Rough with the smooth

Staring back from the fenceline, the Black Redstart swished its orange tail at me through the window, as if secure in the knowledge that my camera was locked in the boot of my car, just metres from the bird, but a world away from me.

Flashy flibbertygibbet.

Frustratingly the Black Red – the first I’ve seen around the office for a few years – bounded out of sight into the dunes before I could get to my wheels this morning.

They used to be pretty much annual at Ainsdale Discovery Centre, so I hope this one lingers and reappears again.

Seemed to be a bit of movement this morning in the calm conditions – a few new Robins were around the office, parties of Redwing, Skylarks and Mipits passed through and more Reed Bunts were back to winter alongside the resident Stonechats.

Sprawk and Kestrel cruised the frontals looking for an easy meal.

With no further sign of the Black Red I went to have a look at the high tide over lunch – it was flat calm, and thousands of Common Scoters were dozing offshore at mid-range, probably exhausted after the beating they got in Storm Debi (pic above), when an ill-advised ‘scoping resulted in just small numbers of scoter, single RB Mergs and Red Throated Divers on Monday.

It also resulted in sand being blasted into places it had no right to be in by the 60mph SWly.

Couldn’t be more different today, when about 8,000 Common Scoters were snoozing offshore, strung out all the way down to Freshfield and up towards Birkdale, with 6 Red Breasted Mergs, 8 Great Crested Grebes and 5 Red Throated Divers showing in a 45 minute seawatch.

Perhaps 2,000 gulls roosting in the shallows and feeding on the beach on shellfish washed up by the recent high winds.