Curlews

 These anxious curlews accompanied me on part of a walk in the Deerness valley, County Durham last week. They must have recently hatched young because they were highly agitated, with those yelping calls that they make when anything threatens their nest site. 

The weather is cold, wet and windy and they have crow predators to see off. They are nesting fields that I hope will be cut for hay, rather than mown early for silage. I've seen curlews raise successful broods in the same place in previous years, so fingers crossed.