[russkie]

hi - taken at salt pans - costa de la luz

i think this is a spotted redshank - corrections welcomed

cheers Nigel

[Ranger James]

I'd say juve redshank.
James

[dbradnum]

Agree, Redshank

Edit: The bill would be longer on a spotshank, with a slight, but distinct droop at the tip. In general, they are a slightly leggier, more elegant bird. Assuming the photo was taken recently, then Spotted Redshank would also be a paler silvery grey above. (In summer plumage, they are largely jet black - very smart!)

(No help with a photo, but...) the call is also a good feature - spotshank calls a loud "chu-it", totally unlike Redshank.

[Andrew Rowlands]

Some pointers to illustrate why would be useful guys .

Andy.

[Steve Lister]

Originally Posted by Andrew Rowlands

Some pointers to illustrate why would be useful guys .

Andy.

Well, it looks exactly like a Redshank and nothing like a Spotted Redshank. The colouring is wrong for Spotted, the bill is not long enough and the supercilium is not long enough or clear enough.

Will that do Andy?

Steve

[Andrew Rowlands]

Originally Posted by Steve Lister

The colouring is wrong for Spotted, the bill is not long enough and the supercilium is not long enough or clear enough.

That's just the sort of thing I was hoping to see - thanks Steve !

Andy.

PS. Russkie, I've moved this Thread to a more appropriate area of the Forum .

[dbradnum]

Originally Posted by Steve Lister

Well, it looks exactly like a Redshank and nothing like a Spotted Redshank.

LOL!

I've edited my original reply to include a couple of pointers - see above.

[Ranger James]

I was going to be cheeky and say that you were correct in as far as it was a redshank you had spotted. But I thought better of it.

Doh!

It does illustrate a good point though, in that you shouldn't let misguiding english common names influence an indentification. As ever, familiarity and jizz are the birders best friends.
James

[Susy]

David,
Just to say I've seen groups of spotteds on the Axe estuary here in Devon in winter that were still in summer plumage (going back some years now!). They appeared for several winters but then never saw them again. I don't get that way much now which I suspect James does!

[Bluetail]

Hi Susy

You saw birds looking like this on the Axe in winter? How many years ago was that? I'm sorry to sound sceptical, but it does seems very unlikely. During the last 20 years the wader counts on the Axe have never recorded any more than a single Spotted Redshank in winter. Late March is about the earliest you could expect to see one in summer plumage. Conceivably you might get the odd small group going through then on passage, but it the records suggest that none of the regular watchers have ever seen such a thing.

Mind you, having heard tales of what the Plym Estuary was like before the council turned the marshes into a rubbish dump, I could believe almost anything of the old days!

[Ranger James]

Single spotted redshank recorded two days ago from the Seaton Marshes bird hide. Thats the first one for at least 12 months, a very infrequent bird in this neck of the woods.
James

[Ranger James]

Originally Posted by Susy

David,
Just to say I've seen groups of spotteds on the Axe estuary here in Devon in winter that were still in summer plumage (going back some years now!). They appeared for several winters but then never saw them again. I don't get that way much now which I suspect James does!

Hi Susy,

Its an interesting sighting, not only because spreaddies are seldom seen on the Axe in recent years, but the colour phase. I know there is a black-tailed godwit on the Exe in the wrong plumage patterns year in, year out. I wonder how common this phenomenon is? Its surprising it hasn't been picked off by a peregrine - in a floack of grey birds a russet bird is very conspicuous, even to human eyes!

James

[scampo]

Originally Posted by russkie

hi - taken at salt pans - costa de la luz

i think this is a spotted redshank - corrections welcomed

cheers Nigel

Easy to mistake - except the bill, Nigel. Spotted's beak is much longer - oddly long in fact when you see it next to a redshank. Another easy mix up is with a juvenile ruff - they often have very red legs, but in their case, their bill is short looking.