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.

 

 

 

The expected and the unexpected

During the week I spent a little time walking the shingle banks on the coastline.

The wind was up but the sun was bright and when it got the chance I could feel it warming my back through several layers of fleece.

A Fieldfare struggled in off the sea and I watched four Snow Buntings scatter as a Merlin Stooped through them nearly taking my head off in the process. An unusual sight was up to twenty or so male Blue Tits amid the low vegetation along the shingle. Perhaps they were continental birds; as I watched them they flew high to the south, indicating to me they probably were. Perhaps something more expected was the Redshank in one of the shingle pools. He didn’t like me too close and objected with head bobbing and loud calls as I passed.