Spotted, but not Spotted

One wader that seems to set more problems for my customers than any others is the winter plumage Spotted Redshank.

In summer plumage when the bird is as black as coal from bill tip to toe nail … no problem. It;s when it enters the cold grey plumage of winter it takes on the guise of its commoner cousin. A half decent flight view will sort Common Redshank from Spotted; the lack of white on the trailing edge of the wings is obvious. On the deck the dark eyestripe and white supercilium which appears to extend the length of the thin drooping bill being the most obvious. The whiter belly and grey plumage are also good pointers to it being spotted. This one was photographed at Kelling the other day.