Happy Holidays?

I had had a plan for Saturday which involved checking the Nose early, then heading up on't Moor. Lighter winds and more sun made this seem like a good idea. However, reality got in the way, as a surprise family get-together happened instead. It was all very nice, but a naughty little part of me was quietly wondering why it couldn't have been the day after? Oh well.
I did get out for a wander with assorted family in the afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised to actually get myself a Patch Yeartick - we were went to Oddicombe and Babbacombe beaches and I naturally took a look out to sea. A couple of Gannets fairly well out and beyond them were terns! I may have spent a bit longer than was politic watching them, settling on scores of a Common and 3+ Sarnies. Not bad.

Yesterday I felt utterly drained for some reason [there may have been a lot of cake* the day before... ;) ] and just about managed a stagger around Yarner with the Folks. [[Having been at Prawle a day early may also be a factor. Nice one, Pat. :) ]] We found it amazingly quiet for an Easter Sunday with some sort of event on - the frozen rain may have helped - and saw among a scattering of the usuals 4 & 2 Mandarin, Marsh Tits, and the near-expected Woodcock. [This one was maybe 11' from the track when Tilbury found it {on her lead, as standard}, so can't really complain!]


Today I again got to the Nose early - the wind was not quite NE and strong, there were at least 4 Wheatears, 3 Chiffchaffs, and a Blackcap about and the Running Man was doing his thorough laps to make sure I had utterly no chance of a Bluethroat.. But visibility was murky, gunk might be forecast [opinions varied] for the morning, and it was definitely too windy for the Moor. I considered heading South again, but thought words to the effect of 'sod it' and stayed put.

I plonked down in a nice little sheltered spot in the middle of Wryneck Country** and got to it. An interesting mix of seawatch and vismig followed, sadly cut short after an hour and a half, when the wind went round to E and I had to move. The Traditional Seawatching Spot was in the wind, with a stand-up nook behind it out of the wind but in the spray. A lot of spray, as with the tide up the sea was really having fun. Right... I retreated to the one place out of the wind with any view of open sea; the Last Resort*** I stayed put [aside from a couple of quick forays to check if the wind had shifted] for another 3.5 hours. At this point, the sun started to come out and my feet had frozen solid, so I called it a day.

What did I see?
Firstly the migrants; three groups of Mipits, an unidentified dark passerine - a chat or warbler of some kind - plus a male alba Wagtail, a Swallow, and a brilliant male Merlin! The latter tore through at wavetop height - wow!

EDIT: Rule 157; Always do your recording before you blog. Thus avoiding [one way of] looking like an idiot.
Why reminding myself of this? Merlin is a frickin' PATCH TICK!!! That's why! I can't believe I forgot that one... Anyway, Yay! Woohoo! and so on.


Seabirds; Gannets were 18N 20S, Kittiwake 1N, Fulmar 6N 12S, Razorbill 6S, Guillemot 1S [none on Ore Stone], Sarnies 12N 33S, C Scoter 11N, Manxie 1S, RT Diver 1S, LBB 2N, Com Gull 2S, BHG 11N
Also, single GC Grebe and RT and BT Divers on the sea [the RT being a different bird than the flyer]. In the sea, at least one Harbour Porpoise and the seemingly resident Grey Seal. The Seal caught what looked like a Conger Eel - it brought it up to munch it [far too big to swallow whole!] and attracted a mob of hungry GBBs, who got several chunks for their efforts! I attracted the attentions of a Rockit, who was very bold and came right up to me to scrounge bits of fruity-oaty bar  :D

And speaking of.. Here's a dodgy mobile shot of the little blighter, with scenic background. If this had been taken with a proper camera [even my SLR] it'd be crippling. Honest.

[[*Hot Cross Buns, Duffnuts, and Sister's Guinness Cake! Oh, the Guinness cake..... ;D  ]]
[[**This being the 'bit between the Lower Meadow and the Traditional Seawatching Spot', an area of long grass and scrub covering quarry spoil heaps and lots of hidden holes and fissures. This is where JR had that nasty accident..]]
[[***A raised grassy ledge on the east wall of the Quarry, between the Seawatching Spot and the Wall, you can only see to the north [little chance of seeing the slick and forget the Big Shear Line] and even the view of Hope Cove is partly blocked by the Mound. On the plus side, you won't miss anything hugging the coast, nothing can pull the 'fly-over' on you, it's wide and flat enough to park a chair or two and even has a little stone seat/table.]]