Jack Snipe.
27th October 2018
It reminds me of the old joke - 'Hello, RSPB, Jack Snipe speaking'.
Jack Snipe are quite uncommon in the UK but in the autumn but they can be seen in the right habitat, however, they are still difficult to get in front of your lens. They like a bit of cover and they tend to keep close to vegetation. They can be easily overlooked and will only fly if they are virtually trodden on and even then they don’t tend to fly far. There had been a bird reported at Titchwell Marsh, the big showpiece reserve in North Norfolk and I’ve said before I don’t like these big reserves, they are always packed out and they tend to be full of social birders with the hides full of noise with people talking and moving about. That’s fine if you like that, but I’m afraid I don’t so I suppose I’m what’s called an unsociable birder and that’s fine, I’m not criticising anyone – each to his own. Having said that I made my way to one of the big hides early one morning, it was one of the few days when it was raining quite heavily and therefore the hide was very quiet. I was there on my own and I was looking at the vegetation where the Jack Snipe had been seen previously and after about five minutes I could see it. They are quite distinctive and are, in good light, totally different to the Common Snipe.
Principally they have a dark median crown stripe as opposed to the Common Snipe’s cream coloured stripe.
The stripes down their back are more contrasting than the Common Snipe, a rich straw colour.
Their bill is much shorter and is also thicker at the base.
A very good field id is their comical bobbing up and down when feeding, almost as if they are on springs.
I waited paitiently for it to walk into the small gaps in the vegetation, and to be honest there weren’t many of those, so it was a far from ideal situation for a photograph, but I took a few before it disappeared again into deep cover. As people began to arrive and the rain has slackened I made a break for the car park, at least I had seen it.
[
Jack Snipe are quite uncommon in the UK but in the autumn but they can be seen in the right habitat, however, they are still difficult to get in front of your lens. They like a bit of cover and they tend to keep close to vegetation. They can be easily overlooked and will only fly if they are virtually trodden on and even then they don’t tend to fly far. There had been a bird reported at Titchwell Marsh, the big showpiece reserve in North Norfolk and I’ve said before I don’t like these big reserves, they are always packed out and they tend to be full of social birders with the hides full of noise with people talking and moving about. That’s fine if you like that, but I’m afraid I don’t so I suppose I’m what’s called an unsociable birder and that’s fine, I’m not criticising anyone – each to his own. Having said that I made my way to one of the big hides early one morning, it was one of the few days when it was raining quite heavily and therefore the hide was very quiet. I was there on my own and I was looking at the vegetation where the Jack Snipe had been seen previously and after about five minutes I could see it. They are quite distinctive and are, in good light, totally different to the Common Snipe.
Principally they have a dark median crown stripe as opposed to the Common Snipe’s cream coloured stripe.
The stripes down their back are more contrasting than the Common Snipe, a rich straw colour.
Their bill is much shorter and is also thicker at the base.
A very good field id is their comical bobbing up and down when feeding, almost as if they are on springs.
I waited paitiently for it to walk into the small gaps in the vegetation, and to be honest there weren’t many of those, so it was a far from ideal situation for a photograph, but I took a few before it disappeared again into deep cover. As people began to arrive and the rain has slackened I made a break for the car park, at least I had seen it.
[