Mallorcan Waders

Back in April I spent a week on the island of Mallorca in Spain. Having been there quite a few times, I had a few species that I wanted to get better shots of. At that time of year you never know what you could find, with migration in full swing from Africa.
I spent quite a bit of time at the S'Albufera Marsh, in the north east of the island. It's a very large reserve with a great amount of birds. No two days are ever the same here, with something different to see on each visit. This post will show some of the wading birds I saw at the reserve.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Black-winged Silt

Black-winged Stilt

Green Sandpiper

Greenshank

Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule

Common Snipe

Spotted Redshank

Leighton Moss Waders

Back in September I spent a couple of mornings at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve in Lancashire. The target was waders and hopefully some nice reflective shots. Of course things never really go to plan and with a breeze picking up on the first visit, the perfect mirror reflection was never going to happen. On the second visit the levels were so low that there was more mud than water. Still, a few good shots were taken and here's a selection.

Black-tailed Godwit

Greenshank

Great White Egret

Greenshank

Greenshank

Spotted Redshank

Dunlin

Little Egret

Waders from Mallorca

Greenshanks and Spotted Redshanks were frequently feeding in front of the hides at S'albufera in Mallorca. They weren't in abundance though with only several about. Annoyingly the two species didn't seem to get on and would chase each other from their favoured feeding spots. Typically this would happen just as they were coming into photographic range, so a bit of patience was needed for these shots. Especially the Spotted Redshanks that seldom put their heads at the desired angle, getting some light in the eye was a bit of a struggle. We did however strike lucky with a very close Greenshank, at a roadside location from the car, hence the headshot.

Greenshank

Spotted Redshank