Even More Terns

Yesterday morning I was down at the Nose bright and early - it is annual hollyday time after all :) - hoping that the forecast overnight weak front had dropped some poor passerines into the bushes for me to see. This sort of happened, with lots of Chiffchaffs around, plus Whitethroats and Blackcaps. Also at least one interesting sylvia that kept me staring at bushes for far longer than I should have. [Ah, the joys of pass-bashing..]


The weather clearly hadn't read the forecast, as despite what was promised, a bunch of bands of drizzly rainy gunk showed up and made me wish I'd brought my seawatching kit along. Lack of Vital Kit notwithstanding, I gave the sea an hour as I was - braving the rain from The Mounds - and was rewarded with hordes of Kitts, lots of terns, and some skuas. One very nice juvenile intermediate Arctic came in very close - inside the Leadstone close - and showed quite beautifully. The rest [2 more Arctics and a Bonxie] were further out.

I counted 220 Commic and 3 Sarnies past south, with 65 Kittiwakes also passing. That number was dwarfed by again around 420 resting on the Ore Stone [this time I got 424] and another ~460 in three rafts to the north [though strictly speaking, those should be 'small gull sp.' - as I didn't have the Big Scope with me]. Also-flews included 7 Common Scoter and a Razorbill. After I'd gone back to looking through the lower bushes, I still stopped periodically to scan the sea, and on one of these I picked up a Little Gull - not a juv - which made me wonder what else was going by.


Later on, I was just getting home from a milk run when I heard the distinctive creaky call of a Sarnie flying up the valley! Dammit! I broke into a run, dived across the street.. but nothing. No more calls and no sign of the bird itself... I'd missed a brilliant Home Tick by seconds. Bugger.


On Sunday afternoon, a wander about Yarner with the Folks was enlivened no end by a couple of passing juv. Hobbies, who were very vocal with that computer effects-sounding call as they zipped about [presumably after Craneflies]. Also of note were 2 juv. Mandarin on the pond and the first proper tit band of the winter.


Today at lunchtime I had a wonderful treat. I was delighted to watch at least 2 [and quite possibly more - they were coming one at a time from the conifer] Coal Tits coming and taking sunflower seeds from my feeder. :D  I am so happy about this I'm still grinning like a loon.. :)  Longer term plans to make my little garden ::cough:: even more bird-friendly are in the works, too, but it's so encouraging to actually see birds coming in already.

At the same time, a lovely pristine Speckled Wood flew in to have a look about the place. I was able to rescue it, fortunately [though the spiders were cursing me] and it fluttered off on its way.