Visiting family on the East Coast last Sunday. Took the opportunity to take kids for a walk on the beach. Gulls galore, Lesser BBs in particular, and a noisy flock of around 50 curlews, angrily reacting to being disturbed by a group of hardy (or insane) surfers willing to brave the biting cold and tramping through the tidal sandflats on their way to the sea.
500 yards along the coast, 15 Eiders were looking disdainfully at the 40 or so oystercatchers fussing around them.
As much as I'm a farmboy who thinks the seaside is an alien planet, I can't wait for the next time we go visiting.
I even love magpies
Sounds like a great walk along the beach! I LOVE eider ducks!! By far my favourite duck! I also love the seaside although I live in a landlocked county!!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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Sounds like a brilliant walk. I love the noise of the seaside birds. The surfers were definitely insane.
Cheers, Linda.
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I just love being near the seafront. We are only 6 miles from the coast but where we live is very rural. Sounds as though you had the ideal walk.
The walk was great, and the birding was great. Unfortunately, the three junior maccas decided to take advantage of me being distracted and began climbing sheer cliff walls, just in time for Mrs Johnnymac to appear and witness the poor quality of parenting skills being exhibited. The scolding was lengthy, but sleeping on the couch since then has cured my bad back......
Any other time we've been to the coast (either east or west) its been for day trips for the kids, where the birding opportunities are limited. Now that I've seen for myself whats on offer, I'll be planning more (child- free) trips in the coming months.
Oh Johnny, had a goood laugh at your last reply. Children and serious bird watching do not go together but I am sure they will learn a lot about birds from you. I can also see your wife's point of view though.
Mrs Mac is slowly getting used to the hazards of being out with me- especially driving. "look!! there's a (fill in name of any bird) as the car swerves alarmingly. She is happy to go along with me, as long as there are also plenty of non- birding things we can do as a family. Luckily, she loves thecountryside as much as I do, although I may be pushing my luck with my wildlife garden.
Out of the three mini- maccas, my youngest (a boy) is three, and is focussing on things which are loud, involve running, jumping, throwing things, and examining his own feet. Not traits which are compatible with birding. My younger daughter is 5 and is the more enthusiastic birder, and can't wait until the spring when I can take her to Baron's Haugh RSPB reserve in Motherwell (15 minute drive from chez Macca, and tragically underused by us) Eldest child (and elder daughter) is a very mature 7 and feigns disinterest, while learning a huge amount by information osmosis. I'd love to claim responsiblity for her brains, but the rest of the family would laugh til they cried if I did......
So, hope for the 2 girls, less confident about the boy (unless we design a new birding discipline involving running, shouting, throwing things) On the plus side, with the 2 girls on board, there's less chance of me being out- voted when the annual wildlife garden debate comes up.
We never thought our son was interested untill he got married and bought his first house. We then got a phone call about which bird tables/ feeders/ food, he should buy ! He was also able to tell us what birds were in the garden. So I guess something must have sunk in during the previous years.
I have just caught up with this thread and am really enjoying it. Johnny, you have a way with words which makes for most entertaining reading. I can't wait for your next family outing! Thanks for cheering up a dismal Monday morning.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Hi Squirrel,
Thanks very much for your comments, that was an absolutely lovely thing to say. You should hear me wax lyrical about my parents- in- law, but on second thoughts.........
Thats what I like about this community, everyone is coming from fairly disparate backgrounds, but we have one over-riding thing in common.