Sunday 10 November 2013

To Sea or Not to Sea!

I awoke this morning at 5.30am to the sound of a strong wind outside and after getting the flask, hat, gloves and warm coats ready I was out of the house at 6am and had a slow drive down to Reculver. The wind was forecast to be a 20mph north westerly so I hoped a few birds would be moving on the sea. After a quick cup of hot chocolate I made my way up to the towers and got into position, being joined soon after by Phil Parker and Julian and Alex Perry. The wind was quite strong but in the few hours we spent watching the sea and slowly getting cold, it was not to be a classic, although the hot chocolate was very nice. We did note a few birds however including 1 Curlew, 18 Oystercatcher, 40 Common Scoter, 3 Dunlin, 3 Pomarine Skua flew west, 11 Gannet, 1 Arctic Skua, 3 Shelduck, 1 Wigeon, c200 Cormorant, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Great crested Grebe, 1 Kittiwake, 24 Brent Geese, 2 Redshank, c20 Sanderling and 1 Eider. By mid morning it had slowed right down so I left and had a drive over to Minnis Bay where I walked up the tide line and hoped for a shot or two. Again it was pretty quiet but I did see c15 Sanderling with one allowing a quick shot before flying off.

Sanderling

There were 6 Grey Plover, 2 Redshank and 8 Turnstone. Last stop was to call in south of Reculver to see if any late dragonflies were still on the wing. 

Grey Plover

Thankfully the sun was shining and despite it being only 9 degrees celsius I managed to see 6 Common Darter, 5 males and a worm female. Will these be the last of the year I wonder?

Common Darter

4 comments:

  1. Had a Common Darter today as well Marc, only had my 500mm lens though :-(

    I like that Grey Plover shot, looks like its a giant bird against the waves, until you realise the waves are tiny :-)

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  2. A stunning array a birds and dragonfly.

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  3. Lovely series, I love these Sanderling pics, they bright and in focus!
    Alain also is wondering for how long he will be seeing dragonflies!
    In the south-west of France, the climate is the mildest and he will probably witness the last!
    I think where I am it's over, it's getting too cold for too long.
    Cheers Marc, enjoy your week-end!

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