Oystercatcher

If Barrow’s very own bird wasn’t the Lesser Black-backed Gull it would surely be the Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). Not that it’s more peculiar to Barrow than it is to any other bit of British coast, although it is very abundant locally and often to be heard flying overhead with its whistling cry. It just looks the part. It’s slightly comical in its ungainliness, and iron-stained in beak and legs, but it is sturdy and stubborn and very good at what it does. Which isn’t necessarily catching oysters – I mean, just how fast can an oyster run? But it does make short work of the many mussel beds around Barrow’s very lengthy shoreline.