Little Grebes and Skua's - Bishopstone 11/10/18

It was a beautiful afternoon today but with a very strong southerly wind. I paid a visit to Bishopstone as I thought, with a bit of luck, I could get out of the wind a little there. It was very quiet in the Glen but also very windy. I only saw 1 Chiffchaff amongst the usual jobs. There were a couple of Collared Dove resting in one of the trees. One of them appeared to have lost quite a lot of its head feathers. 

Collared Dove

Collared  Dove

A little further on there was a large mushroom in the undergrowth, I think that it is a Parasol mushroom. I also saw another mushroom at the foot of the cliffs and think it must be a Fly Agaric of some sort. 

Parasol Mushroom

Fly Agaric Mushroom

I decided to have a sit on the rocks and watch the sea for a while. It was nice to be able to get out of the wind while I was down there. I was surprised to see a group of 8 Little Grebe on the sea. They are gorgeous little birds. I enjoyed watching them before they moved further out to sea.

Little Grebes

There was not a lot moving out to sea but I did manage to see 1 Arctic Skua east and 1 Great Skua east. I am so rusty at skua’s that I had to look the Arctic up when I got home to see what it was. My local patch does not have any water so these are not the kind of birds I am used to. I sent the photo to Chris Hindle in case I had got it wrong, when I sent him the list of birds, but he also said Arctic, so I was pleased. My first for many years.

Arctic Skua

I also had 3 duck east and again, I had to look at the photo with the books to see what they were. I have not watched the sea for years and I am so unbelievably rusty. 

Gadwall

I had 8 Brent Geese west and at least 12 Cormorants were fishing offshore. A Common Seal was offshore and a Cormorant came in quite close to fish. I am amazed at the size of some of the fish that they catch.

It was a lovely afternoon sitting there and I enjoyed seeing what flew past. There may not have been a lot of it but at least it gave time to enjoy them. I also had a Robin at the foot of the cliffs serenading me throughout the later part of the afternoon. On the walk back I saw a couple of Stonechat and they made the perfect finish to the day.

Stonechat

Stonechat

Birds I saw this visit included: 1 Chiffchaff, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches, House Sparrows, Dunnock, Wren, Robins, Blackbirds, 8 Little Grebes, 1 Arctic Skua east, 1 Great Skua east, 3 Gadwall east, 8 Brent Geese west, 12 Cormorants fishing offshore and 1 Common Seal, 2 Stonechat.