Piltanton Burn - 11.x.23

 Sunny spells and showers, much cooler than recent days, medium north-westerly, low tide 16.56.

On arrival at the beach mid-afternoon, I could see the amount of seaweed heaped on the foreshore had increased since last time and was attracting a variety of song-birds. Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits were not unexpected but a late Wheatear was a pleasant surprise, most of them having already departed for warmer climes. It seemed to associate loosely with the resident pair of Stonechats as they hunted insects along the edge of the dunes, whirring out from the marram to the nearest clumps of wrack. The Greenfinch flock that has been present since mid-August was still in evidence; I counted 26 of them today.

With a dog-walker heading seaward, I went the other way to view the riverine muddy margins where apparently a Spotted Redshank had been seen recently. I failed to locate the spotshank, but was rewarded with a Grey Plover, the first I’ve seen here this autumn. Several Common Redshank were also darting about on their eponymous brightly coloured legs. A trio of Red-breasted Mergansers, including a green-headed male, loafed in the shallows, apparently more interested in bathing than feeding. They were biding their time, I expect, for the tide to turn and bring a run of fish upstream.

By the time I made my way to the other seaward end of the beach, the coast was clear of disturbance thankfully. The tide was almost at its lowest ebb and birds were scattered far and wide. A sizeable flock of Golden Plover took to the air over Luce Sands, heading in my direction. And in their midst was a single goose. I managed to get my scope onto it and was a little surprised to see that it was a Barnacle. No sign of any others, so not sure why it would be alone like that. While the goose dropped back down to the sands at the distant edge of the sea, the plovers continued approaching my position and I expected them to wheel away when they noticed me. But no! They alighted by the nearside of the main tidal creek. Several began to wash while others looked alert with upright necks and vigilant beady black eyes. Interestingly, my rough airborne count had been 220 and now they were stationary I got to 260. I detected no other species of wader among them, until they took off again, when a couple of Dunlin and a Knot were revealed by their size and flight patterns.

To finish the day, I positioned myself where the beach turns a corner and you get a view across the widest area of exposed feeding ground with its covering of weedy stones. A flock of Wigeon were there, numbering 55. Turnstones were also present on one of the narrow reefs, but they were too distant to make a reasonable estimate as they continually appeared and disappeared among the rocks. Far easier to spot were 7 Little Egrets and 5 Grey Herons. Oystercatchers and Curlews were ubiquitous of course, plus several more Redshank. Before I headed home (to appease my growling stomach), I had a final scan out of sea. Instead of the anticipated wheeling Gannets, which are often to be seen there, I spotted a loose raft of sea-duck. A few in flight could be identified by their short-tailed dumpy build and all-dark plumage as Common Scoter. There were at least two hundred.

Oh by the way, in case you were wondering, the Mitsubishi pickup still sits abandoned in the creek like a hippopotamus and is starting to look distinctly rusty. According to local rumour, it was not in fact stolen by teenage joyriders, but driven there by the owner. The police have no responsibility for removing the vehicle as no crime was committed, so I am informed. An insurance company might want to recover it, if it was insured, but otherwise I fear it will remain where it is, slowly leaching its toxic fluids into the sea. In time I suppose it will be colonized by sea-life and become a miniature artificial reef, until it disintegrates completely.