The only stuff I have so far is from my stroll around the saltmarsh as the tide was covering it (MD). This is what today's title refers to.
Before the caravan park first locked down last March there were c40 Starling and 12 House Sparrows "resident" around the saltmarsh. Within a week of the human residents leaving, the Starling and Sparrows were gone too, and only a few returned briefly during the temporary return of guests. They obviously rely on the many feeders to support their diet.
But, that was fine, there was always a Linnet flock around, but since the regular visits to the area by both a Merlin and a Sparrowhawk, the Linnets are rarely seen, and there were none today.
The recent cold snap brought in a number of passerines, but they were also gone today, I didn't even see the 2 resident Robins.
It was eerily quiet. The sea was flat, so no lapping of waves, the drizzle seemed to deaden any sounds that there were, and the low visibility just added to the overall effect. There were no barking dogs, no distant sirens, the few Wigeon were subdued and even the Common Snipe only made a half heated squark as they took flight. It felt strange indeed. Anyway:
Common Snipe 19
Jack Snipe 1 - I was expecting that the recent cold weather would have encouraged more to feed here.
Reed Bunting 2
There are typically 12 Oystercatcher alternating between the Cricket field and the adjacent football field. The yellow flagged Norwegian bird is still with them. These birds feed here when the tide is both in and out, so earthworms are their food of choice - I wonder if there are others here that have made a similar journey to the flagged bird, the Norwegian ringer has confirmed that his local birds do primarily feed their young on earthworms (only idle speculation of course MD)
Sorry no photographs today, it wasn't that sort of day.
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