UK Birding (Lincolnshire)

Oct 2017 Mablethorpe Lincolnshire

There was family business to take care of on the other side of the UK, a gruelling six hour drive and a two-hundred mile road trip. To make matters worse there just isn't a direct route. One could follow the old Roman roads The Fosse Way or cross every major motorway and secondary that connects the south to the north of the UK. We compromised and used some of the motorway system and eventually arrived in the pitch dark and dog tired. Next morning I promised myself a trip to the seaside to clear the mind.

 Mablethorpe isn't exactly a birding mecca but close enough to some birding hotspots that there is always the possibility of something special turning up. I pulled up on to foreshore, made sure Dad had his paper, a Kit-Kat and hot cup of tea and made for the sand dunes and the crashing waves. He had a great view of the sea and was warm as toast from the sun. We could see each other in case there was some emergency. I had an hour, perhaps ninety minutes to see what I could turn up.

A great expanse of sand stretches for miles along the east coast.

 The very first birds I saw were a flock of Goldfinches feeding in the shrubs that hug the beach. They didn't stay long due to the ferocious winds coming off the flats. An arctic tern was hunting along the water's edge, barely able to keep a straight line.

Goldfinch
Nikon D500 

I headed for the shoreline. Soon the fine sand turned to sticky mud, I had the wrong footwear. I knew I would be in trouble if I ventured too far so I used my Nikon P900 24mm-2000mm zoom camera to photograph an Oystercatcher feeding alongside the crashing waves. At about 80x power the camera does a fine job of documenting far away subjects although it doesn't in anyway replace a top quality scope

Oystercatcher P900

The beach was littered with Razor Shells.

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Razor Shell

A flock of Sanderling flew in and I able to get a little closer without getting stuck in the mud but no sooner had the birds gained my trust a dog walker and his unleashed mutt flushed the entire flock.

Sanderling
 Nikon D500

Soon my hour was over and time to take dad to see his new bungalow, it's not far from Gibraltar Point 

a super birding location that on the right day turn up some really good birds, rarities and the odd mega. I guess that means Dad will be having regular visitors during the spring and fall migration. 

Here are some pix from my a previous visit to cross-country-bird-trip-to-gibraltar.html

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale 

BC Canada