Bif! Oooof? Er.....

Sunday saw yet more Patch-bashing, though without the spectacularly mixed results of the day before. Having gone south and west on saturday, I went north and east. The most interesting thing I found was a Scoter flock off Petitor Beach, seen from the coast path through the drizzly gunge. They were nicely positioned to be hard to get close to, but repeated counts gave 27 time and again and I couldn't pick out anything non-Common-looking among them.

It's not a spot I associate Scoter with - there is some fresh water going in but not enough to really seem worth it - but they were diving happily and staying put, so there must be shellfish. I suspect that the increase in fluvial output from all the rain has caused disruption to the large beds off the Exe and Teign, so they've had to look for alternatives. That would also explain their presence off Hope's Nose, of course.


Having headed around the coast to the Nose and found no visible* scoter there, I assume the Petitor birds were them, the numbers are about right. There is also the reported circa 30 flock often seen off Broadsands, which may too be the same birds, though I'm not so sure.

The sea indeed was pretty quiet, with only a few auks and the usual Shags and Cormorants on the water. A lone Fulmar looked like it was prospecting the cliffs. There may well have been a lot more out in the gunk, but I didn't have a scope with me to sit and see. [I know, terribly remiss of me..]. I did at last get my first woodpecker of the year, a GSW, but otherwise there's nothing more exciting than Collared Doves to report.




[[*They could have been hiding behind the Ore Stone - not unknown by any means, the little gits...]]