Devastated

The safari is deeply unhappy about last night’s 2 – 0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, ‘Pool are now sliding down the league table, nightmare. Pull yer fingers out this Saturday boys, can’t be going to PNE and getting beaten at Deepdale – NOT an option!
Frank was playing up this morning after a restless night – the idiot musta followed his nose and eaten something he shouldn’t…happens all the time…doh!!! Anyway the upshot was that we didn’t get round the patch, just a foreshortened route. We could hear the nearer of the two Song Thrushes but that was about it – no sign of the Peregrine.
However, driving past the tower on the way to work he was back and we could see falling feathers glinting in the sunshine…breakfast was being munched!
Another cold but sunny Patch 2 visit produced at least three Red Throated Divers, not sure if one doubled back on itself and landed on the sea before setting off north again or there were actually two birds. Good to see them with the bright crisp morning sunshine shining on them all the same. Not much else about; like yesterday there were reasonable numbers of uncounted Cormorants mostly headed south west towards their unknown roost or high tide feeding site. We have never seen so many singleton, pairs or trios of Common Scoters, again flying all over the shop but no larger flocks this morning.
Best sighting of the session was a small flock of Knot (105) whizzing past. A bird which really we should have come across already this year but has somewhat strangely successfully avoided the notebook until now.
The lunchtime session was a bit hairy with the results of our work’s pay review trickling in and some people weren’t looking too happy at all…despondent might be a better expression. The safari had to sweat it out until we got home and read the letter the posty had left on the mat. In the meantime it was over the road to Patch 2 for us. Unfortunately there was very little to keep us interested, or warm. Very few gulls on the beach and nothing out of the ordinary amongst them. The only thing of note out at sea was a flockette of two male and two female Eiders. Hardly worth going out into the bitingly cold wind…but you never know – the biggy coulda been out there…oh for a Ivory Gull sat with the Black Heads in that runnel by the next dead Harbour Porpoise. Better stop dreamin’ now…
Where to next? Not really likely to be able to do anything other than more patchy stuff until the weekend.
In the meantime let us know what you’re dreaming of landing in your outback.
No photo today to despondent to get the camera out...you really don't want to know, anyone got a big cardboard box, might need it to live in in a few months.

For Forest the Bear - here's what we could have been doing last weekend with the lads if we hadn't had family stuff to do...as stated sooooo jealous.

Precious little to disturb the notebook…but then again…

The safari’s adventure to Patch this morning was nothing to write home about. Apart from the usual Robins twittering away just a couple of Song Thrushes were sparring from the opposite sides of the park in the early morning half-light. A Wren blasted out a few short phrases from a clump of dense dark cover, the first of the season. A little later one was seen ‘mousing’ about in the garden at Base Camp, a seldom seen species recently – probably because we’ve been out at work during daylight hours! Two bright male Chaffinches in next door’s little Beech tree were nice additions to the day list.
The Starlings flying out of their roost were most impressive, three waves of them. The noise of the wind in their wings as they flew overhead from behind us heralded their imminent arrival – what a din. Whoooooshhhhhh and they were gone. Well over 5000 in each flock. A full blown wildlife spectacle of David Attenborough proportions and all you have to do is take a few seconds to stand still and look up – magical!
If we had 15000+ going off to feed to the NE by the application of ‘birders logic’ there must/may/might/could have been similar numbers leaving the pier roost due east and SE, making a very provisional total of somewhere in the region of 45-50000.
Late in to work due to having to wait for a decorator to turn up so no Patch 2 early morning visit. Conditions did look good on the drive in though so we could well have missed something worth seeing. No lunchtime visit either, as we had to nip home to pay aforementioned decorator. Me thinks wifey is preping the house for sale…nooooo we haven’t got any money!!!!!!!!!!
That was yesterday’s news which didn’t get the chance to hit the world wide web – too much to do at home last night and then our Extreme Photographer came round in his shiny, nearly new, Moose replacing, Extreme Land Rover – oh boy, it looks bog standard but hides a multitude of power enhancing toys like a double sized intercooler, ecu remap, de-catted exhaust, egr valve removed, wider tyres on spacers for extra road holding in corners. Not only will it be supreme off the tarmac but now also has 175 horses under the bonnet, just right for peeing off chavs in their souped up Clios and Corsas. It goes like greased sh*t from a Teflon coated shovel – hardly Land Rover like at all!!!
Where to next? Hopefully better attempts at Patching tomorrow.

Ah tomorrow – ie now today – was indescribably better. What was lacking yesterday was there this morning. Patch 1 was nothing to write home about, the two Song Thrushes were still playing X-factor with each other…”I can sing louder than you!”…”No you can’t!”…”Yes I can!”…etc, etc. Looking up in to the breaking dawn we saw the International Space Station fly past…it doesn’t look that high, brightest thing in the sky apart from the moon, but we couldn’t see the Space Shuttle trying to catch it up. I believe you may be able to see them docking tomorrow morning.
Patch 2 was much better. First thing we noticed were dribs and drabs of Cormorants all heading southwards to some high tide roost site. In the short time we were out there we must have had over two dozen. Plenty of Common Scoters in several packs probably totalling over 200 in all mostly way, way out on the horizon so no chance of picking up the Patch 2 bogey bird. Shelduck are always nice to see off the prom and this morning we had two pairs about five minutes apart, both pairs heading north. Two Red Throated Divers were also about five minutes apart but going in the opposite direction. Also a long way offshore two Great Black Backed Gulls wheeled around the horizon, their contrasting under and upper parts catching the sunshine (YES SUNSHINE!!!!!!!) making them look like oversized Manx Shearwaters.

A lively few minutes in a lively, freezing cold northerly wind with the wrong gloves…brrrrr.
Lunchtime if anything was even colder despite the very welcome sunshine – tha’s a bitter nor’erly wind tha’ knorrs; ee bah gumm. Not much to show though for freezing our nads off. Similar to earlier with plenty of Cormorants mooching about in every direction. No Shelducks this time but they were replaced by five Eiders heading south. The receding tide had left a small amount of beach uncovered where a few gulls and Oystercatchers had the pick of the shellfish. Two Sanderlings buzzed around the edge of a pool. That was about it really.
Where to next? More of the same; here’s hoping that nasty wind drops.
In the meantime let us know in which direction the wind is blowing in your outback

Stuff from the South side

The safari had another trip over the river today. But before we crack on with the details here's a pic of Bloomfield Road. We normally don't get this view because we're usually halfway up the righthand terrace. The three yellow jersey'd bods in the foreground are the cheats, particularly the old gimmer with the bald head nearest the camera (he was even older than me!) who couldn't keep up with play and never saw a dozen or more offsides! Hard enough playing 11 good players without having to play against two officials too. Lets hope we steam-roller Sheffield Wednesday away on Tuesday night.

Continuing our North side theme for a minute, we found this broken piece of sign on the marshes by the car park which has been smashed by numpties and thrown in the sea. Eventually it washed up on the South side. It refers to the 'Birth of Venus' Illuminations tableau by TV celebrity artiste Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen. Wonder if my bosses want it back?
On to the real stuff. We hit the marsh road and looked for the Bittern but no luck this week, although it's still about. Two Merlins sat up nicely on posts as did two Kestrels. Sackfuls of Little Egrets but no Great White Egret. We went into the hide and had a chat with the Warden who put us on to a Brent Goose (Thanks GC) whilst we were nicely on a Barnacle Goose (103) nestling in a large flock of Pink Footed Geese. Three Brown Hares were a mammal tick for the year. Lots of commoner ducks and waders out there too.
After that we headed of to the Marine Lake and driving past we saw this...A very strange Red Crested Pochard but can we tick it...Possibly not but this one is a much better candidate.The latter appeared during the cold spell after an influx from the contintent...not sure about the plae one, part of the same or from somewhere a lot nearer? 104 now bagged.
Look closely at the Coot's head, weird or what!
Several gulls were hanging around waiting for the copious amounts bread the loving public have been chucking at the Mute Swans. This Black Headed Gull is still in full winter plumage.The safari loves immature gulls, like this 1st winter Herring Gull.

After our family Sunday do we had a qick look on the beach and bumped in to another mammal tick - a Stoat. We gave about 2000 gulls on the beach a good grilling but nothing stood out as being different...no Twite there today again, might have to wait 'til next autumn for them now.

Where to next? Back to the Patches...a somewhat scary week coming up...more later.

In the meantime let us know what yuo seen over the river in your outback.

The safari was up and out early on Patch 1 today. Frank has no concept of weekend lie-ins! When he's up he's up and he's gotta go out. Only just 6 O'clock and frosty but for the first time this early there was birdsong in the moonlight. A Blackbird and Robin were singing nearby in the street . On the patch a Song Thrush was giving it non-stop welly from a small patch of scrub in the rough bottom field. The darkness of the patch was still quiet except for a couple of Robins singing on the roadside in the light from the streetlamps. Even at that time of the morning on a Saturday standing quietly in the middle of the park we struggled to hear a second Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush in the distance over the noise of the (seemingly) sparse traffic and trains being shunted around on the not too distant railway line.

The Magpies of Magpie Wood were just beginning to stir, cackling and rattling as we walked beneath them. Very difficult to count them in the darkness and standing still under the trees upsets them and they start hopping around all over each other. But a reasonable guesstimate would be about 35 - 40. There was relief all round when we saw that the Peregrine was back.

We won't mention the footy - not good and a league place lost - a good job most of the other teams close behind us had a bad day too. Teams above widened the gap unfortunately. They really need a win now to get their confidence back and some form going again. Damned unlucky with a beltin' shot smashing in to the woodwork again.

Where to next? Off to the marshes of the South side tomorrow, but if it's foggy like this morning we'll struggle to see anything at all!

In the meantime let us know how your outback team fared today...better than 'Pool I hope.

Godwits raise the bar

The safari was disappointed this morning on Patch 1 as the Peregrine was nowhere to be seen. But being a little later than usual there was a good deal of bird song in the air although it still wasn’t light. Mostly Robins and Blackbirds but a Mistle Thrush and a Dunnock too. A Song Thrush hopped along the path in front of us for a few yards. We didn’t have time to do a full patch walk; the park might have been quite lively this morning.
At Patch 2 before work the tide was well out but the beach was fairly devoid of birds. A scan along the tide line gave us a count of 102 Oystercatchers and in their midst was a small group of seven Bar Tailed Godwits. A surprise and an excellent count for this section of the coast where they are rare visitors. They are far more numerous round the corner in the estuary. Four Turnstones pecked around the base of the outfall pipe, with just five Redshank. A search for the rest of the Redshank found them roosting a bit further along the beach under the sea wall in a runnel, 36 of them. Nothing of any excitement in the few gulls present, a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls cruising up the coast was the highlight. Out at sea…absolutely nothing. Well there could have been allsorts but with the horrendously reduced visibility again we were never going to see it.
No Patch 2 lunchtime visit today, a funeral took precedent.
Where to next? Bloomfield Road for more footy followed by an estuarine marshy safari on Sunday.
In the meantime let us know what you haven’t been able to see in your mist ridden outback.

Early morning pea soup

The safari was not happy with the referee at last night’s footy match – the Seasiders lost 3 – 2 to a very dubious penalty decision, a dodgy offside goal for Albion’s second too – have to see the TV replays but we wuzz deffo ROBBED! Not good enough in the first half, we appeared to be frightened of them but in the second a clever set of substitutions had us attacking with venom, a couple of close misses, a clatter off the bar, header off the line by a defender (who shouldn’t have been stood there) and right at the death the ball shaved the paint off the wrong side of the post in a goal mouth scramble – all in all a good close game but it wasn’t to be! Still need 11 points to be guaranteed safety for this season; bring on the first three of them on Saturday against the Foxes of Leicester City, got my ticket – but will I have got my voice back by then?
Out as usual on Patch 1 and yes you’ve guessed it - the Peregrine was fast asleep on his usual ledge. We’re gonna miss him when it gets lighter earlier in a couple weeks time and he’s flown the coop by the time we get there. No sign of the Fox this morning although by the serious amount of sniffing Frank did it had definitely been out and about over night. There had been a bit of overnight mist which had condensed and frozen on the ground making walking rather interesting shall we say.
By the time we got to work the mist had thickened in to a full blown pea soup fog over the Promenade and out to sea, so getting out would have been pointless; wouldn’t have been able to see to the end of the telescope!
Our lunchtime visit wasn’t much better. Crackin light but hopeless visibility. Nothing much to show for the few minutes we spent searching a rather lifeless sea. A few gulls bobbed about between the white horses, a handful of Cormorants peered out from between the waves like bizarre periscopes and a dozen or so fairly distant Common Scoters flipped in and out of view in the swell. Pick of the bunch…two Great Crested Grebes flying south about five minutes apart…yes it was that exciting – absolutely riveting!
Where to next? More of the gloomy, grey same for the rest of the week TFI Friday tomorrow!
In the meantime let us know what is lurking in the gloomy greyness of your outback this week.
No pics again today, not a lot of point showing you the inside of a drizzly grey cloud.

Another one bites the dust

The safari reckons you can’t beat a bit of vintage Queen.
Out on Patch 1 pre-dawn, now with more than a hint of light in the eastern sky, the Peregrine was on its usual roosting ledge. We bumped in to a neighbour who told us that her dog had just sent the Fox dashing for the safety of its underground earth deep in the bushes.
By the time we’d done the circuit it was hardly any lighter but the Peregrine had flown off. Recent webcam observations at Derby cathedral have shown that they are able to successfully hunt at night. Not surprising when you consider the size of their eyes – big in relation to their body.
Patch 2 before work was beset by bait diggers; four were spread out along the low water line in front of us, upsetting the waders. The Sanderlings, Redshanks and Oystercatchers were skittish and moving about uncountably. The gulls were calmer and we started to count the Common Gulls after the other day’s good guestimate it would be nice to know how many there actually are. About half way through the count we came across one that appeared to be much darker than the rest. A trick of the morning light or a real difference? It helped solve the problem by picking up a shell and flying up then dropping it. It did this a few times, as luck would have it when the shell broke it was near another ‘typical’ Common Gull which walked up to it in the hope of scraps or a steal and we could compare the saddle colours. They were noticeably different; in comparison the darker one was almost approaching Lesser Black Backed Gull darkness more smoky dusky grey than dove blue grey and a little ‘heavier’ in overall build but at that range we couldn’t tell if the bill was any stouter…a full L.c.heinei? Perhaps not, but probably one from further north and east than our ‘normal’ ones which are mostly Scottish breeders. Best bird we’ve found on the beach for a while. After all that 53 was the final count.
A numb-nut in a bright yellow jacket appeared and started to pick Mussels off the outfall pipe – well I tried them once and never again – as gritty as a gritty thing from Gritsville, Arizona! – they’ll appear on a restaurant menu somewhere in town tonight probably…oohh err. He did, however, flush two Turnstones – dough-brain! Pick of the best of the rest was a north flying Great Crested Grebe and a tiny scattering of Common Scoters, Not near enough to check for any Velvet Scoters – our Patch 2 bogey bird – there have been some on the South side and others off Walney Island to the north. Bally typical! Stuck in the middle with(out) you... Oh no not more musical references viz. Stealers Wheel featuring a very nice chap named Tony Williams who is now one of our local Councillors!...and Nilsson (not written by him though but by a 60’s/early 70’ s group called Badfinger (appropriate - given my condition!) – Don’t ever, ever, ever mention the diabolical wailing, shrieking version by an American female, who can’t sing, in my presence – she destroyed the song in my (humble haha) opinion.
Lunchtime saw a reduced Patch 2 visit, more Common Scoters this time, about sixty, and most of them close enough to be grillable but no Velvets…what were you expecting. We did get four Great Crested Grebes this time and a mammal year tick – Grey Seal, but that was very distant to the south. A necessary errand out of town left us within striking distance of an area from which a mixed wild swan flock, of approximately a hundred birds, had recently been reported. We had to check it out. Rounding the corner we could see the flock away across the fields in the distance – they were still there…phew. Most of them were Bewick’s Swans (102), outnumbering the Whooper Swans by about 3:1, not that we had time to count them.

What was noticeable was that there were very few birds off the year so last year’s breeding season might not have been too good. Four Grey Lag Geese were sat in the middle of the flock. Impossible to tell if these are feral local British breeders or genuine wildlies from the Northern Isles or Iceland. Five minutes was long enough to get some dodgy digiscope pics (long range, old scope, cheapest camera, gloomy conditions) before having to head back at breakneck speed to the desk. Nowhere near enough time to think about going for the now very close lifer, we’ll have to wait until the next high tide at the end of the month.
Good to get Bewick’s Swans on the year list as they have been a bit tricky in recent years, the milder winters have resulted in many of the western European wintering population staying on the continent. In the early 90’s a good sized flock of roosting birds used to appear nightly on the nature reserve and it was a real joy watching them coming in each evening and settle down on the mere.
So 102 in the bag only 98 to go…we should be so lucky…(lucky, lucky, lucky - Oh no not Kylie!)
Where to next? Small matter of an important footy match tonight as the Seasiders take on the always in form and hard to beat West Bromwich Albion – a clean sheet no score draw will do nicely…a win, of course, would better!!!
In the meantime let us know which tricky species you’ve just seen in your outback.