Wishful thinking.

Most people find February a bit slow for the year list as you have seen most of what is around, but March is much, much worse...until the migrants start to arrive. Needless to say I've not seen any yet and the only tick for the patchwork challenge has been Eider duck. The sky may have been blue but the wind was strong and the search for a Wheatear was fruitless. A couple of Stonechat hopped on and off the fence trying to imitate something different or, more likely, me doing some wishful thinking! A couple of Common Snipe burst out of a wet flush as I passed by.

Certain things are fairly easy to come by but the supporting cast can be a bit thin on the ground at times. Number of species isn't too bad but actual number of birds can be low. This must be one of the few places where the likes of a Coot or Moorhen can cause a stir and Canada Geese are not the park pests that they are further south.

There were plenty of Rock Pipit working through the seaweed. The number of these birds present is a sure sign of spring approaching as they can be difficult to come across in the depths of winter.

A GBB Gull and a few Hooded Crows were plundering some crabs that had been left on the shore. The Hoodies were just flying in...

...picking up a prize and heading off elsewhere to feed.