The haunting call of the Curlew is evocative of the moors and estuaries it inhabits. It is a sound immortalised in the poem "Seafarer", which is at least one thousand years old: "I take my gladness in the …. sound of the Curlew instead of the laughter of men." One of the many ways in which we're lucky here in Otley, is that even when confined to the house we can sometimes see the birds that use the valley as an aerial highway, Curlews amongst them. As well as the distinctive call that gives it its name, the Curlew also has a prominent, long, downward-curved bill.
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