January 2008
Seasalter and Hampton Pier.
03/01/08
Herring Gull at Hampton Pier this morning.
I met Mike Gould at Seasalter this morning, just before 10.00 a m. There was a raw South Easterly wind, which made conditions a little uncomfortable, but we walked along the beach towards Castle Coot from the Sportsman Pub. Mike had seen and photographed a Kittiwake before I arrived, and together we counted 304 incoming Bar-tailed Godwits, landing on the receding tide edge, joining large numbers of Knot, Redshank, Oystercatchers and Dunlin. It was not long before we decided to leave, and check out the shore opposite the pumping station, as the tide is slower to leave the beach there. On the way back to the car, 3 Stonechats were seen, and a flock of approximately 12 Linnets. We found a sheltered spot behind a wall, and watched feeding Gulls on the mud, which included Black-headed, Common and Great Black-backed. Empty flasks and frozen fingers told us it was time to leave, and on the way home, I called into the car park at Hampton, and walked the length of the pier, hoping to catch site of a Diver on the sea. No luck, but as a snow shower started, I noticed 2 Purple Sandpipers with a flock of 17 Turnstones, feeding on the exposed shingle from the ebbing tide.