Red legs (and no I am not talking about sunburn) have been causing a stir at Skalanes. Mainly because they belong to our first chicks of the 2011 season. We have so far seen two redshank (Tringa totanus) chicks running around in the meadow just above the centre.
The redshank are clever and have nested right in the middle of the Arctic Tern colony, who are now getting quite aggressive towards the gulls and ravens, thus providing our little redshank family with a certain degree of protection.
The amazing thing is that the female redshank must have incubated her eggs right through the snow and heavy rain that we have had, so it is brilliant to see these first little chicks running around...and boy can they run. Have a look below and see the size of those red legs!!
 |
| redshank chick showing that they can run when needed |
 |
| redshank chick pausing for the camera! |
Redshank are a medium-sized wading bird with longish red legs and a long, straight bill. In the UK in winter, as many as half of the birds in Britain may be from Iceland (RSPB). They feed on insects, earthworms, molluscs and crustaceans in coastal areas and in wet marshes and bogs. Find out more about redshank at this link: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redshank/index.aspx |
No comments:
Post a Comment