155 species were seen in the Heysham recording area last year, this is a relatively low total historically, but at least it included two new species for the recording area:
Caspian gull
Foster’s tern
No Pomarine Skua or Twite
No Black Redstart or Snow Bunting actually in the area
We are up to 72 species this year - slightly more than at this stage last year.
Middleton Nature Reserve main pond - Kevin Eaves
4 male, 3 female Shoveler on the main pond, so an additional female
Little Grebe 1
South shore - Malcolm 14:15 - 15:45
I was hoping to check the shore out from the saltmarsh this morning, but it was raining too heavily. I had a look this afternoon, there were plenty of waders, but the tide was out and they were spread over a huge expanse of shore.
Bar-Tailed Godwit 150
Knot 2000 within the recording area at least another 2000 further south
Dunlin 250
Oystercatcher 100
Curlew 8
Shelduck 65
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| Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot and Dunlin |
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| Some of the Godwits already moving to summer plumage |
With the birds being so spread out it was difficult getting close to more than a few at a time, even so I did spot a couple of flagged birds, but the dark skies and rain made it almost impossible to read any. This central bird has an orange flag over a pale blue ring, which means that it is likely to have been ringed in Wales, but no chance of reading the code. There is also a yellow flagged Knot in the background.
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| This is the yellow flagged Knot. Part of an Icelandic scheme |
A Peregrine Falcon eventually cleared the shore and all the waders headed south.
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| Bar-Tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Wagtail to the south of the saltmarsh |
