According to the weather app on my phone, there was due to be a strong onshore wind & rain yesterday. I decided to visit Hope's Nose in Torquay as I've only been there once before, on 3/3/02. All I can remember about that visit is that I went there with Mary and that she spent the entire visit lying on the grass due to a dodgy back!
When I arrived just before 10, it was lashing down and visibility was pretty bad, although it wasn't too windy.
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| View of Hope's Nose from the van when I arrived |
By the time I'd walked down to the end of the footpath, which was more like a stream, the rain had virtually stopped & the visibility quickly improved. There were 4 Great Northern Divers in the cove just West of the point, 2 of them were close in giving me an excellent view. There was also one Black-throated Diver, although that was a bit further out. There were plenty of Fulmars, Kittiwakes, and Gannets flying about, along with quite a few Common Scoter, Shags & Guillemots on the sea. I only saw one Razorbill on the water although quite a few auks flew past, which I think were probably Razorbills too. A trawler heading towards Brixham was trailed by a mass of swirling gulls & Gannets, quite a spectacle. There were no other birders, but a fisherman turned up and pointed where a Peregrine normally sits, and sure enough, when I checked, there was one exactly where he said. My favourite for the day though was a seal in the bay, which I happened upon in the scope whilst it was quite close & looking straight towards me. Lovely! I guess it was probably a Grey Seal as they are apparently the most common in the SW.
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| The bay with the Great Northern Divers & seal |
I stayed until just after 12, and although I hadn't found any new birds for the year, I had thoroughly enjoyed my morning.
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| Improved view from the van when I left |
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