Wading Birds

As a second year student we have to devise our own assignment - I have chosen, as you have probably guessed reading this blog, Wading Birds.
I am slowly earning the nickname of 'bird lady' - and the verdict on whether I embrace this is still undecided!! However, I wanted to challenge myself to really gain an understanding the science and conservation of this species of bird, whereas prior to Falmouth, my endeavours as a photographer were simply to photograph them.

Little Egret   Egretta garzetta

On starting my research, I quickly learned that time was not on my side with most waders migrating to their summer breeding grounds in March/April and so the race was on!

Wintering sites in Cornwall, where wading birds gather in large flocks are few and far between, with the Hayle Estuary being one of them. This is an important site for overwintering birds, especially when the winter is harsh and a lot of the sites further east/north have frozen over.

The Camel Estuary is another wintering site as is the Tamar, with smaller sites, where you may see one or two waders, dotted around Cornwall.

I have managed so far to visit Hayle and Ryan's field and this first visit was a huge success from the point of view of bird numbers and species present, and in my ignorance i thought that these would be there every time I visited. Two days later when I visited again they had gone - and I have not been as lucky to see such numbers in my subsequent visits.