counting coots

I had the (mis)fortune of having to go to Cardiff yesterday for work, and had hoped to spend my lunch hour staring at the sea. Unfortunately the job went a bit tits up, and all I had time for was some chips at Cardiff bay, and guess what? My lunch break consisted of pretty much what I would have done had I been in London anyway, watching the local gulls! Of course the Black-heads where the dominant species, but the LBB were much more confident and supremely photogenic (although you might not guess it from this offering) and there are more Common Gulls in London. This is not a science fact readers, just a bit of Counting Coots guestimationology ™. One of the first things that I did notice was the 'accent' of the Starlings that were making noises by the car park. Their introductory syllable or two from their song was remarkably different from the London birds (I haven't noticed much of a difference in Starlings when in Norfolk, but Chaffinches are noticeably different there).

Naturally, where I go, Coots follow.

On the journey there, the weather was a bit shitty for birding and driving, but I did see a bedraggled Red Kite on a tree just outside Cardiff (year tick). The journey back was more productive with some cracking views of Buzzards on fence posts and a Little Egret in a field on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge (year tick). So it was not all bad.

So after stuffing a load of chips in my face (by the way, the service in the chip shop was so unbearably fucking slow it was driving me mad with frustration - I think that might just be from becoming far too 'London' - and the chips I had in Torquay a couple of weeks ago were so much better) I threw the remains to the gulls, took some rubbish pictures and wandered back to the vehicle....

...where I passed this....

...and it was too late.

Breakin' the law - breakin' the law!