A Quiet And Murky End To The Year

It wasn't half murky out in the Bay this morning and consequently few birds were recorded by yours truly as he stared through his scope! The wind was a blustery west-southwesterly with intermittent rain showers. A few waders were on the beach staying ahead of the incoming tide and these included 67 Sanderlings, eight Grey Plovers, 209 Oystercatchers, 19 Turnstones and 46 Ringed Plovers.

Passage at sea was limited to just a single male Red-breasted Merganser, two Common Scoters, a Kittiwake, five Teal and 27 Wigeon. Not a diver or an auk in sight! I fed the Turnstones and recorded four leg-flagged birds before calling it a day.

If you haven't already got Mark Avery's excellent book 'Fighting for Birds' I can heartily recommend it. I didn't quite read it in one sitting as Chris Packham says he did in the foreword but it was hard to put down once I started reading it. Mark has a huge passion for birds and their conservation and this comes through clearly in this book. The chapter entitled 'the raptor haters' is truly enthralling, if at times depressing, but the book is also full of humour and above all hope. If Father Christmas didn't bring you a copy, spend some of your Christmas money on it, you won't be disappointed!

 See you all in 2013!