Slightly Battered

The Patch today, both from the weather and by me.


Yeah, yeah, I've done better I know...

Speaking of battering;

What used to be a pair of flagpoles, Haldon Pier

Meadfoot Beach, all atmospheric.

The Victorian railings survived, the modern ones.. not so much.

Meadfoot again.

That yellow bit is bare rock, about 1m wide, 

where the sea broke a chunk of the cliff off with a good hit.

[There were chunks missing like this all over the Lead Stone, but it doesn't photo well]

Anyway. I have had Stuff to do, also that work thing, so not much birding before.. well this afternoon.



I took a swing around the peninsula, from Harbour to Blackball, to see what I could see. Aside from a GND in the Harbour and an RTD flying out of the Bay - serious long-range ID; I'm quite proud ;) - the fun was at the Nose. Ok, there were 3 Turnstone and a Purple Sand visible from the teeny bit of Haldon Pier not shut off in the interest of mindles Health And Safety, and one or maybe two Bonxies in with the pack following the Constant Friend as she ravaged the seabe scalloped mid-Bay, and a pair of censored were displaying, and three Song Thrushes were in glorious song.. Ok, so there were birds around. But the Nose had the best bits.


Three of said bits were playing Stormy at the SWBCM, with 130+ BHGs, a couple of Kitts, and 11+ Common Gulls; Little Gulls! A cracking adult, a possibly lightly oiled adult [looked a bit yellowy on the belly], and a rather tatty-looking one with the hint of dark in a few primaries and a few grey feathers mixed in among its underwing coverts; a 3w, maybe? They were gorgeous, anyway!

Lovely comparison shot of Black-headed and Little Gull

[My phone does not like fast-moving birds in strong winds, but I think it's quite arty...]

10 GNDs and 14 GC Grebes were in the area, along with a scattering of auks. The highest note was lurking in the lee of the Ore Stone; a Puffin! Either a w/pl adult or a 1w - too far to be sure without the big scope. Lowest notes were the heavily oiled - with thick dark brown crude - Guillemots, sat on rocks at both the Nose and Meadfoot. Both birds were preening vigorously - so will have ingested enough oil to make a rescue [even if they could have been reached] pointless.. There's some tanker captain out there who's probably feeling very pleased with himself; saving all that money by washing his tanks out when the rough seas will hide his tracks. All I can hope is that his next life is as a seabird and he learns the consequences of his actions.


Getting back.. I spent too long cooing over the Little Gulls - they were right down there and just wonderful... - so didn't quite make it to Blackball before it got too dark to see [the rain didn't help]. Drat.