Coo its gone parky

The Safari went out on to a frosty Patch 1 this morning. The drop in temperature had resulted in a corresponding drop in singing from the local Blackbirds. It was quiet all the way round to the park where only the Collared Doves and Woodpigeons relishing the subzero heat.
After a mild February in which minimum temperatures were a globally warmed full 3ºC above the long term average and maximum temperatures a more normal 1 ºC above March has plunged us back to wintery temperatures with the forecast for the daytime temperatures for the coming week being 2 1/2 ºC below expected. Never did like March much.
Coming back from the park to Magpie Wood most of the Magpies were awake by now and we flushed a large number of them from the ground. The only sign of life from the Golden Triangle was a singing Wren, although overhead the noise from the gulls leaving their roost on the office buildings was cacophonous.
Out on Patch 2 it seemed a little quieter than yesterday. Nice views of fairly close Common Scoters were had and of the six Great Crested Grebes seen two were displaying well out to sea, no chance of building a nest anywhere near there. A Red Throated Diver was picked up in the distance and then another flew south, these are first we’ve had for almost two weeks now. Yesterday’s little flock of Eiders had shrunk to just one male who was fishing close to the end of the outfall pipe although this was totally covered by the tide. Also successfully fishing nearby was a Cormorant which, judging by the size and shape of its excessively stretched gular pouch, had caught a rather large flatfish.
By lunchtime the tide had dropped enough to reveal a bit of beach and the gulls were beginning to take advantage of whatever might be on offer. Not so many of them today the huge gull-fest of the last couple of weeks seems to be over. We couldn’t find anything outlandish amongst them; indeed we struggled to find even a Common Gull. A pair of Great Black Backs tore in to a stranded flatfish at the water’s edge. A few Redshanks scurried about on the rapidly increasing beach and we saw just one Oystercatcher.
Out to sea it was very bright and hazy, not the best viewing conditions and we didn’t get anything of note.
Looking southwards beyond our southern boundary there were plenty of silhouettes on the beach but other than the huge bulk of a Great Black Back and several roosting Cormorants it was impossible to tell what anything was in the hazy shimmer.
Where to next? The next safari will mostly contain more of the same.
In the meantime let us know what’s shimmering in your outback.