Thanks all - I was just having a bit of fun there, you understand: I wasn't really losing sleep!
Mork, welcome to the forum. Yes, I took all of these shots locally to me, either at Blyth harbour (the kittiwakes), St Mary's Island Whitley Bay for the waders, and somewhere between those two locations for the stonechat.
I should have said as much, so apologies for that.
Are you from this part of the world?
Gary, I think I might have the path wrong for the last image - I'll fix that tonight (but it's another dunlin! )
Hi John,
I'm very patient, mate - that's how I get close to the dunlin!
I'm a birder first and foremost, so I know a litle bit about bird behaviour: what I do for dunlin and sanderling is work out where they're heading, get their first, and settle in until they arrive.
As long as you stay still they'll come very close - I've had sanderling feeding between my feet - and you don't need any fancy hides or camo clothing.
I was probably about 25-30 feet from these birds, so your guess of 6 or 7 metres is a good one.
