Tuesday 5 January 2021

Warmer.....well, not as cold.

It barely got down to 0C last night, a couple of light snow flurries this morning with periods of sunshine. The light winds continue from the north.

Heysham skeer - low water 09:00
Eider c60 
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Knot c1,000
Pale-bellied Brent 11 - they are feeding differently in the skeer corner to last winter. Then, they would make their way up the beach until they got to the feeding area, then fed until displaced by the tide. At the moment, they are not attempting to come ashore and prefer feeding when the tide is over the weed beds.
This morning there was a small group of 9 drifting slowly in. Two more flew in to join them. They slowly made their way to the corner and started up ending to feed.
Perhaps it's because the weed strands are longer so far this year. Feeding this way makes the Brent easier to see and count, but it's not currently possible to check for rings.

Middleton Nature Reserve 
The Mute, Mallard, Coot and Gulls remain on the open water on the "no swimming" pond.
The open water area continues to increase


Meanwhile the remaining 13 Gadwall wait on the ice.

This Great Tit seemed convinced that Spring has sprung


No comments: