17 November 2011
Yesterday we had our first birding trip since ... We went off to Gibraltar Point for a look around. on the way down there we got collared doves, magpie, wood pigeon, blackbird, rooks, crows, jackdaws, pheasant, kestrel, starling, herring gull, Canada geese, black headed gull and moorhen. What I didn't do before hand was to look at the tide times so when we arrived the tide was well out - and as most people know, when the tide is out at Skegness, it really is OUT! First things first for us is a wobble to the visitor centre so we can use the toilet. A cuppa and slice of short bread biscuit each cost £6.20 - we were not amused! So off back to the car to get the scooter out and off we went.
There didn't seem to be much about at all really. We saw two mallards flying over and our next sighting was of a single red shank and 2 curlew over by the boat yard - and where I realized we'd badly miss timed the visit. Back to the car park where we got a single redwing before we set off around the site properly and off down one path where we set off towards the coast proper. Eventually we saw a small flock of Brent geese - don't ask, not interested in what race they were. Now here's the thing; neither of us can walk very far, that's why we use our scooters. I could hear birds all around but we couldn't see any of them, and I like to see a bird before I claim it; beside which, I'm not very good with bird song ;-))) The scooter make a lot of noise I'm afraid to say so it tends to scar the birds off. We did get a couple of blackbirds though.
At the first hide we came to ... we got loads and loads of teal. OK Teal are male smart little birds but I fail to see why so many folks get so excited about seeing them. Be that as it may, there was a couple of hundred of them in that pool along with a couple of moorhen and shovellers and a shellduck. As we made our around the rest of the site all we got was greater black backed gull, chaffinch, reed bunting, tufted duck, coot, white fronted geese, pochard, pink footed and bean geese. As I said before, not our best days birding but it was still nice to get out into the sea air.
We're hoping to get out again soon, but knowing us, next year is a possibility ;-)))
