Turning tide

When I arrived at the Dip at Far Arnside, the high tide was just beginning to ebb. My original plan had been to go onto Leighton Moss, but instead I stood entranced by the constant movements of the wading birds. In this photo, the oystercatchers which had been waiting out the high tide on the thin remaining band of mud, are becoming alert, and occasionally a small group would fly off to feed. As well as the eighteen oysties in this frame, there are two knots feeding at the retreating water's edge.

I'm not used to seeing as many birds here as there were this morning. Perhaps it's that I don't often pass at high tide when they are roosting, and also that in this easily accessible spot, they are often flushed by walkers on the pebbley beach. There were tight little flocks of dunlin actively feeding at first then quickly dispersing on the ebbing tide. Out on the water there was a small flock of pintails, and beyond other ducks that I would have needed my scope to identify.

Morecambe Bay is so vast, that when the tide goes out the thousands of wading birds are lost as they disperse to feed on the uncovered mudflats. The ebb of the tide is so quick, we can only imagine the huge volumes of water that flow into and out of the Bay with each tide.

Referring to yesterday's blip, I'm glad that a few people noticed the extra!