Buzzards at Seasalter

After a trip to Southern Ireland for a family reunion, followed by a visit to the Birdfair I have finally a been out birding a couple times. The first morning back a call from Geoff Burton about a Terek sandpiper at Swalecliffe got me down there pretty quick but it was always very distant and difficult to see and finally flew off at 12.30..  

On Monday morning a visit to Seasalter produced; 133 golden plovers in front of the YC., 24 barwits, 3 knot, 4 egrets, 1 lesser blk back, 1 dunlin, a large flock of 102 grey plover, 35 linnets, 1 marsh harrier etc..

Today, Wed., another trip to Seasalter, the tide was high and on the beach roost were 131 ringed plover plus four turnstones and another c65 turnstones on the 'oyster barge', 14 dunlin, and one wheatear. Out on the sea a sandwich tern was on one of the yellow buoys, 4 grt c grebes but nothing else. On the beach 'village green' section lots of flowers including a large patch of toadflax that I never seen here before plus yellow horned poppy, sticky groundsell, blk knapweed, sandwort, valerian to name a few. A couple of tortoiseshells and whites were attracted to the flowers.

Toadflax

A quick look into the plots was so so quiet, just a family of swans with 7 full size cygnets on the dyke.

Further on by the YC. the tide had just left the beach attracting 110 curlew to drop in and feed and out over the fields several buzzards, first a pair going west followed by a single one. Then in the sky further east another 3 or 4 buzzards, tried to make one into a honey but couldn't, these kept company with 2 hobbys. Another surprise were 3 snipe that rose up from the fields and flew west, the new telescope proving its worth!