Time Marches On (Groan...) V.2

The Wheatears are coming, oh yes they are, my precious.....


Ahem.


Right, so, what to report? Well, I've been bashing the Patch with not a great deal to tell for it. No sexy gulls or funky Cormorants - yes, rare gulls are sexy, stop glancing at that straightjacket and keep reading! - to reward getting frozen while staring at the waves. Inland, things have been even bleaker than the weather.

Best on offer came today, with a very nice 14 Purple Sandpipers and 4 Turnstones on Haldon Pier as the tide started to fall. :)  Offshore, from Livermead to Thatcher Rock there were at least 14 GC Grebes, one Slavonian, and one RTD. The Slav was well out and moulting - it looked quite RNG-ish - and the diver was an adult still in full winter finery, lingering not too far off Meadfoot Beach.

The assorted immature Herrings have not even had any properly odd-looking ones, so Bird of The Day is taken by an immensely smart and quite bold adult male LBB*, who flew up to a young couple out exercising their toddler on Torre Abbey sea defences. There was no bread forthcoming - the only thing he got was cooed over by me! - and he soon gave up, but until then I enjoyed a very nice view of this lovely bird.


Oh yes, a piece of late news; Frau Blackcap's reign of unholy terror was ended back in early February - yes, very late news! - by Herr Blackcap. Also, a male Brambling has made several visits, but always while I was at work! :(  Drat and double drat....



So, not a great deal to post about, really. Until this dratted weather changes, it seems this is how things will be. Ah well.....



EDIT:
Rather than put on a separate and rather short post, here's an addendum;
Sunday
Went for a wander about the Bovey and Becka valleys with with the Folks and a Little Black Dog that had been hanging around. Before we even got to Drakeford Bridge we found that someone has been very busy putting signs up all over the shop. I'm not sure how I feel about this, as there are far too many people wandering about there already.. ;) Anyways, after we got clear of the assorted family parties we had a nice walk, with the infamous climb up to and down from [unless you're unlucky, then it's a sliding roll down...] Houndtor Wood. This wood, it must be noted, is not exactly near Hound Tor, but never mind, eh?
There were a few birds around, including Marsh Tits and plenty of Siskin, but the star bird was a Dipper; which put in alas an all too brief appearance, though. Dippers are [as I've gone on about before] not Schedule 1, but I think they should be, so I'm not saying which watercourse it was on or if it was doing anything. Futile yes, but there you go.
Spring is definitely in the air, with Snowdrops coming up all over the shop [[this is Up There, where it counts, as Down Here you get flowers year round - there's this thing they go on about... a Riviera?? Anyway, winter here means shorter days, colder rain, and fewer grockles. The old timers tell stories about snowmen... ;) ]]


Finally.. I am thinking about changing how I post. Nothing definite, but I have settled into a pattern that I'm not entirely happy with. We shall see.



[[*Nice graellsii, naturally, pretty much a classic bird.]]