The Quieter side of Skeggy!

Monday 24^th October 2016   So those of you who get a mail shot each time I put something on my blog, are going to wonder why this one is hot on the heels of the one last Sunday.

1     Those of you who get a mail shot each time I put something on my blog, are going to wonder why this one is hot on the heels of the one last Sunday.  

      Well we 2 are off for 10 relaxing days, away from the computer, to Wales, Somerset, Devon finally settling in at our favourite haunt, The Imperial Hotel, Exmouth.

2    But rather than wait until we come back, whilst it is still fresh in my mind, I want to recount my birding experiences in the last 48 hours, which tells me that I am well on the way back to my good old birding days.

Good start… schools are on holiday, and commuters will tell you what a difference that makes going to work. And in 20 minutes, I was the other end of Brian Clough way, at the Toby at Wollaton Park……………..oh, not The Toby anymore; pity I liked their carvery! But it was a good run, and at 10.30 I was at Gibraltar Point, and wondering at the new visitor centre that replaced the one devastated by the East coast storms of December 2013.

Simon King, the wildlife broadcaster officially opened the centre on 7^th October, and I guess this week was the first time the centre had welcomed families at half-term – it was heaving. I’m sure the support for the new centre plus the gabion walls will protect it from any storm recurrence.

I knew hi-tide was 2pm, so I went off for a couple of hours to the lagoons, welcomed by 3 Fieldfares as I got there, and then Redwing, so that’s a start of the winter birds.  Top bird on the marshes was a single snipe in a small cluster of reeds.. a JACK Snipe to boot. It was not in clockwork mode, but the head stripes and bracers were very bold, so a nice addition for 2016.

After a very generous Jacket Potato with Coronation chicken and salad (managed 66%!), I set off for the closest place to the sea for the hi-tide, and beyond the east edge of the dunes, found 6/7 very active little birds, which kept dropping into the plants on/in the mud. Scope to the fore, with a suspicion as to what they were from the call, I confirmed they were Twite. I’d only seen Twite twice before, once at Donna Nook and once at Southport, so that was another good tick for 2016.  When I got back to the car I was able to confirm the call on my phone.

So with 40 birds for a satisfactory but shortish day, it gets dusk early, I headed for my B in Skegness. I was to discover when I got to the Ivydene that I had in fact only booked Bed! Quickly rectified, £ changed hands and I had an excellent full breakfast etc etc for £5.

Tuesday 25^th October 11am  And I was on the quayside in Boston, waiting to go on my 5th RSPB Birdwatching cruise to the Wash. The Boston Belle takes an hour to reach the sea, poddles around in the Wash then goes off down the River Welland, almost to the A17. 47 people enjoyed a 45 minute delayed start due to the tide, but more than made up for it by being “at sea” for 5 hours, much longer than usual. There were early requests for the Chefs speciality, Bacon Buttie, even before we cast off. A count of 70 species made it an excellent trip, as always

THE BOSTON BELLE

Steve Keighley, the caller (sounds like Bingo) aided by ¾ RSPB spotters, found an early Grey Wagtail, then a Green Woodpecker posing on a fence post.

Once we got into the Wash, seals kept popping their heads up to scrutinise us, and we were just overawed by the size of some of the bird flocks. Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Lapwing were everywhere, as were Redshanks, and up to 4 Marsh harriers were seen at one time. Add Merlin, and Scoters for good measure.

Steve reprimanded everyone (including himself) for wrongly identifying a cormorant, which turned out to be a Black Throated Diver.

When we went up the Welland, Rodney the skipper throttled back the engines to permit some non-vibrating photos of basking seals, and as we came home passed The Stump, he slowed again to photo the 2 Peregrines on the building.

This was the last trip for 2016, but they have already planned 2017 programme – well worth the trip – I will go again.