Whimbrel Feeding

On the first full day of our short birding tour in Norfolk, we saw this fellow early in the morning at Thornham Harbor (not far from our hotel at Hunstanton).  As the Wiki page notes, Whimbrels (one of eight species of curlews) are found in much of the world, breeding in our summer across all subarctic regions and and wintering well south of the equator, mainly in coastal regions. They occur in the United States, but are not always easy to find, whether there or in Europe. They use their long bills to search for food deep in mud or sand.

The day's main visits were to Holkam Woods and Titchwell Marsh--lots of birds at the latter, most notably avocets and ruffs (the latter well past breeding plumage).