Sunday, 2 May 2010

Purple, black and red!

I took Jack Donovan, his sister Kath and brother in law Ian, out onto the outer breakwater yesterday afternoon. Ian and Kath live in that birding wilderness Norfolk (where breeding tysties are ubnheard of). On the blocks two Purple sand's were extremely confiding and a distant Black Guillimot was feeding in the area beneath the cliffs on the Eastern side of the harbour mouth. What struck me was the length of time it was spending underwater. We watched for perhaps half an hour untill Kath and Ian had managed to get it in the scope for a decent view, between its brief surfacings and prolonged dives. A partially moulted Red Throated Diver passed into the harbour settling down not far from the Stena ramp, maybe the bird I heard on Friday?...