A different tide

Having limited my outings the past three weeks (thanks to a pulled back, still out most days, just a couple of hours though) I felt up for an additional ebbing tide count a couple of mornings ago, as the mud at Funton would be beginning to appear about a half-hour after dawn. I was keen to see what had roosted locally, and how far birds were prepared to travel to start feeding.

I usually try to stick to covering tides, to make comparisons simpler, but I have a bit of an itch now, wondering whether to switch to ebbing tides, or even try routine 'through the tidal cycles' (a series of full counts made every hour over the tidal range- always more enticing in better weather!).

An ebb every now and then has been a real sorbet.

The shelter of the Barksore sea-wall and saltings provided the expected numbers of Avocet, Redshank, Grey Plover, Curlew and a handful of Godwit while the saltings at Bedlam held their Grey Plover and, as is often the case after an overnight rise, Dunlin.

When the mud started to appear, the expected spread of waders shuffled into position with Funton Creek attracting biggest numbers, then the Reach, and finally Bedlam's Bottom:

A fourfold reasoning for favouring the Creek:
1) Fresh water, bathing, drinking.
2) Impact of water conditions on available prey.
3) Afforded some shelter from the winds by the Barksore wall.
4) Lack of human recreational disturbance

As the tide continued to retreat, the Creek birds made for the centre of the Reach. So did any Bedlams waders excepting, for the main part, the Redshank. Derisory numbers appeared from elsewhere on the estuary, birds clearly choosing to feed close to where they had found themselves roosting the night before. On a rising tide birds would pour in, but for a dropping there really was no reason to.

For the rise that day I might have been expecting about at least twice times that number of Dunlin. A perfect example of why noting tidal condition is important. These first years back on the Medway I've deliberately stuck to rises, but am contemplating a change in emphasis for 2016-17. Watch this space

Revisiting the texts I was intrigued by references to late winter pre-departure activity including a tendency for smaller flock sizes. Research has shown a tremendous loyalty to particular flats within an estuary, so might this help mask the actual numbers present at this time? Especially if they also become more mobile? The Dunlin roost in the west is usually countable at some point over the tide, but the east can be messier from shore.

Questions. All I knew was the ebb had been enough of a change to help keep me focused on the rises.