Skylark

Above: Skylark.
Below: Meadow Pipit.

Skylarks are resident in Britain although many mistakenly think them to be summer visitors. This is because they are hard to spot until they start their song flight in spring and early summer. They live on moors, heaths, fields and marshes and are adept at remaining still and hidden until you are very close before flying off rapidly at the last minute.

They have a heavily streaked brown and buff back and crown. The tail, primaries and secondary's are brown with darker brown centres and often buff edges. In flight both the tail edges and the trailing wing edges are white. The breast, belly and vent are buff with a very pale creamy brown wash, especially on the upper breast and flanks. The Upper breast and flanks are also heavily streaked with brown. The face is marked similar to the back whilst the chin is streaked similar to the upper breast. The beak is short and brown and the legs are pink with a long hind claw. The striped crown protrudes slightly at the back of the head and can be raised like a crest as is also common with some other lark species.

They are often found in the same habitat as meadow pipits (shown below left) and can be confused especially at a distance or if the light is poor. However the meadow pipit is slightly smaller and the streaking on the upper back and back of the neck if much less noticeable. It also lacks the obvious raisable crest.

They are also similar to the rarer wood lark but this has a much darker crown and prominent white eyebrow stripes. It also has a clear white/black/white mark at the front edge of the folded wing.

These birds can be found with careful searching in any suitable habitat. They are not particularly nervous and will rather remain unmoveable in the grass than fly away and so if you spot one you can probably find it easy to get close enough for a picture. Spotting one in the grass is the hard part. Approaching to take a picture is the relatively easy bit.

As for locations, Anglesey has many suitable sites, Llannddwyn Island and the sand dunes around Aberffraw being two that spring to mind. In Cheshire the coastal salt marsh between West Kirby and Hoylake is an excellent site for skylarks as is the salt marsh behind the beach at Marshside in Lancashire. The fields around Holmfield and Soil Hill is West Yorkshire are good sites too.

My personal favourite site is Frodsham Marsh where they are fairly common and easy to see, especially in spring when performing their display flights.