The Safari has little to report for today but for a double stonking pic of yesterday’s sunrise have a look at PL’s effort – as he says makes you want to get up and head out!
We had a group on children rock pooling yesterday evening but before they arrived we treated ourselves to a scan of the sea to see what we could see. In the distance we spotted a dark shape ‘roll’. Was it a piece of driftwood or something else? One thing we are sure of was it was big, far too big for it to have been a Harbour Porpoise. We don’t think it was a lump of wood either as it disappeared for a minute or two and then reappeared further away, not the behaviour of a piece of wood! But was it a dolphin or perhaps even a Minke Whale?...we’ll never know!
After that excitement we waited as the group started to arrive and so did the rain...spitting at first but by the time we’d got down on the beach it was getting heavier and heavier. It didn’t stop the children enjoying themselves but after an hour exposed to the elements we were all soaked to the bone and getting cold. The nets dragged plenty of stuff up and the session’s shell count reached 16 species. One of the ‘rockpools’ we looked in held several stalked anemones, a recent colonist of this shore, one large one about 3cm across and several much smaller ones the smallest < 1 cm.
This morning no Peregrines were seen on the tower and we were too late for the sunrise.
On the drive to work what looked like a Wheatear was on the hand rail towards the southern end of the new promenade. A second bird hopped up and the first hopped down but they were just a bit too far away to confirm with the naked eye and we don’t normally drive to work with our bins round our neck – maybe we should.
Patch 2 wasn’t over exciting. Not a lot on the sea and probably the best was over 1000 Oystercatchers on the beach just over our southern ‘border’.
At lunchtime the tide was rising and the patch had improved significantly! A distant Gannet was the first for a while and a distant Grey Seal was expected. Other than a couple of hundred or so Common Scoters scattered here and there in loose flocks that was it – not far off dire.
We had a group on children rock pooling yesterday evening but before they arrived we treated ourselves to a scan of the sea to see what we could see. In the distance we spotted a dark shape ‘roll’. Was it a piece of driftwood or something else? One thing we are sure of was it was big, far too big for it to have been a Harbour Porpoise. We don’t think it was a lump of wood either as it disappeared for a minute or two and then reappeared further away, not the behaviour of a piece of wood! But was it a dolphin or perhaps even a Minke Whale?...we’ll never know!
After that excitement we waited as the group started to arrive and so did the rain...spitting at first but by the time we’d got down on the beach it was getting heavier and heavier. It didn’t stop the children enjoying themselves but after an hour exposed to the elements we were all soaked to the bone and getting cold. The nets dragged plenty of stuff up and the session’s shell count reached 16 species. One of the ‘rockpools’ we looked in held several stalked anemones, a recent colonist of this shore, one large one about 3cm across and several much smaller ones the smallest < 1 cm.
This morning no Peregrines were seen on the tower and we were too late for the sunrise.
On the drive to work what looked like a Wheatear was on the hand rail towards the southern end of the new promenade. A second bird hopped up and the first hopped down but they were just a bit too far away to confirm with the naked eye and we don’t normally drive to work with our bins round our neck – maybe we should.
Patch 2 wasn’t over exciting. Not a lot on the sea and probably the best was over 1000 Oystercatchers on the beach just over our southern ‘border’.
At lunchtime the tide was rising and the patch had improved significantly! A distant Gannet was the first for a while and a distant Grey Seal was expected. Other than a couple of hundred or so Common Scoters scattered here and there in loose flocks that was it – not far off dire.
Can't believe the Cuckoo reappeared on the South-side...darn that pesky thing, where was it in the rain on Tuesday???
Apologies again for the lack of pics but last night was too wet for the camera and today there wasn’t anything of note to point it at! Migt have to take a leaf out of DS's book and start a rainy day folder...
Where to next? Mothing in the deepest depths of Patch 1 tomorrow night; should have a ‘woodland’ and a grassland trap on the go. Give us a call if you fancy bobbing along. Last year Frank ate most of the larger moths as they approached the light...this year he’s banned!
In the meantime let us know what slipped past unnoticed in your outback.
Apologies again for the lack of pics but last night was too wet for the camera and today there wasn’t anything of note to point it at! Migt have to take a leaf out of DS's book and start a rainy day folder...
Where to next? Mothing in the deepest depths of Patch 1 tomorrow night; should have a ‘woodland’ and a grassland trap on the go. Give us a call if you fancy bobbing along. Last year Frank ate most of the larger moths as they approached the light...this year he’s banned!
In the meantime let us know what slipped past unnoticed in your outback.
2 comments:
Hmmmmmm.......might have to get a bigger memory for the computer to store all those rainy day pics Davo...:-)
Hmmmmmm.......might have to get a bigger memory for the computer to store all those rainy day pics Davo...:-)
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