marinalifeonline.co.uk » Bird life

Great Crested Grebe in Outer Harbour

Jon Martin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:23:25 +0000

Every so often we are lucky enough to be visited by a Great Crested Grebe.

This chap was seen on 18th March 2010, soon after the Sospan had done a dredge. Presumably it released some tasty morsels in Eastbourne’s outer harbour.

Great Crested Grebe

Why Herons are like London Buses..

Jon Martin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:38:52 +0000

It’s been a busy few days here in Eastbourne’s premier marina – especially if you, like me, are a fan of wildlife.

If the harbour seal wasn’t enough excitement, the heron’s long awaited return added to the anticipation. Then, he reappeared this morning, twice in three days – what a treat!

Return of the Marina’s Heron

Jon Martin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:32:48 +0000

In an earlier blog post I wrote about seeing a heron in one of the locks at Eastbourne’s Sovereign Marina around midnight.

I’ve kept my eyes open since then and it’s taken a while but early yesterday another heron was standing statuesque in the outer harbour at low tide.

Does Anyone Know the Collective Noun for Cormorants?

Jon Martin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:43:55 +0000

Well, there’s a pride of lions, a pod of whales, even a university of owls, but Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour has been blessed with a of cormorants.

The most I’ve counted at one time is 12, and the photo below has 10…

If you know the answer, or have some polite ;-) suggestions please reply to this post and share with the world!

The Midnight Heron

Jon Martin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:50:37 +0000

Imagine my surprise last night!

It’s just after midnight and it was my turn to take JoJo the dog on her last constitutional of the day.

We were walking across the Locks towards Key West, where the lock closest to the Bermuda Place flats was empty for maintenance.

Something caught my eye, down there in the mud at the bottom of the lock. My heart raced though JoJo was too busy sniffing a patch of grass.

Then it took off; it’s wingspan seemingly too wide to enable it to safely get out. But with a graceful circle in the lock it came around and flew off.

It was a heron, obviously looking for a late-night fishy snack.

A Warm Welcome to the Marina Life Blog!

Jon Martin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow!

This has been way too long coming, but at least I’ve achieved one of my New Year’s resolutions (to get a Blog up and running) – but I won’t say which year ;-)

I’ve always loved Eastbourne, Natural History, and have been scuba diving for over six years so it made sense trying to bring all that together in my Blog.

For the last seven years, I’ve lived in Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour development in the South Harbour, near to the locks and looking out over the English Channel. This area is still too much of a building site for my liking, but the amount of wildlife, especially birds, has grown in both volume and variety.

The same is true of life in the marina itself. I belong to Planet Divers scuba club which has used the North Marina as a regular dive site for a number of years, and whilst the visibility in there is often poor, the marine life, from crabs, eels, fish, and jellyfish, has flourished.

I hope you enjoy the posts and thoughts here, please feel free to comment, and to contact me if you have photos or stories of interest…

Wishing you health, wealth and happiness in everything you do,

Jon