be <\/span>described as pale. The head doesn’t show a “Flatness” to it. In the pictures the bird <\/span>appears thick necked, yet narrow in the body.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>    \"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONCLUSION – If the bird is a Slender-billed Curlew, then it is a large bird at the <\/span>extreme ends of the size range. It is extremely heavy in build and seems to contradict <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tall the literature about the species being – delicate, lightly built and diminutive against <\/span>Eurasian Curlew. My opinions are that it may well be a hybrid I can;t believe it to be <\/span>a “Bog “ standard Curlew but at the same time I don’t believe it to be a Slender-billed <\/span>Curlew either.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSTOP PRESS – ON 24TH JUNE 2005 <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t– A MESSAGE WAS BROADCAST OVER <\/span>THE PAGER NETWORKS THAT DNA ANALYSIS HAD CONFIRMED THE BIRD TO <\/span><\/strong><\/span>BE A EURASIAN CURLEW.<\/span><\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t \n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eurasian Curlew – Possible 1st winter female Slender-billed Curlew – Numenius tenuirostris . 5th October 2010 – Minismere, Eastbridge area, Suffolk.   On 28th September 2004 Brian Small posted two photos on Surfbirds of an interesting looking Curlew species, found on the Minsmere Levels, Suffolk. On 29th  September 2 more photos were posted by Jeff Higgott and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,18,604,172],"tags":[543,542,541],"class_list":["post-2922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-526","category-birds","category-birdsof2004","category-year","tag-billed","tag-slender","tag-slender-billed-curlew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simplybirdsandmoths.co.uk\/sbam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}