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In autumn and winter South Walney attracts flocks of waders. Finding them requires patience and field-craft. This is tidal salt-marsh and tides determine when and where birds will be. We reach the hide to see geese feeding on the water's edge. They're light-bellied Brent Geese over-wintering here. I last saw them at Loch Ryan, Stranraer. The hide looks east and the low sun is in the south so illumination enhances but does not define them. Head and neck are dark and the mantle resembles a dark cape tied beneath the pale belly. Thrilling to find Brent Geese at New Year. The light plays on them as they swim, showing them bright and dark by turns.
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The new arrivals are Knot, a winter visitor from Iceland, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic- their summer breeding grounds. Salt marsh is an important eco-system and South Walney's mud-flats, coastal salt marsh, seaweed and wrack make ideal feeding grounds. Knot are waders that feed on small invertebrates, like worms and molluscs.
Counting large flocks is a skill that takes practice. On 17th December 2024 South Walney Bird Observatory recorded 400 light-bellied Brent Geese and a flock of 3,364 Knot.
A couple of hours after high-tide birds will feed on newly-exposed feeding zones, dispersing as the tide recedes, further and further from the shore.
The highlight of the day is the interlude with Brent Geese and Knot, the swirling flocks. Completing a circuit, we look out across the salt-marsh toward Piel Castle. All is brilliantly lit, two curlew frame the castle and we come home with an image of a Curlew in flight.
What a glorious day on South Walney!