I have limited success birding the beach at Ferrybridge, at the start of the causeway that connects Weymouth to the Isle of Portland. As I don’t visit often, I’m not very familiar with the tides – I consult tide charts, of course, but I don’t know the tidal ranges, nor can I predict how quickly the birds will return to the beach on the ebbing tide. And when the tide is out, you really need a telescope to be able to accurately identify any birds along the water’s edge. Still, I persevere, and I managed to see a few bird species during one of my attempts last week, by sitting on a concrete slipway alongside the road as the tide came in. These are they …

There were a lot of Ringed plover scooting around but I only spotted a single Sanderling (the bird on the left) amongst them.

Most of the birds were strung out across the beach so I was pleased to find these four species close enough to photograph together: Knot, Ringed plover, Oystercatcher, and Dunlin.

The Knot was new for my year list so I took a few photos of it, though it was too distant for anything sharp.