A Testing Day.....23.11.2013.

A joint decision between Chris and myself to firstly visit the NNR at Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe and then finish the day watching the gulls etc. at Covenham resulted in a tough days birding.The forecast had stated cloudy,but dry for the day and it pretty much drizzled occasionally right from the off and a persistent spell of drizzle gave us a proper soaking while walking back to the car park at Rimac....thanks BBC!.But enough whingeing about the weather now for the proper stuff.The drive to the coast got us a couple of notable sightings in the form of a single Barn Owl between Tetney and North Cotes and a flyover Woodcock as we drove through North Somercotes another Barnie being seen later in the day near to Covenham Res.On arriving at Rimac we made the decision to walk through the dunes to Churchill road and then south along the beach to the Brickyard lane area and then back north along the tide edge and back to Rimac car park,pretty much covering most of the NNR.The walk through the dunes provided little in the way of surprises,with small numbers of Blackbirds,1 Great-spotted Woodpecker,35 Chaffinch,1 Goldcrest a single Common Buzzard and a Chiffie calling which we never managed to see.As we walked out onto the beach at Churchill,we were greeted by the usual gathering of Corvids which inhabit this area in winter,but a thorough search revealed no Hooded Crow's.As we walked south a nice flock of 64 Twite were encountered and showed very nicely,a good look through them revealed no colour ringed birds.The only other highlight here being a single Lapland Bunting flying south overhead.We walked the relatively short distance to the tide edge and enjoyed a brief spell of sunshine and i tried my best to get some images of the hyper active Sanderling present.A few bits were seen over the sea and included several Red-throated Diver,a handfull of Common Scoter and Gannets and 5 Great-crested Grebe,but we didn't really give it much effort to be fair.A walk back towards land and through the developing foreshore revealed no Buntings surprisingly.Not one Lapland Bunting,this site used to be guaranteed for them once upon a time,all we managed was at least 10 Rock Pipits and a single Pintail for our troubles and then the rain set in.We finally made it back to the car,a little sodden to say the least,but at least the new Neoprene wellies had,had a good field test and passed with flying colours.We then drove over to Covenham and got wrapped up again and made our way around the res.The first good birds i came across were a couple of Common Scoter,1 an adult female with a bright white face patch,the other a juv. type with a much duskier face patch.We watched them as they dived for food,with that distinct diving action and their spiky tails showing on every dive.The impressive sight of 142 Cormorant flying around the res caught our eyes and made us think that their must some fish population in there.The sound of mobbing Corvids,saw us watching 2 Common Buzzards getting some unwanted attention from a flock of Rooks,with a further 2 being seen hunting patiently from their perches on the adjacent fields.Back to the res and several scans revealed no Red-necked Grebe nor Long-tailed Duck today,but some decent counts of wildfowl were logged and included 50 Great-crested Grebe,30 Goldeneye,176 Tufted Duck,8 Little Grebe,18 Redshank and 6 Dunlin.As time was wearing on the gulls began to arrive and as we scanned through them a Drake Goosander had appeared on the bank side,no doubt moving from the nearby Louth Canal.Much scanning of the gulls saw another Med Gull being logged,a nice adult and an unusual Common Gull with all white primaries on one wing and 3 adult Lesser black backed Gull's joined the masses of Common Gulls.A couple of Roe Deer on the adjoining fields was the only non-avian highlight here.As we journeyed home,we reflected on what a tough day it had been,finding little at a place where we expected to see some good birds,but such is birding and it's not always predictable.Thanks again to Chris for driving.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

1st calendar year Gannet,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.