On late shift today, so walked Bunty along from Boulmer to Longhoughton Steel and back. On route we bumped into this young Grey Seal lying at the high tide mark. Before he noticed us he seemed quite happy scratching and sunning himself, so I took one photo and left him to wait for the tide.
The weather is much better than expected today with lovely sunshine, but a cool , strong westerly breeze. Along the shore were 14 Shelducks, 12+ Rock Pipits including two Scandinavian littoralis birds. From now they become identifiable as they come into breeding pumage, in the winter they are just like the British race petrosus. A group of 7 Knot were on the beach and 6 Yellowhammers and 5 Pied Wagtails were in the blackthorn nearby.
Popped to Alnwick to stock up on wild bird seed and on the way a Stoat slinked across the road. Great little animals, but this one needs his wits as they aren't too popular in this area with the local keepers.
Above - Longhoughton Quarry.
On the way back a quick check of the Quarry had the 3 Scaup still, now in adult male plumage, but only 26 Tufted Duck and 1 Pochard. The rest are probably off to find breeding territories.
6 comments:
what happened to location location location it was their then it disapeared by the way you sure know your pipits.
LLL was removed cos it was a bit of a bollock. It might come back sometime? Pipits - familiarity is the key.
Hey, your seal is in the Gazette tonight ..
Oh, I haven't got the paper yet, do you mean the one on 15th March?
Yep, this week's - 15 March. Someone had seen the seal, called the RSPCA and was told to leave it alone
Remember where you read it first! Oh, and I was there next day and it had gone...
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