Tuesday 18 April 2017

Stunning Spotted Redshank

Having seen some excellent pics of the rather smart Spotted Redshank at Goosemoor from Steph Murphy and Jo King I thought I'd pop over to see it yesterday morning (17th). I was lucky with cloud cover as it would have been side-lit without it; not what you want with a dark coloured bird.





The patch had a fall this morning with Ian Mc finding some good birds on Beer Head; he had a female Pied Flycatcher and 5 Redstarts (3m, 2f) amongst others. It was a while before I could get up there for a look around so I thought some of the birds may have moved through by the time I had cleared my work. It was worth a look around anyway and I caught up with 3 Redstarts (1m, 2f), 3 Wheatear and 30+ Willow Warblers although there would likely have been many more of the latter in the bushes at the base of the cliffs as there was a lot of activity down there. I didn't manage to find the Pied Flycatcher in the area it was showing earlier on in the day but did hear a Grasshopper Warbler reeling. Heat haze and distance made taking good pics impossible but it was worth taking a couple snaps of a male Redstart anyway:




An evening visit to Black Hole Marsh yielded 1 LRP (briefly), 5 Dunlin, 1 Common Sand and 1 Whimbrel. 7 Cattle Egret flew over Axmouth with 6 in one group initially then a single with a Little Egret about 10 mins later.


4 comments:

  1. They are great shots. I love the Spot Reds markings, such a handsome bird. The Redstart is a cracking little bird, nicely captured. You really need more time off work Tim!!!

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    1. Thanks Steph and thanks for the info, was well worth the trip!

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  2. Don't listen to Steph, you shouldn't give up the day job.

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    1. Think she just meant I need to find time to get out and about birding in more places. Managing to spend a decent amount of time out on patch at the moment as it can fit around work quite nicely. Certainly much easier now than previous years ☺

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