Wednesday 30 September 2009

Bleak…

No the safari doesn’t mean the small fish commonly found in slower flowing rivers, more the total lack of anything worth mentioning. Yesterday Patch 1 was visited in almost total darkness before even the Robins had woken up and Patch 2 was dire apart from a smaller-than-of-late number of Common Scoters.
Mid morning, suddenly and unexpectedly there was almost a sniff at some excitement when MJ popped in to work and said he had only just set up over the road when he scoped a small flock of passing Shelducks which included a Ruddy Shelduck. Now these are often classed as being of dubious origin but they are always a welcome addition to the day/month/year/site lists.
Today wasn’t much better although we hit Patch 1 at first light and 16 Robins were counted. They must be local as a trawl through the local obs/ringing blogs hasn’t revealed any concerted Robin passage yet. No sign of the Peregrine on the water tower so I think it likely that it was on passage and has now moved on, our tasty Pigeons were obviously not tempting enough to make it stick around.
Minutes before getting back to Base Camp a Great Spotted Woodpecker called, didn’t see it so it could have been either flying over in the gloom or perched up in the trees at the end of the street.
Patch 2’s pre-work sea-scan was cut short by the simple fact that bar a handful of Common Scoters there was naff all else out there. Mid-morning a Grey Wagtail was heard through the open window behind me - a desk tick! There seems to be a fair few passing through the west coast at the moment.
Can’t stay this bad forever, strong winds forecast for the weekend – will they be strong enough for long enough and from the right direction to bring something worth seeing in…anything will do at the moment.
Wow!!! Patch 2 at lunchtime packs a punch…the giddy heights of a Ringed Plover, first of the season on this stretch of beach…I can hardly contain my excitement! See also Fleetwoodbirder.
A blast from the past occurred when out with Extreme Photographer on Patch 1 at the weekend. Shortly after I recorded the ‘now known to be’ Grey Squirrel sounds we discovered something you don’t see much these days - - white doggy do-do. Bizarrely, foraging around on the bloggosphere last night I found recent reference to said doggy do-do on Of Birds and Pies from the previous weekend…spooky or what…is the stuff back in fashion? Unlike the other blogger neither myself or our Extreme Photographer took a picture, maybe we were so taken aback by its very presence we were stood there transfixed and couldn't get the cameras out.
Where to next? Before the winds arrive I think it will only be the usual short or in darkness (oh for an Owl of some description) visits to Patch 1 & 2. With regard to the little Bleak I’m reminded that I’ve not been fishing for donkey’s yonks, maybe it’s time to blow the dust of the rod and wipe the cobwebs from my reel.
In the meantime let us know what’s not happening in your outback.
BTW where did that Sandhill Crane end up?…Please don’t tell me it’s strutting around Pilling marsh!
Apologies for absence of pics AGAIN...one day soon...promise.

1 comment:

Warren Baker said...

well done on your ringed plover dave. Something to get excited about.