29 Mar 2020

29 Mar 20 - More Seawatching From #BWKM0

After the thirty minutes of seawatching from the House on the previous day, I decided that I might as well give the seawatching another go. There were still several potential House Year & Lockdown Ticks available. I'm writing these Blog Posts two days later than the actual day & therefore, I would be back to another five days in front of the laptop working after the Sunday. So, there would be no opportunity to enjoy (or endure?) another seawatch till the following weekend. The problem is the morning light is generally poor until late morning. So later in the Spring when there is the realistic chance of a House Tick, I can't look at the optimum passage hours as I've got bad glare & lighting from the sun. But the light improves by late morning & was looking good, so I had no excuses to not try another thirty minute seawatch. There was even a decent wind & plenty of white horses on the sea. However, the wind was still NE & hence offshore. As a result there was nothing moving on the sea. But I did manage to see one or two Great Black-backed Gulls that had eluded me the previous day. Small wins for the House Year & Lockdown lists.
Great Black-backed Gull: Even less interesting than the previous day's Cormorant for the House Lockdown List. One of the well-known & original world listers told me many years ago: they all count as one. Not a sentiment I subscribe to as proven by the fact that a few minutes after taking this photo, I was leaving Old Harry to look for Dorset's first & the UK's third Short-toed Eagle, a few miles away at Morden Bog. I failed to connect that lunchtime, but a return visit in the afternoon was successful. It was a lot more interesting than the Great Black-backed Gull (31 May 14)
Note, some Birders are including what they see or heard on their daily self-isolation walks. I will be restricting my Lockdown list since the start of self-isolation to what I can see or hear from the house & garden.
The list is currently on 37 species, including Green Woodpecker heard

Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at when I will be confined at #BWKM0.