Perseverance paid off with a brief sighting of a Grey Phalarope at Chesil Cove late morning. In fact there had been five counted earlier this morning, but having dispersed further up the coastline, I thought I was going to be out of luck.
But I stuck it out and eventually after 90mins of searching, one appeared opposite The Cove Inn. It was the briefest of sightings, as it flew up into the air behind a breaking wave and then landed on the crest of the next wave and disappeared out of sight as tried to photograph it. I waited another 30 minutes, but there was no sign of it or any of the others.
Late afternoon and a message on the local birdwatching group was that there were 6 Grey Phalaropes opposite The Cove Inn here.
Mammals Recorded:
1 Sheep - deceased
1 Grey Seal - deceased
Birds Recorded:
1 Grey Phalarope
10+ Black-headed Gull
1 Mediterranean Gull
8 Herring Gull
15+ Great Black-backed Gull
7 Rock Pipit
4 Pied Wagtail
3 Carrion Crow
2 Raven
Mammals Recorded:
1 Sheep - deceased
1 Grey Seal - deceased
Birds Recorded:
1 Grey Phalarope
10+ Black-headed Gull
1 Mediterranean Gull
8 Herring Gull
15+ Great Black-backed Gull
7 Rock Pipit
4 Pied Wagtail
3 Carrion Crow
2 Raven
Sadly not from today, but a photograph I took of a Grey Phalarope at Chesil Cove on 15 Sep 17.
An adult Winter Black-headed Gull
A 1cy Mediterranean Gull
An adult Herring Gull
A 2cy September Great Black-backed Gull.
A bit of a mixture here of different aged Great Black-backed Gulls, plus at least 1st winter Herring Gull I think!
Unsurprisingly, with so many flies on the beach there were at last 7 Rock Pipits in amongst the seaweed.
These two Ravens have a dead Conger Eel on the beach
Fish Recorded:
4 Conger Eels - deceased