Monday 1 November 2010

Just about perfect

The Safari’s Patch 1 jaunt was very (too) early this morning – Frank hasn’t adjusted his doggy body clock to GMT yet! (Really is about time we stuck with GMT all year round now that we have mastered alarm clocks and electric lights is there any need to do the summertime change anymore – after all we did ‘invent’ THE time at Greenwich).
An ethereal wispy mist hung over the lawns at the top of the park but hadn’t sunk down to the lower areas. A few Robin’s twittered and a Blackbird or two clucked and that was about it. No Peregrines were seen on the tower today. From the inky blackness of the pre-dawn sky we heard a few Redwings going over and, more unusually, the ‘wacka-chaka’ of a Fieldfare.
Out on Patch 2 conditions were perfect, lovely low ‘flat’ light and a mirror calm sea combined with comfortable conditions for the watcher...a gorgeous morning. The conditions belied the total lack of stuff out there! On the beach we counted seven Oystercatchers and three Redshanks...big wow! A stonking male Pied Wagtail sat on the wall close to us but, for once, we didn’t have the camera and he was on the ‘wrong’ side anyway – will get him tomorrow if he sits there again.
Out on the sea there really should have been a lot more than the six Common Scoters and single Cormorant. Disappointingly poor.
By lunchtime the tide was at its lowest and the sea was still more or less flat calm. New arrivals were a flock of 11 Eiders but the Common Scoters and the Cormorant had shipped out. Very much a day of nothing much.
Scan as we might we couldn’t find a mammal and other than a handful of distant gulls couldn’t find any other birds either. That was until seemingly out of nowhere we picked up a Razorbill very close inshore – where had that been hiding?
A look through the not-so-many-at-all gulls paddling in the shallows by the outfall pipe gave nothing untoward. That was enough – time for a brew...
Where to next? More of the same but a lot wetter and windier weather to contend with if the forecaster’s seaweed is to be believed.
In the meantime let us know if it’s flat calm in your outback.

3 comments:

cliff said...

"Just about perfect" as I read this Blackpool are 1 up & the baggies are down to 9 men, so, given you're a Blackpool fan just about perfect sums it up nicely :-)

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

Better be more than 1 - 0 at full time 4 or 5 might be nice to get the goal diff going the right way (2 would do though)

Cheers
D

Lancashire and Lakeland Outback Adventure Wildlife Safaris said...

3 points is 3 points and a home win at last but my they made me sweat.

Cheers
D