For me, the call of the Curlew is a quintessential part of wildlife watching on British estuaries.  You may not see the birds, but the melancholy whistle - as described by my bird book - travels far and lets you know they are there.  Unfortunately this image does not do this emotive bird justice.  The main problem with the image is the forth bird, the one preening , which unsettles the composition.  I’m not sure why three birds in the frame work better than four, but in this case I think it’s definitely so.

I was just settling down to wait for this flock of geese to make their way over to my side of the field when tractor drove by and startled them.  However it made for an interesting photograph!

Photographing a flock of birds is always hard.  I’ve tried to go for a compromise between giving a sense of the number of birds, and isolating an individual goose.  These Barnacle Geese were feeding by the side of the road after spending the night on the estuary.  Generally Geese are very wary and will scare easily, so I used a hedge to hide me whilst I photographed this group.

I visited this starling roost a couple of weeks ago just across the Scottish border near the Solway Firth.  After about half an hour, a couple of small flocks started to congregate and wheel around in the air above us.  Over the next hour more and more birds joined the group until the sky was full on thousands of bunched together starlings.  This Buzzard was one of a few raptors attracted to the spectacle, although I think the Peregrine had more luck.

The British winter population of Whooper swans is largely comprised of birds that have migrated from their breeding grounds in Iceland.  Many of the influx will be young birds hatched the previous spring, which have made the journey with their parents across the ocean.  This image was taken on the Solway Firth at dusk.  These birds were heading to a small fresh water lake on the edge of the estuary to roost.