Close Your Eyes and Listen

I think if you close your eyes and imagine the coast, mudflats and water you hear calling in the distance the melancholy, 'coor-li' of the curlew. the cry that gives the curlew its name. To me it is synonymous almost with loneliness, sadness and isolation as you hear it floating, drifting in the air over space which usually is quite desolate. I do like it!

It is Britain's biggest wader once confined to moorland but now breeding in all kinds of damp, open country: on moors, heaths, sand dunes, bogs,  and even river shingle. 

They are very cautious birds and this is especially pronounced in the early stages on incubation round about February, when the male and female will change places on the nest in wary silence. This changes when the eggs have hatched and they become aggressive, running towards intruders sometimes taking off to swoop down on them. 

Waiting to hear now from the hospital after a delayed operation today for Hubs