Above: A view of the outgoing tide on Snettisham Beach
Above (right wing) & below (left wing): Both wings of an Oystercatcher with an abnormal moult pattern. Both wings began moult as normal but at some stage must have stopped and started again out of sequence. The brown feather is old, black feathers are new. In addition, the moult is at different stages on each wing (normally birds do the same on each wing). This bird was clearly not in a good condition & was only therefore replacing feathers when it had the energy to do so. There were odd feathers on other parts of the bird that had not moulted either. This oystercatcher also only had 2 toes (instead of 3) on each foot - could this mean that it has had trouble feeding and this is why it is in a bad condition?
Above: This Knot has travelled all the way from Norway to the wash. How do I know? It had a Norwegian ring on its leg!
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