Very distant photos taken through a wire fence with a Mickey Mouse camera,
Canon 1200d on Big Bertha lens , not a good combination for a rig.
A brilliant morning to be out in the uplands today with wall to wall sunshine on a very light W>2 at only 2 degrees but soon lifting to 8 degrees.
The whole area was alive with a full vocal orchestra of Canadas, Barnacles, Curlew, Grouse , Pheasant and Lapwing whilst Herring and LBB gulls passed overhead along with cronking Ravens.
A walk the full length of the west bank failed to turn up any new wildfowl and no return of Wheatear as yet in the usual hot spots.
Back at the boatyard I checked as far as I could on the east bank but the water is too high at the moment to gain me access so its a scoping job. Luckily for me, 2 Oystercatchers were part way on the banking which made me walk up to the compound fence to get a shot of them and it was then that I saw a Ringed Plover on the cobbles and a second one nearby. Had the Oyks not been there I would probably have missed them as they were part hidden by the reeds.
These are just 2 days earlier than last year when the first one arrived back on the 2nd March.
So I didnt get my February Wheatear but Ringed Plovers are a nice consolation prize.
Fly Flatts
2 Ringed Plover
2 Oyks
14 Mallard
c 200 Canadas
2 Barnacle
7 Curlew
3 Raven
c 70 Lapwing
12 Herring gull.......>SW
3 LBB gull.........>NE
+ usual sp.
BS