Only 200 yards away from the gull and tern flock and the first, big warm blob of rain fell on my face.
Then another and another, and in seconds Ainsdale beach was being battered by a monsoon of biblical proportions.
No problem I thought, as I pulled on my pacamac, at least there's no lightning.
Almost immediately the first bolt flashed across the sky and the thunder started to roll above.
The sand began to disappear under a sheet of rainwater, but deciding that only the good die young (and I'm still a good way from my free bus pass grandad), I stuck by my scope.
The odds of being hit by lightning are pretty small I think.
After 15 minutes the rain stopped and after checking the gulls (just the usual) I settled down to admire the Sanderlings - at least 300 of 'em were scurrying across the beach, brilliant little bundles of perpetual motion.
I kept still, apart from my feet, which were sinking slowly in the wet sand, and the waders started to feed pretty close.
Frankly I lurve Sanderlings - they are completely absorbed in their own universe, which seems to comprise of the inch or so of mud and sand in front of their bills.
A few still in the remnants of summer plumage, I scoped 'em for an hour or so, just brilliant.
There were still plenty of Sandwich Terns on the beach this afternoon, with smaller numbers of Common and Arctics, but disturbance was pretty bad once the dogwalkers and daytrippers emerged from shelter after the rains.
Amongst the 60 odd terns on the beach, at least 15 had BTO rings.
No sign of the Med Gull today, and with extremely wet gear I squelched back to the car and headed for a shower.
This muggy weather is perfect for Black Terns and Wood Sands, so I'll give the marsh a wallop tomorrow, unless anyone can tell me of anything else to look at.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies..
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simon wrote...
John ,
Visited the beach on Friday morning, well, the part in front of Marine Drive at Birkdale.
There were no terns at all there.
How far down the coast are the terns and is parking easy ?
Thanks
Simon.
Posted by: simon | July 27, 2008 6:41 PM