Birdwatch: The wader with a muddy name whose numbers are in steep decline

Black-tailed godwits' scientific name means 'muddy muddy', a moniker that doesn't do justice to their eleganceWhen the tide is out on my Somerset coastal patch, there's so much mud it looks as if you could walk all the way across the bay to Wales.That seemed apt when I came across a flock of black-tailed godwits, whose scientific name, Limosa limosa, literally means "muddy muddy". The name seems inappropriate for such an elegant bird, although their long legs do allow them to feed in the muddiest places. Continue reading...