The Safari went out after work yesterday on the trail of the local Curlew Sandpipers. Last week the tide was too high, this week the tide was too low and it was chuckin it down. We got back to Base Camp mud-up and soppin wet. Third time lucky?
On this morning’s Patch 1 walk it was only spitting but the trees were dripping with all the overnight rain and Frank got soaked with water and mud flicking up off his feet. House looks like the changing rooms at a rugby ground, there is mud everywhere! Been drier in the deepest depths of Borneo’s tropical rain forest.
The Peregrine was still tucked in behind the comms cables, looks like it/they will be knockin around all winter now.
Robins were again very evident and our final tally was a minimum of 22, so almost definitely some new ones have dropped in. Blackbirds are harder to count in the darkness as they much less vocal but we managed an increase to 11 or more. Three Wrens heard singing was an accurate count!
As we approached Patch 2 we wondered if we were going to get a second Sanderling mega-fest…nearly. Looking over the wall there were some scattered along the tideline. Checking to the north there weren’t any up that way, all were from the outfall pipe and down to the south. Our count gave us in the region of 825, still a good score but only half of yesterday's. Nothing with them at all today apart from a single Oystercatcher.
Out at sea we found a Red Throated Diver and a very small number of Common Scoters, no more than two dozen.
With yet another black cloud heading straight for us we high-tailed it back to the office before then next bucketful landed.
Back there for the lunchtime high tide and nothing much was happening. No rain either. Scanning around there were only distant small parties of Common Scoters. We started to pick up individual small birds about half a mile or so out to sea, bouncing along several tens of feet above the waves, all headed south. No doubt they were all Whinchats…if only hahaha…much more likely to have been Meadow Pipits. In the end we had about a dozen of them. Whilst watching one of them we picked up a tern a bit further away that eventually revealed itself as a Sandwich Tern, which, like the ‘pipits’ was motoring southwards at some height above the sea.
Two rumbles of thunder were heard coming from behind us and ominous dark skies drawing nearer from the south had us bottling out and heading for a brew but the imminent rain never appeared, musta passed by just inland of us.
Where to next? Day off tomorrow so a dawn raid on Chat Alley could on the cards followed by a mid-morning safari to watch the rising tide for those dipped-so-far Curlew Sandpipers.
In the meantime let us know what’s going to be third time lucky in your outback.
On this morning’s Patch 1 walk it was only spitting but the trees were dripping with all the overnight rain and Frank got soaked with water and mud flicking up off his feet. House looks like the changing rooms at a rugby ground, there is mud everywhere! Been drier in the deepest depths of Borneo’s tropical rain forest.
The Peregrine was still tucked in behind the comms cables, looks like it/they will be knockin around all winter now.
Robins were again very evident and our final tally was a minimum of 22, so almost definitely some new ones have dropped in. Blackbirds are harder to count in the darkness as they much less vocal but we managed an increase to 11 or more. Three Wrens heard singing was an accurate count!
As we approached Patch 2 we wondered if we were going to get a second Sanderling mega-fest…nearly. Looking over the wall there were some scattered along the tideline. Checking to the north there weren’t any up that way, all were from the outfall pipe and down to the south. Our count gave us in the region of 825, still a good score but only half of yesterday's. Nothing with them at all today apart from a single Oystercatcher.
Out at sea we found a Red Throated Diver and a very small number of Common Scoters, no more than two dozen.
With yet another black cloud heading straight for us we high-tailed it back to the office before then next bucketful landed.
Back there for the lunchtime high tide and nothing much was happening. No rain either. Scanning around there were only distant small parties of Common Scoters. We started to pick up individual small birds about half a mile or so out to sea, bouncing along several tens of feet above the waves, all headed south. No doubt they were all Whinchats…if only hahaha…much more likely to have been Meadow Pipits. In the end we had about a dozen of them. Whilst watching one of them we picked up a tern a bit further away that eventually revealed itself as a Sandwich Tern, which, like the ‘pipits’ was motoring southwards at some height above the sea.
Two rumbles of thunder were heard coming from behind us and ominous dark skies drawing nearer from the south had us bottling out and heading for a brew but the imminent rain never appeared, musta passed by just inland of us.
Where to next? Day off tomorrow so a dawn raid on Chat Alley could on the cards followed by a mid-morning safari to watch the rising tide for those dipped-so-far Curlew Sandpipers.
In the meantime let us know what’s going to be third time lucky in your outback.
Sorry - no pics today.
1 comment:
Good luck at Chat Alley tomorrow dave. Whinchat perhaps ?
Post a Comment