Psilos
Bird Journal |
Sunday November
26th 2006 |
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"A
purple mission" |
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Having promises of good weather
for the weekend change so many times it was obvious that yet again the
weather men didnt have a clue what they were doing and we would just
have to take advantage of any decent weather we got. This weekend I
also had all my children in tow and so if I got any photography done
at all it would indeed be a bonus. Promises on my part of sandy beaches
and rock pools were bribery enough to get my youngest children interested
in visiting any of my "birding" places. |
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My main target bird for today was the Purple Sandpiper. A small elusive bird that I hadnt seen for over twenty years and had never photographed. Local sources told me that a few birds had been seen up on the rocks at New Brighton so that was my first port of call. Thankfully the weathermen had been largely right and the weather was superb. Clear blue skies, warm and virtually no wind. Perfect photography conditions. Reaching New Brighton the tide had only just turned. The place was very busy, packed with families with children and people walking their dogs. Leaving my children to explore the rockpools there I went to photograph the only birds that were brave enough to be feeding by the shoreline. The Turnstone is a very tough approachable little wader and he did oblige me for a while but with the sound of screaming children in my ears close behind even they werent going to stop around for long. |
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With the disturbance at a high
I decided not to wait for high tide in New Brighton and set out for
Hoylake. Hoylake is less of a family place and more of a birding beach
so thought I would have more luck here. How right I was to be! |
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Driving down the
coast road looking out over the beach at Hoylake there were thousands
of waders. Knot, Redshank, Turnstone, Dunlin, Godwit, Curlew and Oystercatchers
all in one fabulous mix. The air was full of their excited twittering
as the incoming tide pushed them closer to shore and drove them into
a feeding frenzy. The rising tide would split them into smaller groups
and like a Mexican wave the group left in the deeper water would suddenly
take flight and land behind the rest of the flock to begin feeding again
in shallower water. |
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Feeding in such
large flocks gives added security and the birds are always on the look
out for danger. When danger threatens the Knot stand upright alert,
with their necks stretched tall and the intensity of the twittering
increases. (photo below) |
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Quicker than we
can blink the whole flock takes to the skies. There is a very real danger
about...... |
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