Wildlife Photographic Journals

Sand Bank Fishing

Living by the River Mersey estuary you get accustomed to the ebb and flow of the tide and how the local shore birds interact with the ever changing conditions. Normally the best photographic opportunities occur at high water but I decided to head out early on Saturday morning on a rapidly dropping tide to be greeted with some lovely light conditions (for a change!!) Recently numbers of Little Egrets have been increasing in the area I often visit with 12 birds now present. On arrival a few egrets were mixed in with a large flock of gulls feeding on small fish trapped in small pools and being washed down shallow gullies through the sand bank. I decided to sit it out on the sea wall and see if any birds would come in close to feed in the gulley, close to the base of the sea defenses. One bird was making good progress towards me until sacred off by a dogwalker.There is a group of grey herons that roost in a nearby pasture at high water and reappear as the tide drops away to join the fishing flocks. Generally herons are not the most approachable of birds so the best opportunities tend to be presented during fly-bys. We have some big tides at the moment (9 metres +) that sculpts the sand into interesting patterns and the speed of the ebbing water running down one of the channels can be seen in the background of this photo. Certainly somewhere I would not recommend falling in to. Landing gear down...and air brakes on Overall a very enjoyable short session with the herons and egrets and something I intend to repeat in the future when the light is again favourable.