January 16, 2005
January 16th - Local patch
I had a quick check of my local area this morning but wasnt confident of finding anything especially with the tide out.
I started at Strandhall and there was nothing in the Gull roost there then I went round to Derbyhaven bay to again try and see if there were any divers or grebes.
As per usual there wasnt but there were about 6 Black Guillemot in the bay now. I then moved back round to scan the intertidal area and found
a Bar-tailed Godwit, always nice to see in the Isle of Man.
I then scoped a different part of the beach and found 2 Golden Plovers. I'm sure last winter we had a flock of 100+ Golden plovers right through the winter but this year apart from a large flock that came through in Oct/Nov I have hardly seen any Golden Plovers. Very strange.
Also a Grey Plover was flushed by a bait digger so I got a nice view of the dark "armpits" as it flew to another roosting position.
The heavens then opened so my quick check turned out to be even quicker and I headed home.
Here is a map of my usual areas I check.
Click for a larger version
(In later entries I will get pics of the actual areas.)
Pete.
http://www.manxbirdphotography.co.uk
Posted by peteh at January 16, 2005 07:47 PM