Chevalier aboyeur …

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

Despite a lack of any strong colour or pattern T. nebularia is an elegant species and one, which is a fairly common passage migrant and scarce winter visitor to Sussex. Chichester Harbour is recorded as the most favoured site in the county, with an autumn maximum of around 100 roosting at Thorney Deeps. This is about 6% of the national total, making this one of the top six sites in the country. Considerably smaller numbers pass through other coastal wetland sites, especially Pagham Harbour and Rye Bay. T. nebularia is also regularly seen at our larger inland wetlands with groups of up to 10 being recorded at Pulborough Brooks and Weir Wood Reservoir.

A beautiful bird that is often first noted due to its triple piping call …

References:

Barfield, C., 2014. Greenshank. The Birds of Sussex. Thetford: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Books on behalf of the Sussex Ornithological Society, pp. 283-284.

Smith, D., 1996. Greenshank. Birds of Sussex. Sussex Ornithological Society, pp. 285-287.

BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Tringa nebularia. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 13th December 2014.