May 2025 Photo Information

Animal and Camera Details

May

Species shown: ruff (calidris pugnax)

Rufs breed in northern Europe and Asia, outside of the breeding seaon they occur in southern Europe, southern Asia and Africa. This photo was taken in the Netherlands and shows a male in breeding plumage and a female. Although they no longer breed in the Netherlands, or only to a very little extent, they already have their breeding plumage and show courtship behavior before they go north to the breeding areas.

Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, their IUCN red list category is ‘least concern’.

The photo was taken with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm at f/7.1, 1/2500s ISO1000