More of the same but we aint complaining

The Safari woke up to dark clouds this morning then the rain came down in buckets and there was a rumble of thunder...just the disappointing one. We believe others have had proper humdingers of storms - wish we had, luv it!

Anyway the rain hadn't eased by the time we got to work so no chance of a early Patch 2 look. An hour or so later we got news of two dead Harbour Porpoises seen on the beach yesterday evening so we put on our wellies and went onto the beach to see if we could find the carcasses, an adult and a two foot long calf.

We were eager to get out at lunchtime and once again it was quiet. Not a lot was happening, just a few Sandwich and Common Terns blogging about. A Grey Seal was pretty close in right at the limits of our lens.

Again we were about to leave and had just one more scan - a very successful scan at that. A splash suggested something large - too right - more Bottle Nosed Dolphins and coming our way. Not only that they were coming in a lot closer than yesterday. We shouted 'DOLPHINS' and attracted the attention of a few young lads who had a spectacular few minutes - between us we counted at least seven the closest only as far away as the end of the pipe. A young family turned up and saw the tail end of them as they moved further south - brilliant...three days on the trot tomorrow???

One of our fishermen friends had turned up and soon caught a Lesser Weaver - a nasty little chap that lurks under the sand and has a poisonous spine to catch the unwary bare foot - owwww. The antidote is to keep the affected part in as hot as water as you can stand for as long as possible to 'cook' the toxin. Wise to keep your feet covered when paddling in the shallows...broken glass from the numpties and lost fishing hooks (we picked one up yesterday close to where Frank was wandering)  add to the hazards.

Sadly these fish are 'persona non grata' to the gentle environment loving fishermen and it was left to die on the wall after being unhooked - a sad end to a remarkable if slightly dangerous little creature.

Before we went home we did a 1/4 hour walk round the grounds for a Big Butterfly Count - it wasn't quite sunny but certainly warm enough. 

Got more than we perhaps expected; six Small Whites, four Meadow Browns, three Small Tortoiseshells and a Gatekeeper, don't think we've had one of those at work before. Secretly we were hoping for a Grayling which we've had only once before drifting in from the dunes a mile or so away. 

Phone cam

Some kind soul  has sown a few seeds of annual wildflowers in the top corner by the gate - thank you very much whoever you are.

Where to next? More of the same tomorrow would be nice.

In the meantime let us know what might be flitting around unseen in your outback.

Really need to change our header pic soon...