[clydebirder]

Originally Posted by Merlin

I base my ID on the lack of a prominent white supercilium before the eye (which can be seen on your pics of Green Sandpiper), also you can see the undertail, with a Green Sandpiper you should be able to see the bars, there are none visible on this bird. A little less convincing is the bill just about looks to have a redish tinge, but that could be my monitor

Hi Merlin

thanks for your reply, I think bassist was worried it would start a war although I have seen that almost being the case on other forums but certainly never on this one.

How promenant the supercilium looks is dependant on the light the photo was taken in. My images were taken in bright light but from what I can see it was duller when bassist took the image, the tail section in view is the uppertail and with Green Sandpiper the outer tail feathers can appear mostly white (which isn't the case with Redshank), Redshank also show barring on the vent which again isn't apparent in this image although this could be because the image is soft focussed (I can't see any red on bill either), the bill is still troubling me as in Redshank it should be shorter and stouter (which as I said earlier doesn't mean I'm right), if it wasn't for the bill size and shape I would probably have been happier about it being a Redshank but it has left the element of doubt in my head, Mike was right about the Peregrine and you and Mike may well be right about this one too but I just have some niggling doubts, it's all good fun tho I hope.

cheers, John

GREEN SANDPIPER, note tail and dull eyestripe