Still nothing beginning with 'S'

The Safari was able to get out on Patch 2 early this morning. The tide was in but everything else was out! It was pretty dire out there.  We had hoped for a Sandwich Tern or two, a Swallow passing by or even a distant skua but no, nowt like that.

It took a while to find a Red Throated Diver and then  a male Eider and a Cormorant came past making an unlikely pair, a few minutes later a couple of 1st year Eiders flew by. Not long after a pair of Eiders and two 1st winter males came past the other way...same two?

Another distant Red Throated Diver was found and that was about the sum of it.

We were still hopeful at lunchtime but it was even worse! The tide had dropped and there was little on the beach due to dog walkers. A couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls had a bit of a tiff, one had grabbed the other by the wing tip, mangling the outer feathers, while the second bird did three pirouettes round it grunting all the while in a bizarre sadistic sort of dance - not seen that behaviour before.

Nothing was out at sea at all! It's got to happen soon - surely???

A work party did us a nice favour today by planting some tubs of wildflowers we'd brought from Base Camp. They were last year's tomato tubs which spectacularly failed to produce any fruit for us but have given us a fair selection of what some mis-guided people might call weeds. There's Ox-eye Daisies, Evening Primroses, Herb Robert, Common Forget-Me-Nots and some non-native but bee attracting Campanulas - that lot should be good for inverts in a few weeks time...can't wait!

Sorry no pics today

Where to next? Got a beach clean tomorrow so might be able to have a good shuffy around further down the beach than we normally get.

In the meantime let us know who's mis-guided in your outback.