#willdife

Alpine Ibex 8/? - Tour du Mont Blanc, June 2019

22/11/20-Hill Head and flowers in the garden 

I took the first two pictures in this photoset of flowers and some fuchsia in the garden this morning after my Mum cut my hair in the downstairs living room, and I took the third in this photoset of Black-headed Gulls on a neighbouring roof this afternoon. 

We had a walk at Hill Head this afternoon and it was another nice day beside the sea with some great sky scenes above it as the sun poked through the clouds a little towards the end of the day. I took the fourth, fifth and seventh pictures in this photoset of views here today, and sixth and eighth of some gorse with stones on possibly blown or deposited there by mother nature if not placed there by a human which was an interesting thought one of two more pictures of Missy our dog I’ve taken so many of her on her birthday weekend as she turned 12 yesterday as I said. 

We also saw some nice birds here today including many Great Crested Grebes out to sea. We had come to look for common and velvet scoter which had been around and that we needed to see this year, and whilst we did see some groups of suitable birds out to see we could not quite be sure whether they were scoters, Eiders which we had seen here a few weeks ago nicely or indeed something else. We should have the time if restrictions allow at all stages to come here and try again before the end of the year though. It does look likely that this could be the first month since November 2015 that I don’t get at least one bird year tick within not seeing a bird for the first time in 2020 since the Ring Ouzels at Leaden Hall on 17th October. This is something that was always going to happen eventually and be that this month or not I will take it in my stride when it does, and to after getting some late year and life ticks around the Christmas period of 2015 get at least one bird year tick every month for four consecutive years I had never achieved this before 2016 and repeated it the next three and then most of another year I am so proud of. Year list wise 2020 does also look likely to end as my fourth highest year list total ever. Sitting three behind my 2017 total of 190 which could still be surpassed. I am however over the moon to get within 13 birds of my highest ever total in 2019 of 200 showing how well I have done for birds before the first Covid restrictions hit and when the easing allowed us to see a few more these past few months. 

We possibly saw a seal out to sea here today a very distant and quick view but it did seem likely the shape we could just about make out was one. I couldn’t tell whether grey or common seal but still lovely to possibly see it. I also enjoyed seeing Black-headed Gulls flying and circling a lot overhead at the harbour area and see them with the Mallards feeding which I took the ninth picture in this photoset of and I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset of Starlings gathering on boat’s sail’s in nice low light conditions which was nice a memorable picture from today. On the way back we then saw one of the stars here the Sanderling with a small group flying along the coast and landing on the shingle. We then saw just the one with a Turnstone in front of it and it’s interesting that the Turnstone dwarfed it in size, I never knew the Sanderlings were so small so I learnt something today which is great.

We observed and discussed at a safe social distance with a fellow birder how sadly there was a lot of disturbance of the birds evident today. I think possibly as a by product of people not being able to go to pubs, clubs, gyms and cinemas etc. at weekends at the moment. And do not get me wrong I am happy people are obviously allowed to take daily exercise and pursue leisure activities outdoors at this time. And that the government has set out visiting public open spaces for exercise and mental heath benefits this lockdown in a clearer way than the last one. That is exactly what we were doing and do every day. 

But whilst social distancing was being observed and it was not a mass gathering as such, a fairly cold November Sunday afternoon felt like a bank holiday with the amount of people around today. Without anyone really meaning to cause a problem, this area has become too popular and birds like Sanderling just don’t seem to have any space to land, feed and exist in winter when it’s vital they feed up. A campaign I know the brilliant Bird Aware Solent team are pursuing and raising awareness for a lot it was great to see a lovely sign they specifically had up on this bird on a gate to the beach area today. https://solent.birdaware.org/home And if I’m honest whilst maybe not in these numbers this is not exclusive to lockdown with the number of leisure pursuits this location is appropriate for. Birdwatching and photography are included in that for mental health and exercise, none of the hobbies are more important than another obviously. This is not unique to the coast with the New Forest quite populated and used right now and generally nowadays too. I like I said will never criticism anyone - pandemic or not - for choosing to go outside on a Sunday afternoon not just in the summer but year round like we do. Especially those with children of all ages. But it’s just a shame wildlife is not being considered more and that groups of all interests and viewpoints can’t come together to find solutions to overcrowding in area like these. 

All of that said, it was still great to see people safely enjoying the outdoors today and a fun walk for us to end an enjoyable winter weekend of enjoying the coast safely. 

Photo of the Day – The Turquoise Tanager (Tangara mexicana) is a highly social species that is characterised by… you guessed it… turquoise-blue face and breast. Despite its species name (mexicana), it is not found in Mexico or anywhere in Central America. Instead, the species is distributed across northern and central South America.