Beautiful - but frustrating!

I went out for a kayak on the bay yesterday morning. When I left the water was very still but by the time I started back it was a struggle to paddle back against the wind. I saw some interesting shorebirds - but the frustration came in because I forgot to compensate for the glare off the water and so the photos are good for record shots only. Most of the shorebirds were in non-breeding plumage so I am assuming that they will be staying here all winter. There were good numbers of Godwits and Eastern Curlews and a few Greenshanks and Stints. The surprise were the numbers of Grey-tailed Tattlers which were showing quite a lot of breeding plumage. Maybe some of these will be migrating soon. I must look up my records but I seem to remember these leave later than most of the other migrants. There were also Red-capped Plovers everywhere. I got in quite close to the birds roosting on the shoreline by drifting in on my kayak and as I got in closer I stretched out and lay down sideways to decrease the height that the birds saw drifting towards them. It works well! and is a trick I learned from a visiting friend who showed me how beautiful and peaceful it is to do this out in the middle of the bay on a calm morning! (Thanks Dawn!!) The only bird photograph that was OK was this Silver Gull that flew close overhead. They are common - of course! - but beautiful.We have had a lot of rain over the last couple of weeks - none of it really heavy but quite constant and the result is a lot of water sitting in the low spots. The road down to the Mullens picnic area is seldom smooth or well looked after but I did wonder if the low spots would be too wet to drive through. Obviously others decided the same because there is a new track well above the road. I'm glad I could drive down there - but it would be nice if the original road were better cared for.This boat was anchored close to where I put the kayak in. I did wonder why he wasn't getting out of there on the high tide but maybe he decided the wind was bad enough that he should stay put. The afternoon low tide showed just how shallow the area is.