27/11/11

So today I was volunteering at Tophill, like most Sundays. And unlike most Sundays I actually felt like I did some work. In terms of new birds, the only lifer of the day was the Merlin, and that was too distant to say much about. However after acquiring my scope (which for those interested, remains in my possession, thanks to whoever suggested leaving the box in my parents room as a decoy!), I feel my gull id'ing skills have definitely improved over the past few months, although I saw nothing of particular note today. Other birds on the D-res were some Goldeneye, and I got great views of the Males, along with Shovellers and Wigeon. There was also a good goose presence, and again I got to see some Y-fronts.
      But Tophill wasn't the only excursion of the week. Yesterday I spent my day in Filey with Hull Uni Zoological Society, for my second Shoresearch for the YWT. This time was much better than the first, as we had a guide from the YWT go along with us, and I'd had much more practice using the Quadrats. Unfortunately we were only surveying Limpets with the Quadrats so my newly acquired knowledge of Latin names of Algae was not useful, but I still made a mental list for personal purposes! We saw plenty of Starfish, Anenomes (both Beadlet, and Dahlia, the latter having much more interesting colouration). As well as this, four species of crab, although the Harbour crab was dead, but still interesting to see, as it was a first for me. This wasn't the only first for the trip either, I got a new lifer; Purple Sandpiper, of which there were quite a lot. As well as this other birds were Oystercatcher, Turnstone, and a lone Curlew, along with Black Headed, GBB, and Herring Gulls. Getting to Filey turned out slightly problematic, and we ended up on the 'Shoreline Suncruiser', which was hilariously ironic due to the cold weather, and my chips got blown away, but apart from that a really great day, and Weekend!


Unfortunately no snaps from Tophill today (I was too busy working hard!), but here are the ones which are decent enough from Filey, and a short video of a Hermit Crab!

Dog Whelks and their Eggs

Red Common Periwinkle (Littornia littorea)

Starfish

Barnacles

Hermit Crab