Plenty of scoters but precious little else

The Safari has some news to share before we reveal our next thrilling installment...

The first piece of news is from KB about his colour ringed Coot we saw at the nature reserve the day we saw the three Otters. “This is a nice record, as this bird was ringed at Redesmere Lake, Macclesfield in Cheshire last August, seen at Marton Mere Blackpool (81 km, NW, 126 days)” K says “Any further sightings of this bird or other cr-ringed Coot would be most welcome!” So keep your eyes peeled wherever you are.

Then we heard from CB and his Nuthatch sighting from mid November at the nature reserve’s feeding station – a site first which he didn’t realise at the time. “The Nuthatch flew in from the trees backing onto Swift Close.
As previously mentioned it flew straight into the feeding station calling loudly and then fed around for a bit.”. The trees backing on to Swift Close may or may not be there much longer depending on a whether a planning permission is granted or not. This is not the route by which the site’s first Nuthatch might have been expected to come by so it might not have come from the local core population, if it has it’s come by a circuitous route.

We got a text off ‘young un’ AB telling us of some early Daffodils he’d seen in flower, and then another couple told of the Crocus flowering in their garden. Season’s gawnnn mad!!!

All interesting stuff and that’s just about where this post’s interest stops!

Only the Peregrine still fast asleep to report from Patch 1 early doors.

At Patch 2 the wind had died down a bit and the rising tide had already reached the base of the wall so there was no beach. Out at sea it was still quite choppy and there were a lot of Common Scoters on the move with scattered small flocks all over the place, probably in excess of 300 altogether. Gulls were disappointing until six adult Kittiwakes came past in the middle distance. Close in a Great Crested Grebe rode the swell rebounding off the wall.

By lunchtime the wind had dropped further and the sea calmed considerably, so much so that for the first time in a long time we saw only a handful of white horses, still a high swell for stuff to disappear in though – but now it was too calm!!! AAArrrrgggghhh. Lots and lots and lots of scoters and absolutely nothing else...couldn’t even relocate the grebe.

We saw the sun today...

Then when we got home we came across this on the doorstep...anyone any field guides to Chinese shells?

Think the starfish are plastic...but perhaps not being from the Far East.

Where to next? More of the same it might even have calmed down further – enough to find real exotica like auks and divers...

In the meantime let us know what’s flowering when it shouldn’t be in your outback.