As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, myself and Sarah have differing views about the best time of the day. Sarah’s favourite time is dawn, mine is the hour leading up to dusk.
On safari in Druridge Bay today, we’d had a really good day out. Having a client with tonsilitis meant that I had to do the majority of the talking throughout the day. Anyone who knows me will appreciate how difficult I found that 🙂 WIth a good selection of waders and wildfowl at every site we visited, there was something to see all of the time. Eventually my favourite hour arrived. Skeins of Greylag Geese flew in to join the Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and Gadwall that were already on the water, Golden Plover and Lapwing were calling excitedly amongst themselves and the Starlings were massing. Small flocks coalesced into larger flocks and the birds swirled in a dark writhing mass before plummeting into the reedbeds. By the time it was nearly dark, and the birds had stopped coming in, we’d counted nearly 10000 birds going to roost. It would have been spectacular in itself, but the backdrop to the birds sprinkled across the sky was a stunning Northumberland sunset. Fading from yellow to orange to pink, and with steel grey clouds providing a stark contrast, it was proof, if proof be needed, that birdwatching is never just about watching birds.