The Safari yet again was only able to manage a very much
shortened Patch 1 walk which yielded nothing! Absolutely zilch!
The overnight increase wind speed was scary at times – what
happened at 03.00? Sounded as though the house was going to come down!
At Patch 2 the sea was still ferocious; very lumpy with
massive white breakers with spray racing off their tops and some foam as well. Double
blustery with the wind running smack bang straight in our face at 39 mph
(17.75m/s). Out to sea was a solid wall of dense grey nothingness blanketing
the world.
Only a few Common Scoters were seen this morning. We really
feel for the poor things; it must be like trying to live in a maniacal washing
machine for them at the moment. On the water with the scoters were a couple of
Cormorants.
It wasn’t long before an adult Kittiwake carved its way
through the troughs followed shortly afterwards by the black 'W' of a 1st
winter.
Our lunchtime session was fortunate to coincide with a
window in the rain. The sun was out!!!!! But that made half the patch
unviewable due to the glare on the wet sand. Geeez - these birders are always moaning about summat!
The sea was still rough with 15
foot (5m) rollers crashing into each other as the wind and tide ran against
each other making the sea a boiling mass of white.
About 100 or so Common Scoters were seen and a steady stream
of adult Kittiwakes eventually numbered 12 but no 1st winters this
time. In the far distance three tiny white specks were probably Little Gulls
but untickable on the views we had. They just vanished into the mess of waves
after a nanosecond’s view never to reappear. Do you think we can have this one on our list as if we HAD have been able to go to the nature reserve we WOULD have seen it?
A Common Gull bobbed along the receding tide line wings
outstretched pattering on the water like a giant, pale Storm Petrel. Plenty of other
gulls were rummaging around along the strandlines.
Unusually a 1st winter Kittiwake was flitting
about amongst is ‘congeners’ again (or at least the other larids as we doubt very
much if any members of the other species of the Rissa genus were present :-) )
There were only a few Oystercatchers and no Redshanks today
and despite the low tide the storm surge meant that the outfall pipe remained
mostly covered so no Turnstones for the year list either.
Did get a first for the year in the form of a flippin
puncture, a split in the sidewall so no repair – in the tyre with the best
tread, over 12mm left - isn't always the way - - never rains but it pours!
Back at Base Camp, a feat achieved without the use of headlights - things are looking brighter! - a Dunnock poked around under the shrubbery in the front garden an unusual occurrence but one which takes the garden list to a whopping five.
No pics despite the sun :-(
Where to next? More of the same...and a Little Gull please.
In the meantime let us know what you would have seen if you were out in your outback today
2 comments:
It's sooooo frustrating in these conditions Davo :-) Never mind mate, it cant go on, at least you did get some birding in :-)
What have I seen in my outback Davo? Well, let's see: pitch black garden before work and pitch black when I return. Rain at the weekend! Typical. Oh, a bit of sun yesterday, but I was out shopping!
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