Flooded grasslands can be magical places in spring, alive with the calls of displaying Lapwings Vanellus vanellus and Redshanks Tringa totanus and the drumming of Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago. They can also be spectacular in winter, their sheets of silvery flood water attracting huge flocks of wildfowl and Lapwings. Unfortunately, though, most low-lying grassland in river floodplains and coastal grazing marsh supports few, if any, of these bird species.