A Lot of Knot

The high tides in early January here on the Wirral produced some amazing sights of what was estimated to be 24,000 Knot. They gather on the shoreline and are pushed closer and closer as the incoming tide leaves them with very little room to roost. They were literally a few feet away from the promenade at high tide. I will do a couple of posts of them, this one being of them mainly on the ground. The next post will be of flight shots.

Sparrowhawk up Close

I have been keen to get out to my hide over the last week as there have been up to 11 Greenfinches visiting the feeders, along with the 40 plus Goldfinches. Greenfinches have been quite scarce here for some time now, with only the occasional one visiting from time to time.
A brief spell of sunshine and I set myself up to photograph them. I had only been in the hide for 5 minutes when the alarm calls of  the Blue Tits alerted me to the probability of a Sparrowhawk in the area. It then swooped down in front of the hide hoping to catch an unwary Goldfinch. Without success, it perched up next to the feeders. As I was set up to photograph small birds it was too close to fit in the frame so I made the most of a few close up head and shoulder shots.