Peachy beach

Friday was so peachy that it could've only been peachier with the addition of raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. The weather was easily the most pleasant of the year so far, with blue skies and warm sunshine. In fact, it was so Spring-like, that I cleared my diary and offski'd to the beach at Churchill Barrier 4.

The footpaths through the dunes were liberally edged with Dandelions and Coltsfoot, with plenty of bumblebees making the most of the pollen and nectar bonanza. This is likely a Common Carder.

Nearer the tide line, a colourful fragment of urchin shell and a pearlescent periwinkle (?) caught my eye.

Further up the beach, there were several species of bird foraging for insects, including this Pied Wagtail and Wheatear, but much excitement ensued when a Little Tern flew by.

This tiny sea urchin shell is only about an inch across, it's pastel green colour making it stand out against the shell sand.

Towards the South Ronaldsay end of the beach were about half a dozen Sandwich Terns, but they were quite flighty, so I left them to their own devices and tried to work out the identity of a small white wader which was foraging in some rock pools.

In the end, it was decided that it was a Sanderling, still in its Winter plumage, so it obviously hadn't got the memo.

On the return journey to the car park, there were lovely views of a Ringed Plover and a male Linnet.

Lunch was a clifftop picnic on Hoxa Head, where my bird species tally for 2021 increased further (the terns and Sanderling were 95, 96 and 97 respectively), with the addition of Puffin and Whimbrel. Which rather set up my next trip quite nicely... what would be my hundredth species for the year?