All Change

Well it's nearly the August bank holiday, the harbinger of Autumn and the final nail in the coffin of the summer. And this past week the Dee has been saturated with waders, a sign I always assosciate with Autumn and the coming Winter. As I walked down to King's Gap this past Tuesday, the wind up the high street to the train station was testament to this seasonal change, and it was this wind that pushed the tide and the birds up the beach towards the onlookers on the promanade. As ever the flock remained initially distant...



But before long the outlying birds reached my position, prone as I was on the muddied sands of the estuary edge. The first to arrive are nearly always the Ringed Plovers, who neatly separate them off from the flock as a whole and feed on the peripheral edge closest to the shore...



As if it wasn't Autumnal enough, the big clouds of rain that pressed ominously down opened and drenched me and the birds...



The showers were intermitent, so by messing with shutter speeds I achieved a number of different shots of the birds in many different conditions...



The odd dogwalker always disrupts proceedings, but the birds always return to the same few positions...



...the wind also blew loose sands at the birds (and into my lens!), which- to judge from their expressions- they weren't too keen on...






As the tide drew closer, the birdlife changed and Dunlin like this became easier to snap. This one was ringed high up on the leg with a BTO ring, it would be awesome to see where it was ringed and where it breeds, my bet's on the Shetland Isles!



This fine Ringed Plover had retained almost full summer plumage, and was easy to pick out of the flock...



This Dunlin was an amazing individual, as it had no feet and one leg. It was equally harrowing and hilarious watching it trying to land on the loose sand at the water's edge, trying to balance it's weight on it's pegleg...





As high tide approached, the birds started to calm their feeding and rest a little...



As mentioned previously, it's the Plovers that tend to inhabit the shoreward side of the flock. The seaward side is primarily occupied by Sandering (as well as the ubiquitous Dunlin), the former of whom are constantly running in and out of the flotsam like tiny clockwork toys. This one stopped long enough for a snap...



I really love this pose...



As the tide continued in, the birds started to wheel high above the sands, and as they settled to landing again I tried to catch that moment the air brakes go on and the undercarriage is deployed...



...Some are quicker on the uptake than others, and some come round for a second pass...



It's amazing to see the flock mentality, it's almost like an elastic band; the birds wheel out to one side, and if a sufficient number leaves then the band breaks and the birds start to move off. If too few leave, then the birds return to their feeding. I wonder if there's a specific threshold, a miniumum size for a splinter flock if you will...



...But enough of that, it's enjoyable enough just watching the colours change as the birds wheel..



This sea of golden birds will soon be silver...



And so another season starts, and I'm not just talking about the football. Though that's always pretty exciting.

Snowed Under

Anyone visiting this blog over the last few weeks would be dissapointed. Its a bit barren, i've been out and about with the camera but that's all i've done. Everything that has happened seems to have happened all at one. First my computer packed in again, then A levels REALLY started, then I said i'd do D of E, then I started appreciating how much I really do love sleep.

Don't get me wrong, I do love a night with just me and a stackload of photos to edit but I literally haven't had the time to do this, every evening is a maelstrom of Biology and Physics, every weekend a vain attempt to cram as much birding in as time allows. All in all this isn't a very satisfactory arrangement. So here I am again, hands held aloft and ready to regail whoever reads this with tales of birding and the like.

First off since I last posted i've been on the wader trail on the Dee. This is something I do every year (as i'm so original!) but of late have had to watch my step because of some animosity at certain roosts relating to the disturbance of the birds there. This is a photo blog and not a soap box and i'm not preaching or naming names, but it saddens me that one of my favourite places in the world is off limits now. Ah well, here's a Sanderling from afar in some rare sun...!

...and a little closer...

...I love these wee birds and their shorefront antics, like little clockwork toys! Now the next set of photos require a little background. I was out on the Dee (again) looking for waders when a shadow passed me. Not a real shadow, as that would require sun and obviously there was none of that, but a black shape against the obstinately grey sky. It moved quick down the estuary before pulling sharply up and meeting another shadow in the air. The two pigeon-esque birds tusselled for a bit with the sea behind. This was to be the theme of the day, for I was sharing my patch with a pair of Merlin.

Regular readers (or the singular, I don't know how many of you there are!) will have seen my shots from last year where i'd have only got closer to Merlin by shoving my lens up its arse. Not quite so this time, but I could still appreciate this bird even if it was sitting so far away the curve of the earth prevented eye contact...

...and indulging in some fencing...

...bit pissed off about the way the fence obscures it a bit but its such a great bird you could stick a golden statue of Jimmy Saville in shot and it'd still be OK. Because of this little beauty the wader count was on the low side, so when the light fell behind the point of ayr and the talacre dunes were bathed in golden light I crawled along the dee looking for em. First a Turnstone...

...then the 'oh God look at the light' shot...

...and as some bastard dog came out to me I managed this of a Redshank, to date my favourite wader shot I think...

...you got to love dog walkers haven't you? I returned home on the Merseyrail stinking of seaweed, covered in mud and listening to Green Day. Such is the live of the modern teenager.

And another thing, i've made a hide! I say made. And I say hide. Its a hole in the shed with hinges and a lock basically, but its actually given me a couple of hours of great birding so far. This fella has been the star so far, but I look forward to whatever it brings to me...!

So there you have it, a varied month to say the least! Couple that to my adjustments to sixth form (and the nagging feeling that I need to think about the future) and you'll see that its been an odd few weeks, but i'm off to bonny Scotland for a week which'll be right laugh. I hope...

Wirral Waders

Only my second post and already an unholy number of waders! I went onto a beach recently, one of my favourite habitats for photography, with loads of waders at close range, particularly at high tide.

I started on some local marshland, where I found this lovely stonechat, even if he refused to be lit properley...

I was then cut off from walking the scenic route along the coast, so I cut inland, ending at another beach about high tide, with loads of birds massing on the beach. Furthest of the birds are always the largest, in this instance the Grey Plover, this striking summer plumage birds catching the eye.

Its a huge flock, make no mistake! Closest, and the only birds feeding were the Sanderling, my target...

They were moving towards me, and soon I was engulfed in a feeding frenzy...

This flock moved along all too quickly so I moved onto the stationary birds. There were a good c.5000 birds, of which the foremost were Sanderling and Dunlin, but the main body were the more numerous Knot. The wonderfully peaceful looking waders are photogenic in the extreme...

 But its still fun trying to capture stragglers coming in the back...

But possibly my favourite of the day, the Dunlin who likes a wee stretch!

A really enjoyable day out with the waders, I wish I could continue this life of rielly through the winter, but I've got exams, so i'll grit my teeth and resist the temptation.