Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus
Two circled the east basin (now Woodberry Wetlands) on the morning of the 21st of September 2007 before flying east towards the Lea Valley and Walthamstow Wetlands.
The Whimbrel's distinctive call is often associated with a Celtic superstition of the 'seven-whistlers', supposedly a group of six birds looking for a seventh - hearing the call augured death or other disaster.
Number in Britain: 500 Pairs (Summer)
Status:
in London: regular passage migrant.
in UK: Migrant breeder, Passage visitor
Habitat: Tundra, moor, heath, on migration marsh & estuary
Diet: Invertebrates and plant material according to availability; rarely probes deeply
Data from the London Natural History Society (LNHS) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
Systematic list of the Birds of Stoke Newington Reservoirs and Woodberry Wetlands.