Peregrines becoming a nuisance!

Overcast all day, it just about stayed dry with just a few spots of rain. A light NE wind.

Heysham skear - low water 10:15 (Malcolm)

Little Egret 9

Grey Heron 1

No Eider seen.

Red-breasted Merganser 2 female type

Red-breasted Merganser in the channel that separates the middle and outer skear

Great Crested grebe 5

Great Crested grebe with a Merganser

Herring gull 150 on middle skear and a similar number on outer skear

Lesser Black-Backed gull 17

Great Black-Backed gull 1

Black-Headed gull 14

Waders, only the middle skear checked:

Oystercatcher 300

Curlew 7

Redshank 12

Nice to see Redshank back. The front Oystercatcher is about to fly off with a mussel it has "caught".
They like to open them with no competition around

Red Nab

I went down on the rising tide to check the gull roost on Red Nab (Malcolm).

But the gulls are all very flighty after regular sorties by Peregrine falcons. There are two young and at least one adult, it's the young ones that keep practicing their hunting skills on the gulls. Many of the gulls didn't bother with Red Nab at all and flew directly towards the Lune estuary. Those that did settle on Red Nab were soon spooked and flew to the mud out from the foreshore.

Mediterranean gull 18, including 3 first summer and 2 second summer, this includes 5 that flew straight to the estuary. Red and yellow ringed birds seen but too distant to read.

Janet was on the sea wall.

Adult Peregrine Falcon. We have seen this bird before. If you open this shot
and have a close look, there is a thong of some sort fastened to its right leg.
It looks a bit flimsy to be jesses, but it has been there a while

Janet also took this shot of the gulls on the beach

Mainly Black-Headed gulls, but at least six Meds

They quickly moved on again to the mud out from the saltmarsh, then almost immediately they all flew off towards the estuary 

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a quick check of the two main ponds 

Wildfowl as yesterday except

Tufted duck 1 male on the main pond.

Tufted duck (drake)

Unusually, the bottom car park was empty, this Heron and a couple of Mallard were under the feeders.
The Mallard  would be after fallen seeds, but presumably, the Heron was after small rodents also
tempted by the seeds.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult west

Peregrine Falcon one west - towards the Power Stations 

Blue-Tail Damselfly 3

Ringlet 3

Small Skipper 1