We shall scoop them on the beaches...we shall scoop them in the fields...we shall never surrender... Mark and I stormed off to St Annes Beach this afternoon in search of a reported Desert Wheatear. On our way back from a family trip to London, we stayed over at our friends' house in Leicester. Amanda and Pete are always great hosts and they know I can't stay in Leicester without visiting Bradgate Park, a brilliant place for wildlife. Fair enough, I always do this, but why not? Bradgate park is a wildlife paradise... Lynne and I had never even heard of Cozumel until we began our summer holiday research in June. This tiny, underdeveloped Caribbean island off the coast of Mexico with its coral reefs and endemic wildlife certainly lived up to expectations. The all-inclusive "El Cozumelino Hotel" at the north of the island gave us everything we needed for our two week stay: free flowing beer, food and wildlife. What more do you need? I walked along this beach from our hotel every day during our two-week stay. After 5 minutes walking, I would enter the water and snorkel back to the hotel, taking photos amongst the coral. A gentle sea current brings you back, so you don't even have to swim: just float. As well as awesome snorkelling, this hotel sits directly opposite Cozumel Golf Course: brilliant for early morning birding. Be sure to "look for the manager" between the hours of 6am and 8am, when nobody is around but birds are plentiful. There's no shortage of reptiles on Cozumel, here are just a few I bumped into... The highlight of the trip, however, had to be the Whale Sharks. At this time of year, hundreds of these sharks gather just off the Mexican coastline. Many companies offer day trips to see these massive beasts up close and personal. The following images are stills from movies I made during our encounter... Boat trips are good for spotting other wildlife too... All in all, a pleasant two weeks. Would I go again? No need to really (although I still need to see a Cozumel Vireo and a Cozumel Thrasher, the latter is presumed extinct). We covered most of the island in our two-week stay and saw a lot of wildlife, some of which I wasn't really expecting. This blog includes just a small fraction of the total number of species photographed, more will appear on the main pages soon.
One week after voting to leave, one of my ducks has decided to return to our back garden. Don't they understand? Out is out! I suppose birds have more freedom than human beings and they certainly have no regard for borders, physical or political. A lesson for us all?
Is there life in Leyland? Scientists have been asking this question for centuries. Today though, Ben and I found some answers in a pond behind the medical centre on West Paddock. The natives call this place “Stannings Pool” and it is rumoured to contain intelligent life-forms: Bream, Rudd, Tench and Carp are just some of the fish species that have been reported from this location.
Today, Ben and I chose to explore this hostile environment for ourselves. Surrounded on all sides by weed-smoking, foul-mouthed youths, we dangled our lines into the filthy murk in the hope that we might discover intelligent life without getting our stuff nicked... Devon was amazing this year, probably the best weather we have ever had down there: no rain whatsoever during the day and temperatures typically notched the early 20s. Warmth and sunshine usually entice Mackerel up the River Dart, but not so this year for some unfathomable reason. A more unlikely species of fish decided to play ball: Thin-lipped Mullet, a notoriously difficult species to catch. On this glorious day in Stoke Gabriel I caught 3 of these hard-fighting beasts from the weir opposite the café. I'll probably never catch one again... It was Ben's 9th birthday on Saturday, so we've been busy. Relaxation finally came at 16.00 this afternoon when I decided to go fishing for the first time this year. For some strange reason I felt drawn towards a place that I haven't visited in over 30 years: The canal at Spark Lane, Rufford. I remember Hoggy's dad Martin bringing me and Hoggy fishing here once in the early 1980s. Today I was after a winner...
Conditions on Saturday were perfect for a walk with my kids and friend Daniel up England's highest peak: Scafell Pike. The kids stormed ahead whilst muggins here carried all their gear in a rucksack. Scant wildlife offerings included a raven, a buzzard, wheatears, meadow pipits and skylarks. I couldn't be bothered photographing those, but here's one shot of the rambling rabble...
Eddie rang tonight claiming 6 Black Terns were at Preston Docks. Seeing was believing, so we sped down there for a look. Sure enough, he was completely wrong. There were in fact 14 black terns, but I'll let him off. The weather forecast reckoned Saturday would be the driest day of the bank holiday weekend, so Mark and I headed for Burton Mere, a safe bet for a decent day out. Favourable tide times also offered an opportunity to visit Hilbre Island, off the coast of West Kirkby, reachable by foot at low tide... The morning rain was unexpected and making for poor photography. Although we saw several Spotted Redshank and a pair of distant Whinchat, we decided to postpone Burton Mere and head for West Kirkby instead, our ultimate destination: Hilbre Island. After parking the car we began the 2 mile trudge across the sand to Hilbre: two tiny islands surrounded by rock-pools and plenty of wildlife too... Hilbre was a stunning place which deserves more time. Next time, I plan to get stranded there at high tide. Tired from all the walking, Mark and I headed back to Burton Mere for a leisurely stroll around the place. The sun was out and so were the birds... What made this PM visit to Burton Mere special was a combination of perfect sunlight, good air clarity and lack of leaf-cover. Many small birds were out singing and feeding, all out in the open and at close range...
|
AuthorTony Wilson. Archives
May 2019
Categories |