Buoy watch

A misty start with a light SW breeze drifting more towards the west during the day. Some hazy sunshine in the afternoon.

"Seawatch" Pete and Jean.

Report by Pete:

Visibility only just beyond buoys for an hour then twice that distance for the second hour of very intermittent seawatching.

A few bits on the sea in poor vis late stages of the tide : 

1 Razorbill

5 guillemot

1 Gannet

25, 7, 15 common scoter

7 sandwich tern

2 porpoise

10 swallow.   

South shore

It was still very misty when I went down the sea wall this morning (Malcolm), although visibility was starting to improve. 

There are a lot of young large gulls around at the moment. This is what No.1 outflow looked like, and this is a big improvement to when I set off.

Immature Herring and Lesser Black-Backed gulls resting on the sea wall

Bar-Tailed Godwit 54 feeding between the outflows.

You may have noticed an immature Herring Gull instinctively collecting nest material towards the end of the above clip. The mature birds were at it in earnest.

Lesser Black-Backed gull collecting nest material

This Herring Gull in the harbour is already sitting

Rock Pipit 2 - one near the waterfall was feeding itself. But this one by the lighthouse was taking food to the nest.

It will never go to its nest site when it knows it is being watched.
 It is waiting here on the sloping roundhead wall, its nest is in the harbour wall.

Linnet 2 between the lighthouse and waterfall.

This is what the two buoys out from the north wall looked like when I arrived.
The southern yellow buoy was faring better than the northern buoy 

But only a few minutes later the southern buoy is almost submerged
and a minute or so later it was completely under

Janet checked later in the tide.

Post readers often ask where Potts corner is. It is the car park at
Middleton sands, and these Eider are heading straight for it

These shots are also from Janet, taken at Middleton Nature Reserve yesterday.

Male Pheasant 

This shot isn't about the Whitethroat, but look at all the insects around the bush!

Heysham skear (Malcolm)

Just a very quick check,as the inner skear was becoming exposed.

Sandwich Tern 2

Eider 51

Great Crested Grebe 2

Little Egret 3

Grey Heron 1

Oystercatcher initially c300 but they were arriving all the time at least 800 before I left

Whimbrel 7

Knot none at first then c800 arrived

Turnstone 1

Dunlin 31

Dunlin

This moth was trapped in Kevin Eaves' garden. But not in Kevin's trap! Alison Hayward is now running a separate moth trap in Kevin's garden.

She had this rather stunning Orange Footman last night. 

Orange Footman - It has a southerly distribution in the UK and is not at all
common this far North. A first for Alison..... and me! (Kevin)

While we are talking orange, this clip, also from Kevin close to his home to the east of the recording area.

This railway line marks the eastern boundary of the recording area.
Fortunately not a very busy line!