Bird Watching or Twitching in Andalucia Southern Spain
April 2005, Redshank, Tringa totanus
The redshank is mainly a winter migrant into the area from the very cold northern and central parts of Europe and Scandanavia. It is resident all year in the UK. A very few breed in Spain. It is a grey brown, dark spotted wader with bright orange - red legs. Its bill also has a red base. In winter the plumage looks almost uniformly grey.
This one was seen at Sotogrande in an area just back from the beach west of the development area. It was alone with a flight of black winged stilts in a brackish marshy area where it was using its long bill at the water margins to find worms and small crustaceans.