Super Sanderlings.

 During my 2 week break in Worthing, I managed to have 4 different sessions with the local Sanderling. This is a lovely small wader that I have photographed on a handful of occasions over the years, but not particularly successfully.

As their name suggests, Sanderling do like the sand, as that is where their main food supply is. Over in Seaford, the beaches are pebbles, hence, no Sanderling.

By studying the tide times it was easy to get to the beach when the sand was showing, and as the beach in Worthing is very close to where Lisa lives it was great to arrive and leave at the right times. 

The first two visits were with Lisa, before her skiing holiday, but the other two visits were on my own. With the 4 visits I took so many pictures of these little characters. They were also much easier to photograph than I remember from previous experiences, with the birds running almost up to me, so long as I kept very still and low to the ground.

There may be a bit of a Sanderling over-load here, but it was extremely difficult knowing which photos to post.

I think this one is my personal favourite shot from the sessions.

It was a bit of a shame that all the days were cloudy, as it may have helped add a bit of a sparkle to the pictures, but on the other hand, as the birds are very lightly coloured, too much sunshine would have blown out the detail of the feathers.

Sanderling hunting.

Finding a Ragworm.

After a short pull, out the worm comes.

The latest in Sanderling fashion!! Part of a Sanderling study.

Sanderling shaking off the water after a wash.

Hoping the water movement will bring more food.

This one actually came too close at one point to focus on.

Foraging in a rockpool.

This is just a small selection of the photos I took. Basically, I can now delete all my previous Sanderling photos!!