I was pretty excited to find my first rarity for South Africa at the beginning of our lark extravaganza trip (on 8 December), two Common Redshanks at the De Plaat mudflats in Veldriff. This area is well known for attracting rare shorebirds, and we were in the area looking for, among other birds, the recently reported Red-necked Phalaropes (which we didn't see, unfortunately). The redshanks were about 200 meters away, but as soon as I got the scope on them their identity was obvious. They had long, bright red legs, long, straight, red-based bills, and were approximately the size and shape of the many nearby Common Greenshanks. Because of the distance photography was difficult, but I managed to digiscope a few identifiable images, which are posted below.
Other birds of lesser note in the area were an Osprey, 5 Marsh Sandpipers, and 12 Eurasian Curlews.
The second and fourth images are the originals. With the first and third images I've used photoshop to adjust the lighting, but I have not tampered with the colors. Click on the photos to enlarge them.
No comments:
Post a Comment