Monday afternoon saw sunshine and a WNW wind of a continuingly frisky nature. I had previously planned a small excursion towards Brixham harbour, with dire intent towards cowering diving things.
However, the Murphys got there first and didn't find a sneaky Red-necked Grebe so I reconsidered. Wind north of west put the north side of the Bay in play, and I resolved to hitch up the Pony* and get the Big Scope to Meadfoot.
From the shelter I gave the bay a good scanning, finding... Very little.
Hmm.
I kept at it, scouring the Oyster Beds for duckies [nope], the offhsore waters for divers [nope] and the inshore waters for grebes [no-
Ah.
Got something!
Great Crested Grebe
One GCG. Yes, in fancy-pants summer plumage and everything, but still. One.
A couple of slender-looking Cormorants got grilled, and one did indeed have a 90° gular angle - but promptly decided it wasn't going to be photo'd and flew off... Bar steward.
A beamer came out in very nice light - they sometimes tie up in the Outer Harbour - and revealed herself to be 'Julie of Ladram';
All quite scenic
Looking the other way, a little geology for you;
Variscan thrust forms in
Middle Devonian marine strata
[Also known as Thatcher Point...]
After taking those, I decided to give it one more scan before yomping up to Daddyhole and trying from there..
Grebe!
Holy Moly, that's a Red-necked!!!!!
Came zinging out of the bay - above the horizon - passed outside Thatcher Rock and disappeared off up the coast.
Woooooooooo......
:D
I didn't get a photo. Really would have liked one, it got lit quite nicely, but would have had to have camera out and zoomed and focussed in advance, so not going to happen.
In lieu of that, I'm going to burble at you..
Oh yes.
:)
Grebes in flight are, unlike divers**, quite separable. They have a distinctive form, being dumpy of body and long of neck, with a very busy flight action [despite seeming better adapted for light than the much bulkier divers] that makes them stand out.
While each is a different shape - some standing out more than others - grebes also, very considerately, show distinctive markings in flight, as they all have marked areas of white in the wing.
Little Grebe is very small, compact, and shows almost no white, being quite uniformly 'dark'. They tend to fly very low and are rarely seen at sea - though it can happen especially in hard icy weather.
Black-necked has a thin but not hugely long neck and distinct head [seen well] and white extending almost the full width of the trailing edge of the wing. The head and neck are dusky and dark-looking.
Slavonian has a more evenly shaped head/neck than BN, and in winter show a strong black and white head pattern [like an auk] extending [though less obviously] to the throat [unlike BN] and have white only about halfway down the trailing edge of the wing, with a small and variable amount on the inner leading edge; the 'shoulder', which is often hard to pick out.
Red-necked is markedly longer-necked and bigger-looking, with an evenly tapering head/neck shape, making one seen side-on look a little like a flying wedge. Head and neck appear dark, though some have a paler-looking cheek and the yellow bill base can sometimes catch the light and appear - maybe only as a bright spot - at surprisingly long range. It has inner half trailing and a small shoulder white wing markings - the latter often hard to see, making the wing look thinner rather than standing out.
Great-crested is the most distinctive of all, with a very long thin neck and distinct head [though less so out out s/pl]. They appear very pale compared to other grebes, and this is exacerbated by the extensive white in both trailing and leading edges of the wing; the flashing of these catching the light is often what draws the eye to a flying GCG.
That's a lot of words, but I'm not allowed to put up an illustration from say the Bird Guide, which would show far more neatly pretty much everything I've tried to convey. What can you do? [Ok, if you're The Artist, draw something even better, but, well.. I'm really not. ]
Anyways, on the fourth day I got lucky.
Like I keep saying: Patience, Persistence, and a massive scope. ;)
Time to go, here's something purdy;
I do love a Crocus,
especially this form.
Be Seeing You...
[[* That's Longshanks' Pony, btb. ]]
[[** Who can be quite hard to call at any kind of range ]]
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