I am sure many of you remember the heavy thunder on 19-20 April this year. On 19th I first spent time with others in the old hide watching the rising tide. When the satellite map showed heavy rains approaching soon after the tide reached its peak just in front of the hide, most people decided to leave. I decided to stay, but also realised that Antero had walked off with my umbrella earlier in the morning, so I might have to spend a long time in the hide. At one point Antero, who called me from the hotel, saw on the satellite on the web that there would be a 10-minute break in the rain. I decided to use that to move to the outer hide. When the rain had almost stopped I walked as fast as I could to the outer hide. Just as I got in through the door, the rain came down again and heavier than I experienced at any other time during the spring.
All two thousand waders still on the green flew up, gathering into a very tight flock, which dropped down just left of the hide. The rain was dropping and bouncing in through breaks in the roof and the two open windows, splattering all over the place, and it was hard to avoid getting the camera and other optics wet. Photography was also difficult as it became quite dark. It was, however, really interesting to see how the waders reacted to the rain. Standing huddled close together they pointed their bills toward the rain, and stayed put. This lasted only as long as the heaviest rain, about 5-10 min. As soon as the rain eased a little, they spread out over the green and started foraging again. The rain did not stop however, and many of the birds stayed on the green, but when Antero finally called that it is really going to stop in half an hour, I was happy to leave, after a 9-hour hide session. I had already been thinking I might have to stay the night. ;-(
Here are some pics from the outer hide:
http://www.tarsiger.com/gallery/ ... 971689&lang=eng
http://www.tarsiger.com/gallery/ ... 971577&lang=eng
