There’s one thing improbably scrumptious about glistening, glutinous mud, freshly washed by a receding tide. I used to be sitting within the insulated heat of my automotive, watching the ocean slide silently out of the creeks, gutters and drains it had drowned utterly solely hours earlier than. The moon was full, so its gravitational pull was at its best and the tide had been a giant one, utterly protecting the saltings and even the a part of the harbour the place I used to be parked. It was now falling quick, with the bows of the moored boats pointing exhausting to the shore. There’s an previous nation saying that point and tide await no man. It’s true. As soon as the tide has turned, there’s no stopping it. 

For the numerous birds that rely upon the saltings for his or her meals, excessive tide is a time for roosting and ready. However as soon as the tide begins to drop, uncovering the mud as soon as once more, it’s time for motion. Flocks of Dunlins turned and twisted over the chocolate-coloured mud, their white bellies momentarily catching the golden mild of the low winter solar. They landed instantly with good synchrony, and all begin feeding with hungry urgency.

In case you are a birdwatcher or hen photographer, there’s no finer place to be than an estuary when the tide is falling. I used to be at Brancaster Staithe, a small village on the North Norfolk coast. This stretch of shoreline stays some of the lovely and least spoilt of wherever in England, because of the intensive salt marshes that stretch all the best way alongside the coast from Holme to Blakeney, a distance of over 20 miles. Lately it’s an space that has turn into more and more fashionable with vacationers, however it’s all the time attracted nice numbers of birds, making it one among Britain’s high birding spots.

Although it might draw lots of of birdwatchers every single day, there are many websites to observe from, and maybe surprisingly Brancaster Staithe by no means appears to attract the crowds: for a lot of the time I used to be the one observer. The primary hen to attract my eye was a wonderful grownup Gray Plover, or what is thought in America as a Black-bellied Plover, sitting characteristically hunch-backed  only a few yards from my automotive, on the sting of the tide. It was clearly proud of the place it was, because it didn’t transfer a lot. I watched it run ahead to tug a wonderful, fats lug worm out of the mud, which it will definitely swallowed with what one has to imagine was relish. Although these plovers are widespread on the North Norfolk coast, their nearest breeding grounds are far to the north. A number of do breed in Europe, on the intense north-east of European Russia. 

For more often than not they’re in Britain Gray Plovers stay as much as their title by being gray: it’s not till late Could that they remodel into some of the good-looking of all shorebirds, with silver-spangled again contrasting with stable black underparts. Ringed Plovers even have winter and summer time plumages, although the distinction isn’t almost as marked. A single Ringed Plover was maintaining the Gray Plover firm, permitting me to match the 2. The latter is half the scale of the Gray, however with its stout beak and distinguished eyes reveals a definite household likeness. 

Brancaster is all the time a dependable website for Black-tailed Godwits, however once I first arrived there have been none to be seen. Then, instantly, two flocks got here racing in, twisting and delivering unison till touchdown on a lately uncovered mud flat. All had been in dull-grey winter plumage, however readily identifiable in flight by their black-and-white wings and tails.

A few Turnstones had been foraging nearer to the automotive: the Turnstones right here have learnt that vehicles could be a supply of meals, and a chip thrown from a automotive window saves having to show stones searching for your lunch. These powerful little waders are infamous for consuming virtually something. A few years in the past the journal British Birds revealed a be aware from an observer who had watched Turnstones scavenging from a human corpse that had washed up on the tideline.

Just like the turnstones, Brancaster’s gulls had been additionally ready expectantly for any scrap that may be thrown for them. I famous that the Black-headed Gulls had been beginning to present indicators of their heads darkening – by the tip of February most will probably be sporting good chocolate-coloured caps. Black-headed Gulls are so widespread that they hardly ever earn a re-assessment, however their splendidly shiny, orange-red legs actually do seem like made out of plastic. One or two grownup winter Frequent (Mew) Gulls had been additionally loitering, together with a single Herring Gull. It’s anthropomorphic to recommend it, however in contrast with the Frequent and Black-headed Gulls there’s one thing of the thug a couple of Herring Gull. It’s that merciless eye and heavy-duty beak that do it.

In distinction to the gulls and waders, all of the geese had been dressed of their smartest finery. Their completely different breeding technique explains why they purchase their breeding plumage a lot earlier, for they pair on their wintering grounds, not like the waders which don’t accomplish that till they’re on their nesting grounds.

Teal and Mallard had been dabbling on the water’s edge, the drakes wanting splendid within the sunshine. As soon as a feminine Crimson-breasted Merganser flew previous, however there was no signal of the extra flashy drake. There have been a number of Wigeon to be seen, too, however all had been snoozing with heads beneath wings. Because the tide fell, it uncovered sand banks that attracted small events of garrulous Brent Geese. These had been dark-bellied birds from Russia. 

Brent are considerable alongside the Norfolk coast, invariably proclaiming their presence with their guttural chattering, so not like the higher-pitched calls of the Pinkfeet. Each species of geese have elevated vastly in recent times. Sixty years in the past, the largest flock of Brents recorded in north Norfolk solely numbered a few hundred birds. At the moment many hundreds spend a lot of their yr there, arriving in September and never departing for his or her breeding grounds in arctic Russia till late Could.

Norfolk’s Pinkfooted geese are one other success story. After the Second World Battle these geese utterly abandoned Norfolk, scared away by an anti-aircraft firing vary at Stiffkey (a key roost website) and the ploughing of the recent marshes. It wasn’t till the Eighties that they began wintering repeatedly once more, and in the present day as many as 100,000 spend their winters within the space. In contrast to the Brent, their keep is far shorter, as the large numbers depart on the finish of January when the sugar-beet harvest finishes. The geese feed on the undesirable tops of the sugar beet which can be left within the fields when the beet is harvested, a clean-up service that the farmers are proud of. 

My go to to Brancaster concluded with an impressive fly-over of Pinkfeet as skein after skein handed excessive overhead, all heading west. Estimating their numbers was tough, however I reckoned that near 10,000 geese will need to have flown over me in lengthy, wavering strains. In Britain, wildlife spectacles don’t get significantly better than that.