Overview

Family - Sandpipers and allies (Scolopacidae).

The ruff is a medium-sized wading bird. It has a long neck, a small head, a rather short slightly droopy bill and medium-long orange or reddish leg. In flight it shows a faint wing-stripe and oval white patches either side of the tail. It breeds in a very few lowland sites in eastern England, and it appears that numbers are dropping. It is a migrant but in the UK some birds are present all year round. Many young birds from Scandinavia visit the UK in late summer, then migrating on to Africa.

Comment

This ruff was seen at RSPB Greylake on the Somerset Levels on 20/12/09.  For more birds seen on this chilly outing, see my 'Birds on Ice' blog entry.