We were very fortunate with a sunny though chilly day for our RPS outing to Hunstanton and an abundance of waders to keep the cameras clicking. The Oystercatchers were present in the largest numbers so here is a day in their life from warming in the morning sunshine, searching for good spots to rest, joining large flocks at high tide, to feeding as the tide and the sun go down.
Yesterday the RPS Nature Group managed a shortish morning's bird photography before the rain set in which was fine as most people were journeying considerable distances back home. There were very large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover settling on the scrapes in beautiful light showing off their colourful but very good camouflage plumage in with Teal, Dunlin, Wigeon etc. Down on the beach there weren't the expected numbers of waders, certainly compared with the huge flocks at Hunstanton, but most of the species were there in small numbers. Here a couple of Bar-Tailed Godwits and an Oystercatcher with mussel. A lone Black-winged Stilt with a ring (?escapee) posed beautifully.
Our first stop yesterday morning was at Hoylake to watch the wader flocks as the tide drove the birds towards us. Here just a sample - maybe others to come when processed. I was attracted by the light and dark as the birds changed aspect.
