Was this in mind, I thought striding along the East side of the Dee estuary would be the best place to spot some interesting waders and sea birds, as the river here, within a peninsula known as St Mary's Isle, consists of a series of shallow bays where the beakily probe-able mud gets quickly exposed after the tide turns.
However, waders were not numerous, I found. What were present were some large groups of gulls, including some devilish looking great black backed gulls, and also sizeable rafts of marine ducks.
They were a fair way off, so even with the camera at 36x zoom, it was difficult to see what I was shooting. I thought at the time I was shooting common scoter, the only all black duck is always going to be pretty unmistakeable, but the identify of other species I wasn't so sure of. I could see a few white flanks, so I thought there might be scaup out there, but I can't see any in my pictures.
What there were, was a lot of wigeon it transpires! Anyone who spots anything else in my shots, please please shout out!
Si
All images and text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 16.10.15
