Got onto the beach at Ainsdale before work this morning with the westerly roaring in and the rising tide boiling.
The knackered Kittiwake above had joined the commoner species sheltering around the parking area posts and stayed most of the day, looking seriously the worse for wear.
Nice red socks though, in homage to its rarer Bering Sea relative.
Up to 40 Sandwich Terns looking truly miserable, doubtless wondering why they hadn't headed south sooner, but as is always the case at Ainsdale, the sea was too rough and elevation too low to pick up anything offshore other than a single adult Gannet and Manx Shearwater, the latter looking as uniformly dark as they often do in stormy weather here.
Good badass Bonxie resting on the sands off the Green Beach before it launched into the air and lumbered south, scaring the pants off the Cormorant roost and allowing me to grab a few dodgy point and press shots.
I checked the beach later in the day when the tide had receded, with hopes high for a Leach's and was genuinely surprised when I didn't score, given the reasonable numbers to the south and birds to the north, but as long as the wind holds, there's still time for them to put on a show over the sands tomorrow - late afternoon seems to be best if they are going to stagger through.
I bet a few went past invisible in the mighty troughs offshore.
Inland a few Goldcrests calling from the dune scrub and the odd Sprawk, Common Darter, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood, but tomorrow is another day.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »
A nice winter plum female White Wag among a dozen or so Pieds at Weld Road at lunch time. A small number of Swallows and a good 40+ flock of Linnet and a few Meadow Pips.
Circa. 1000 Pink Feet and a cream top Marsh Harrier on Cheshire Lines at Formby this afternoon.
Swallow still feeding young in Lydiate although they are out of the nest they are still within the barn.. leaving it a bit late do you think John?
JD: Yup, they're pushing their luck this year, although I have seen youngsters later, but that was in drier years.
Exceptional WeBS on Marshside 1 around midday, with juv male Blue-winged Teal on Junction Pool (first site record; found by Neill Hunt) and a massive influx of Snipes (266) from Nel's Hide. Steady southward passage of hirundines (150+ Swallows, 35 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins); 70+ Meadow Pipits, 10 Robins, 3 Dunnocks in Compound, 2 Peregrines, juv Marsh Harrier, Merlin on/over saltmarsh.