Too dark to see

The safari visited Patch 1 well before first light this morning, in fact we were back for breakfast before sunrise. Nothing doing in the dark just a couple of half hearted twitterings from the Robins and two early rising Blackbirds hopping about on the lawn hoping the rain had brought some tasty worms to the surface, two Wrens were also noted singing in the predawn gloom.
A quick shuffy over a roughening sea before work on Patch 2 revealed large numbers of Common Scoters, mostly scattered about in small flocklets. A few were close enough in bobbing about on the waves behind the surf to be able to tell the males from the females. The Velvet Scoter that’s somewhere out there still eludes me... got until late March to bag it! A gull heading out to sea in the middle distance added a few beats per minute to the heart rate but no, nothing over exciting – a Black Headed Gull, but where was it going as we don’t often see them that far out. Two others were below the seawall indulging in a courtship display on the last vestige of sand before the tide covered the beach. No other birds were seen. By high tide, a couple of hours or so later, the wind had picked up even more, the rain was lashing down and the sea was getting pretty wild, still not really properly light yet though.

The glorious sea views are taken looking south, west and finally north across Patch 2 at 11.00am (BST).

Regarding recent sightings, along with the safari and Fleetwood Birder , Walney Observatory – almost visible across the bay – got a Ringed Plover yesterday too, so some movement around the area of this species is evident, should be a decent number in a week or two zipping about on the sands.
Where to next? The winds are forecast to reach 60mph (95kph) at the weekend so somewhere along the Prom is a must. The time of the high tides is not ideal being in the middle of the day but you can’t have everything. Then for a little bit of shelter the two Great White Egrets could be twitched coming in to roost up north a ways.
In the meantime let us know what you’ve been seeing in your blustery outback.

Edit - excellent Fox after Autumn Watch and fortunately Frank didn't smell it due to the strong wind blowing its scent away nor did he spot it, maybe my night vision is better than his.