Trip reports

Sunday Morning on the Beach

Sunday, 16 December 2007

It was good to welcome some new faces to the party as we gathered at the Stray Café and then set off towards the beach. We had gone hardly twenty metres when a female stonechat was spotted in the shrubbery along the stray; a good start, we felt.

Down on the beach, we noted first a cormorant perched on one of the beacon-like metalwork structures just off the end of the groynes. Jokes about 'chicken-in-a-basket
proliferated.

Moving on to the sandy flats we saw ringed plover, redshank and oystercatchers, whilst out to sea we 'scoped guillemot, eider, great-crested grebe and both red-throated and great northern divers. Along the tide line there were adult and juvenile greater black-backed gulls, black-headed,herring and common gulls . On reaching the scars, we had especially good views of turnstone, sanderling, dunlin, knot, redshank, oystercatcher, ringed plover, and purple sandpiper.

What a great spot to see a good variety of sea and shore birds close up. All in all, a fresh and enjoyable morning by the seaside.
There is just one thing puzzling me; looking at the photo, is the group leader being ostracised or is he simply refusing to mix with the hoi poloi? Answers on a postcard .....