At last an opportunity to get out birding for a change with a start at Wraik Hill area. Along Pye Alley Lane I saw a bullfinch family plus a yellowhammer and whitethroat and back at Wraik Hill top 'reserve' a nightingale singing in the carpark, the first for a couple of years since the scrub clearance. A peregrine was staring down at me from one of the pylons but didn't fly off and down Foxes Cross Hill another nightingale and a turtle dove made their presence known whilst a Mediterranean gull was calling overhead as it flew east in the rather misty conditions.
A distant shot through the mist!
I made my way down towards the seafront picking up sedge, cetti's and reed warblers along Seasalter Lane plus a marsh harrier.
The tide was already up to the beach so no chance of waders except oystercatchers and just one ringed plover. On the 'island' 6 great black-backed gulls, several herring gulls, one common tern and two shelducks. Looking out to sea through the mist I finally added a gannet and later a sand martin flew west. Walking back towards the plots 5 greylags flew east seemingly coming from the levels and a couple of swifts were hawking over the fields.
Four of the 5 Greylags
A short walk into the plots produced two stonechat families plus two linnets, 2 mallard, c.dozen goldfinches, wrens, chaffinches etc. and two cuckoos.
Juvenile Stonechat
Back on the seafront, someone was throwing bread to a few black-headed gulls plus one nice adult Med gull joined the feast.
This evening I noticed lots of tiny moths in the garden which turned out to be the Diamond-backed moth, quickly got a poor photo.
