Foiled again!

I realised that high tide at Breydon was actually about 2pm today so my arrival at 10am should have been very early.  Wrong.  Yet again there was no mud.  Honestly I am going to burn the tide table book and take pot luck in future.  It is starting to feel hopeless.  Or maybe I should arrive at low tide and take lunch!  I am dying to pick through lots of waders.  It has always been one of my favourite ways of birding.  Mind you today sitting in the raised hide was a bit hairy to say the least.  With the high winds it was rocking and swaying something chronic.  Quite scary if you thought about it too much.  I did think about it too much so I went back to the car and off to Winterton for a seawatch!

When I arrived at Winterton I was pleased to see a small collection of birders standing by the huts.  That was a first in itself.  Even more pleasing was seeing the man I have chatted to twice before, once at Rush Hill and once at the Nelson's Head track, so at least there was a familiar face.  There were some other birders there who I was told were local experts but they were not very chatty and seemed to keep themselves to themselves.

Aparently there had been streams of skuas past before I arrived but typically wasting time at Breydon looking at naff all I had missed the good stuff.  After the other birders left I got onto a Bonxie and a Sooty Shearwater.  I am positive about the Bonxie but the Shearwater was a probable.  Either way it was very satisfying to pick up and ID some nice birds by myself.  Especially the Bonxie because it was really good in the sunlight, you could see the white on the wings glowing.  All in all I had about an hour and a half of quite nice seawatching.  It was howling wind but the sun had come out and it was dry for the first time in days.  Result!

Now I must get out my 'Flight ID of European Seabirds' book and start swotting up!  I am at The Haven tomorrow so there will be no seawatching or mud spotting until Wednesday.  Fingers crossed for a law abiding tide and dry weather!

STOP PRESS!!

There are TWO male Pheasents in the garden!!!