A visit from Doris

Storm Doris has been blowing all day and I wandered down to the Bay to see what she had brought in. There were a lot of Guillemots passing and a few Great Crested Grebes bouncing around, but the most noticeable birds were the Gannets, passing far closer then Normal.Most of the birds I saw were adults, but I don't know if that has significance.

One or two Rock Pipits were feeding along the "esplanade", often using the railing posts for  shelter when the biggest gusts came along.

A few lines of Cormorants came past low over the water

Inland, at the Manure dump from the stables, there were at least seven Pied Wagtails feeding on the insects attracted there. Unfortunately they were the only birds there.

A couple more added to my very short year list.

After the news that a Barn Owl has been seen hunting over the fields I had a look round for a while this afternoon, but with out any luck. A few years ago one was quite regular in the winter, but ranged over quite a large area.

In between looking over various areas I popped down to the bay. It was high tide, and in the evening light a Rock Pipit perched up on the railings and posed for a picture.

The dump where the stables empty the waste is often a good place for Yellowhammers and occasionally Corn Buntings and other small birds. When I took a look the only brids I found feeding amongst the straw were a couple of Pie Wagtails.

Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside

It wasn't an inviting afternoon, but I decided to have a look at St Margaret's Bay around High tide, as there are normally lots of Rock Pipits forced up there, at this time. In addition, the fact that the direct road down to the bay was closed for road works would probably mean there would be fewer people down there.

Not too much of the I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!  - Tiddely-om-pom-pom!

Since the car park was renovated a few years ago it does provide nice muddy pools for wintering Pied Wagtails to pick around looking for morsels to eat.

There were at least two Pied Wagtails using the puddles that were sheltered by the wall of the car park, almost as if it had been designed for them.

The search finally paid of and this Wagtail popped up with a large caterpillar. It took a while beating on the ground, but it did disappear in the end.

After such a large meal the Wagtail settled to an afternoon dose, although I suspect it would be looking for more quite quickly.

 The thoughtfully constructed fresh water lake in the car park (providing we get enough rain) was in full use by some Black-headed Gulls.

All of those present today were winter plumaged adults and disappointingly they were not joined by any more interesting Gulls.

 The Rock Pipits were active along the shingle and the walls. This particular bird spent along time on its haunches keeping out of the strong wind.

This, a second bird seemed happy running along the  wall, unperturbed by the conditions.

There were quite a few Herring Gulls around, some occasionally making use of the damp grass to look for food.

The Bay was a filled with  white foam as the waves came in and broke over the wall. After yesterdays tragedy in Kingsdown I was pleased that no one was on the beach taking risks.

The wind, spray and drizzle made a proper sea watch impossible, but I could sea a good number of Fulmars and Kittiwakes over the waves and the occasional Cormorant passing by.