Just bits and pieces - so far

No sign of any Brent today, checked south shore on rising tide and north side towards low water.

Rock pipits - these seemed omnipresent along south sloping wall and near the lighthouse. Maximum seen at one time was 3. These could possibly have accounted for all the sightings.
Reed Bunting 5 together on salt marsh.

Middleton Nature Reserve 
Gadwall 34
Tufted 2
Teal 4
Mallard 7
Coot 1
Little grebe 1

Hopefully more later

Brent again

Pale-bellied Brent - minimum 13
14:00 at least 5 amongst the rocks in front of the children's play area, just north of Knowlys road.
14:15 to 16:00 13 in the SE corner of Heysham skeer, alternating between feeding on the shallow water and wading ashore to feed in various drains and pools.

At this stage, the water in the corner was shallow enough for them to reach the gut weed below.

Feeding in a drain. This picture is taken from skeer, the pale brown wall is the children's play area. The rocks in the middle distance are where the inshore birds feed.

No sign of the Shag this afternoon, presumably it had already fed.

Middleton Nature Reserve
Gadwall 32
Teal 4
Goldcrest 1

Brent - hopefully a welcome return

Inshore Skeer from Knowleys Road
Mediterranean Gull 1 adult
Pale- Bellied Brent Goose 17 - this is the first known sighting this winter of the Brent feeding where they did regularly during the last two winters.

Red-Throated Diver 1 - seen flying out while waiting for arrival of IOM ferry

Shag still feeding, plus more signs of "spring"

Shag  1 - feeding near the green marker post NW of Heysham Head

Lesser celandine.  In flower on Trumacar school banking

Rock pipit 2 together near No.1 outflow
Great-Crested grebe 2 juvenile feeding out from harbour mouth

Nuthatch

Heysham Head woodland
Nuthatch 1 - barely annual in the recording area
Goldcrest 1

Middlton Nature Reserve
Mute 7adult 7 2cy
Moorhen 16
Coot 1
Mallard 4
Tufted 2 male
Wigeon 1 female
Gadwall 38 - this equals high count for last year
Teal 21
Little grebe 1
Water Rail 2
Common snipe 6

Great White Egret 1 over east to west 09:55

Just one Redwing, despite lots of hawthorn berries remaining

Raven 1 grounded, being harassed by 13 Carrion Crow

Friday

Heysham low tide chanels
The water was clear today, so very few small fish would be in the shallow water around the skeer. Fortunately Shaun located the:
Shag - feeding further out.
Eider 6
Great-Crested Grebe - minimum 6
Red-Breasted Merganser 4

Middleton Nature Reserve two main ponds
Mute 7 adult plus 7 juv
Coot 1
Gadwall 26
Tufted 2 male
Shoveler 1 male
Teal 8

Thursday

Heysham skeer - low water
Shag - it seems very attuned to feeding opportunities here, even on today's highish low water of 2.9m. It waited on top of conger rock till the tide started to flood. Then started feeding around the rock.

This is conger rock - on these neap tides it is not fully exposed at low water. There should be the tip of it showing tomorrow too. Might be worth checking c10:45.

Goldeneye 1 male also feeding near conger rock, but on the ebbing tide.

If you had have been watching me (MD) from the promenade, I would have disappeared as I was surrounded by this flock of, mainly, Knot trying to escape a Peregrine. Ultimately, one failed.

New Year's Day

Heysham skeer - low water
Shag 1 - turned up on north side of skeer 09:00, still around at 09:45. Seen from skeer and scoped from Knowsley Rd.
Goldeneye 1 male in partial eclipse drifted in on flooding tide and fed around conger rock.
Eider 4
Wigeon 2
Great-Crested Grebe 10
Red Breasted Merganser 2

Mudflats to SE of Ocean Edge - close inshore near where Pontins used to be.
Dunlin c700
Ringed Plover 19
Sanderling 1

From elusive to predictable

Shag - the short days seem to be forcing it into a predictable pattern, at least during spring tides. Its preferred feeding location seems to be the low water channels on Heysham skeer, but these are seldom exposed during daylight at this time of year. They were this morning, and by 08:30 it was resting on a small island west of the largest rock in SE of skeer, presumably digesting breakfast (MD)

Not much of a picture, but shows location.

The tide may just be low enough again in the morning. If so, the Shag should be feeding or resting between about 08:30 and 09:00. If the tide is not low enough it will probably feed near Heysham Head and/or the north wall around high water.

Carrion crow, there were 34 waiting for the tide to ebb far enough to reach the skeer islands to feed. They then fed in ones and twos, on the exposed sections of honeycomb worms beds, before leaving, again in ones and twos in all directions east. The new honeycomb worm beds must be providing some new opportunity to feed. Two to four birds feeding here is typical.

Great -Crested Grebe - at least 8

29th & 30th - spring has sprung

30th
Middleton Nature Reserve 
Mute 7 adult 7 juv
Coot 1
Moorhen c12
Gadwall 22
Teal 6
Tufted 2
Wigeon 1
Mallard 5
Woodcock 1
Redwing 14
Goldcrest 2

29th
Small Tortoiseshell 1 near HNR office

Rock pipit 4 on south harbour wall roundhead