Monday 15 January 2024

A pair of winkle pickers and Ibis viewable from recording area.

A biting NW wind kept it cold, but dry all day.

South Shore (MD)
Pale-bellied Brent goose 31 on Rd Nab.
Wigeon 400+
Shelduck 45
Shag 1 immature on wooden jetty

One of four adult Common Gulls patrolling the sea wall

I have been noticing increasing numbers of empty Periwinkle shells on the sea wall at Red Nab. Today I spotted a pair of Carrion Crows picking the winkles from Red Nab and then dropping them on the wall to open. Most took just one or two drops to open them, this one held out a little longer. You can see the empty shells littering the wall.

At the saltmarsh 
Bar-Tailed Godwit 16 quickly being pushed off the last remaining finger of shore by the tide.

Reed Bunting 5
Rock Pipit 1
Blackbird 2
Song Thrush 1

The male Grey Seal was feeding again. It was in No.2 outflow very early. It must have swam up from the seaward end. Here he is swimming along the central divide, before being spooked by a Black-Headed Gull.

He, or another male caught a Bass. There isn't a lot to see in this clip, but it does show what to watch out for. Clouds of gulls and the occasional dark blob popping out of the water.

Imperial Rd (MD)
I went to check in the evening. There were several Curlew feeding in the field to the east, just before you reach the recycling centre gates. Slightly unusual as they do not regularly feed here. Then a little further behind them.......
Glossy Ibis 1 feeding at 16:00. But not for long, something spooked the Curlew and the Ibis flew west with them.
Sorry about the wobbly nature of this clip, but it was some distance away and I had nothing to steady myself against.
Originally I thought that two of the flying birds may have been Ibis, but checking my shots didn't reveal another. Even so, if the horse paddock bird at Middleton was still there, it would have been a different bird. I went to Middleton Parish Hall to check, but no sign of the Ibis there, and there were several additional ponies in the paddock. Clearly it had been a busy day and it obviously had looked for pastures new. Worth checking Imperial Rd again tomorrow, particularly if it isn't at the horse paddock.