Wading/coastal birds ID Part 1 (6 Viewers)

[John P]

Spotted redshank for me.

Do Greenshanks normally gather and snooze like that in those sort of numbers?

Spotshanks certainly do.

 

[Chi-wai]

Tim

You travel the world but you not know what Spotted Redshanks are.

These birds are definite Greenshanks - look at bill structure for obvious.

I hope you all don't go to south-west in wintertime - you will see lots of Spotted Redshanks then.

I sure these are Greenshank.

Chi-wai

 

[kingfishers]

I'm with John P - I have never seen greenshanks in a group like this and one bird clearly has dark red legs.

 

[Chi-wai]

The middle of last three picture to me prove they are Greenshank - 16 Greenshank (with the 2 half bird on right) and 1 Common Redshank in direct middle at the front.

Look at size differing from Greenshank to the 1 Redshank - they are bigger! Spotted Redshank will be thinner, slighter than Common Redshank and bill will be more thin and not pale grey at the start.

Please listen to Ghostly Vision, these birds I would be 100% guarantee are the Greenshank.

I don't want to be hear of you claiming Marsh Sandpipers or anything either cos they flock as well.

Why people making silly judgement on these as Spotted Redshank as they are in a flock - is it me only who sees Greenshank in groups?

 

[Jane Turner]

In the new pic - with two birds awake it suddenly becomes apparent that these are Greenshank.

That was amusing!

 

[Dermot Breen]

I can't see where people are getting Spotted Redshanks from?! The birds in the very first shot were obviously Greenshank to my eyes. The reason why the legs of the awake bird look red is because the image has been blown up so much (have a look at the bird immediately to the right in the same shot).

Dermot

 

[mountain man]

I refuse to believe that this was as straightforward as some are now suggesting. I think monitors play a big part in many of these problems. On my screen these birds always looked like Greenshank, but I've seen comments posted on BF about birds in the past such as leg colour, bill size etc... and had to ask myself "Really?" and I now realise that it's largely down to your monitor. Another thread going on recently really baffled me as to what people were seeing in the photos - but because they were a few of Birdforum's tried and tested 'ID gurus', and people whos opinions I've really come to respect, I just reckoned it was down to screen discrepancies.

It's very easy to be confident after a debate has been resolved.

Keep rockin'

Tommo

PS Mark, why didn't you post the picture of the 2 awake birds in the first place?

 

[Ghostly Vision]

I refuse to believe that this was as straightforward as some are now suggesting. Another thread going on recently really baffled me as to what people were seeing in the photos - but because they were a few of Birdforum's tried and tested 'ID gurus', and people whos opinions I've really come to respect, I just reckoned it was down to screen discrepancies.

It's very easy to be confident after a debate has been resolved.

Tommo mylad

Hear hear on whether it was easy from the start. I could see both species every time I looked!

To which ID thread do you refer?

GV

ps at least you don't have to go to the Shets on Tuesday now!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I said right at the beginning that awake bird was probably a Spotted Redshank and the others were Greenshank. That's still my view.

 

[Edward woodwood]

me too

 

[Ghostly Vision]

"I said right at the beginning that awake bird was probably a Spotted Redshank and the others were Greenshank. That's still my view.
__________________
Andrew "

"me too" (Tim Allwood)

But Timmeeeh, you also said


"Spotted Redshanks

the reasons have all been given

Tim"

Since you pluralised, which other bird is a Spotted redshank?

Sorry lads, but I do think they are all Greenshanks. There is nothing different in the awake bird to any of the others in the photos, apart from the legs, which I think are indeed ringed.

As for flocks of Greenshanks or Spotshanks, well I've seen Greenshanks in flocks (admittedly not quite as many as this), but I've never seen Spotshanks flock like this.

GV

 

[Grousemore]

I think monitors play a big part in many of these problems. On my screen these birds always looked like Greenshank, but I've seen comments posted on BF about birds in the past such as leg colour, bill size etc... and had to ask myself "Really?" and I now realise that it's largely down to your monitor.

I agree and Andrew W. made a similar point recently.

I'd assumed that those seeing colours and details that I couldn't had better computer equipment?


I've also seen Spotshanks in flocks; most recently at Elmley Marshes.

 

[John o'Sullivan]

I've given up trying to I.D. photos. Hardly any of them make any sense to my eyes.
On the monitor issue, on mine the awake bird has a red left leg and a green right leg.

 

[Edward woodwood]

Hi Sean

i didn't even look at the other birds...

the one in question was dodgy enough to id as it was

it does have very red legs on my screen though

i stopped doing these pix for quite a while as they were becoming a lottery and i was beginning to confuse myself... reckon i'd better knock it on the head again for a while... give me a nice close up gull or acro anyday

Ciao
Tim

 

[nessie]

Greenshanks don't always seem to have green legs; as i recently learned :h?:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=39141&highlight=juvenile+redshank

On my monitor the bird looks ringed too.

Natalie

 

[dbradnum]

I'm not going to go into the leg colour issue again - I think monitors must enter into this significantly, as Tom Mc and others have suggested. I can still see what I described earlier.

However, I will add that Greenshanks DO occasionally flock together and roost like this at times; I've seen it at Farlington (Hants), in September last year. A quick Google search mentions that flocks of over 50 have been seen there.

Anyway, this goes to show that IDing birds from photos is potentially far harder than in the field! I can't say I've ever had problems distinguishing Spotshank from Greenshank 'for real'... but put them on a screen and they suddenly get nightmarish!

 

[jmorlan]

The bill shape on the two birds that are awake look much better for Greenshank to me. The legs seem dull greenish on all the birds, except on one bird that I think may have color band on it. I'll vote for Greenshanks except I'm not sure about the darker sleeping bird on front right. It looks a little smaller and might be something different.

 

[psilo]

I would have said greenshank too even though I am not an expert. As far as seeing them in large numbers goes I have watched them in wales during the autumn in very large numbers at a time all mixed in with the red shanks.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

The bill shape on the two birds that are awake look much better for Greenshank to me. The legs seem dull greenish on all the birds, except on one bird that I think may have color band on it. I'll vote for Greenshanks except I'm not sure about the darker sleeping bird on front right. It looks a little smaller and might be something different.

The two awake birds in the most recent picture are Greenshanks. It's not those birds that are in dispute but the awake bird in the initial picture.

 

[pduxon]

have to say I had to do a double take when I started reading about red legs on the awake bird in picture one! The right leg looks green but there is a hint of red on the left I put it down to the ring.

Got to say I'd go with Greenshank - so that is prob an argument for Spot Red!