Dependable and mercurial, they are both clockwork harbingers of the change of seasons, but also infuriatingly skittish and difficult to see when they arrive.
Plain and somewhat boring from a distance, on closer inspection they are subtly beautiful with an intricate patterning of grey, brown and cream feathers. Their gait manages to be elegant and gangly at the same time, even when wading up to their underparts in gloop they are part ballet dancer, part big-footed clown.
Curlews meld with their muddy, watery, moor-ish world; half-seen, never grubby, always welcomed. Britain’s largest wading birds embody duality with ease, and they carry their enigmas with a lightness of step.
Photo by: Tom Streeter