I was crouched over my telescope counting a large flock of mixed waders and gulls in Dublin Bay when suddenly, without warning, every bird took off. Curlews, godwits and knots flew out to sea, dunlins and redshanks scattered further along the beach while a small family group of brent geese headed inland, to seek refuge on a football pitch. The source of the disturbance, two dogs off the lead, splashed out into the water to disperse the last of the swimming gulls. Their owner seemed to be oblivious to the chaos they had caused.
Migratory waterbirds live on a knife-edge of survival. Flying south after the breeding season to escape the Arctic winter, they must feed intensively to rest
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