The Safari gave Patch 1 a miss this morning, not frightened of ghosts, got one of those that ‘lives’ somewhere by the cafe at work, but put off by the heavy rain. We went a totally different route which confused Frank no end but he still found plenty to sniff at. We passed beneath the Peregrine’s roost site but the rain was from the ‘wrong’ direction so none were seen but it or they could well have been ‘hiding’ round the back.
Most of the front gardens on this route have been turned into car parks so there is little in the way of habitat for the garden birds, consequently we had barely a record of anything, although a Blackbird was heard singing a bit of subsong from a back garden in the dark before dawn, something we’ve not heard them do since they stopped at the beginning of the summer.
Patch 2 was no better but at least the walk to it is now only a minute or two as the tram-way workmen have at long last cleared the direct route across the tracks to the seawall – happy days.
Little was happening, the usual multi-directional Common Scoters numbered somewhere between an uncounted 50 and 100. A Great Crested Grebe flew south, so far this back end there have been very few of them along the coast. Best of the miniscule number of Larids were two Common Gulls, a first and a second winter, going south together. A solid ‘tsweep’ had us looking overhead and seeing a something bouncing along, really sounded like a Tree Pipit, but is it not too late don’t think there’s been any over this way since before ‘the storm’? Don’t think there’s been any reported recently, something else perhaps but what?
So our first ‘easy access’ safari was a bit on the disappointing side.
The usual lunchtime safari over the road didn’t happen for a variety of reasons not least some seriously heavy rain which annoyingly didn’t last very long.
Where to next? Somewhere where there might be something to seee.
Most of the front gardens on this route have been turned into car parks so there is little in the way of habitat for the garden birds, consequently we had barely a record of anything, although a Blackbird was heard singing a bit of subsong from a back garden in the dark before dawn, something we’ve not heard them do since they stopped at the beginning of the summer.
Patch 2 was no better but at least the walk to it is now only a minute or two as the tram-way workmen have at long last cleared the direct route across the tracks to the seawall – happy days.
Little was happening, the usual multi-directional Common Scoters numbered somewhere between an uncounted 50 and 100. A Great Crested Grebe flew south, so far this back end there have been very few of them along the coast. Best of the miniscule number of Larids were two Common Gulls, a first and a second winter, going south together. A solid ‘tsweep’ had us looking overhead and seeing a something bouncing along, really sounded like a Tree Pipit, but is it not too late don’t think there’s been any over this way since before ‘the storm’? Don’t think there’s been any reported recently, something else perhaps but what?
So our first ‘easy access’ safari was a bit on the disappointing side.
The usual lunchtime safari over the road didn’t happen for a variety of reasons not least some seriously heavy rain which annoyingly didn’t last very long.
Where to next? Somewhere where there might be something to seee.
In the meantime let us know what's not being seen in your outback.
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