Organized chaos -- sanderling takeoff and landing

Watching these birds attempt to stay a step ahead of the waves is always a fun thing to do. Especially when there is a large flock involved, as its great to see them move in unison. But every now and then, they seem to misjudge the incoming water and have to result to a mass takeoff. My challenge on this trip was to attempt to capture the chaos, as well as the beauty, of such a scene. Below is a sequence from the action that followed a single incoming wave.

Quick Post - Sanderlings ahead of the wave

This weekend we took a late afternoon trip out to Point Reyes, and while we were more or less fogged out of the sunset I was hoping for, I did get to spend some time chasing sanderlings on Drake's Beach. I made some attempts to capture the chaos that occurs when a wave finally catches up to these little guys, and I did catch a few interesting frames of takeoffs. This first one is a bit more toned down, when the whole flock was running along the sand in front of the wave-line.