Comment.............................................................................Mark Cocker

While the Brecks are home to the majority of English Stone Curlews, Hampshire/Wiltshire now has 30% of the population. There is also a small population in north Norfolk and the Suffolk coast hosts a tiny but recovering number of breeding pairs.

There are circa 260 pairs in the Brecks, of which 120+ were to be found in Suffolk last year. Many English birds are monogamous.

Clutch size is usually two, occasionally one. While there are no records of more than two eggs in a single clutch, the RSPB have found two females laying two eggs each in the same scrape at the same time – both involved with the same male (so much for monogamy!). The most young reared in one breeding season in the Brecks by a single pair is four (2 broods of 2). Not only are the adults cryptically plumaged, but these Brecks Stonie eggs are well camouflaged too –can you spot them?