Apparently A Good Afternoon!

If you happen to like wet and windy weather, then you've probably been a very happy chappie this week. I hate wet and windy weather, and have been a very unhappy chappie this week, unable to pursue my birding. But it's looking good at the moment this morning and given half a chance....I'm off.

So I picked out at random one of my little black record books to discover quite a decent good afternoons birding I had 15 years ago to the day on 12 December 1999. Apparently it was a day I had decided to check out the birdlife along the promenade at Morecambe including a wander down the Stone Jetty to see a Velvet Scoter. The bird was first picked up flying south towards the jetty soon landing on the sea to give good views to facilitate identification of the bird being a juvenile. Also from here I saw a female Long-tailed Duck, a Red-throated Diver, and 2 Grey Seal making the visit along the jetty a well rewarded one.

Coming off the jetty to what was then called Bubbles Groyne - don't know what it's name is these days if it has one - to find a Purple Sandpiper, and Spotted Redshank there. Further along the promenade from the Town Hall slipway I saw a female Common Scoter to round of the visit nicely....That's what I call 'Apparently A Good Afternoon' at Morecambe.

Continental Crusaders.  

Swallowtail. Marc Heath.

There's an interesting article on the Birdguides website about an influx of exotic continental species into the UK this summer, in which my man from Kent has his excellent image of the Swallowtail butterfly well deservedly published to accompany the article Continental Crusaders  

Common Blue Damselfly. Marc heath. 

Another perfect example of Marc's excellent work is that of the Common Blue Damselfly at sunrise. Thanks for all this Marc, much appreciated.