Halcyon

Something large has been driven under the cliffs at Easton Bavents.

Plenty of Black Headed Gulls feeding on the lagoon. The North Road pheasant crossing the road.

Early morning sun shining off the sides of the beach huts.

The song thrush has returned from holiday and was singing well this morning. Several skylarks at Easton Bavents but difficult to photograph.  The old barn looks good for swallows in the summer. Shoveler and teal on the lagoon.

A pair of blackbirds having a real ding dong before dawn this morning. The great escape Remnants of the war ministry building Skylarks at Easton Bavents.

The first shovelers I have seen this year. The war ministry building at Easton Bavents has been demolished.

A marsh harrier was hunting over reed beds, it’s a few weeks since I have seen it.  The purple sandpiper was back on the sea wall.

A good sunny morning and the Easton Bavents bushes were alive with chaffinches, tree sparrows, yellowhammers and reed buntings. Despite being an hour and a half off high tide, the sea was up to the base of the cliffs.

Very heavy rain and high winds stopped play this morning.  This blackbird perched obligingly yesterday afternoon.  The yellow beak shows that it is a native rather than a migrant from the continent.

The yellowhammers were still in the bushes, the long lens did not prove very successful.  For the focal length a shutter speed of 1/800 s should be used.  With the poor light all I could manage was 1/100 s.  Reed buntings and chaffinches were with them and seven curlew flew overhead.

In some bushes at Easton Bavents, there was a treasure trove of birds this morning, tree sparrows, siskin, reed buntings, chaffinch and yellowhammer.  This is the first time we have spotted it here and it is now added to the bird project list. Click here to access .  Unfortunately I did not have the long lens as the light was very poor but you can see the ‘yellow blob’

The morning started very misty and the weather forecast was for heavy cloud. Mist was pouring off the cliff, it reminded me of watching something similar off Table Mountain Later in the morning it was looking Mediterranean

A rare glimpse of the sun. Very slight wind, the pond was like a mirror

A bitterly cold wind straight off the sea, yesterday was sunny but this morning grey and cold and a lot of foam still on the beach. Yesterday. This morning

Sky larks and meadow pipits in the fields at Easton Bavents and six redwing near the sheep paddock. Sunrise over the old observer post. The strong north easterly had sculpted the sand. Derelict war buildings at Easton Bavents

So far this year there have been very few geese in the fields and no shovelers at the lagoon.  Flocks of long tailed tits have passed through the garden.  A slight ground frost this morning.