Wirral's Waders

For some time I have been wanting to visit the Wirral to observe and photograph the large numbers of waders that feed and roost along the Dee estuary. It is a well known spot amongst photographers for seeing huge flocks of mainly knot and other waders as they are pushed up the beaches by the high tides.On Tuesday of this week I finally got round to going to see the hoped for spectacle.The Christmas and New Year storms had finally moved on and the weather was beginning to settle down.On arrival however there was a squall and heavy rain and very strong winds persisted for a while.It did settle down but strong winds persisted throughout my stay and made photography difficult at times.
At this location the very big tides push the large wader flocks very close to the promenade and make close up photography possible.On Tuesday however the tides were not as big and the birds didn't come that close but I still managed a few shots the best of which are shown above.Even at this popular location there is disturbance to the  roosting birds by dog walkers who seem to take great delight in flushing the roosting birds,much to the annoyance of birdwatchers and photographers.I have shown one such example above.
I am looking forward to a return visit at the end of the month when more high tides should bring the thousands of knot and dunlin much closer to the lens.Thanks for looking in and I will be out and about again soon looking for more action from our feathered friends.