Desperate times

The Safari took Frank out very early after a fitful night of doggy puke - loverlyyyy - NOT: too much bonefor his tea! - A cold wind blew from the north this morning cutting through our thin jumper like a knife in the half light of dawn.

As we drove down the prom looking at the choppy sea a Wheatear was seen in an unusual place; on the tram-side railings at the top of the promenade just south of Chat Alley. Never seen one there before but suppose they have to pass by the very urbanised town centre frontage, once they’ve reached the southern end of the slightly more natural Chat Alley there’s not a lot of options but to head straight along the seafront to the dunes three or four miles to the south.

Once past the tower the new seawall offers some respite from the concrete in the form of the new grassed areas and associated puddles where invertebrate prey may be encountered; probably more in future years as they are still very new. The puddles offer the best chance as could be seen by R’Ouzel Puddle – now ‘repaired’. Piedy Puddle had us going a bit but the little white thing bobbing about was a small piece of litter and not a Pied Wagtail (or anything more exotic).

Patch 2 was a cold affair, positively a fleece and waterproof jobby! That wind was fierce; a taste of things to come!

The absence of other seawatchers at the shelter wasn’t a good sign and light wasn’t good either. A few Gannets, terns and Common Scoters, the current 'holy trinity', wombled about in the wobbly haze.

Slightly more exciting but hardly earth-shattering were half a dozen Sanderlings poking around in the up-wash from the breaking waves. We went back for the camera and fired a few shots off but it was difficult to hold the camera steady whilst leaning over the wall, which is a bit too high for this type of gymnastics, and that wind was making us wobble all over the place!!! How’s that for a few reasonably decent excuses for the poor pics.

Lunchtime was no warmer and still windy. A juvenile Common Gull picking up small bits of ??? from the water surface with three juvenile Herring Gulls was the first of the autumn and unexpected although given the date and wind direction it probably shouldn’t have been.

Out in the wobbliness the holy trinity were still about. Viewing conditions close in were excellent but anything after a few hundred yards wobbled in the haze like a jelly on a spin-dryer going full frap.

A bit of late news on the hoverfly front is that the Helophilus trivittatus photod at work last week is a new record for south Fylde, in fact it has hardly been recorded throughout Lancashire but we suspect that has more to do with a lack of recorders/reporters than any particular rarity value the species has. Another direct hit for ‘untidiness’!!!

Where to next? More of the same but hopefully something might pass by that add to our year list as we're currently a long way behind Monika with her 212 convincingly out-pacing our 196. It's only for fun and we've both had some superb wildlife sights to enjoy so far this year, but we really don't like being that far behind!

In the meantime let us know what's never been seen in the untidy parts of your outback.