Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes

I know the feeling. I wish I knew how to play the piano, or how to pay myself a fat-cat bonus of a million pounds at the expense of poverty-stricken pensioners.

But at least I can tell one wading bird from another so I can't be a total failure. If only playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata was as easy. There are only about 15 species of wader commonly seen on the coast.

A couple of days with the Collins Guide and you're there. A few different ducks and geese, a grebe or two, may be a diver. Maybe 25 species altogether would make you a member of the rat-pack '“ those who stare knowingly through their telescopes, enjoying an aloof disdain for the rest of the world.

Let us start with a couple of waders commonly seen in winter in any of our south coast harbours; a godwit and a grey plover. You can see the godwit has a black tail, so it is a black-tailed godwit.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 29