Dodging the Showers

 Once again little moving at sea from The Point this morning. 2 Arctic Skuas a few Terns and Gannets off shore, 15 Auks, 12 Common Scoter and 5 Wigeon moved west. Overhead a westward trickle of Goldfinches, Linnets, Meadow Pipits, Alba Wagtails, House Martins, Swallows a few Sand Martins.

Over The Patch while sheltering from the downpours in the lee of the new hide 3 Little Gulls (2juv+1ad), 2 Mediterranean Gulls(2w+1w), 8+ Arctic Terns, c20 Common Terns among the usual Gulls also 2 Arctic Skuas chasing Terns off shore.

A plod around the bushes taking in The Lighthouse, The Station, The Desert, The Moat, Lloyds, West Beach while spending a considerable time sheltering in the bushes, found just 2 Wheatears, 4 Chiffchaffs and 2 Sparrowhawks. Not really worth the effort or the drenching.

At The ARC from Hanson the Black-necked Grebe showed distantly, a Garganey was asleep on an Island among the usual wildfowl and 6 Little Egrets were dotted around.

This afternoon on wind and rain swept reserve birds were even harder to find than usual. From Firth 2 Grey Plovers and a Dunlin were of note, from Makepeace 2 Marsh Harriers flew over Burrowes. Approaching Dengemarsh a Bittern the first I have seen in a while flew to Christmas Dell. At the southern end of Dengemarsh The Great White Egret flew across the lake.