The rain almost held off long enough!

A freshening SSE wind. The threatened heavy rain held off till 15:00.

Just my stuff today so far (Malcolm)

South shore 

I had been expecting rain this morning but I managed a walk along the sea wall and back without a spot of rain. The tide was out but still some things to see.

Wigeon c200

Eider 3 (pair in harbour mouth and one immature feeding at the seaward end of No.1 outflow.

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male near the wooden jetty.

Male Red-breasted Merganser

Bar-Tailed Godwit 9 feeding along the waterline between No.1 outflow and the wooden jetty. These are 5 of them coming in.

There is a small area of Honeycomb worm beds just out from the roundhead that always attracts waders. Here, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Turnstone.

Rock Pipit 5 (one each, Red Nab, sea wall and waterfall, 2 near lighthouse)

The rain was still holding off at 14:30 so I went out on the shore out from the saltmarsh to check out the waders. Unfortunately, just as I was approaching the waterline the heavens opened. Fortunately, I had got to the south of them so the wind and rain was to my back. Even so it wasn't really conducive to counting so I just estimated:

Curlew 100

Bar-Tailed Godwit 300

Oystercatcher 200

Knot 500

Dunlin 150

Nevertheless, I took a few clips, if only to show that in today's conditions the mud appears to be mud coloured (see post on 10th February)

This is the Manxman leaving the harbour just before 15:00, and before the rain began.
Even so it was already dark enough for its lights to be clearly visible 

Shelduck 9

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 21 - I counted 15 on the Red Nab rocks from some distance, there were almost certainly more, as David Kaye saw 21 on the north side earlier.