Wednesday 11 February 2015

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.

2 comments:

  1. Hi there!
    I really enjoy your posts and also the amazing pictures here and on your twitter account. Especially the flying heron is great! I always have problems taking pictures if it comes to fast moving animals. I think I have the wrong camera adjustment.... *cough* That's why I take photos of insects, snails and snakes, heh! ;D
    But please, post more photos about your findings! What's about these mysterious feathers and the skull? I would love to see them.
    I think we share a lot of interests like birds, insects, nature and bone collecting! If you are interested, here's my blog about nature: http://bonesandnature.blogspot.ch/

    PS: Thank you for letting me know about the RSPB shop. I live in Switzerland but now I have some beautiful tea towels from good ol' England ;D

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    1. Hi. Thank you very much. All i can say is keep your finger on the button, to take a series of shots and then pick the best ;) they will be in some posts soon, and i will have read of your blog.

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