Joss Bay to Foreness

An early morning stroll along the coastal footpath was under a very changeable sky and a gusting SW wind. Periods of sunshine broken by heavy grey clouds and accompanying showers, never the optimum conditions in which to get any useable photos. Parking at the bottom of Elmwood Avenue, I immeadiately saw a pair of Stonechat (typical examples of the race S. t. hibernans) that were feeding along the fenceline of the car park. Binocular views were nice, but they moved along the fence, at my approach, so I left them to continue along the cycle track. Huge numbers of Woodpigeons were leaving their roosts in the mature trees around the golf course heading off into the surrounding farmland to feast on the copious amounts of cauliflower, cabbage and sprouts that Thanet agriculture is famed. Two Firecrest were in the holme oaks at the end of Convent Avenue and a steady trickle of Greenfinches was noted as I wandered along towards the Captain Digby. Meadow Pipits and "alba"/Pied Wagtails fed on the cliff top fairways and 2 Fulmars were prospecting nest sites around Whiteness Point. Apart from a small flock of Linnets that flew past, my walk to the pumping station, at Foreness, was very uneventful. The 2 imm Shag were in position on the far end of the exposed pipeline, as I scanned the sea from the bottom of the footpath that cuts through the chalk down onto the seawall. Two Snow Buntings flew overhead, settling on the cliff face where they fed in the shadow fo the pumping station. By some clambering up onto the concrete apron, I managed a few dodgy record images before calling it a day and retracing my footsteps. Back at Joss Bay, the cock Stonechat decided to pose briefly before flying across the road into the vast expanse of cauliflowers!

Foreness Point

A real novelty today - no work! I am not complaining about the recent spate of O/T & night shifts, they have proven to be the most lucrative period of my entire working life, hence very welcome in the run up to the Christmas period. Choosing to drive across to Foreness was in the hope of a Black Redstart around the pumping station or a Snow Bunting perhaps? Another exercise in pointlessness. Apart from the regular Meadow Pipits foraging in the cliff top grass, birds were conspicuous by their absence. I decided to wander down onto the mussel beds below the pumping station. Plenty of waders to be seen with Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Curlew, Common Redshank and Purple Sandpiper were all present, although none were particularly cooperative from a photographic perspective. A Grey Heron was fishing in the tidal pools and I noted my first returning Fulmars patrolling the cliffs towards Fayreness. A couple of 1st winter Shag were present on the far end of the pipeline, allowing me a chance of a few images of a species that has become quite a Thanet scarcity in recent winters.

All I've got left in 2009?

A while ago, I had a conversation with Franny, "the World's most disappointed man", about the pro's & con's of colour - ringing and the vast amount of additional, scientifically sound, data this form of marking allows to be gathered. It resulted in the statement that "You don't look at gulls, you just look at their legs!" Whilst this might be very true, gulls do provide the main-stay of my winter birding. Despite Thanet not being in the best position to intercept any of the "megas" of the laridae genus, there are plenty of common species to be seen around the coast during the winter months. Colour-ringed birds have allowed some interesting insights into the movements of these familiar birds. Great Black-backs from Norway, Lesser Black-backs from Suffolk, Holland and Belgium, Herring Gulls from Sussex, Essex and Belgium, Black-headeds from Finland and Sweden plus Mediterranean Gulls from France and Belgium - all a direct result of the C-R projects that are conducted throughout the EU and beyond.

The enjoyment I derive from this form of birding has travelled beyond the Thanet boundaries to the sunshine of the Med and my holidays. My camera went with me to Sericol, this morning, in order to get a new image of the female Herring Gull (Orange/Black FGO.T). Job done, whilst eating my bacon roll in the cycle shed, was a chance to discuss the finer points of gull id with one of my supervisors! A completely pointless exercise - there are a certain core of humanity to whom gulls serve no useful purpose, my supervisor (a Jockaneeze from Folkestone) being a prime example. My photo of a C-R Audouin's Gull, Mallorca 2007, being another example of the diversity of the projects within the EU.

A bit of a surprise!

Walking home from Sericol, yesterday afternoon, I noticed a Herring Gull with an deep orange darvic/black code feeding on the green besides the cycle shed. I had first learned of such a colour-ringed bird in March 2009, when one of the guys had spoken of a "red-tagged" gull wandering around the car park. This bird turned out to be a female that had been ringed at the Pitsea Land-fill site, Essex, by the North Thames Gull Group. I managed to get a few images of the bird (and read the ring) in April and was able to record the progress of the breeding attempt, as she and her mate raised three healthy chicks on the roof above our "Digital Ink" manufacturing department. Quite why the bird is still present when the vast majority, of Herring Gulls and all of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls, have vacated the breeding area is a bit of a puzzle, but the weather hasn't turned cold yet, so they might leave for the feeding delights of the Pitsea Land-fill site yet?

You couldn't make it up

Sorry for the recent lack of posts and the "cock up" of Saturday's phantom effort. Life in this part of Thanet has been more weird than the most outrageous plot of any T/V soap. Family reunions, long lost relatives, illness, accidents and money - we've had the bloody lot! I won't even attempt to explain the events - I am hoping to sort out a deal with the script writers of "Corrie", so have no wish to divulge the contents into cyber space before the cheque has been cleared.

I did get out for a couple of hours, on Sunday morning, hoping that Ramsgate Harbour might hold something of interest, after the ridiculous gales of the previous afternoon (Hence my phantom posting of "Where did that come from") Sadly my optimism was misplaced and I had to content myself with the usual Turnstones, Herring, Great Black-backed & Black-headed Gulls with a couple of "sinensis" Great Cormorant and 3 Rock Pipit. The sun shone and I managed to record a rather pleasing image of a Turnstone, as it waded through one of the, many, puddles by the lifeboat station.