Oh, my word. Birds. Lots and lots of birds.
Waders, to be exact.
Knots, to be even more precise.
I’d heard much of the Snettisham Spectacular, often touted as one of the UK’s top wildlife spectacles, but
I’d been meaning to do this for years, but it was a challenge to get the timing right. This isn’t one of those things you could just set aside any weekend within a season for. Nope. To have a good chance of witnessing this phenomenon, you need a congruence of a few factors: extreme high tide, the right wind, the right timing for sunrise (or sunset), good weather, and the time of the year – the best being mid-autumn to mid-winter.
We drove from London the night before and stayed the night at a charming and homely B&B in Hillington, just 15 minutes away from Snettisham.
The carpark was much fuller than expected
Twitchers
Waders from a distance while the mudflats were still exposed
More movement as the waders are forced off the flats
The sun was rising behind us
While flocks of pink-footed geese flew overhead in loose V-formations
Getting closer now
Running outta space
Chaos
A golden swirling cloud
Or swarms
Yup, swarms
Or tornadoes?!
Flying across
Settling into the pit
Blots of ink against the sunlight
Roosting knots and oystercatchers
*cuddles*
Oystercatchers
Knots in flight
Heavy artillery