Interesting response to a shift in wind direction

Freezing overnight. It was dry again and almost calm till 12:00 when a west wind began.

Middleton Nature Reserve - Malcolm

Just a quick check of the main pond this morning.

There was no sign of the Tufted Duck or Gadwall, then two Gadwall arrived.

Everything was serene, not even the Coot were bickering. I wonder how long that will last!

Pale-bellied Brent geese 31 out from the play area below Knowlys Rd - David Kaye

Heysham skear - Malcolm 14:00 - 15:15

No Eider seen

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Great Crested grebe 2

Bar-Tailed Godwit 49 along the waterline in two groups.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 

Don't watch the Godwits in this clip, watch the wave action. The onshore wind creates waves that muddy the shallows. As I pan out you can see the line between the clear deeper water and the coloured shallows.

There are a huge amount of tiny shrimps around at the moment, they are attracted to these coloured margins as the disturbed mud releases the detritus that they feed on, and the colour in the water provides some cover. During the recent period of offshore breezes there have been no Knot on the skear. I suspected that these onshore winds might attract them back by tomorrow, but 1500 were already on the skear edge! This is only 2 hours since the onshore wind began, so, baring an unlikely coincidence, the Knot must have headed here as soon as the wind changed. This suggests that the experienced birds can anticipate suitable feeding conditions based on the wind, tides and time of year. I managed to read a couple of flagged birds, it would be interesting if they have been seen elsewhere recently.

Some of the resting Knot at the skear edge, no chance of seeing if any are
 flagged, as the rough skear and tightly packed birds obscure any flags.

A paddle further out provides a better view of some legs at least

One of these has an orange flag of a UK scheme

Redshank 150 were shrimping all around the skear edges.

Other waders in similar numbers to recent