Horseshoe Point....

Approaching storm,Horseshoe Point

Approaching storm,Horseshoe Point

A visit to this area today and meet up with some of the Grimsby area members of the birdclub,saw us seeing some great birds over the 7 hours i was here.The most impressive sight was the collection of roosting Common,Arctic,Sandwich and Little Terns out on the beach here.They allowed great views,occasionally flushing,but soon settling again and i really enjoyed watching them coming down to bathe in one of the outflows to the sea,with several flocks flying up high and heading south west inland a very interesting piece of behaviour,with the flocks giving much calling as if to keep in touch with each other!.It was particularly nice to see some Little Terns at close range as well,gorgeous little birds!.Other highlights out on the tide edge included 50 Common Scoter and a juvenile Arctic Skua,the skua no doubt attracted by the feeding terns.Also in this area were at least 50 Grey Seals which gave great views and several Episyrphus balteatus watched flying in off the sea,amazing to think a hoverfly migrates!.The biggest surprise,was a queen Median Wasp which i found crawling about on the sand,just showing that this increasing colonist is still arriving here.On the saltmarsh the best birds included a single Wood Sandpiper,with its 'Yip yip' call,Spotted Redshank,6 Greenshank,adult Little Gull(Well done to Chris for picking this out!),several Whimbrel,a young male Peregrine and a single Med Gull feeding on a nearby harvested field with Black-headed Gulls.So all in all a very enjoyable visit,despite getting rained on a few times.