The Common Greenshank is a fairly common winter visitor and passage migrant in our area. It begins arriving in August from breeding grounds in northern Asia and is usually on the way back by April. Passage continues into May and it is not unusual for a few first winter birds to oversummer. Greenshanks tend to feed singly, scattered among other waders, so it is difficult to be accurate about total numbers at any one site. Greenshanks like open marshlands and shallow river margins. They feed on small fish and other aquatic animals by wading or swimming in shallow water. Sometimes when in the middle of a shoal of fish fry they can become quite frenetic, twirling around on the water and stabbing their long, slightly upturned bills in every direction. Greenshanks closely resemble large Marsh Sandpipers with their lack of wing bars and long white rump and back stripe. Their bills are significantly thicker however. Often it is their musical “teu teu teu” contact call that attracts attention. They often fly high between feeding sites calling frequently when they do so.