Patch Tick Increase

Despite the continuous rain we were joined by Sam, Derek, Ben and Poppy on what was meant to be a whole day birding but ended after we all got soaked two hours later..
The first port of call was Spit Beach which yielded up a Shag for a patch tick.
Around the shoreline were Dunlins, Ringed Plover, Rock Pipit and a lone Sanderling.
We hacked our way along the *fisherman's track* which unfortunately came to a fully overgrown and impassable end.
Derek's scope soon located Oystercatchers, Whimbrel and Sandwich Tern all sheltering in the shadow of the wall and waiting for low tide.

A first summer Mediterranean Gull was in flight around the bay. Another patch tick.

The next location was Porthpean Harbour which yielded up amongst the usual gulls ...Fulmar and Gannets...both patch ticks.

Third and final stop was the Manoa Valley Sewage Works.
The first thing to strike me was the large amount of Swallows, Swifts and Housemartins hawking close to the sewer.....the sky was alive with them.
By the time we had gone a few hundred yards the rain increased to such an extent we had to backtrack and call it a day...but not before we had added Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and the four Tree Creepers doing their best to scarper around the other side of a large tree which surprisingly I was the first to notice.

That ended up a very good two hours with six patch ticks.........Shag, Whimbrel, Fulmar, Gannet, Mediterranean Gull, and Tree Creeper.