Brent on half day return....

The wind varied from SSW to SSE, sunshine in the morning but turning to rain by mid afternoon.

It was a nice morning for a stroll along the south wall, but at one level, there wasn't much to see. Although in reality there were lots of birds around. 

Janet took these pictures of all the birds that can almost always be seen. It's normally best about 2 hours either before or after high water, when the birds are nearer the sea wall.

All today's pictures are best viewed by opening them.

Some of the 150+ Wigeon waiting for the tide to reach
their feeding areas on Red Nab

A nice shot of some of the Wigeon flying to Red Nab

Redshank and Turnstone roosting on No.1 outflow. 
If the tide covers the outflow they move on to the sloping sea wall

Curlew and Oystercatcher near the outflow
but both these can be seen everywhere!

Grey Heron - this one routinely feeds in the channels by No.1 outflow.
It then roosts on Red Nab, as here.

Also today:

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Mistle Thrush 1 on foreshore.

Saltmarsh 

Report from David Talbot

Jack Snipe 6, possibly 7

Common Snipe several flushed early by the tide

Heliport 

Knot ring reading was disrupted with the arrival of this male Sparrowhawk 

Stunning picture by Howard 

A Peregrine was also doing the rounds

North shore 3 hr before high water

This is what today's title refers to. The previous three visits by Brent geese this winter I described them as "day trippers". Today they had been and gone by 10:15.

Pale- bellied Brent 6 were on the water between the corner of the skeer and the children's play area at 10:00. Presumably they had been been feeding in the corner before the tide moved them on. I expected them to drift along till they reached the gut weed out from the children's play area (as previous years), but instead they took flight and disappeared to the west.

Fortunately I took this short video before they flew. I was a long way away and was expecting better views, but it's not too bad.

Middleton Nature Reserve - mid afternoon 

Gadwall 31

Shoveller 4 (3m+1f)

Tufted 2 m

Mallard 2

Common Snipe 10 flushed from the marsh areas. This is in contrast to yesterday when none were flushed, but today's visit was at a time when the tide was still covering the saltmarsh.

Woodpecker, a belated FOY!

Strong SE winds. Rain for most of the day, easing off by "evening"

South shore mid to late morning

Rock Pipits 1 on saltmarsh, 1 on Red Nab, 3 along the sea wall.

Nothing of note on the sea

A walk past the saltmarsh when it was about 75% covered

Jack Snipe at least 4

Common Snipe - none lifted from the marsh, but a flock of 12 came from the north tried to land on the marsh, before eventually heading towards Middleton Nature Reserve.

Reed Bunting 4

Heliport area

Knot ring reading - from Pete - Four Sefton coast birds (one new one), two Icelandic (one new) and two Dutch Knot flags/crs read today

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A decent walk around, in what turned out to be the best part of the day, weather wise.

Mute 2 adult plus 3+1 juvenile 

Coot 6

Moorhen 10

Gadwalls 26

Shoveller 2

Tufted 1

Mallard 2

Water Rail 1 squealing 

Common Snipe - surprisingly none flushed despite trudging through some likely terrain. But as darkness decended (16:10!) a flock of 22 circled several times over the central marsh before decending.

Green Woodpecker 1 flew south from the golf course area. This is the first record in the recording area since 30/04/19, so a very belated first of year (FOY)

It had not been a good day for photography, I managed some Jack snipe shots, but nothing like the quality of David's yesterday. So as the clouds started to clear, just as the sun was setting, I went all arty! (MD)

Sunset over Middleton Nature Reserve - 16:00!

A full count of the saltmarsh Jack Snipe. Plus SEO bonus

SSE wind and mainly sunny.

Saltmarsh - high water 11:20 - 9.8m

This set of spring tides started encroaching on the saltmarsh on Saturday. The reports of Snipe, up to now, were from my walks past as the tide was covering it. Today, David Talbot and three colleagues Graham and David Hulme and Geoff Carefoot strategically positioned themselves before the tide reached the saltmarsh and remained until it was fully covered, resulting in a very thorough survey of the rising birds.

This report and excellent pictures from David T - N.B. these are high resolution images and need to be "opened" to appreciate the detail.

Good, early activity on the flooding marsh towards high tide. 

First a Short-eared Owl flew from the centre as the tide advanced. 

Ultimately 14 Jack Snipe were flushed by the rising water but as is typical of Jacks some were reluctant to leave the marsh edge. Plus another Jack Snipe on the grass above

Two of the Jack Snipe

A handful of Common Snipe too which barrelled off high towards Middleton.

25 Ringed Plovers. 

Footnote (MD). On Saturday when the tide reached the saltmarsh for the first time in over three weeks 45 Common Snipe were flushed along with several Jack Snipe. But as David says the Common fly directly towards Middleton, whereas the Jack try to relocate on the marsh. Obviously, not all the common are returning between tides. Please note that Ocean Edge remains locked down. The only access to the saltmarsh is along the foreshore.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look at the "no swimming" pond

Gadwall 32

Shoveller 2 m&f

Tufted 2 male

Teal 2 m&f

Mallard 2 m&f

The warner weather today rewarded Kevin with a Small Tortoiseshell in his garden. Nothing special, but cheering to see.

More Knot rings read plus northern limit pill-woodlouse

South to SSE wind rain showers throughout the day.

South shore - around high water (MD. JP)

Saltmarsh as it was being covered, most of common Snipe will already have been flushed:

Common Snipe 10

Jack Snipe 5

Rock Pipit 1 on saltmarsh, 1 on Red Nab and 3 squabbling near the lighthouse.

Today's high tide was the highest since 18th November, almost 4 weeks. As the tide rose along Red Nab sea wall it flushed small invertebrates that had been hiding in the jetsam.

The Rock Pipit was the first to notice and take advantage.

Followed by the Turnstone 

Janet took this nice shot of a Turnstone as the tide was ebbing and feeding tactics change....

......and these cormorant feeding near the wooden jetty at high water

Heliport area high water

At least 6 ringed Knot were read. 

These are two of them

Pictures by Howard 

It would seem that most of the ringed birds roosting on the heliport move to the south, or further north, to feed. Pete checked c3000 out from Sandylannds yesterday and could only find one yellow flagged bird. I checked at least 2000 out from the children's play area today and couldn't find one ringed.

Nicola Garnham located and photographed this Armadillidium nasatum on Middleton Nature Reserve today. I have to confess my ignorance and hadn't realised that there were more than one species of "pill bug" (MD). This is right at the northern limit of its known range. Nicola has found them here before, but that was 18 months ago.

One of the defining characteristics of Armadillidium nasatum is that it forms an imperfect ball, with its antennae protruding, when disturbed.

Oh, by the way, the colour ringed Oystercatcher is still on the cricket field. Reference Janet.

Snipe in the rain!

Quite strong SE winds light rain early on became heavier throughout the day.

Saltmarsh - high water 09:50.

Today's 9.4m tide just covered the saltmarsh (the height required to cover the marsh can vary dependant on wind direction/strength and atmospheric pressure (the lower the pressure, the higher the tide))

It was already 75% covered when I got there, so most of the Common Snipe would have already been flushed. Leaving:

Common Snipe 10

Jack Snipe 3 probably 4

Wigeon and Lapwing similar to yesterday.

Reed Bunting 4

Rock Pipit 1 plus 2 on Red Nab

Heysham skeer

A quick look c3.5hr ebb - no sign of Brent goose.

These are some of Howard's pictures from yesterday 

This one shows the final tally of all 11 birds
Note the Brent unfriendly honeycomb worm colony behind them
No gut weed there.

You need to open these images to the the fine detail

This video clip includes the two Canadian ringed birds. The birds are very flighty, they take to the wing for a short flight whenever a wader is spooked. Howard stayed well away so as not to disrupt their feeding, so it's not possible to read the rings on this clip.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a brief check of the wildfowl:

Gadwall 17

Tufted 2 male

Shoveller 1 male

Little Grebe 1

Brent 11 - Theory 0

Quite a fresh SW breeze. Rain for most of the morning, easing off by lunchtime with late afternoon sunshine.

Saltmarsh - high water 09:00 (MD)

The tide was only 9m. Enough to reach the saltmarsh but to only cover 20%. I wasn't really expecting to see many snipe, but I was wrong.

Common Snipe - 45 lifted from the saltmarsh in small loose groups that headed towards Middleton Nature Reserve. A tight flock of 23 birds came from the north and landed in the middle of saltmarsh.

Jack Snipe - several sightings, each of which landed back on the saltmarsh. An absolute minimum of 4 birds involved.

I've looked at the tide table and note that the tide hasn't been high enough to cover the saltmarsh since 18/11, so the snipe have had almost 4 weeks for numbers to grow. The bulk of today's birds weren't flushed by the tide, but the few that were spooked others and started mini chain reactions. 

Wigeon 180

Lapwing 160

Dunlin 35

Grey Plover 1

Rock Pipit 2

Heysham skeer - 2hr before low water

Well, so much for my theory that the Brent geese were only coming over on the lowest neap tides. Perhaps the food availability on the west side is dwindling. (I'd always rather have a theory that is proven wrong, or at least incomplete, than have no understanding of the what/why of the way things are (MD))

Pale-bellied Brent goose. Initially 5, including the 2 Canadian ringed birds. Later when Howard arrived there were 10. These later flew off for a while and then 11 returned.

Howard hasn't had time to check his images yet.
This was his first one - best "opened" to see the detail.

The 5 early birds were feeding high up the beach in a brackish drain. They prefer eating the gut weed when it is floating underwater. So they flew down onto the sea.

The SW breeze put pay to any shrimping opportunities for the waders on the south side of the skeer. Yesterday, I glibly referred to "gulls crowded in every drain outlet". This is a common occurrence and I take it for granted, but thought afterwards that it wouldn't mean much to some of you, so today I videoed one of the main drains into the north side of the skeer. Drains in this sense are just natural channels that the sea water drains through.

Black-Headed gulls are very good at catching shrimps in these conditions. I would expect that at least 50% of the head bobs in this clip result in one less shrimp - you might be surprised!

Howard photographed the Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher on the cricket field again today (see Thursday's post)

It was raining,
 you can see the raindrops on the bird's back if you open this image.

It looks like it's going to be around a while, perhaps a good opportunity for any youngsters with an interest in nature to see if they can read a colour ringed bird. It's normally easily found either on the football or cricket pitch, near the SW corner of Heysham Village main car park. I will add and credit all records on this post. (see contact details to right MD)

A shrimp bonus

Very light SE breeze. Light rain eased by the afternoon and the sun, very nearly, came out, before it started raining again.

Heysham Skeer - 1hr before low water.

No sign of any Brent geese, even though everything, and more, of what was available yesterday, was available today. It looks like the deciding factor must be that, on the lower neap tides their favoured feeding areas on the west side of the bay are not exposed, and they have to rough it over here. The next set of similar tides are the three days before Christmas. 

Eider 66 relatively close in but more could be heard further out.

Great Crested grebe 5

Little Egret 5

Knot c300

The skeer was particularly noisy today, the source of the increased excitement were lots of tiny shrimps leaving it very late to vacate their feeding areas. This only happens when the sea is calm enough not to have waves pushing onto the shore, but still enough colour in the water to give the shrimps some cover. Overcast, wet and a gentle SE wind fits the bill nicely.

There were gulls crowded into every drain outlet. And these Oystercatcher and Redshank were shrimping along the skeer edge. The Redshank try and grab the shrimps, whereas the Oystercatchers wait/sweep with an open bill till they touch a shrimp.

This video gives a better sense of the excitement around 

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a shot of one being caught. Unlike Oysters (and mussels), shrimps do actually need to be caught. But judging by the level of excitement and activity I'm sure the waders and gulls were feeding well today. 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute 2 adult 3+1 juvenile 

Coot 7

Moorhen 6

Little Grebe 1

Gadwall 16 

Mallard 2

Teal 3 all male

Shoveller 3 male plus 1 female

The Shoveller boys

Brents - scarce but consistent

A fresh SE wind, some light showers, but dark all day.

Heysham Skeer - low water 13:45

Eider c60 quite distant 

Red-Breasted Merganser 2

Great Crested Grebe 2

Knot c200

Pale-Bellied Brent 10 - feeding on the gut weed in the SE corner of the skeer. They have shown here three times so far this winter. Each time a neap low water in the afternoon. Respective low water heights: 2.53m, 2.57m and 2.53m. It's 2.18m tomorrow, but still a realistic chance of a repeat performance.

Visibility was poor and with no sun to get in front of, I didn't risk going too close. But I did manage to confirm that the two ringed birds were the regular Canadian Ringed birds.

Pete has provided this graphic mapping out the flight lines of Brent following routes that must be similar to the ones used by these birds.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look at the two main ponds. 

Mute - not quite sure what has happened, but there were two adult today, and peace seems to have broken out!

These are all 6 birds resting on the main pond peninsula.
The far left bird is the ostracised juvenile, but it is not usually tolerated so close.
 I can't think that the aggressive male is one of the adult.

Gadwall 24

Shoveller 3 male

Teal 2 male

Mallard 2

No sign of any Little Grebe

Pink-Footed goose - another low dusk/dark flight SW to roost. c500 between 16:25 and 16:50

Janet went to check out the Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher at lunchtime. Sure enough it's still around. Every sighting of this bird has seen it with an adult bird with a significant limp. A travelling companion?

Today Janet had her camera with her.

Originally it was on the football field, then flew....

......to the cricket field
"open" these images to see the ring details clearly 

Norwegian Oystercatcher still around

The wind mainly from the west but moving around to the east by evening. Rain early on, then largely dry.

Heysham skeer - towards low water late morning.

Eider 104 feeding in the first channel area

Red-Breasted Merganser 1

Great Crested Grebe 4

Knot c1000

This juvenile Great Black-Backed gull was using its powerful bill to pull scraps off a dead flounder, the guts have already been eaten, probably by the smug looking adult.

Pink-Footed goose - there was a large low movement SW, towards roosting area on Fylde roosting area, as it was getting dark. Presumably movement from local feeding grounds. At least 500 at 16:15 with another c200 in smaller flocks till 16:35.

Update on yesterday's ringed Oystercatcher:

This is the history: 5155589/yellow LA

Ringed	Nestling	Flakstad church, Lofoten Is, Nordland NORWAY 68 06N 13 18E	16/7/20
Seen		Flakstad Strand, Lofoten Is, Nordland NORWAY 68 06N 13 14E	5/8/20
Seen		Kilanleira & Flakstad church, Lofoten Is, Nordland NORWAY 68 06N 13 18E	10/8/20
Seen		Heysham Cricket Club pitch SD413613	8/12/20

Distance from nest site 1823km SW

The scheme manager kindly sent us this picture of the nesting area. It really is a beautiful place, although in permanent darkness now. It's well inside the Arctic circle.

Flakstad church is bottom left, and the nest site is in the field between the church and the shore. One of the objectives of the scheme is to demonstrate the national and international significance of the area for birdlife. There is a road planned to go across the fiord on the right, which will significantly affect the tidal feeding areas. it is hoped to persuade the authorities to opt for a bridge instead. Heysham is the furthest west that any Oystercatcher ringed in northern Norway has ever been recorded. Let's hope it helps!

The bird was again feeding in the NW corner of the cricket field late this afternoon, easily seen from the car park.

 

Where did all the Mute go?

The wind switched to the west and brought the rain with it!

Heysham skeer - low water 11:15 (MD)

I had hoped the Brent might have paid a visit for this 2.8m low water, but they don't seem to like to cross over in rough weather, unless driven by hunger, as they appear to be later in the winter.

As it happens, there was almost nothing feeding on the skeer except Oystercatcher. No Knot and just a few Turnstone and Redshank close in. At least it made for easy walking, there are thousands of Oystercatchers but they are just a thousand individuals feeding. You can walk through them and they just part in front of you, like the Red Sea, then return when you pass.

Eider - just one seen.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I have been walking here since the mid 1990s, and I cannot recall a previous occasion when there are no adult Mute on the reserve. But that was the case today! Just 3 + 1 juvenile on the main pond. No adult to be seen anywhere. Strange, even the birds away from the main pond are visited daily by dedicated feeders. 

We'll have to wait and see if they were just on an away day.

Gadwall 28

Shoveller 1

Mallard 2

Teal 1

Little grebe still 3 together on "no swimming" pond.

A nice bit of teamwork

Janet spotted a colour ringed Oystercatcher on Heysham Cricket Club field. Unfortunately she was exercising her dog and her phone camera was not quite up to reading it. So she let me know, and fortunately it was still there when I checked later in the afternoon.

It turns out that Janet's bird was ringed in Norway.

It might be from out of town, but it knows how to find worms.
Look at all the daisies in December!

Certainly worth getting a dirty bill for!

Thanks to Richard du Feu, who has already narrowed it down to one of eight Oystercatchers ringed on Lofoten islands Norway.  It is only the fifth Oystercatcher ringed in Norway to be read in Lancashire.

Norwegian birds normally stay on the east side of the UK.