Lyme Regis Birding - or an even quieter Backwater (1 Viewer)

[Roger Boswell]

Yesterday a very close encounter with a Cormorant on the Cobb. Lots of visitors now have a close up image of it!

A single Wheatear on the rock armour.


Today - plenty of Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails on the seaweed on Monmouth beach. A Ringed Plover was also there. Further along the beach 5+ Wheatears.

2 Mute Swans flying West along the coast.

A Curlew among the Gulls - BH, GBB and Herring on the ledges below Church Cliffs.

A juvenile Grey Wagtail on the Lim.

 

[Roger Boswell]

Lots of House Martins flying round the Cobb area - as well as plenty of Rock Pipits and a few Pied Wagtails.

1 Sanderling, 3 Ringed Plovers and 5 Turnstones on Monmouth beach - another Turnstone on the rock armour.

Dozens of BH Gulls in the sea off Monmouth beach.

Dipper on the Lim, just above Higher Mill flats.


Monday: A walk from Abbotsbury to the Hill fort saw many Wheatears on the rock outcrops. Continuing down to E Bexington lots of Yellow Wagtails under the cattle in the fields.

 

[James Lowther]

hi roger,
your cormorant from the other day is actually a shag!
cheers,
James

 

[Roger Boswell]

hi roger,
your cormorant from the other day is actually a shag!
cheers,
James

Thanks James - one day I will be able to tell them apart - hopefully!

 

[Roger Boswell]

Not many birds visit Lyme, but when they do it is a pleasure watching them. You are not 50 yards from them, often they are as little as 10ft away. Today was one of those mornings.

It was bright and sunny on Monmouth beach this morning with an incomming tide - and quite heavy waves breaking onto the shore. There were 2 Sanderlings, 3 Ringed Plovers and 5 Turnstones feeding on the waters edge. I was able to sit on the beach and wait for the waves to usher the birds towards me! Without any dog walkers I was able to spend nearly an hour almost within touching distance of the birds - magical. As the waves started to reach the seaweed the beach was turned into a living feast - thousands of sand hoppers advancing over the stones.

The 2 Sanderlings and 3 Ringed Plovers were still in the same location mid-afternoon.

 

[Roger Boswell]

Not such a nice day - quite dull and breezy, but there were 3 Sanderlings, 3 Ringed Plovers, at least 3 Turnstones and a Knot on Monmouth beach this morning. All birds were much less active than yesterday and when I sat down to watch them the Sanderlings decided to take 40 winks - just 10ft from me.

I later found that all the birds had joined 3 WagPied tails in an area no bigger than a car parking space just below the Cobb.


Single Grey Wagtail on the Lim.

 

[Roger Boswell]

Quite a dull start to the day but it cleared to bright, sunny and warm PM.

On Monmouth beach this morning were
1 Turnstone
1 Knot
2 Wheatears
7 Ringed Plovers with plenty of Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits.
2 Little Egrets were flying W along the coast.

The Dipper was on a rock beside Higher Mill Flats.

 

[scary-canary]

Not such a nice day - quite dull and breezy, but there were 3 Sanderlings, 3 Ringed Plovers, at least 3 Turnstones and a Knot on Monmouth beach this morning. All birds were much less active than yesterday and when I sat down to watch them the Sanderlings decided to take 40 winks - just 10ft from me.

I later found that all the birds had joined 3 WagPied tails in an area no bigger than a car parking space just below the Cobb.


Single Grey Wagtail on the Lim.

Great wader portraits Roger!
Chris

 

[Roger Boswell]

Hi Chris,
Best day was last Sunday - it was bright and sunny so faster shutter speeds etc... Also people were fishing off Monmouth beach and the Knot, Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings were confined between them - and I was able to sit 15ft from the sea and watch them feed up and down in front of me. I will load images into my gallery - but you can also find them with this link
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sre...8369&authkey=Gv1sRgCLTn7Nycl77avwE&feat=email


Quite dull this morning - now 9 Ringed Plovers on Monmouth beach and 2 Turnstones. It looks as if the Sanderlings and Knot have gone to Ferrybridge!!!

 

[scary-canary]

They must have been walking around your feet. What a treat.

 

[Roger Boswell]

Air filled with House Martins as I walked down to Lyme this morning.

Very windy on the Cobb - and still 36 hrs before the gales are due! Good weather for the Phantom Class National championships.

Monmouth beach now has dense ridges of seaweed almost all along it. Only birds to be seen today were Pied Wagtails, Rock Pipits and a few BH Gulls - all others blown towards Portland.....

 

[Roger Boswell]

40+ Sandwich Terns just E of Lyme on the breakwaters.

2 Ringed Plovers on the rock armour at the Cobb.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Appears to be a report of a Short-toed Eagle over Lyme Regis today, per BF rare bird forum:eek!:

 

[Roger Boswell]

Missed it ....

Should have been sunbathing on the beach rather than weeding in the garden!

 

[Roger Boswell]

Dismal morning, turning wet at mid-day.

Grey Wagtail on the Lim.

A late Wheatear on the Cobb/Monmouth beach together with a lot of Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits. Plenty of BH Gulls just off Monmouth beach.

 

[scary-canary]

Dismal morning, turning wet at mid-day.

Grey Wagtail on the Lim.

A late Wheatear on the Cobb/Monmouth beach together with a lot of Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits. Plenty of BH Gulls just off Monmouth beach.

Got a bit excited that your late wheatear might be something rare, but I think you're right, it's just Northern.
Chris

 

[Roger Boswell]

David Cox reported seeing 2 Purple Sandpipers on the rock armour on 5th Nov - I still haven't seen any.

Yesterday a very large flock of Crows flew over Lyme (about 8:40) they stretched from the town up to Timber Hill. My camera was in my rucksack so I missed this unusual sighting - I'm not much good at estimating numbers but must have been between 2-300.

Did have my camera out for the Common Sandpiper on the shore below the museum.


TODAY Plenty of Pied Wagtails on the Cobb and several Meadow Pipits among the more numerous Rock Pipits.

A Heron fishing on the ledges below Church Cliffs.

A Mediterranean Gull on the rocks further east.

Dipper in the darkest part of the Lim just above Higher Mill Flats.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Have you got any more pics of that wheatear Roger? That pic makes it look interestingly dark and with a really indistinct supercilium to me. Hard to tell though from just that shot.

 

[Roger Boswell]

Have you got any more pics of that wheatear Roger? That pic makes it look interestingly dark and with a really indistinct supercilium to me. Hard to tell though from just that shot.

Sorry - it was a miserable and dark morning so had to up the sensitivity on my SX20 - and it was quite a distance away. It then flew off and I decided not to follow!

 

[Roger Boswell]

At last! 3 Purple Sandpipers briefly exposed themselves this morning before disappearing back into the crevices in the rock armour.

Heron again fishing on the ledges with an Oystercatcher for company. The Mediterranean Gull still in the rock pools just east of Lyme