Drying Wings and Wet Feet

On our walk along the coast today from the National Glass Centre in Sunderland to Seaburn we passed several cormorants near St. Peter's marina ...... 

...... drying their waterlogged wings at the end of a fishing session.

Due to their superior fishing skills cormorants tend to be unpopular with fishermen but along this stretch of coast they are the subject of some fine examples of public art, including an impressive series of metal sculptures and ...

... this very attractive weather vane on the bank of the river, where ..... 

..... this red-throated diver in winter plumage was also out fishing in the River Wear estuary.

These sanderling, perched on a rock off Roker beach, were just about to be displaced by the incoming tide and I was concentrating so hard on taking their photograph that I didn't notice the threat until the waves were lapping around my ankles. That's not the first time it's happened either - one of the perils of seashore photography. I completed the rest of the walk with squelching shoes.....