I had a couple of hours Sunday morning seawatching on the incoming tide in quite sunny conditions. Birds noted included 21 Brent Geese, 4 Common Scoter, 1 Red breasted Merganser west, 1 Lapwing west at sea, 1 Curlew, 6 Redshank, 2 Turnstone, 82 Black headed Gull, 7 Common Gull, c50 Herring Gull, 5 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 3 Great crested Grebe, 38 Red throated Diver mainly east, 27 Gannet, c583 Cormorant, 1 Magpie, 19 Carrion Crow, 1 Blackbird, 2 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Rock Pipit and 1 Goldfinch. I had one 'Nocmig' session during the week where the only birds recorded were a flock of Brent Geese offshore during the night. Seeing last weeks Puffin here has really got me thinking about whether I should seriously bird this patch next year. To get a bird like that was the stuff of dreams for me but I suspect, If I birded here year after year, I would have seen a few by now. It's got me thinking about 'What do I want from my birding nowadays?' For the past eight years, I have birded Nethergong where being located between Grove Ferry and Reculver, I have seen just over 150 species. I have found a few good birds and I rarely encounter anyone else. Is it the peace and tranquillity that I desire over the birding or a mixture of the two. It's easy for me as I have got older to realise that I don't like lots of people about and Nethergong has delivered this. I have come to realise that I really do like a seawatch and the unexpected bonuses that can turn up on the coast at any points of the year. Furthermore, the list of waders on the coast and the passerines that can be seen migrating can be impressive too...but I'm struggling to deal with all the people that also use this area for their hobbies. Just like me, they have the right to enjoy themselves and maybe I just need to accept this and bird around them and enjoy my hobby. The people I have met have been very polite and have shown an interest in what I have seen...but that involves talking, but I also need to bare in mind that just maybe the locals could also benefit me using this area if they were to find something unusual and pass the news on to me. Although the area is quite small but ideally situated, it no doubt has a good range of common, scarce and the odd rare bird throughout the year, and with hardly anyone birding the area that regularly, it really does appeal to me. My current mindset is that it would be a good idea to give it a go and see what can be seen and whether 100 species is easily achievable and if so, how many can be seen in a year. I'm normally out quite early so hopefully I won't be bumping into the hoards that can walking the site on a daily basis. I like the fact that I have permission to record (nocmig) on the coast thanks to a local who I have never met and am intrigued what birds could be recorded right on the coast. I look at other sites that locals bird on the coast (Reculver, Swalecliffe etc) that have plenty of daily visitors and what they turn up so the more and more I contemplate what to do, I am encouraged by what the coast can be like. Perhaps I should just think about the birds and not pay attention to the other distractions which are in my head. So what do I want? I simply want to enjoy the hobby which I have done for c40 years and for the shear number of bird species and different experiences, the coast could be the answer. No doubt in the next few weeks, I will continue the deliberation in my head as to what to do. Should I bird both patches maybe and just use the coast for seawatching? Lots to think about and do my own head in!
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