Out yesterday at high tide on the beach

 Could this be a Whimbrel?

Getting a little fed up with encroaching water

No walking along there today

The lane at the far end is usually where I come down to look at the beach - I hadn't checked the tide book before starting out, good thing I came around to walk on the other side.

Not sure what a few of these waders are, can anyone put a name to them?   No. 1

No. 2

I did too many yesterday so will only put a couple more today

I thought these were pintail but they have red legs??

Any id's would be good, thanks

Gaynor

  • Great stuff Gaynor, duck on right is drake Mallard ( see his curly tail?), that's as much as I can ID!
  • Lovely shots, Gaynor. Your first wader is a Curlew. Whimbrel would generally be a less 'warm' looking brown, with a more disinct pale band above the eye making them look like they have a dark sripe through the eye. Also the bill on Whimbrel would look almost as if it decided to curve down at the last moment, rather than a more gradual curve like in Curlew.

    Your second wader is a Redshank. :-)

  • Thanks you very much Wendy and Paul, I should have known Mallard but no green showing on head put me off completely, now I know - look for curly tail. Paul there is a big difference between those two isn't there, now I know and will be able to look out for totally different features. Thought I had a chance with the stripe running through the eye but the Whimbrel is much sleeker and even the beak isn't as long. Brilliant id's from you both.
  • Lovely set Gaynor, I love to see Curlews and hear them and looks like you had a good outing despite not being able to venture up the flooded lane !
    @ Paul, really helpful comparisons, thanks. I've never seen a Whimbrel (as far as I know ! ) but seen hundreds of Curlew.
  • PS Just returned from walk at dusk to listen for the Redshank flying over - in their hundreds? Iolo was talking today on radio wales and we heard the tsk tsk of the call. No......I neither heard nor saw anything:-( !! Nice and misty too!!! so they would have been flying low - apparently!!!
  • Nice photos Gaynor, very high tide, good job you came the other way otherwise you would have needed either a boat or waterproofs up to your armpits!!
  • Gaynor your not the only one learning, i have four bird books that help me but I still struggle to identify some birds. The good thing is we have a lot of experts to ask on here who are always happy to help.
  • Thanks Hazy and Catlady, the tide is high at the moment, tomorrow the biggest one, just as well the wind is light or we would be getting a battering.
  • gaynorsl said:
    but the Whimbrel is much sleeker

    The comparison photo here only really show different poses from the two birds, which I think only coincidentally makes the Whimbrel look sleeker than the Curlew in this particular photo. I suspect if the poses were reversed, the Curlew would perhaps have looked sleeker than the Whimbrel.  

    The markings on the head are what will make a Whimbrel initially stand out as different.

    If you’re reasonably used to seeing Curlews, you’ll notice a Whimbrel relatively easily when you do see one. The first time I saw one was when I was on my own with no-one there to tell me any differently, and it stood out immediately as being somewhat different to what I was used to seeing. :-)

  • You better make another local trip out soon Gaynor as I see Wales is going into lockdown on Friday until 9th Nov;  I can see more areas following so it's going to be a L-O-N-G  winter   MaskWeary