Coast

Gibraltar Point, early doors

In our usual perverse fashion, we went to Lincolnshire on Friday night because there were lots of good birds turning up in Norfolk and East Yorkshire.

Camping is usually filled with experiences to delight the senses; unsurprisingly, it was bloody cold at night, but we added Little Owl and Barn Owl to our tent list (Bittern is probably still the best bird on it).

The absurdly well-equipped (internet, gas heater, fairy lights) campers in the tent next to ours kindly loaned us their battery-powered airbed inflator, which was nice. Later on, they had a noisy argument, which was not so nice.

A wander round Skegness seafront early on Saturday was next to useless, due to thick fog which persisted until about 1pm. If there were any good birds, they were invisible. Eventually we went to Gibraltar Point (nice cafe) and wandered around the dunes. There weren't many birds around and nothing was moving, but a Yellow-browed Warbler gave itself away by calling from an inaccessible bush.

We'd nearly finished trudging around when a last look along the road revealed another Yellow-browed, flitting around in an Elder bush - briefly.

Sunday morning was less foggy, and sunny briefly before the sun got up behind the clouds. The skies were a bit more lively, with skeins of Pink-footed Geese heading for Norfolk, the odd Redwing, Brambling and plenty of Siskins and Redpolls.

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Know your root vegetables

[female?] Woodchat Shrike, Sea Lane, Friskney, Lincs.

On the way home from Gibraltar Point, we dropped in at Sea Lane in Friskney to see if the long-staying (since 29 July) Woodchat Shrike was still hanging about. To start with, we couldn't find it, and it was only after we gave up and drove back towards the A52 that Darren spotted it sitting on a fence.

This is where your knowledge of root vegetable crops is put to the test. Do not look around the edge of the sugar beet field, for the bird will not be seen there. No, you must use your veg ID skills and look on the fence surrounding the potato field, and then you will be rewarded.

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Gib

Tempted towards the east coast by yesterday's reports of juicy migrants (Wrynecks, Barred and Greenish Warblers, flycatchers of varying hues, and just... stuff), we went to Gibraltar Point today.

Speckled Wood

Green Sandpiper

Fortunately, there was more than a Green Sand there (though it was the only wader to pose for photos). The Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs were in front of the same hide (Jackson's) and showed reasonably well, if a bit distantly. Also a gaggle of Greenshank, a large gang of Black-tailed Godwits and a slightly more subtle Garganey.

There was a constant stream of Swallows passing south, along with a few Swifts and House Martins, and a Hobby. As we wandered along the shore, we watched a couple of Red Admirals fly ashore - into the wind - presumably just having crossed The Wash from Norfolk!

Not much else about, though.

digiscoped photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

American Robin, Grimsby

Occasionally, it is nice to escape from the Peterborough Bird Club area and experience the illicit thrills of dirty twitching.

The American Robin at Grimsby, Lincolnshire, deserved a visit so I blagged a lift there with Steve Dudley and borrowed a digiscoping adaptor for the day. The picture above goes to prove that even I can take half-decent pictures of brightly-coloured birds at close range in sunny conditions.