Blackwits

I said yesterday that there would maybe be a bird blip today. Here for extra measure are a few black-tailed godwits (or blackwits as some birders call them, to distinguish them from barwits - which are more correctly known as bar-tailed godwits).  You can see their distinct black tails with trailing legs. There are a few less of them here than there were in April last year, but still a good number wintering at Leighton Moss.

Shortly before this a helicopter came over low, and the godwits and thousands of lapwings took to the air. This was the cue for the peregrine that had been perched on the saltmarsh to try its luck. The godwits wheeled and dived, and the peregrine had no success. Likewise, I failed to get the raptor in shot. Though there is at least one individual of another wader species amongst this lot, which I haven't yet zoomed in on enough to identify its blurry blob.

This wasn't my intended destination today, but we were slow getting going this morning, and so I went to the LM coastal pools for an afternoon visit instead. Tomorrow?

Back at home, the Christmas decorations have come down and gone up.