The shore.

 

Yesterday was my first visit to Boulmer, patch #2, of the year.

 As I left the house, a Raven called low overhead in the still semi dark sky.  

It was a lovely calm and bright morning on the coast. We managed to get ahead of the crowds by striding along to Seaton Point at sunrise where the tide was well in and a lot of waders were gathered right along the shore. A rough tally produced 108+ Sanderling, 62+ Dunlin, 23+ Bar tailed Godwits, 13+ Oystercatchers, 13+ Ringed Plover, 12+ Grey Plover, 50+ Redshank, 22+ Turnstone and 8 Purple Sandpipers. There was very little moving at sea though 1 Red breasted Merganser, 2 Goldeneye , 10+ Red throated and 1 Great Northern Divers were seen.

After we had tea at the car, the still flooded Bull Mere was counted. There were plenty of common birds but maybe 88 Wigeon were the only things of note.

Back down to the shore in front of the pub there were more waders to count. 123+ Dunlin, 1 Knot, 9 Ringed Plover, 4 Grey Plover, 2 Sanderling and 7 Bar tailed Godwit while nearby were 3 Goldeneye, a Shelduck and 1 sea-going Little Grebe in its usual rockpool channel.

 As you can see, I kept a basic list. Its not complete and there is no end total. 

This year I am keeping lists (see here for Gav's take on it at Not Quite Scilly) in a slightly different way.  I wont be keeping totals online, but may post the final result at the end of year round up. Or not, I'll see?

Usually we hare-arse around in January breaking our neck to get a Yellowhammer or Treecreeper or whatever when we know full well that we cannot go a full 12 months not seeing them. So this time, I am taking it easy, accepting what comes my way without the pressure. 

Of course I will incorporate variety into my areas but without hammering it. I am trying to focus on patch value this year by seeing what each day's highlight will be and enjoying it for its own sake without the numbers running the show, so no Bubo this time. 

Back home, we had a walk with Peggy down to the pond field. 2 Crossbills calling from the spruce were the first I've seen here for months

Full of Bull...the Bull is Full...

 A more pleasant day, weather-wise, at Boulmer yesterday morning.

After Storm Arwen, it makes a refreshing change to see the, albeit temporary, return of the Bull's Mere in the village roadside field. This is how Boulmer got its name. Whether this is the original historic site of Bull's Mere I couldn't say, but Id like to think it was here in centuries past.

This area used to flood regularly some years ago but these farmers are expert at drainage and habitat reduction, so it has looked more like a football pitch in recent times. At one stage the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club approached the farmer to see if he would allow a small flash to stand. All it would take is some minor amendments to the manhole that would be done free of charge to allow excess water to drain away to prevent flooding but for some to remain longer for wildlife.

The beach at Boulmer is heavily disturbed by dog walkers etc these days, so as soon as the field floods the waders get a peaceful high tide roosting place. It has also attracted some good birds in the past, the best being a patch first Baird's Sandpiper.

 Anyway, that approach was refused, only for us to find a short time later that they had granted permission for a new car park to be put there! Complaints to planning have been made.

We are now gathering any evidence through counts of birds using it to show how beneficial it is to waders etc locally. Today it held a nice little selection at high tide - 

Mallard 49, Wigeon 35, Goldeneye 2, Redshank 61, Curlew 46+, Lapwing 40+, Oystercatcher 50.  While counting, a Black tailed Godwit dropped in briefly. The high tide was not very big so some birds roosted out on exposed rocks. On a bigger one, these numbers would have been much higher. 

When the field has water, it only takes about a day for the birds to use it. Such a shame that this small change in land use request falls on deaf ears.. 

An overly full Boulmer flash. There is a manhole in the centre. This could easily be modified to allow a pond half this size to remain. 

Black tailed Godwit leaves with a Curlew

Goldeneye

Later we walked down to Seaton Point for a scan. At sea were 38+ Red throated Divers, but even these were disturbed by 4 speeding dirigibles hammering around offshore. 3 Little Grebes were on the sea, always a novelty to see on salt water, 12+ Bar tailed Godwits, 34+ Grey Plover, 77+ Wigeon, 156+ Lapwing, 20+ Sanderling and 2 Ringed Plover. Passerines were very thin on the ground today with only 1 Gey Wagtail, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Greenfinches of note.

6+ Bottle nosed Dolphins were hanging around off the village until the water racers arrived...