Bar-Tailed Godwit ( Limosa lapponica )

This afternoon looked promising but nature was conspiring against me. It was cold, calm and sunny but when I went along the coast, a thin line of cloud was over the sun. As it crept along, it always kept over the sun. Half an hour later, the sun had sunk low enough to shine out at last from beneath the cloud.

The low sun has imparted a more orange glow to this bar-tailed godwit's plumage than is its normal colour for winter.

( Limosa lapponica )