Rain, rain and more rain today. The early morning started with a light N2 increasing to N7 by lunchtime. Foul weather can only mean one thing - seawatching.
Boulmer 0700 - 10.30.
Arctic Skua 6 S
Bonxie 2 S
Manx Shearwater 10 N
Sooty Shearwater 12 N
Teal 56 N
Shoveler 1 N a great record here.
Common Scoter 7 N
'Aythya' sp female 1 N ( Scaup or Tufted too far off to tell)
Grey Plover 8 N
Bar tailed Godwit 2 N
Knot 4 S
Sandwich Tern 30 N
and this afternoon's session - 17.05 - 18.40
Sea now mountainous, visibilty atrocious, very few birds.
Roseate Tern 2 N ad and juv
Arctic Tern 32 N
Teal 60 N
Wigeon 3 N
Knot 40 S
Also had a check in the bushes along the front for migrants but there was nothing doing. Of note, a Sparrowhawk took a Swallow off the over head wires.
Last night, an imm female Peregrine was harassing crows and waders just north of the village and a Wheatear was on the beach.
129. Shoveler.
6 comments:
Poor weather like this in August and a nation wonders where summer's gone..and birders get excited and head to the coast.
Spent the morning alone at Sluice and the evening with many well versed seawatchers - and it was pretty poor on both visits, although the banter this evening was good.
I'm an eager seawatching novice (all round birding novice really) and need all the help I can get with small shapes, at distance, disappearing into the surf in thick fog and drizzle.
How long before I get used to it - before I retire (another 24 years) or is that being too optimistic?? :)
Sea watching is a personal science. Don't be tricked by those with more experience into trying to identify all of those dots on the horizon. Stick with the birds at a range you are comfortable with. Even now after many years seawatching I will disregard quite a lot of birds as 'maybe's'.
Try this experiment next time you are in the hide and someone id's a midgy as a Long tailed or juvvy Pom Skua - imagine you could walk over the water the two miles to the bird and pick it up. Would it still be what they said it was or would it just be another Arctic?
If you don't know, leave it off the list!
Good luck, practice makes perfect!
The Observer had an article this Sunday about a plan for Wildernesses in the UK. The well known one is the Fens, but it mentioned Alnmouth. Do you know anything about this BB?
Once again, your blog makes me green with envy ... terrific lists
Hi Dorset, I saw that article but didn't look too closely. I'll check again...
Hello again DD. I've read that article about wild places and Alnmouth. Its refferring to the re-flooding of grazing land in order to prevent flooding by the River Aln. Last year a baffle bank was breached and some tidal saltmarsh created on a small scale. This year some further wetland will be made upstream a short way. Hopefully it will improve the wildlife potential for the area.
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