Oystercatchers #5

A bit of a lie in this morning after our three days of birding was very welcome. High tide at Hoylake wasn't until 12.30. 
We met up with SueT123 and her husband as she only lives ten minutes up the road. I'm sure my Christmas Pudding bobble hat was what gave me away rather than the huge camera and lens in my hand ;)
The shower that had started just as we arrived soon cleared and gave way to some nice spells of sunshine. We didn't stay too long as it was so very cold in the northerly wind and we couldn't feel our fingers after a few minutes. 
There was a decent sized flock of Oystercatchers gradually creeping towards us escaping the incoming tide and smaller flocks of Dunlin and Knot as far as I can make out from my pictures. The latter were wheeling around continuously and didn't really want to settle. I took loads of shots, but wasn't too happy with the smaller birds. I did like the oystercatchers when they took flight as their black and white plumage makes them so striking. 
We did our weekly shopping at the Sainsburys in Ellesmere Port on the way home - nice to have a decent sized store to shop in for a change.

It was very nice to meet up with Sue and I'm sure we can arrange another meeting when the temperatures improve :)