At last a mammal

The Safari was out on Patch 2 again and today the viewing conditions were a lot  better, brighter light, tide still up and the sea fairly calm and shadowless. It looked like a good day for finding a cetacean or two.

Leaning over the wall we immediately saw three Turnstones (62, P2 #20) roosting on the seaweed covered concrete directly  below us, a single Oystercatcher was also down there.

With the tide still up the sand banks in the distance were still covered so there was no massive Cormorant roost to be seen today although 111 did fly past us heading out to sea in three flocks and several others were either flying about in ones and twos or already in the water fishing - there must be a decent amount of food out there for them. A close in Great Crested Grebe hit the notebook and a huge flock of six Oystercatchers flew by. With it all a bit quieter than we'd hoped we turned to leave but just about caught the hint of calling geese on the wind, turning back to face the sea we watched as about 200 Pink Footed Geese (P2 #21) came in off and flew right over our head - An awesome spectacle but best not to look up with your mouth open!  

As usual we were out again at lunchtime and by now a sort of miracle had occurred - the sun was out for just about the first time this year, unfortunately that made looking south dangerously glarey and we value our retinas quite highly. 

Looking north we found a couple of hundred or so Common Scoters but a bit distant and in a tidal pool on the beach there was a good count,for here , of 35 Redshanks. Looking as far to the south as we dared was where we found our first mammal of the year, a Grey Seal not too far out to sea but still a long way off as the tide was now well out.

Checking the other runnels for any more waders gave us a solitary Sanderling poking around the feet of a group of Herring Gulls and way way out to sea beyond them we caught a glimpse of a white dot flying low over the water which eventually turned into a Red Throated Diver (63, P2 #22).

We couldn't stand the excitement any longer and returned across the road again deciding to have a shuffy round the gardens. It was crawling with dog walkers so we cut our walk short and peered over the fence into the pond to see if the annoying and very secretive Goldfish was showing itself - it wasn't but we did hear a Dunnock (P2 #23) calling from the hedge somewhere near the feeders. 

However ti wasn't the Dunnock that was the most exciting thing we found oh no not at all...What month is it? January and only the first week of that wintry month but looking in to the crystal clear waters of the pond we saw new Water Lily leaves floating on the surface and others unfurling just below, Flag Iris leaves were also bubbling under.

Not only that one of the Water Lily plants has a flower bud, only about six months early!!!

We have a school group coming at the end of next week to do some scientific observations - will it be open by then? If nothing else we'll know the temperature of the water as they will be bringing their thermometers with them as part of their studies.

Our drive home along the Prom took us past first a small murmuration of about 300 Starlings at Central Pier then a much larger but more spread out one of around 5000 birds at the town centre's North Pier. Impressive, although we didn't stop as there was no sunset and we didn't see anymore arriving over the rooftops as we continued in the stream of traffic. What was good to see was a burly bloke stood outside of one of the Promenade bars hands on hips in the heavy drizzle watching them, looked like he'd come outside for a ciggy finished it but got mesmerised by the action  over the pier - good stuff!

Where to next? There's plenty more excitement to be had on Patch 2 this week and tomorrow looks like being another day of cetacean spotting friendly sea conditions.

In the meantime let us know who's bobbing about on the beautify briny sea (or lake) in your outback

A bit of allsorts today

The Safari has been on the look out for signs of spring in the garden at Base Camp. The last few evenings we've been out with the torch to see if there were any Frogs in the pond, there weren't but we did find one of our Orfes (aka Ides) was sleeping in the shallows very close to the edge, a very vulnerable position as the local cats have often been seen on the stealth cam peering in to the water in the dead of night.

From Wiki..."The Ide reaches a maximum length of about 60–80 cm (23.5-31.5 inches) though the average size is about 40 cm (16 inches). The Ide reaches a weight of about 9 lb (4 kg)." Ours must be about 15/16 inches long or more now and we've had them over 16 years, they've even survived a house move!

The cat in the clip jumps to exactly where this fish was snoozing, although the clip is from last summer.

We didn't get much chance of any safari-ing yesterday but on the way home we stopped off at the flooded field near the nature reserve where the Green Sandpiper has been for about a week. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera or telescope with us so this is the best we could manage digi-binning it - good job it was in the closest corner of the flood.

Once back at Base Camp a look in the pond revealed the Frogs had indeed been active and left four clumps of spawn over on the far side.

This morning we were teaching rocks and stomes to Year 3 on the beach, lots of great finds but it was so so cold it must have been like torture for the poor wee ones. We had a our hands in a bucket of water to clean the sand of the stones so the youngsters could see the detail, not the best idea on a cold and very windy day like today. That stung!

We've had another go at lamping the pond this evening a couple more clumps of spawn have been added but so no sign of those slippery adult amphibians. An unusual sighting, we think, is the recently unfurled Water Lily leaf, there's another one about to reach the surface too. Is that right in the first week of March?

So there you have it a bit of spring springing in a couple of hundred words.
Where to next? We should be able to get a reasonable look at Patch 2 tomorrow.
In the meantime let us know who's prowling round the ponds in your outback.

Flash bang wallop

The Safari enjoyed a warm evening of Brownies, Garden Snails, Ladybirds including a 14-Spot Ladybird and Pill-bugs. As they were being dropped off by their parents we saw the light was shining on the pond lighting up one of the Water Lily flowers just nicely. Maybe a bit too nicely for the phone cam to capture - really must work out how to use the white balance on it properly.

All manner of Black Ants, Red Tailed Bumble Bees, Tree Bees, Damselfly nymphs, Greater Pond snails, Ramshorn Snails and 3-spined Sticklebacks were either potted or netted and thoroughly inspected.

Best find of the night was as we were finishing off. The Brownies had dispersed to the playground and we'd put away most of the gear when a Brimstone moth flew past - crikey they can't half go no chance of running after it and catching it up, had us well beat. A very common moth but a real rarity at work - actually it might not be as we're not there at that time of night all that often.

This morning we put an app on our phone for recording bumble bees - so easy to use don't even have to ID the trickier ones down to species level but it's still a great addition to citizen science and getting anyone with a smartphone involved.

We gave it a try round the work's garden and came up with a good tally of most of the main groups apart from Common Carder Bees, loads at Base Camp but not so many at work this year.

Several clusters of plants were festooned with bees, notably the Hebe bushes, our wild garden with its Borage and Perennial Cornflowers and the Meadow Cranesbills at the end of the raised beds.

Here's an Early Bumble Bee on the Meadow Cranesbills.

The warm morning gave way to heavy showers and at lunchtime we got out to Patch 2 to see precious little. A few Gannets were circling around in the distance doing not very much. The showers got heavier and more prolonged and the skies grew darker.

This black menace chased us all the way down the prom before it unleashed a couple of bolts of lightning but sadly not as many as we had hoped for.

Where to next? Last week's Brownies are back again tomorrow evening this time they're on the beach investigating the rockpools.

In the meantime let us know where Thor's hammer is being flung about with gay abandon in your outback.