Keeping a nose ahead

The Safari took Frank out late last night and for the first time in quite a while we came across a Fox, which promptly disappeared into the Golden Triangle but got a certain Chocolate Labrador very over-excited.
He was still sniffing where it had been on our Patch 1 visit this morning! From his reactions and state of general excited sniffiness we think the Fox, or Foxes, had been all over the place during the night.
The female Sparrowhawk’s tail was spotted,sticking out over the rim of the nest as usual.

Up at the top end of the park we heard the distinctive ‘chip’ of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, the first we’ve heard or even been told about in here for some time.
At Patch 2 the wind was cool in our face but the sun was warm on our back. The tide was on its way out and there were a few gulls working their way down the beach, nothing over exciting with them though. Scanning the sea gave us another flock of gulls in the middle distance clumsily diving for fish; there were no terns or anything else on any interest with them. But further out a few Gannets wandered northwards. A couple started to dive and within a couple of minutes they had been joined by some more. The fishing couldn’t have been that good and certainly not as if a bait-ball was developing. There was enough activity to attract the attentions of a marauding Great Skua (186). It had a good go at one of the Gannets, from this distance and in the shimmer it looked as though it grabbed it by a wing tip! Once this bully-beast had turned up the Gannets soon dispersed. The Skua either landed on the sea or dropped in to a trough, which ever happened we didn’t see it again.
The lunchtime patch 2 visit didn’t amount to much. A distant ‘Commic’ Tern was far, far more likely to have been a Common Tern from the small colony on the nearby docks than an Arctic Tern which should have all moved through by now. It does beg the question where are the Sandwich Terns, although they don’t breed locally there should be some fishing up and down the coast – have we no fish?

Still no Water Vole updayte for you.

Where to next? More of the same and that Barn Owl to visit.

In the meantime let us know what's protruding from your outback...shudder to think!!!

Check out this new site have to find out if wecan get a record your sightings page on there.