I spent 3 hours down at Beacon Ponds this morning...granted I didn't set up till 7.30! Still the tide was high and there were plenty of Waders...almost all Dunlin (c3000). I didn't take Bud for obvious reasons and set up my scope over the wall out of the strong, yet warm, Westerly.
My Leica APO 62 scope like me has taken some knocks over the years but still gives me all I need with it's wonderful zoom. I've dropped it and it's fell over on numerous occasions, it's even got a scratch on the objective (gained while trying to clamber over scree to see a Wallcreeper...not a bad scalp) but it's still fine. Also the eyepiece adjustment is no longer attached! It doesn't bother me, in fact without it, it gives the impression of a wider field of view? You might want to try it? I know many birders do the same thing with their bins, although for me this doesn't suit.
Anyway, onto the birds. I scanned and scanned the sea of Dunlin but couldn't turn any of them into a Curlew Sandpiper. They created wonderful vistas of grey, black and brown tightly huddled together but constantly on the move. Wonderful. They were mainly adults but there were some juveniles present to raise hopes momentarily! There were also some smart Knot and Grey Plover still in summer plumage.
Four species of tern were present and I had a smart Black-tailed Godwit fly over the flood bank as I left. Very enjoyable.
After doing my exercises I took Buddy a walk, watched some of the Test Match and had lunch. Then I had to confess I dropped off!
Around 4 I took him down to the cliff and had a quick scan. You never know...do you?
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| Moulting adult Mediterranean Gull (P.153, H.85) |
It was the only bird on the beach! As usual no big deal down the road but nice to have a smart adult at the end of the road in bright sunshine.
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