Shanks on the Hayle Estuary

1st October 2021

The tide was out at the Hayle Estuary so fairly quiet in terms of bird numbers, but it did mean that the numerous creeks were fairly low with lots of exposed mud........and small crabs. I was able to find one such creek which ran parallel to a car park which gave me a great vantage point. Here both Redshanks and Greenshanks were making the most of the large numbers of crabs that were clearly visible in the shallow clear water so time to try and get close for some shots.

Didn't take this Redshank long to find its first crab.

Always think that even the brown and white Redshank looks stunning against a dark blue water background.

And now for the Greenshanks and they too lost no time in cashing in on the crabs.

All I can say is that the behaviour of the shanks in Cornwall is quite different to those at home. Here I was photographing them from the top of a bank with no hide or any sort of cover at a range of just 10 yards. Amazing!!