From Morecambe Hide The musical call of redshank, sentinel of the marshes, rings out. They scurry through shallow water in search of food. A pair mates in a flurry of wings close to the hide. A blue sky and white cumulus is mirrored in the water and the distant wood is a pool of darkness. A dense flock of Black-tailed godwit roosts in a shadowy surround. Beyond, a scatter of Black-headed gull gleams white.
All seems tranquil and still but the light changes with the interplay of sunlight and cloud and there's a choreography amongst the birds, both subtle and dynamic.
All seems tranquil and still but the light changes with the interplay of sunlight and cloud and there's a choreography amongst the birds, both subtle and dynamic.
A scatter of Redshank and Black-tailed godwit feeds close to the hide. Redshank scurry through shallow water a if trying to escape from their reflections. The flock of Black-tailed godwit is at a distance but spotlit and birds show in breeding plumage and brick-red head and chest give warmth to the flock which includes black and white non-breeding godwit and an Icelandic population. Large numbers overwinter in the UK, joined by others on passage in spring. Only some hundred pairs breed here.
A flock of Lapwing flies over the hide, to and fro in a whoosh of beating wings, to settle on a shoal behind the Black-tailed godwit. Amongst them are a few Dunlin and how tiny they are compared to the lapwing. Something startles the Godwit and they fly up in a panic, swirl about and come down closer to the hide in a looser formation that includes teal.
A soft-coloured and long-legged Greenshank feeds in the silts, with Redshank and Black-tailed godwit. Panic strikes the Godwit flock and they take to the air and now come down close to the hide but colour fades from them as the sky has become overcast. The birds settle and I can hear a low babble amongst the flock as they feed and preen.
Greenshank breed in Northern Scotland in the Flow Country and are seen here on passage.
When the Godwit take to the air a third time the light is poor but they come down closer and again in a looser formation which my images show.
Greenshank breed in Northern Scotland in the Flow Country and are seen here on passage.
When the Godwit take to the air a third time the light is poor but they come down closer and again in a looser formation which my images show.
Two hours at Morecambe Hide and far longer to study images and interpret what we saw. I'm not done yet.
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