Hoodie at the Point

Early morning today at around 8am I headed down to Ness Point following a tweet that a Hoodiee was feeeding on the rocks at Ness Point. When I arrived it was on the path just north of wheree we park our cars being watched by Andrew E and the lightning arrival of Paul & Jane. It was a classic Hooded Crow, my first ever in Lowestoft (I'd seen a hybrid before near Corton MOD the closest I'd been to one before in my home town) a smashing bird with black/ grey plumage with with back head and straggly bib, black wings and tail offset with a grey nape, back, underparts, vent and undertail coverts (seen in flight). A runner running close to the wall flushed it and it flew to the end off the "finger" that stretched out 50 yards into the sea and it perched on the red square end panel. Where it perched for some time, meantime a Shag flew south close in shore and 6 Purple Sandpiper fed with 5 Turnstone, one (Turnstone) in very smart plumage sported a ssilver ring on its left leg enabling us to see the grey vent and undertail coverts and thus confirming it was a pure Hoodie. After a while it flew back to the wall where it perched for a minute before flying to the roof. From here it flew back to the reed panel on the "finger" again it was proving to be a very wary, shy bird. After another half hour it flew onto the sea defence rocks just south of the point before then flying flying and perching on the tall tower by the old lookout point near Hamilton Dock it then flew south again and into Hamilton Dock/ SLP yard. An excellent Common Seal

, initially spotted by Ricky, surfaced and then dived swimming north relatively close in. 1.20pm in the afternoon, I heard the mewing of a Buzzard from the direction of Parkhill Hotel grounds