Wednesday birding and beachcomb

On Wednesdays I usually go to the docks with my Granddad. We went for an hour and a half and managed to see a few species. When we got there, the usual flock of 150+ of Black Headed Gulls swooped over to us for their bag of food. They were very noisy. Some have blue rings on which I have recorded before, they are part of a Black Headed Gull project.

 

BHG feather stuck on beak

In the dock basin where two Cormorants diving around bringing up small fish. Over the hour and a half they were joined by four others. One with a white belly flew right above me, I must have looked like a fool trying to capture it on my camera.

 

I decided to walk left for about ten minutes and was greeted by a couple of Goosanders, they soon flew down stream. A couple of Mallards were more welcoming, sunning themselves on the side. A noisy Wren showed he was there in some old brambles. Two more Mallards flew upstream.
I turned back round and we headed for the other side of the river. I went along the bank side keeping an eye out for washed up items.

 

I ended up with a fishing weight, an old Bengal Silver fork, a few bones along with a rabbit skull, two mermaids purses (thornback) and a pocket full of colourful feathers. I also got a worn out bird box, which will soon be fixed and nailed up a tree in the garden.

 

A Robin and Blackbird were scavenging around the leaf litter, and were startled by an unusual presence of a Redshank, which itself must have been scared off further downstream as it came flitting down with a noisy alarm call.

 

It was a good day, the sun was out and it was warm, and the findings were quite good seeing as the tide didn't come in that high.
Hopefully we will be back a few more times during half term to see what is out there again.