Will Kirkpatrick's Decoy Shop

Shorebirds

Black-bellied Plover Decoy

Black-bellied Plover Decoy - 12" long, simulated black glass eyes, and hand rubbed, antique patina. $240.00 (Item #746) Put bird in bag I am pleased to announce the introduction of this black-bellied plover decoy. While it is not a slavish reproduction of a particular decoy, it is recreated in the manner of classic working decoys carved by members of the Burr family of Hingham, Massachusetts during the last century. Precise attribution of some of these decoys has been arguable. However, experts believe most were made by Elisha during earlier times and his nephew, Russell, later. This reproduction now joins my Burr Lesser Yellowlegs (#6) and the Shelburne Museum Burr Greater Yellowlegs (#604), to round out the group. Black-bellied plovers have made a remarkable comeback since the market hunting days of the last century. In recent years I have seen large flocks on Newburyport's Joppa Flats and on the Cape at Wellfleet and Eastham. Some spring day, I will set up a "rig" like the old market hunters and take some wonderful photographs.

New Hudsonian Curlew 15-inches long Hand-rubbed, distressed patina, simulated glass eyes. $275.00 (Item #506) Put bird in bag When new settlers arrived in America, they found curlews similar to their own Whimbrel. Unable to conceive that the species had crossed a vast ocean, they gave it a new name based upon then newly discovered Hudson?s Bay where the bird is found at nesting time. In the early 20th Century, the species were proven to be the same and the name, "Hudsonian Curlew," was replaced by, "Whimbrel." It is said to be the most widely distributed shorebird in the world. Recently ornithologists have discovered their migration patterns. They Migrate together to "staging/ roosting" areas, then for days, the individually leave the main group to fan out over many miles to feed and "refuel." They gather every evening to regroup at the site they left in the morning. Monomoy Island on Cape Cod is one such key location.

New Hudsonian Curlew

Wilson's Snipes

Wilson's Snipe - 8 1/2 inches long, rough-carved patina, hardwood base. $200.00 (Item #502) Put bird in bag Remember all those campfire shams about snipe hunting? The councilors even passed out bags for the greenhorns to put the fictitious snipe in. Well there really is a snipe and this is the one. Also called Common Snipe, Jack Snipe and Alewife-bird, this birds is often mistaken for the American Woodcock, though it is more darkly colored and is not as pudgy. Snipe prefer boggy meadows and open wetlands. They are also found along river banks and in moist wooded bottom land. Actually, the term snipe refers to any shorebird with a long bill. Contrarily, a plover is a shorebird with a short bill. Curlews are snipe with bills that curve downwards and godwits are snipe with upcurved bills. Wilson's Snipe are the only shorebird that is legally hunted today. Oddly, Massachusetts waterfowl laws allow a generous daily bag limit of 8 Snipe, with a very long season. But during the fall, I have seen only limited numbers of these birds. I know of no one, in the Northeast, who has ever set out to hunt just snipe, and I know of no one who has ever shot more than just one on occasion during a whole season. . Forbush and May, who were most familiar with Eastern birds, say they are more plentiful in the spring suggesting fall southern flights may be primarily over the sea. On southward flights, they are most often seen on outlying islands and are common on islands in the Carribbean. Snipe are also common throughout middle America and Canada. I see them in Montana along muddy riverbanks while trout fishing. They are hard to get close to. They are nimble flyers with a very erratic flight pattern. Old sporting prints show them being hunted with English Pointers and old accounts say a choke-bored gun and a long-nosed dog is needed as the birds are skittish and get up far away from the hunter. Like most shorebirds, they have spectacular mating rituals featuring high flying aerobatics and melodious singing.

Horse Yellowlegs 12-inches long , distressed patina, tack eyes. $190.00 (Item #504) Put bird in bag Will's idea for this carving was to create a decoy that was just one step more advanced than the work done by most decoy makers when hunting shorebirds was outlawed. Up to then, the repertoire of techniques and tools used were those used for other commonly done woodworking tasks. There were no multiple head copying machines, for example, and stop action photography was not available. So Will had to imagine how the old-timers derived their knowledge of the bird?s anatomy. They learned skeletal structure by eating and cleaning a lot of game; and they learned the plumage by plucking many birds for market and for their own family's use. They had many other names for the bird, we know as Yellowlegs: Tattler, Yelper, or Tell-tale Snipe to reference its shrill announcement of an intruder's presence. "Horse" serves to differentiate it from the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs, but we have never heard of a "Pony" yellowlegs.

Horse Yellowlegs