Bonxies, Terns and Divers off Hornsea Beach

 A dull day was made immeasurably brighter with the sighting of a few, sometimes distant, birds. It's amazing what small things can do to lift your spirits 😂😂

Please note that although all the photos shown here were taken in full colour, you'll be struggling to see much colour. The birds seen were mainly black and white so that didn't help for a start!

Enough preamble, here are the images from this morning's walk along Hornsea sea front. I watched for ages as Bonxies chased terns in order to steal the fish they had caught, but failed to get any acceptable photos:

Guillemot

A Bonxie (Great Skua) looking for something to mug

As above

Bonxie going south

One of several Pied Wags on the beach

Red Throated Diver

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns and Common Terns on the beach

I could have seen even more birds had I undertaken a bit of sea watching, but I really do find it very difficult on two fronts, firstly I have to be stationary for long periods of time (very difficult for me) secondly the things I see are mostly difficult to identify - my bird id skills just aren't up to the job.

Having exhausted my sea watching patience I headed inland to the Mere, this time with my scope, intending to see a few ducks, ideally Pochard and Shoveler. Having got to the Mere and set up my scope on KP (Kirkholme Point) I was getting blown about by the strong southerly wind and was disappointed to see very few ducks indeed. A few tufteds, a few mallards, the usual mute swans but nothing else! Hang on, what's that...

Black-necked Grebe

 

I saw the BNG yesterday but only from a distance, today's view was much better. I took some video but the quality isn't particularly good, the bird actually shakes its leg in this short clip 😂