On 8 February, I heard my first curlew of the year, its sweet-sad double note floating down the valley to my house. The timing was the same as last year, almost to the day, and it felt reassuring in this uncertain world. There were postings on the local Facebook page when others heard or saw their first curlew, oystercatcher, golden plover or peewit. The return of wading birds to the moors and fields of Allendale is celebrated locally, and when Allendale Brewery made its first beer in 2006, it was named Curlew’s Return.
Now, the landscape is full of competition and exuberance as waders pair up, display and look for nest sites. A few miles up the hill, there’s a small abandoned quarry, where a thin stream threads along the marshy bottom. It’s a place I visit every year, and there, right on cue, a pair of oystercatchers are probing the oozing mud. It’s comforting to find birds where I expect them to be.
