Knots landing at the Peedie Sea

I’m wandering the shore at Kirkwall Harbour for an hour before the ferry takes me to Westray.

I’m loving the complex singing of this rainbow Starling:

It’s a great way to welcome the new day.

On the Peedie Sea in Kirkwall there’s a sleepy Redshank. They are the classic alarm-call bird. They normally see you before you see them, fly off with an insistent alarm call and cause everything else to flee in their wake.

Maybe it’s feeling a little sleepy this Sunday morning, because it’s allowing me to get unnaturally close.

There it goes:

They are finely poised birds:

Just look at those elegant long back toes:

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There are other waders here. I’m notoriously bad at identifying them. These have beautiful plumage.

I’m told they are Red Knot. There’s one followed by a Dunlin.

Then a Knot comes in to land:

It’s amusing to see that it starts running before it hits the water:

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It’s time for me to catch the ferry to Westray now. It’s been an entertaining hour.