Black-tailed godwits: The rare bird which is leading the autumn influx to Yorkshire

Most are still in their breeding plumage with chestnut brown head and neck and bold barring on their breasts.

They also have long straight bills which they use to probe the bottom of pools.

After they have finished breeding pairs split up but recent research has revealed that they spend the winter less than 600 miles apart but meet up to breed with the same partners the following spring. Relationships can last up to 25 years.

At one time black-tailed godwits were quite a common breeding bird in this country but between 1835 and 1952 they disappeared until a pair was found nesting on the Ouse Washes.

Since then there have been strenuous efforts to encourage more pairs to breed but with varied success. Only between 44 to 52 pairs breed in this country and this species now has red status.

Problems include more severe flooding across the Ouse and Nene Washes leaving the godwits struggling to find suitable nest sites.

This year saw the start of a project to release hand-reared godwit chicks on the Ouse Washes and other sites to try and boost numbers.

Partners include Natural England, the Environment Agency, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and the RSPB.

Eggs laid by wild birds have been gathered from the washes and nearby fields which have been designed to be accessible even in the worst floods.

Once hatched the young godwits are looked after by WWT staff for up to a month until they are able to fly before each bird is ringed, then released at WWT Welney, Norfolk. Others will eventually be released to other restored wetland sites where they once bred in the UK.

Another early autumn migrant to look out for are greenshanks, slowly making their way south after breeding above the Arctic Circle.

This large wader with its silvery-grey plumage and green legs does not fly in flocks but are more solitary birds.

Most of us only know the greenshank as an autumn migrant but about 1,000 British pairs nest in the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland where, in this vast and boggy landscape, they make their nest scrapes near to rocks to help them find it again.

Other waders have included the first curlew sandpipers and little stints of the autumn, also 40 spotted redshanks.at Alkborough Flats where the rivers Trent and Ouse merge to become the Humber.