Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve Advent Calendar - Door number 7

Wading birds are an important feature of the site and Bar-tailed godwits often arriving in their bright summer plumage which changes to a lighter grey winter plumage, can be seen on the sand flats and mudflats of the Reserve. They breed in Scandinavia and again Lindisfarne's draw is food related -the mud seen from the causeway may look bleak and empty but when you look closer there are many small worm casts. Bar-tailed godwits feed on them extensively throughout the Reserve along with other wading birds such as knot, oystercatchers and redshank. Numbers of godwit have reduced over the last ten years and we've seen a drop from 4000 birds to 1500.