Redshanks and an Incoming Tide
Hilbre Island lies at the mouth of the Dee estuary, facing West Kirby at the top of the Wirral. It is only an island when the tide comes in, so you can walk out to it across the sand at low tide. Surrounded by water, it is then a haven for some of the thousands of birds that feed on the vast expanse of sand and mud of the estuary, and have to find somewhere to roost while their feeding grounds are covered.
There are actually three islands, and I have many times spent a tide bird watching on all three. This last year, for the first time, I took a hide with me to the smallest of the islands, Little Eye.
It was a brilliantly sunny winter's day, freezing cold with an intense blue sky. The sandpipers dozed in the sun, shifting position on one leg as the water swirled around them. Later in the afternoon, the sun sank behind the island, and they shuffled away from the cold shadows reaching towards them.