A surprisingly quiet beach in the late afternoon and early evening so tried my luck and laid down in the sand and hoped for a group of Sanderling (7 in total, of which 6 in breeding plumage) to approach while the tide was coming in. After an hour or so they came closer and were happily feeding around me within 15-20 foot.
Somewhat unexpected there was a noticeable increase of sea birds (gulls, gannets) flying north around 7pm. Not sure if this is part of a daily pattern or related to the changing weather which did worsen soon after. Whatever the reason was it gave me the opportunity to photograph a Bar-tailed Godwit (7:12pm), a Great Skua (7:16pm) and 17 Manx Shearwater (about half a mile offshore at 7:18pm), all passing within 6 minutes and flying north.
Heiko Peters
