Meadow Pipit

By now most of the migrants have arrived (later than usual) and the countryside is awash with the sights and sounds of Summer.  I was out on Bull Island on Saturday and the place was literally alive with migrants.  There were Chiff Chaffs, Willow Warblers, Reed Bunting, Wheatear, Skylarks and a few Grasshopper Warblers all to be had in the dunes in and around the reed bed just off the Bull Wall.

As high tide approached I left the dunes and headed around by the Sea Scouts to see if anything of interest was amongst the Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank and Dunlin which were being slowly shepherded towards the shingle by the rising tide.  There were no smalls of interest, however there were seven Whimbrel moving along the shore ahead of the tide, I'll post some shots of these later on in the week.

Black-Tailed Godwits

I planned a recent trip to Swords (Broadmeadow Estuary) to arrive an hour before high tide.  Broadmeadow can be a great place to get up close with the birds on the Estuary.  There is so much activity with walkers and runners on the footpath its almost as if the regular birds on the estuary have learned to live with human traffic and are that bit tamer than some birds elsewhere.

Anyway, here are some shots I got of the Black-Tailed Godwits in the run up to high tide.  Most of these birds will be off to their breeding grounds much further north soon enough, you can see the beautiful rusty orange colouring taking hold on some of their coats, a sure sign they wont be here too much longer.