#WorldCurlewDay

Numenius arquata

Here in Uist I see and hear Curlews often. But that’s not the story everywhere….. April 21 was chosen to be World Curlew Day because of a delightful, traditional Welsh tale that identifies the first curlew conservationist. St Beuno, was a 6th century abbot from Wales. Legend has it he was sailing off the coast when he dropped his prayer book in the sea. A curlew flew over and rescued it and took it to the shore to dry. The grateful St Beuno decreed that from then on, the bird be given special protection and that its nest must be difficult to find; which is indeed the case.

There are eight species of curlew worldwide and shockingly two are likely to be extinct. The Eskimo and the Slender-Billed have not been seen for decades. Out of the remaining six species, three – the Eurasian, the Bristle-thighed and the Far Eastern – are at risk of extinction according to the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. It is no exaggeration to say that many parts of the earth will lose curlews over the next few decades.The curlew’s onomatopoeic call is one of the most evocative and distinctive of calls – “I take my gladness in the cry of the gannet/and the sound of the curlew instead of the laughter of men” are lines from the poem The Seafarer which exists in manuscript from AD 1000, but probably originated much earlier.

Curlew links

Tweet of the day: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zqzsv

Chocolate curlew eggs!!!! https://www.mirriedancers.co.uk/shop/rspbeggs