Gallinago Gallinago

is the snipe’s scientific name. It belongs to the bird family of sandpipers and phalaropes. Medium sized, skulking wading birds with long straight bills, making up a quarter of its entire length, shortish legs, mottled brown, their back has pale buff stripes and dark streaks and paler underparts. It is on the amber list, meaning it is in a moderate decline.

The resonant, quavering humming, often as part of its courtship display, the snipe’s song is actually not its voice but the vibration of the two outer tail feathers. At speed, the male plunges through the air with out stretched tail,  in a swooping downward motion. In our case, when intruders - potential predators (sounds like us, sadly) - enter their area, hollows in the ground amongst the dark heather near the water.

Also called winnowing or bleating, its hard to comprehend a bird makes this drumming mechanical sound. Otherworldly, the sound unknown acts upon you at a primal level.  A fearful ancestral response to dark nights.

This innocent was the source of the weird sound we heard that night at Cove. Good to know and now a pleasure Gallinago Gallinago

Photo copyright John Sutton