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Stonehenge and its Environs

The Stone Curlews of Stonehenge

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blossom B
blossom Nov 3, 2011 02:33:25
Replying to moss

moss wrote:
There was an early radio programme this morning on these night feeding birds, apparently there are 150 pairs on the Wessex Downs, and according to the presenter they have been around as long as Stonehenge. According to this old article, that other road, which has not been built of course would have seriously disrupted their presence in the area.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/wessex-curlews.html#cr

There is something poetic about stone curlews flying to this particular area, though the 'stone' in their name must surely mean something else, perhaps ground nesting birds........

What a great article. Thanks.

M moss
moss Nov 3, 2011 09:22:05
Replying to blossom

I think it reminded me of the golden plovers up on the Lansdown outside Bath. There is an old B/A cemetery at the far end of the downs, and if you were to go early morning in the winter months, you could find them resting in the grass, they take to the air and perform a spectacular aerial dance in the sky with a lovely plaintive cry as they swoop and turn in unison.
What with the deer browsing and foxes returning home from their nightly work, rabbits, hares and badgers, megaheads seem to forget the natural world which also inhabit the landscape of the prehistoric monuments.....