I couldn’t resist the tide and weather today so took an hour out of unseasonal mowing and leaf collecting to park up and watch in Hest Bank. Pretty much nothing roosting owing to the height but a few bits and bobs. M & F eider flew towards central Morecambe, 3 goldfinch failed to settle (there is a big crowd of these locally at other times, over 40), a rock pipit scuttling over the few exposed jetty stones for 5 minutes before going south. The only other birds were gulls and crows but one particular gull drew attention to itself. Slightly smaller than a black headed gull, immature/ 1st winter plumage, a rounder more compact body and more of a graceful tern like flight. It had a dark band on the tail and and dark zig zag over the upper wings but pale whitish underwings. Dark red feet but a fine thin pointy black bill smaller than a BH Gull. Little gull 1st winter possibly?
As the tide started dropping and nothing was happening I started the car to leave just as a grey seal stuck its head out of the water well inside the breakwater perhaps 20 yards from the car. It made 4 more appearances and must have swum back the the Kent channel on the falling tide. That’s a first Lancs seal for me. Happy days.
