The winter solstice arrives

Very light breeze, initially from the east but variable by evening. Overcast all day with some showers.

Heysham Skeer - low water 10:30 (MD)

Eider c60

Great Crested grebe 2

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Knot c200

Pale-bellied Brent goose 12

Almost certainly the same 12 as yesterday, the Canadian ringed birds were with them. At 10:00 they were in the SE corner of the skeer, but quite a distance up the brackish drain that feeds into the corner. This shot is just to show the location at that time. The Stone Jetty and the Midland Hotel can be seen in the background. 

I've been looking at the weed here and it isn't gut weed, I think it's sea lettuce. It certainly looks more appetising than the gut weed out from the children's play area.

Another quick look at 14:00 and all 12 were on the water in between the skeer and the children's play area. They were swimming towards the play area but turned back as a dog got too close. As I was walking away I looked back and they were flying, I thought they were off, but they came back and landed closer.

The background noise towards the end of this clip is actually their wing beats, indicating just how close they came towards me.

By the time I'd got to Heysham Head at 14:30 there was no sign of them. I suspect they need to be hungrier to tackle the weed near the play area.

The "rock balancer" has been busy. I have seen a lady doing this a few times. I don't know if she did these. They are below the high cliffs at Heysham Head. Many are well above the reach of any tide till the middle of January.

I've no idea why they are created. I hope it's to make people smile, they always make me smile.

The Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher is still feeding on the cricket field - ref Howard

Looking at the state of its bill, the worms must be getting deeper!

Well, here we are, the shortest day of the year. After today, the laws of physics guarantee that the days will get longer and brighter. Lets hope that the laws of nature also allows life to get brighter for everyone.

Brent numbers increase.....incrementally

The wind had moved round to SW. Some sunshine and heavy showers.

Another Grey Wagtail recovery - see scheme details on side bar to the right.

ALL7481         

Ringed  1st W          Middleton NR, nr Heysham, Lancs   10/09/2020

Photo. Priorslee Flash, Telford, Shropshire SJ7110  20/12/2020  153km SSE

Thanks to Edwin Wilson for this picture and Martin Grant for facilitating the report

Kittiwake 2 adult behind the afternoon ferry.

Heysham Skeer - low water 09:40

No Knot today, presumably the Peregrine got there before I did.

Eider c40

Great Crested Grebe 2

Pale-bellied Brent 12 (previous high count this winter was 11) Feeding in the SE corner of skeer at low water. I don't know if they moved up to the children's play area with the tide, but they didn't get as far as Red Nab.

This shot shows all 12, including the Canadian ringed birds

This is a close up of the ringed birds

Red V Blue T = VTRB plus VDRB

As I was leaving there was a rainbow. I got all arty again (I think the social isolation is finally getting to me! (MD))

All 12 Brent feeding in a rainbow's reflection 

Middleton Nature Reserve - early afternoon 

Just a quick check of the "no swimming" pond

Wildfowl as yesterday except now 2 male Tufted and 5 Shoveller (4 male)

All seems amicable in the Shoveller society today.

Oystercatchers with attitude

The wind continues from the south, quite pleasant in the morning sunshine, but showers began by lunchtime.

Heysham skeer - low water 08:50 (MD)

Eider only 17 seen

Shelduck 3 - not regular here

Pink-Footed goose 105 west 08:40

Great Crested grebe 2

Knot c2000

Peregrine 2 - at least one, probably both juveniles. They quickly flushed all the Knot away, without catching any. So one juvenile tried its hand with the Oystercatchers.

I'm sorry about the quality of this video, but it's good enough to tell the story of what happened.:

The experienced Oystercatchers stay on the skeer/water. A Peregrine won't risk hitting something on the ground as it would risk injury to itself, whether this is learned or instinctive for the Oystercatchers, I don't know.

It eventually managed to persuade a few to take flight by coming in more slowly, then set after them, resulting in two having an early bath, but none caught.

The full sequence was almost a minute and a half, it then landed for a rest. The Oystercatchers seemed to realise that the risk was over, and ignored it.

The Peregrine is arrowed

Even when it took off, the Oystercatcher were comfortable, some even landed close to it, when it landed again.

Middleton Nature Reserve - mid afternoon (between showers)

Mute 3 adult (one skulking away on Tim Butler pond) 3+1 juvenile 

Coot 6

Moorhen 16 (8 on the field to the east of Tim Butler)

Gadwall 32

Shoveller 4 (3m 1f)

Mallard 2

Tufted 1 male

Teal 7 on Tim Butler pond 

Little Grebe 2

Water Rail 3 squealing

Goosander 1 redhead west. They are normally a rare visitor to the recording area, but this year there have been six sightings and a total of 12 birds.

Not a great shot, but just good enough to confirm species.

Jack Snipe still abundant

The wind was mainly SSE. Light rain on and off all day.

Jack Snipe at least 5 on foreshore between Red Nab and the saltmarsh. Long before high water (ref Pete).

Heysham Skeer - low water 08:10

Eider 28 close in, more further out

Wigeon 1 - not regular here

Great Crested grebe 6

Red-breasted Merganser 1

Little Egret 4

Knot c2,500

The Brent Geese did not come over to feed in the corner today - perhaps tomorrow 

The honeycomb worm colonies that formed this year, when the skeer was stripped of its seed mussels by the early summer storms, are now eroding. The low beds are now providing opportunities for the waders to feed, in the diminished crevices.

 This picture shows a portion of the new low beds.

A more mature colony can be seen top right.

This clip shows Knot coming in to feed on these low beds

Unfortunately, unless this first season growth is stripped by winter storms, the colony will consolidate next year. The only birds that regularly feed on the mature colonies appear to be Carrion Crow

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Not actually checked today. This video is from yesterday, it demonstrates the change in behaviour of the three male Shoveller, with the arrival of a female. The dominant male was keeping the other males well away from the female (she enters stage left).

The background noise is the rain!

The Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher is still being regularly seen on the cricket field (ref Janet)

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)