Yet more dipping - will we get lucky this spring?

The Safari didn't get out yesterday until about lunchtime, we parked up and straight away bumped into AL who was just leaving the reserve, "Owt about?" we asked "Nah, just a load of Chiffchaffs and not a lot else". "No Willow Warblers?" "Didn't hear a single one!" And with that he was off to the pub. Seconds later we got a txt from SD saying he was on Patch 2 and an Osprey had just flown over him. We ran to the middle of the field and put the bins on the tower but then noticed a shed load of gulls going up a little way to the north, probably about the start of Chat Alley, the lower sky here was obscured a by tall trees and the narby hotel so we missed yet another Osprey this spring, how many's that now 4, 5?

Starting our walk proper we went around the outside of the reserve listening to several Chiffchaffs on the way but only really getting glimpses of them when we stopped to look for one. We anted to see if the Long Eared Owls were still on site, arriving at the spot we were a little disappointed to find the 'easy' one wasn't there but a quick scan with the bins gave us the one that normally sits behind it and then the tricky one which was extremely tricky this time. But there was a big bonus, the first one was facing us AND had its eyes wide open, the first time we've seen it like this all winter! Could the camera (which is playing up after a recent soaking) find it and focus??? Yes it could!!!

We were able to show a young lad and his mum the pic on the camera and wished we'd taken our scope so he could see it for himself, we hope he googled it when  he got home like he said he would.

On we strolled into the reserve and along the embankment, all quiet along there apart from a couple of Cetti's Warblers.

The gulls on the mere went up and we scanned hopefully but found the cause of the consternation was the regular Buzzard not an Osprey.

 The flood in the nearest field has dried to a soggy mud but still looks good for stuff to come in and hunt flies and other invertebrates but it was devoid of bird-life as was the stubble beyond it and the still very wet floods in the field the other side of the dyke. All we could find of note in the stubble field was a solitary Stock Dove.

From the trees by the bridge (there's a songbird who sings...) we heard our first Willow Warbler (130, MMLNR #84) of the year and then heard another somewhere in the scrub near the hide. At the hide we met MJ and EP who hadn't seen too much of seasonal interest other than the nearby Willow Warbler and several Chiffchaffs, it was still more wintry fare out there although numbers of waterfowl are now well down with four Goldeneyes, 16 Tufted Ducks, and just eight each of Teal and Mallard. A Coot sitting tight on its nest and the occasional passing butterfly told us it was really spring after all. All of a  sudden a Heron came and landed on the 'goalposts' it's only very rarely that we see them on there. It looked like it had seen something in the reedbed to the right and eventually flopped down into rather deep water for a closer look.

MJ and EP went off to look for Water Pipits while we continued our circuit in the warm spring sunshine, well it was warm if you were out of the increasingly strong easterly breeze, that had a bit of an edge too it.

On the lawn there were several Rabbits that were nibbling away totally un-phased by the numerous passing humans and their dogs.

Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies fluttered along the sunny edge of the lakeside scrub but we're still to come across a Comma this season and a Brimstone here would be a very nice bonus, they're still barely annual on site.

We weren't too chuffed with the Rabbits a little further on, a look at the wet meadow showed that they'd nibbled off several of the Snakeshead Fritillary flowers. We snuck carfefully into the meadow and was disappointed to see bicycle tracks all over the place in there, people don't seem to understand that a fence means you shouldn't enter any more, there were foot prints all over the place too and several of the Snakeshead Fritillaries and Cowslips had been trodden on as well as ravaged by the Rabbits.

At the hide we sa tand watched the gulls coming and going without finding anything out of the ordinary until an all black billed winter plumaged Black Headed Gull had us getting a bit twitchy for a while. outside a Wren sang loudly and then we spotted it on the window sill when it flew into the hide. up it went to a nest and out again in a tiny brown blur.

We waited ages camera poised ready for action and when it returned we fired off  a few dreadful shots at only 1/8th of a second, maybe we should have used the flash eh?

The Wren doesn't appear to be carrying any food and this is deffo a male bird  as we've seen it singing so this might only be one of several 'cock' nests that its made of which his mate will chose the one she likes best to raise their brood in - good luck to them we hope they have a good season. 

From there we went round the other side only stopping very briefly at the Feeding Station, we wanted to watch somewhere were there was plenty of sky and were rewarded by the gulls find another Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk but no Ospreys.

Down the path a bit the Gorse we planted many years ago was looking good if being blown about a bit in the wind. Standing in the lea of it the whiff of Coconut coming from the flowers on the breeze was gorgeous. Sadly we doubt if any of the several passers-by noticed the somewhat exotic fragrance.

And looking into the sun across the mere the light catching the  tops of the old reeds and giving them a  silvery wash was gorgeous too.

All too soon our time was up, we had an errand to run before the shops shut, it always seems too soon to leave!

Just outside the reserve gate we were rewarded with the only butterfly we saw stationary all afternoon and overhead a flock of about 25 Sand Martins appeared, but no Swallows or House Martins for us yet.

Back at Base Camp a little later we discovered there were two Ospreys fishing in the river near the bridge we'd taken Wifey across on the way to see her Hares.

Our Extreme Photographer has sent some more snaps from his garden in south west Wales.

Dunnock

Marsh Tit

Female Siskin

Male Siskin

Male Sparrowhawk, taken through his non-opening kitchen window

He tells us he's had to order another 100kgs of bird food, he must go through more in a week than we do here at Base Camp in a whole winter!
He's got some pics of non-garden birds for you coming shortly.

Where to next? We hope there's more on Patch 2 tomorrow than the single Herring Gull, single Lesser Black Backed Gull, two Eiders and two Pied Wagtails today. But a walk up to the shops did give us a Great Tit for our Patchwork Challenge tally but not our Patch 2 tally.

In the meantime let us know who's giving you the runaround in your outback.

Murder on the high seas

The Safari has been looking forward to today since this time last month, it's the biggest spring tide of the year and in April that means a good chance of a local speciality, Water Pipits. 

Arriving on site we saw we weren't the first, a car load of local birders was already parked up and the occupants eagerly scoping the rising waters. 

Over on the far side of the river we saw thousands of gulls go up and a few minutes later picked up a Short Eared Owl (128) on our side of the river way out by the channel where it upset the gulls here too.

Several late flocks of Pink Footed Geese were flying around, mostly going north. In the really heat hazy distance we counted at least 14 large wobbly white blobs which could well have been the 17 Whooper Swans counted by the others yesterday. It really was that difficult scoping in to the distance!

We had a bit more luck with the Avocets, only three today and plenty of Little Egrets, we didn't do a proper count of these but maybe as many as 20. It was like the Carmargue out there, without the warmth - how long before these pools have Greater Flamingos striding around them?

Behind us in the hedge a Song Thrush sang, over the rapidly disappearing marsh Lapwings displayed, Redshanks chittered and Skylarks exalted on high while Meadow Pipits parachuted all over the place. 

The water got nearer and the birds either dispersed or got concentrated on the remaining land in front of us depending on species. The Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches and Reed Buntings were working their way through the dead grasses washed up by last night's high tide. A Short Tailed Field Vole was washed out of its grassy tunnels and made a swim for shore, it didn't make it, a Back Headed Gull soon spotted it and that was the end of it. A second was more fortunate making the little island that was all the dry land left out there and hiding in the clumps of ?Sea Purslane.

The same island showed a bit of movement on the near side and that movement was a what we thought was almost definitely a Water Pipit but we didn't get a long look at it before it hid behind the longer grasses, we didn't see if it's flanks were streaky or not. When it reappeared others got on to it and it was deffo a Water Pipit (129) and a real Bobby Dazzler at that. 

We fired off a few shots at the little island - it was a bit far away - in the hope of fluking the Water Pipit in the frame. We didn't manage it but reviewing the  pics back at Base Camp we did find something we hadn't seen..can you see it?

Looks like a Jack Snipe to us. We did see a couple of Snipe but this one seems to have a short beak, any thoughts anyone.

We'd been joined by a couple of newby birders who enjoyed the Water Pipit as a lifer and were hoping for a Water Rail which IB had seen yesterday. There'd been no sign of one but while we were scoping the island for signs of the Water Pipit one swan past just behind, it must have come from the now well flooded patch of taller grasses a bit further out. We weren't expecting what happened next.

A Herring Gull appeared, hovered over the Water Rail then stooped and grabbed it from the water, not once but twice, perhaps it thought it was a mammal but then changed its mind about swallowing it. Now back in the water the Water Rail resumed its swim to somewhere drier - a lucky escape.

But no! not a lucky escape at all, a Moorhen which had been minding its own business pecking around the perimeter of the island swum out to it and proceeded to give it a right pasting for absolutely no good reason at all. The Water Rail escaped a couple of times but was soon dragged back by the bigger and determined Moorhen - why didn't the Water Rail try to fly off? The Moorhen eventually got a good hold and dunked the unfortunate Water Rail under the surface until the bubbles stopped coming up. At times we saw it stab the drowning Water Rail, or try to peck its eyes out or something equally grisly. whatever was going on the Water Rail never resurfaced and after a couple of minutes the Moorhen gave up its gruesome business and went back to poking around the edge of the little island as innocent as you like. What a shame but that's nature.

At the time we took this pic it had already survived the Herring Gull attack but we had no idea it would be murdered within two minutes.

Where to next? The nature reserve beckons, will there be any summer migrants in?

In the meantime let us know who's committing the murders in your outback.

Hare we come

The Safari had a near miss yesterday morning. We were out on the seawall with not much happening at all. The tide was low and the sea glassy calm with a bit of a swell but nothing was moving out there at all, so little about that it took us most of our watch to find just 17 Common Scoters. Slightly behind us and lost high in the bright blue ether we could hear the odd Meadow Pipits and Pied (or should that be 'alba') Wagtails at this time of year, calling as they headed north.

All of a sudden we heard the gulls a few hundred yards to the south of us go up making a racket - gotta be a raptor going over...Osprey? Long flopping wing beats, but not an Osprey, a Heron (P2 #55) not the one we wanted but a good 1 pointer for our Patchwork Challenge, we've only had two others her over the years in 2014 and back in 2011. That makes them scarcer here than the Long Tailed Duck we missed by going back into the office too soon - darn that work, it really is the bane of the birding classes!

At lunchtime we had an errand to run which gave us the opportunity to have a brief stop on the way back and check out the local Common Lizard hotspot. Being the middle of a sunny day the hotspot was probably already too hot and the lizards were already active and not basking so not unsurprisingly we didn't find any - always worth a look though, like they saw if you don't look you won't see!

After work we had a date. We've been promising to take Wifey to see Mad March boxing (Brown) Hares for years and with reports of good numbers over the river this week was the week even if it's now April. She loves Hares but has never seen them boxing. After an impatient wait for the weather to improve last night was the night so off we went as soon as the rush hour traffic had died down.

Down the last mile or so of the lane we saw lots of Mute Swans in the fields and watched Lapwings tumble in their display and drove past a Buzzard on a post. And then we had to stop as she spotted the first Hare of the evening nibbling away in the field to our right.

Reaching the car park the wind wasn't too strong but had a bit of a nip to it so we were wise not to come earlier in the week when it was much stronger and the embankment is very exposed.

On the mudflats only 100 yards or so from the car Wifey enjoyed great views of Redshanks, Shelducks and a the first of many Curlews (Wifey #78). The tide was well down and most of the birds were very distant across the channel, but that didn't really matter we were here to look inland.

Plover Scar light - apparently slightly damaged after being hit by a ship recently

It took only seconds looking inland to find our first Hare, there were two together. In fact there were loads when we started scanning the fields, they were everywhere...but not boxing...yet...they were a little distant though, none were in the nearest field.

It was great to see so many Lapwings sitting on their nests, lets just hope they survive the inevitable 'agricultural activities' like spraying and rolling that kills so many of them before they fledge. Also brought home to us very dramatically was how they need to nest in high densities to protect each other. The Buzzard flew over and immediately there was a swarm of agitated Lapwings harassing it keeping it moving away from their territories, eventually it went and hid in a bush out of the wind having been sent packing with a flea in its ear by the vigilant Lapwings.

Also out there was an impressive flock of Linnets, hard to count as they didn't stay in the air long and were too distant to even see once on the stubble but we'd guess at at least 75and a smaller number of Pied Wagtails, again there must have been a White Wagtail in their number, maybe 20 or more but again too distant to tell.

We walked along the embankment a way enjoying the Hares and the views of the remains of Cockersand Abbey when a beautiful flock of Golden Plovers (Wifey #79) flew by, a shame it wasn't sunny to illuminate their magnificent plumage for her better. They didn't stop but flew way out over the mudflats unfortunately.

Wifey's phone pic

On the way back we started to diligently count the Hares, 15 was our best effort, not bad at all but although they were running about chasing each other we didn't get to see them do any of their famed boxing.

A Wheatear scudded low over the seawall settling on a tatty piece of saltmarsh just long enough for Wifey to get on it (Wifey #80). Minutes later she self-found a second on the rocks below us which was a it more settled and a bit closer, almost allowing a decent pic, but not quite.

Out over the marsh a Little Egret flew past, wifey couldn't remember if she'd seen one already this year. We saw plenty more in the fields on the way back for our supper. 

A dog walker came past and Wifey started to chat to her as we were putting the kit away in the car, it seems we might have found the type of dog to be the new Frank at some point in the future, Trevor was a little cutie. It was then that a flock of half a dozen Grey Plovers (127) landed on the mud a little beyond the saltmarsh, by chatting Wifey missed these and using our Swazzas rather than her own EDs that were already tucked away in the boot (trunk for American friends) she couldn't get good views of the small flock of Eiders on the river channel. We stopped for some fish n chips half way home just as the rain started to come down heavily.

A fitting end to a great hour out in the wilds - yummmm. Wifey phone pic

Back at Base camp a check of the spreadsheets revealed the Little Egrets were indeed a new year bird for Wifey (#81).

If you've come across this googling 'Hare' and you're one of those scum who want to chase and kill them with dogs don't bother coming this way instead why don't you crawl up your own ar*es and go and die slowly and painfully somewhere well away from civilised society. Or you could take a trip to our mate's reserve in Botswana and have a go at running away from the African Hunting Dogs there and see how much fun that is...the outcome will be the same though.

Where to next? Back later with news of a high tide safari.
In the meantime let us know who's charging  around at breakneck speed in your outback.

News from down the far west of Wales

The Safari dropped the car off at the repair shop to the sound of a Wren singing in what at first appeared to be in what appeared to be a bit of an incongruous area; a a densely packed industrial area, but a look on Google Earth showed the neighbouring houses to have reasonably sized mature gardens with trees and shrubs. If there's some habitat then wildlife will find and use it. All we have to do is make sure that those habitats are as good as they can be to bring in as diverse a range of species as possible.

The few brief looks we had across the work's garden through the morning didn't provide the wished for Ring Ouzel, the showers weren't as frequent as forecast and so there was far more disturbance in the way of dog walkers and far less opportunity for one to be dropped out of the sky by the rain.The wind was strong and wrong, coming straight off the sea.

We got out at lunchtime by which time the tide had dropped enough to stop most of the sea-foam flying over the wall, so no soaking for us which was good. However, there wasn't much out there. A few Gannets went south and two flocks of six and nine Kittiwakes went north but no sign of any of the hoped for Manx Shearwaters yet.

No photos again today so it's a good job we've had some news from our Extreme Photographer down in south west Wales. Not the confirming news we'd hoped for but good all the same. He's had two new species of birds in his garden this week, Siskins and Lesser Redpolls and he's been able to fire off a few shots of them for you.

This and above taken through his dirty kitchen window

Sadly he reports that one of the local farmers has just ripped up a large area of scrub in which he fairly regular saw one of the few Willow Tits left in Pembrokeshire...Nighhtmare, lets hope they weren't dependent on that area.

Where to next? More wishful thinking on Patch 2 probably.

In the meantime let us know who's not dropping in in your outback.

Dangling by a thread

The Safari promised you the pic of the Long Tailed Tit eating a sunflower seed while dangling by one leg, well it's been posted here - worth a look, has anyone seen this rather odd feeding behaviour before? PE has some other cracking shots from his travels around thew Fylde and further afield.

Yesterday there was a low mist over the sea obscuring the top of the tower - which for the first time in eight long years no longer has any scaffold round it, the repairs are complete at last!) Above the mist was a layer of clear air before much higher still some thicker cloud. The sunlight was reflecting a pink glow off the snow on the top and in the gulls of Yr Wyddfa rather beautifully when seen through the scope.

Today rain was to either side of us but it was clearing to the west on the brisk wind. We weren't hopeful of connecting with yesterday's Black Guillemot, more than likey it had long since cleared out. 

However, it wasn't a bad session, and fortunately we were able to spend a bit more time out today. Almost first up was a Peregrine (P2 #49) which came from over land to the south and headed out to sea away from us at first but then turned made like it was hunting something down on the waves a few times then had a half-hearted stoop at a Cormorant that took last minute evasive action. Eventually we lost it in the gloomy haze right out on the horizon which it appeared it was about to continue over. Next up was our first Sandwich Tern (124, P2 #50) of the season, rather oddly going south, the 'wrong way'! Then an Arctic Skua (125, P2 #51) came past in the middle distance making up for the unidentifiable skua we had in the stormy weather earlier in the winter. Right out on the horizon a couple of Gannets swooped north followed closely by a Fulmar (126, P2 #52) and while watching that a male Red Breasted Merganser (P2 #53) flew past southwards much closer in.

In between the over-exciting bits we had a couple of flocks of Knot totaling about 300, c50 and c250 and a single Red Throated Diver.

All jolly good and we were more than happy with that but there was more to come. Just down form us at the first shelter was another birder who turned out to be Young Un AB. He'd been there longer than us and seen plenty but somehow missed the Peregrine and the Fulmar. He txtd us to let us know he'd had a Goosander go past but that was well before we got out, then another txt to say he'd had an Arctic Skua which could possibly have been the one we had earlier then he phoned. We thought he was just going to confirm his previous txts but instead, almost taking our ear out, shouted down the phone "Get yourself out now!!! There's a Hen Harrier coming your way over the sea!!!" We grabbed the scope, ignored the coat and made record time down the corridor and out of the front door. Luckily he was still on it and it hadn't quite reached him so we were able to pick it up very easily. Years ago we watched a fairly distant Marsh Harrier come in-off away to the north but this was different. The Hen Harrier (P2 #54), a stonking male, wafted gently just above the wave tops make short shrift of the stiffening breeze...absolutely awesome views as it passed in front of the green buoy. It was no more than half a mile out, crippling!!! Got to be one of our all time birding highlights, wasn't expecting that when we set off to work and it just goes to show anything can happen at any time in the wonderful world of wildlife. And mega big thanks to AB for the call.

Lets hope it stays safe this summer and doesn't come to an untimely end. To make it a bit safer please sign this petition to have driven grouse shooting banned - that's the source of all the illegal persecution and you pay for it through higher water bills, higher home insurance premiums cos it's implicated in worsening the effects of flooding and your taxes through farming subsidies go towards subsidising some of the richest land owners in the country like royalty and Arab sheiks - we'd be better off without it and so would our upland wildlife. Lets get it to 100,000 signatures and show these people we won't stand for their criminality any longer.

We couldn't match the excitement at lunchtime with just a Grey Seal and a single male Eider of note. 

No time for pics today, sorry

Where to next? A Ring Ouzel in the works garden first thing tomorrow would be good - or is that getting greedy? We have car issues in the morning so won't be there early doors so it might have to be dropped by a shower in between the bouts of severe dog walking.

 in the meantime let us know who's wafted through your outback.

 

There's always something to see if you look

The Safari wasn't able to get out until nearly lunchtime yesterday, when we did we went straight to the nature reserve where we hoped there'd be some new summer migrants in. There were, it wasn't long after leaving the car we heard our first Chiffchaff singing, then another and another and so it went on.

For some reason we decided to give the Long Eared Owls a look, dunno why as they'd not been reported, or reported as absent, for several days. However as we walked up towards their favourite place three birders were stood there looking as though they were watching them. By now we'd had at perhaps as many as eight singing Chiffchaffs too! 

They were looking at a Long Eared Owl until one of them said she could see a second, it was only inches away from the first but tricky to see if you weren't in exactly the right place, We told them there  has been a third and after a long while eventually found it well hidden at the back of a particularly dense patch of scrub and only small parts of it were visible depending where you stood.

AM rolled up on his bike and we had a chat, he telling us he'd had a Willow Warbler in the big park. We were quite surprised hearing this that we'd not heard one on the walk down to the owls as it's a good spot fro them, he'd also had a Blackcap singing there so spring is deffo springing.

We left to enjoy the owls and wandered off to have a look to see if there were any waders on the scrape, there weren't, just a few Teal and a Moorhen. We left the scrape and retraced our steps before heading along the embankment listening to Cetti's Warblers and Reed Buntings and scanning the fields for White Wagtails and Wheatears of which there were neither. Sat on the last bench waiting for a passing Osprey and a pinging Bearded Tit were MJ andd EP so we joined them for a wait and a chat. Before too long a small flock of Sand Martins drifted high over the far end of the reserve but soon moved through. Behind us on the flood in the field were eight Gadwall feeding away in the shallows, we've never seen them over there before. The gulls went up in a panic, not an Osprey, 'just' a Buzzard this time way down beyond the far end of the reserve. More were seen nearer over the fields and TS picked up two sat at the very top of a pylon miles away. Flying across the mere from the north we spotted a Jay (MMLNR 83) a good spring record here but unfortunately the other two didn't pick it up before it was out of sight behind the trees along the south bank.

More Sand Martins came and went, our count was up to at least 50 by now but still they stayed high and down at the far end not coming anywhere near the lovely nesting bank that's been made for them. The regular pair of Oystercatchers came in noisily from the fields followed shortly after by a pair of Lapwings, it was a joy to watch and listen to the male displaying over the island and mere - if only they would settle to best on there that would be awesome! Really the vegetation on the top plateau of the island could have done with ripping off during the winter but with the very high water  levels  it probably wasn't possible to get a machine over there to do the work.

With still no Ospreys in sight we left the warmth of the bench, well it was warm when the sun shone but that wind was still at bit braw when the sun went behind a cloud. Off to the hide we went again to check the scrape for waders, none again apart from the Lapwings and Oystercatchers. The Teal were looking very dapper and we counted now nine Gadwall and seven Shovelers along with 15 Cormorants on the remains of the bund. We'd been hearing a Little Grebe calling from the reedbed in this area all afternoon and finally it showed well but all too briefly for the camera. The feeders here were busy too with Reed Bunting, a pair of Chaffinches, a Great Tit, a Blue Tit and a pair of Long Tailed Tits. One of the latter took a sunny seed from the feeder into the nearby Willow bush and promptly hung upside-down by one foot while pecking at the seed which was held firmly aloft in the other - bizarre behaviour which PE tried to get some pics of, we've not seen them posted up yet so they may not have come out too well in the dull conditions, we'll post the link if they do appear - it's worth seeing - Most unusual, especially when the second bird looked as though it might muscle in for a sneaky peck at the exposed seed too!

Meandering on we had a look at the gulls from where the old 'Gull Hide' has been removed from, it;s now easier to see them standing on the remains of the footings, if your tall, as you're higher than the tops of the reeds which you weren't when sat down in the hide. There were plenty to be seen but sadly no sign of the Iceland Gull, can't be long before it departs back to Greenland - yet another great birding misnomer! When we put the hide in all those years ago there weren't any reeds to see over.

The little wet meadow had several clumps of Snakeshead Fritillartes starting to flower, there were too many people about to sneak in for a pic, it would just encourage the 'Great Unwashed' to venture in all heavy footed to see what we'd been interested in - not worth the risk, the Cowslips were starting to come out too.

More Sand Martins came from nowhere to circle over head then 20 minutes later even more, we reckon we finished the day with a count of at least 120 but no Swallows for us today. Away over on the far side of the mere was a Great Crested Grebe and we could hear another growling unseen in the reeds nearby, was this one on a nest perhaps?

There were plenty of Small Tortoiseshells and a few Peacocks enjoying the warm sunshine but the rare and elusive Brimstone, they are rare and elusive here at least didn't put in an appearance.

We went to the viewing platform for a last look over the mere coming across a family having a whale of a time with a dog a ball and a ghetto blaster in the 'Paddock' - ah pillocks in the paddock! We politely told them they were in a nature reserve and asked them to leave indicating towards the huge area adjacent where all manner of  play is permitted. The father(?) told us to F Off and mind our own F-ing business and anyway he hadn't seen any nature so there wasn't any of the 'F'ing useless stuff' there anyway - he might have had a pojnt cos we'd lugged the camera around all day and found nothing to point it at except the 'easy' Long Eared Owl - which was just as well as we'd brought it out with a dud battery and not put the freshly charged one  in our pocket - too eager to get out and see all that useless nature!

So ended another quality afternoon on the nature reserve. When we got back to Base Camp we learned we'd missed an Osprey away to the east probably while walking back to the car...dohhh!

This morning we were on opening up duty at work and only had time for a ten minute look over the wall at Patch 2, nothing much there in that briefest of looks, a Great Crested Grebe on the sea, a Red Throated Diver going high to the north and four Eiders, two pairs flying south fairly close in, but nothing new like a Sandwich Tern which have started to be recorded along the coast.

Once back behind the desk we learned that had we been able to stay out a little longer we might have seen a local Mega, a Black Guillemot was spotted from the southern end of the Patch about quarter of an hour after we'd had to go.

During the first half of the morning we heard the gulls go up with a panic twice but on dashing outside saw nothing. LR phoned to say he and IB had just watched an Osprey fly over the nature reserve which was then reported a little further north too...dohhh - will we connect with one this year?

The sea was very quiet for  our lunchtime look, a few very distant Common Scoters a distant Gannet and a nearer but still distant enough Grey Seal were all that was on offer; still no Sandwich Terns!

A bit of bright sunshine mid afternoon saw us taking a break with the camera to see if there wer eany butterflies in the wildflower meadow, there weren't. The Cowslips, there's not so many as last year, haven't quite opened yet but there are some fully open at Base Camp which catches less sun.

Plenty of Coltsfoot flowers are available for the bees and butterflies but no takers today, there's no Dandelions showing yet though.

Where to next? We've a trip out of work up the coast aways for a quick look at the remedial works in the park along the new sea defences tomorrow morning which could prove interesting.

In the meantime let us know who needs a wash in your outback.

A chilly wander down the prom

The Safari was stuck indoors for most of a wet and miserable Saturday until late afternoon when Wifey suggested another 'twitching' outing for her to increase her bird list...That's twice that's happened now! But where to go? We had a quick look at her list do far and decided a short walk along the prom up by the coastguard tower would probably give her the best chance of a good variety of birds.

A brief stop at the side of the marine lake didn't give us any Red Breasted Mergansers which often spend time on the lake giving very close views. From there we drove the short distance to the car park where before we'd parked up a Swallow (122, Wifey #68) flew only inches over the car.

Only a few steps out of the car a small flock of Meadow Pipits (Wifey #69) flew over our heads. She then got sidetracked by a little doggy she just had to stop and talk too missing out on a flock of five Siskins (123) that flew out across the bay.

The was still rain in the air and the wind was a bit keen. The tide was well down but on the rise so the birds were scattered far and wide across the mudflats. Fortunately there were a few waders in the nearest pools which Wifey correctly identified on her own as Redshanks (Wifey #70). Walking on a Grey Wagtail (Wifey #71) passed over us going the opposite way. Out on the shingle there was a nice flock of Linnets (Wifey #72) foraging along the strand-line. To our left the other side of the sea wall Meadow Pipits hopped up and down in and out of sight, one even did a short parachuting song-flight when the rain briefly stopped.

Dismal light today

Pied Wagtails dropping and flew out again but we couldn't find her any Stonechats on the their favourite fence-line or anywhere else for that matter, no Wheatears were on the golf course either. 

Concentrating on the sea we found her a fly-by drake Red Breasted Merganser (Wifey #73) but it was a bit distant to be properly 'enjoyed'.

At the furthest point of our walk a Kestrel hovered over the far corner of the golf course and a stratospherically high Skylark (Wifey #74) sang, Wifey had never listened to one properly before and likened it to angels, close enough to an 'exultation' we suppose!

Looking back out to sea a Ringed Plover was on the now much reduced beach but was flushed by a dog walker before Wifey could get on to it. Well out to sea but easier to pick up was a small flock of Eiders (Wifey #75), walking on a bit we were lucky to find the Ringed Plover (Wifey #76) had settled back on the beach only a hundred yards or so from where is was disturbed and was even closer now giving us good views. Very close to it a Sanderling (Wifey #77) scampered along the water line. Four more of them were on a small muddy island quickly being devoured by the tide, they had to leave pretty smartish and as they lifted they joined a mixed flock of Turnstones, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin which gave Wifey the slip as they sped round the corner. Also giving Wifey the slip was a Wheatear that scudded low over the beach dropping behind one of the groynes out of sight.

Back up on the dunes we looked over the golf course another Skylark took up this time we were able to watch it ascend in to the dull grey heavens.

Rubbish we know!

A good hour out really. Can't fault it, always better being out than stuck indoors!

Where to next? We should be able to get out on to the nature reserve for a while tomorrow, will there be any new overnight migrants.

In the meantime let us know who's itching to be on the move in your outback.