Thursday 11th December 2008

Another trip to Sidmouth

This morning, after visiting our local garden centre for a cake and a coffee, we decided to go over to Sidmouth again. We parked outside Connaught Gardens and wandered in and viewed over the sea and rocks below the cliff. Cormorants and Shags were seen on the sea, but I could not find any divers. Closer inspection of Chit Rocks below showed there to be several Oystercatchers and Turnstones feeding on them, as the tide lapped the sides and was gradually beginning to cover them. In amongst these birds were a couple of Purple Sandpipers, always difficult to pick out as they merge beautifully with the seaweed-covered rocks they stand on! Scanning over them I realised there were a couple more sandpipers which seemed to appear out of the seaweed! And another............and yet another................gosh, there's another one. In the end I found that there were 8 of them, all blending in nicely with their surroundings! Today the weather was calm and the sea was flat calm, therefore making them a bit easier to spot, but this species always seem to defy the seas whatever the weather, seeming to be able to pick the exact piece of rock which is NOT going to be inundated by a large wave. They stick to their rock, limpet-like, in the face of waves which seem to threaten to wash them away! I never tire of watching them. Later we looked for Black Redstarts on the large thatched houses that we usually find them on, but worryingly, we could not find any again. A look round the shops was followed by a snack in one of the local cafes. Then we ambled back up to the car mid afternoon, but didn't see anything else of interest birdwise.