Birds!

So many birds we saw last weekend!  I'm posting some of the better pictures.  Many of them had a whole flock of little birds behind them.  Apologies that some of the pics are a bit blurry.  We really couldn't get very close, so this is the limit of my camera.  We also noticed a tendency for the birds to move away from us, sometimes it was a running escape. ;)
We counted 18 different types of birds, not counting the terns and seagulls.  (Why is it that the "common" birds become boring?)

Barnacle geese with babies in toe.

Redshank

Shelduck - no less than 8 little birds!

Grey Heron

Northern Wheatear - this bird seriously objected to our presence

There were lots of swans out!

Oystercatcher - you can barely see it, but this bird has orange around the eye too. Very striking bird.

Greylag geese taking off in a big hurry

I like this goose's expression

Merganser - look, the baby caught a fish!!

Merganser - 8 little birds, notice the one riding on mama's back!

Eider with 16 babies in tow.  They probably aren't all hers, these birds group together for protection.

Tern -  taking a break from the food hunt.