Dunlins

Shot few days ago. I have never seen such a huge flock of Dunlins.
This cloud was massive, few thousands at least. Tide was high and in the small bay and  there was no place for them to rest , so they came closer to the shore. While I was there they got attacked twice, once by Peregrin and later by Merlin. Each time the whole flock lift of make  these fast turns try to escape and confuse the chasing bird. Amazing to watch.
Normally when I shoot with (MF) Nikon 500mm f/4 P ED IF and TC-16A I close aperture one stop. I must have accidentally open aperture all the way resulting slightly soft images, so my morning shots were slightly soft .

D2Hs, Nikon (MF) 500mm f/4 P ED IF + TC-16A (1.6X AF)
1/1600, ISO-800, f/6.3 on tripod.

Please click on the image for uncompressed view, thank you.