Barney blows a bit of a hooley

The Safari has been getting a bit stir crazy confined to barracks so yesterday afternoon our bad hand felt quite good and we decided it was time to try a little drive once the tropical style rain had stopped. We didn't go far just down to the prom to watch the tide rise.

There was an increasing sou'westerly with heavy showers so we found the most sheltered place we could at the top of the cliffs. From our lofty vantage point we had a good view down the troughs between the waves so hopefully if anything came past we wouldn't miss it hidden behind the large waves.

Shower after shower rolled in but fortunately none lasted more than a few minutes giving us lots of rainbows. Our choice of shelter was good so we didn't get wet, thankfully it wasn't too cold either.

Without the scope we were a bit limited distance-wise but visibility in the squalls was limited anyway but all we kept finding was gulls cruising towards us along the cliff edge going to roost over the high tide further down the coast.

It was quite dramatic and exhilarating especially so as we've not been outside much over the last fortnight. 

Others were equally exhilarated which is good to see, and got even nearer to the action.

We missed the next big breaker which totally swamped the car, they drove off pretty quick after that!
There's always some poor guys that have to work in these challenging conditions.

Below us was the former boating pool now used as a go-kart track. At high tide there is a wader roost on the top wall or if windy on the high ledge on the inside of the wall. Today there was no chance of roosting on the top of the wall although a single Turnstone tried briefly before going elsewhere. The ledge was being washed by water slooshing through the drain holes so that was no good either. 77 Redshanks tucked themselves in behind the tryes marking the lanes of the race track but there were no other species with them, we'd hoped there might have been a Purple Sandpiper or two.

Looking north the visibility was good apart from the squalls and we were treated to yet more rainbows.

Someone's going to come back to their hotel room to find a crock of gold under the bed - that'd be a nice surprise!

Looking the other way was hopeless for spotting any wildlife but looking into the sun was extremely dramatic.

Shame the breaking wave on the far right is just out of frame

After a couple of hours stood scanning with not a bird in sight over the sea a bit of dark movement caught our eye amid the white water. It took five minutes of concentrating before we picked it up again a little nearer and not too far off the wall, a Bonxie and with it another large skua but this one was pale, a Pomarine Skua. Something was going on they didn't act like traveling companions the Pom stayed down on the water unless a white water breaker threatened to engulf it when it would lift up let the wave pass and drop to the surface again.Each time it did this the Bonxie did the same whether it too was going to engulfed or not, landing close behind it giving us the impression it wasn't being that friendly and was maybe waiting for the apparently weakened Pom to keel over then hey presto - lunch! We didn't see what happened as they drifted past us into the sunny side of our watch point. Interesting and certainly better than but but we would have liked a Leach's Petrel, Little Gulls, a Sabine's Gull and/or Grey Phalarope to come past...OK so we're greedy.

Time was pushing on and slowly but surely afternoon was turning to evening.

It was then we got a txt from CR asking if we'd like to meet him down by the pier to watch the Starlings coming in, we thought he'd be in for a soaking if he did that looking at the waves crashing over the wall down that way so we decided to give it a miss and head off back to Base Camp at 4 o'clock after the sunset if it was any good. 

It wasn't bad but we've seen better.

And moving to the sunny side of our vantage point also meant we were now on the windy side too and we got salt spray on the lens.

From here we also saw some Starlings making their way to the pier so we through caution to the wind - of which there was plenty! - and decided to join CR after all. It was a short drive down to where he was watching from so we went to get the car seeing a lovely illuminated cloud stretching above the roof tops with the moon close by too.

By the time we got to CR the sun had gone down behind the clouds and the sunset was lost too the coming night. He'd seen a couple of thousand Starlings come in breaking into two flocks, an end of the pier flock and a close to the shore under the pier flock and he told us the two flocks appeared to be keeping themselves separate. More flocks came in over our heads the largest one containing at least 1000 birds the others much smaller but by now the light was gone and there was no chance of getting any pics. It was great to see that there were a couple of other folk standing there with cameras snapping away and even people waiting for the tram at the nearby stop watching the rather pathetic mini-murmurations rather than looking down the line for their ride home. Even though it wasn't spectacular this evening the wildlife can sooth the soul after a hard day at work

Best pic of the day? Probably this perfectly (or extremely luckily) timed one...

At our visit with the consultant last night he told us he'd done OK with our hand, the result of his prodding and poking was as well as might be expected and was pleased with his handiwork - however looking at our 'good' hand he said "see you as early as possible in the new year for a good old delve around - it's not looking good at all".

Where to next? Wind's picking up again today so we might have another nip down the Prom, hopefully the sunset and the Starlings will coincide too.

in the meantime let us know who's making a splash in your outback.

Where'd they all go?

The Safari has a little quiz for you first up today, two screen-grabs from Stealth-cam, can you ID the LBJs? They may or may not be the same species. Not the Blackbird silly!

Same or different? - what do you reckon?

Sensibly we didn't bother with the mothy last night so had a lie in listening to the wind hammering rain against the bedroom window hoping Frank wouldn't wake up and ask to go out until it had passed - he didn't wake up...phewwwwwwww!

Mid-morning gave us the chance to get down to Chat Alley and have a look at the rising tide - we were very optimistic about seeing something as reports of unprecedented numbers of Manx Shearwaters from further south were being posted on Twitter all morning.

As soon as we put eyeball to eyepiece a Manxie shot through the field of view...this was going to be a good session!

Oh no it wasn't! We struggled to find another dozen in the next hour and a half, our grand total was 10 north and four south along with four Kittiwakes, while others almost within view to the south - just over the horizon - had QUADRUPLE figure counts along with Gannets, skuas, Fulmars etc. No-one seems to have had the hoped for Storm Petrel yet today, maybe tomorrow but we won't be able to get an early Patch 2 watch in unfortunately.

It was a bit rough out there...

The Beach Patrol guys weren't too impressed with this cyclist, they'd been stopping people thinking about going down to the lower level and even had a word with us while we were getting these pics advising us not to go down to 'nearer the action'. There's usually at least a couple of casualties/fatalities a year in conditions like this.

Back in the safety of  Base Camp the wind was still wrecking the garden so we decided to take a look at the now empty Wren's nest by taking a pair of scissors to the defunct and rotting hanging basket they were living in.

Lovely - about the size of a tennis ball.

Whilst doing all this surgery we noticed that the feeders were low so went to fill them up when we spotted this little lady struggling on the ground.

Apparently we should have given her a drink of two parts sugar to one part water in a saucer and place scrunched up kitchen towel on top so she doesn't fall in.

We struggle to get good pics of bees with their dark unconstrasty faces and their often Frank-like nose down posture - might need a ring flash or something to highlight the minor dimples.

Patch 1 got a new tick for the list this arvo. We were doing nowt in particular just looking out of the window at the garden being ravaged by the wind when two terns flew over just beyond our airspace so unfortunately can't count as a garden tick under this year's rules. They whizzed by that fast we didn't get a decent look and we were so taken aback at them but if we had to plumb for any species in particular we'd go for Common Terns on their slender jizz.

Where to next? Only a slim chance of an early look at the sea tomorrow and the high tide is a high one at lunchtime so we'll probably be sprayed off. Might have an evening look somewhere at Chat Alley after picking Frank up from his minders.

In the meantime let us know who's struggling in the wind in your outback

Standing in the teeth of a gale...or The return of the hooley!

I knicked the title from the opening line of a Runrig song...seemed very appropriate for this afternoon. (I was at Donnie Monroe's farewell concert at Stirling Castle a few years ago now...brilliant...beyond brilliant...very emotional)

But that is not what this blog is about. Leach's Petrels is where we are at. After a top up of the Land Rover with recycled cooking oil and donning the waterproofs it was time to head down hill for the tide. A savage wind was blowing from the south west and finding decent shelter on Blackpool's north promenade is like trying to find shade in the Sahara. The safari tucked in behind a huge stone lighting tower, the steel lamp post a couple of metres away was doing an Irish jig.

For those of you who don't know what the fuss about Leach's Petrels is, John Dempsey (see Song of the Leach-less 4th Oct, Merseybird blog in links on right) describes them as enigmatic, mysterious, awkward, indestructible and ridiculous. If you've never seen a picture of them John's blog features some fantastic shots by Rich Steel and Fylde Bird Club's Chris Batty also has a superb picture on 1st October (see blog links on right)

Trying to watch from behind the column was not easy. Sand, salt and cold wind in the eyes, buffeted binoculars, salt spray on the lenses all made it difficult. Even following a bird as large as a Herring Gull through the waves was proving hard. Passers-by gave us looks which suggested we 'weren't quite right'. But we knew they were walking past probably the best, most spectacular wildlife sight Blackpool has to offer. The waves crashed against the sea wall throwing spray and foam 50 feet in to the air, the surf was wild (pictures and video to follow). In the gloomy distance the Isle of Man ferry struggled to make headway in to the wind. It was only a mile or so away but we could barely see it - how were we going to see a bird no bigger than a Starling in all this mayhem.

The pictures mentioned above are great but they don't give the sense of absolute awesomeness of something so tiny battling its way through such a hostile and enormous environment.

A bit of black amongst the waves and spray!...only a piece of seaweed tossed from the crest of a wave...doh the heart was going...

Two hours we had been stood there getting knocked around by the wind, imagine spending your whole life out in those conditions with only the crashing waves to shelter you from the fierce wind! That's why these little birds have such devotion and following amongst birders - they are tough beyond belief; dancing their way across the sea; almost defying the waves to cover them in spray or dunk them under.

A lump of drift wood is thrown 15 feet in to the air by the wind.

There...THERE...300 yards out just beyond the worst of the surf - a glimpse, a tiny angled wing, a flick of black, the hint of pale rump. That was it! That 1/2 second, or even less, was it - a Leach's Petrel. Up and over one wave and into the trough behind, perhaps not to be seen by another human being for years. I saw it...my soul is fulfilled...for this season. Luckily the binocs were pointing at that patch of sea at that particular moment.

Why are they so good? I think the Blackbird singing before dawn in spring is beautiful, the exotic birds of foreign holidays are - well - exotic, the rarity you find on your 'patch' is exciting and the big twitch to see someone else's rarity makes for a good day out but Leach's Petrels have to be EARNED - that's why they are special.

I can feel a tear coming to my eyes...

What else did we see...not a lot, a few Herring Gulls, a single Black Headed Gull and the stiff wings of a Fulmar or Manx Shearwater (impossible to tell in the gloom).

Before the driving rain arrived we cleared the crust of salt spray from the windscreen and pointed the Land Rover towards a welcome hot cup of tea.

Where to next? More of the same perhaps.

In the meantime let us know what you have seen in your outback.