After arriving at Hill Head, I walked over to where my birding friends were and started looking out at the sea.
There were plenty of gulls about, but no sign of the Yellow-legged Gull seen yesterday.
We continued along the path to the harbour, where a large group of Ruddy Turnstones were sleeping.
Another birder mentioned he had seen the Black-throated Diver a few minutes ago, so we had a look out to where he mentioned it. Before long, there it was, a Black-throated Diver, diving a bit of a way out.
A few Ruddy Turnstone were along the shore, allowing for a few photos.
A few Sanderlings were also present.
Sadly, we had to leave as a sibling had a riding lesson soon, so we headed there.
As we were watching the lesson, the Velvet Scoter was reported at the Oysterbeds. I was very surprised as it had been there yesterday, and I was sure it would have moved on by now. After a bit of bargaining, I settled with Mum that we could go there briefly on the way home, in exchange for helping get the house cleaned for the evening(a bargain we were both very happy about!).
As we arrived, a birder said he had seen it earlier, but couldn't find it now. Not a good start.
After making it to the main lagoon, I set up my scope on the bit of land jutting out. There was a good number of Great Crested Grebes, but no sign of the scoter. After a while, I saw a bird out in the water towards Broadmarsh. It was too far out to see properly, so I continued around the path to where it was a lot closer.
A look through the scope all but confirmed it- this was the Velvet Scoter. I was thrilled. A scarce winter visitor to the UK, I had never seen one before, and although this one was distant, it was easily close enough to enjoy the bird, and scope views were good. It was constantly diving and stayed mostly in view until we had to leave.
So, another great day birding, with another lifer, and a year tick.
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