Structurally, the long neck of the Pintail allows feeding at a greater dabbling depth thanfor other Anas, especially when upending. It is rather unremarkable in diet choice, with most texts quoting a reliance on grass/seed, but here on the Medway food primarily consists of hydrobia, supplemented with samphire and seablite seeds. Pintail will also come to wildfowler/game feeding sites in small numbers, more so in cold weather.
Feeding intensity usually peaks both late morning and late afternoon and is also influenced by tidal state, so loafing flocks on the flats can be at their lowest at these times.
The general winter trend is for a double peak- in October and (more strongly) December- early January, with numbers starting to drop from the end of January. The early autumn birds move on to southern Europe and Africa, later birds staying for the winter. Cold-weather movements are noticeable during freezing conditions.
The map shows their main areas; Rainham Creek, Lower Halstow and Funton provide easiest viewing. The red circles mark the most favoured onshore sites during late winter.
From personal experience, the present five year average peak from WeBS (505) fails to reflect the true number for the estuary. This may well be down to the 'weekend effect' already mentioned in other species accounts; there is more weekend disturbance leading to more loafing numbers retreating to the islands.
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