Avocet

Above and below: Avocets at Marshside.

The avocet is not only a stunningly beautiful bird but also a bird with interesting behaviour making it a pleasure to watch. This is especially true during the breeding season when they are guarding eggs or young. They defend their nest and territory from other avocets and predators, such as gulls and crows, often chasing these away with a noisy performance.

They visit the UK for breeding in spring and summer and a number winter around the coast in the South West of the country. The first arrivals in the North West have shown up as early as February. They depart the North West once the chicks are independent which is usually in August or September.

They are unmistakeable birds, being a large wader mostly white with jet black bands outlining the folded wing, above and below. They also have a black crown, extending down to just below the eye and the black also extends from the back of the crown all the way down the back of the neck to it's base. The legs are a pale blue and the beak is black and is extremely thin and fragile looking, with a pronounced up-curve.

These birds were once very unusual in the North West but in recent years they have been increasing in numbers and now breed at a number of sites. They prefer coastal saline lagoons and so can be found at places like, Inner Marsh Farm in Cheshire and Martin Mere, Leighton Moss and Marshside in Lancashire. So which site is best for photography? Well at Martins Mere they are viewable from the Ron Barker hide but are too distant for a really great shot even with digiscoping gear or a long telephoto lens. I have not visited Leighton Moss when they have been present so I don't know how easy they will be to photograph there, although if they are by the Eric Morecambe or Allen hides (which I believe they are), they may be a bit far out. Inner Marsh Farm is usually a good place. It has good light and there is usually a pair on the small island just opposite the hide. By far the best site is Marshside at Southport. Here they can be seen often just a few feet in front of Sandgrounders hide, enabling good pictures even without any expensive camera gear.

The only problem with Marshside is that the hide faces East. This means that on sunny days the rising sun is behind the avocets making a good picture very difficult. The problem doesn't really go away until late afternoon or early evening. So avoid sunny mornings and sunny early afternoons if you can. Days with light cloud cover are better but as Avocets are black and white birds (often in water) getting your exposure right can be tricky. It's very easy to lose the birds eye in the black of the crown due to the cameras auto exposure under exposing the shot. It's also easy to wash out the white by over-exposing too much to try to get the black parts right. However, as they are usually busy in front of the hide most of the time, you'll get plenty of opportunities to experiment until you get it right.