Lots of Pinks

Heavy overnight frost left the ponds frozen other than small pockets kept open by the wildfowl. What little breeze there was came from the north. Mainly sunny, particularly in the afternoon.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

The small patch of open water on the main pond contained:

2 adult and 3 juvenile mute, the additional juvenile was sat on the ice (this bird is fledged and could fly off if it wanted to).

2 Mallard and 4 Moorhen

The free patch on the "no swimming" pond held:

28 Gadwall

5 Shoveler (2 female)

1 Mallard

3 Teal

2 Little Grebe 

2 Coot and 2 Moorhen 

Most of the above are in this shot of the free water on the "no swimming" pond. I doubt there will be much if any free water remaining by the morning.

Also:

2 Mallard plus 1 adult Mute flying around before moving on (the Tim Butler pond was completely frozen, but evidence that a mute had been trying to keep a patch open).

Water Rail 2 squealing plus one flushed.

Common Snipe 1

Green Woodpecker 1

Grey Wagtail 1

Goldcrest at least 1

Pink-Footed goose - there were 1,100 flying towards the NE between 09:00 - 10:00. Comprising 14 skeins.

Everyone living under the flight lines will be very familiar with the morning and evening, plus some nocturnal calling. 

This is a short clip of a typical skein heading from the Fylde roost to inland feeding areas.

Later there were 57 and 120 heading south at 10:30 and 13:40.

No sign of any Brent geese in quick check of the skeer corner, just before dusk.

The cold snap starts to bite

Overnight frost left the ponds largely ice covered. Light northerly breeze and plenty of sunshine.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Pete managed to read a white Darvic ringed Black-headed gull roosting on the main pond ice. It's worth checking this pond, which has a good history of hosting roosting ringed birds when ice covered.

Wildfowl pretty much as yesterday, but more concentrated in the ice free areas of the "no swimming" pond.

This is a nice clip of a female Gadwall dabbling and a female Shoveler "shovelling". Showing the different depths these species feed here.

Red Nab/saltmarsh approaching high water

Common Snipe 12 flushed when the tide reached  the small sea grass islands just south of the saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 2

Rock Pipit 1

The one legged Redshank is still around and seems to be doing well

It tends to feed in different areas to the other Redshank, presumably because it's feeding options are restricted. Today, it seems to have come across the apparently ubiquitous small shrimps.

Heysham Skeer 

Pale-bellied Brent goose 13 I wasn't really expecting any today as it was very late in the day before the weed bed in the skeer corner was exposed. Sure enough as I walked out about 14:15 there were none. But looking back at 14:50 there were 13. But they soon took flight and, surprisingly, flew low to the north, last seen passing the Stone Jetty. Perhaps the large numbers over the last few days have stripped the easy pickings. I'll have a look, when I can get there when nothing is feeding.

Eider 76

Great Crested Grebe 2

Knot c1000

Brent continue to increase

Light NE breeze eased to almost nothing during the day. Light overnight frost left thin ice on the shallow pools and puddles, but the ponds remained ice free. Sun for most of the day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Full circuit.

Mute 3 adult 3+1 juvenile 

Coot 6

Moorhen 13

Gadwall 26

Mallard 4

Teal 4

Shoveler 5

Tufted 1

Little Grebe 2

Water Rail 3 squealing 

This is a nice comparison shot of a mature male Shoveler in full breeding plumage.
Plus another male at an intermediate stage.

Pink-Footed goose 15 + 53 north 08:40. 58 south 10:10

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 1

Cormorant 4 (this is the most at any one time, they feed on the main and "no swimming" ponds and there is a constant turn over)

Raven 1

Stock Dove 1

Goldcrest 1

Heysham Skeer mid afternoon (4hr ebb)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 34 - 1 could see there were quite a few in the skeer corner from Knowlys Rd, when I set off 13:30. At 13:45 a flock of 5 flew in low from the south. 13:50 4 more came in high from the east, presumably cut overland from somewhere on the river. By 14:00 there were 34 birds feeding, but they were early, and presumably hungry, so they took to up ending to reach the still quite deep weed.

When I was leaving the skeer, they were feeding in the same location, but now on the mud. There were still at least 34.

Eider, much easier to count today on the calm sea - 107 

Great Crested Grebe 4

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Knot c2000

When I got on the skeer, the water hadn't uncovered the Knot's favoured feeding area, so they were milling around. When they are relaxed, they can ignore you. Twice during this clip, I was completely surrounded by them. This is what it's like inside a Knot flock.

And these were relaxed birds, the tempo is greatly increased whenever the flock is spooked.

Storm Bella, barely provides

The strong overnight SW winds quickly eased and moved around to west. Very heavy showers, most with hail.

Pete managed to check the incoming lunchtime ferry. Unfortunately in the middle of a squall, so some birds my have been missed.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult

Kittiwake 3 adult plus 1 juvenile

Otherwise along the wall, there was nothing other than the regular birds mid morning, with just Black-Headed gulls on the outflows.

Great Black-Backed gull, in first winter plumage, in the harbour 

One thing about walking along the sea wall when there are heavy showers, you can always see them coming.

You don't need to be a metrologist to recognise this as a rain,
 or in this case hail, cloud!

Heysham skeer 

Pale-bellied Brent goose. 24 seen on the way out, on return there were 29. I didn't think the extra 5 had just come in, just overlooked first time as they were away from the others. These also included two red and blue ringed birds, almost certainly the regular Canadian birds.

Knot only about 250

Eider there were 12 close in but a distant flock were hard to estimate due to the choppy sea, but at least another 50.

These 6 were close in, and still not easy to count!

As ever, gulls are never far from them, hoping to pinch any crabs that they may surface with when feeding.

This, futile attempt was actually from Friday, when the sea was a bit calmer

Shrimps still providing a bounty

The strong SW wind strengthened throughout the day and during the evening. Hopefully there will be something blown in tomorrow. Some lightish showers in the morning, but longer and heavier by the afternoon.

There are a lot of birds taking advantage of what appears to be larger than usual volumes of small shrimps. I (MD) think the shrimp are most likely to be at the first adult stage, probably just over 1cm, not including the antenna. Before that the larvae form part of the zooplankton and by the next adult stages I wouldn't expect them to be in such shallow water. All the instances below were recorded on the ebbing tide.

On the 11th and 12th December I showed the Black-Headed gulls and Oystercatcher taking advantage of them. This clip of Redshanks feasting is from earlier this week.

This is just beyond the outlet of a natural drain, the shrimps leaving the drain will be attracted to the shallow edge here. This is because the small breaking waves disturb the sediment, providing both food and cover, although the value of the "cover" in this instance is outweighed by the ease of accessibility!

Today it was much wilder, but a similar scenario played out. 

This is the drain from Red Nab as it flows along the edge of No.2 outflow. The gulls here normally line up along the beach facing the sea, picking up any tit bits left by the tide.

Today they were in the shallow water, shrimping.

Even some of the Wigeon appeared to get in on the act.

Also on south wall:

Wigeon c180

Redshank c150

Rock Pipit 3

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Gadwall 25

Shoveller 4

Little Grebe 1

No ice today and yesterday's additional Mute and Mallard had returned to whence they came.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 22/23 in the SE corner of Heysham skeer at 15:00

Christmas Day goose

It was freezing again last night resulting in the ponds being 75% ice covered. Lightish wind during the day but starting to freshen from the west by evening, and set to continue increasing overnight.

Just time for a quick stroll around the skeer with a check of Middleton on the way home.

Heysham skeer low water 14:45

Pale-bellied Brent goose - at first I thought there were just 25 in the corner of the skeer. These comprised a group of 5 with the Canadian ringed birds, plus another group of 20 initially on the water, but later came ashore to feed. But still separate from the other 5.

These are the 25 birds, showing the location looking from the skeer

As I was walking off the skeer, all 25 were still there, then I inadvertently spooked another 6 that were on one of the inshore pools. Fortunately, they quickly joined the others and continued feeding.

So the new high for this winter has almost doubled from yesterday's 16 to 31.

Not sure about tomorrow, the tide height is good, but they are not as keen to come over in rough weather. 

Eider c80

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Great Crested Grebe 2

Little Egret 4

Yesterday I mentioned a clip of an Oystercatcher opening a mussel. They normally fly away to open them, I always assumed it was a messy job and they risked being robbed. But, this bird decided to open a small mussel were it was found. It seemed remarkably easy and only produced a small morsel. 

Presumably larger mussels require more effort, but provide more reward.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute 2+1 adult and 3+1 juvenile on and around the main pond

Gadwall 24

Teal 3

Tufted 4

Mallard 6

c30 Black Headed gulls were resting on the main pond ice. No rings

7 of the BHG, there looks a lot more when every bird looks like two!

The Star(s) of Bethlehem

A cold north west wind, a ground frost overnight leaving the shallow pools and puddles with a thin covering of ice. The sun shone for most of the day, so very nice if you wrapped up.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 16.

Howard checked the skeer corner early in the ebbing tide (09:00). There were already 16 birds waiting for the weed beds to become available. The two Canadian ringed birds were with them. These three pictures from Howard - Thanks.

Note the Oystercatcher with a mussel on this picture,
the next quiet day (tomorrow?) I'll show you one opening a mussel.

I went down at low water (13:50), all 16 were still there.

Eider c60

The South Lake hills were snow covered, so I took a seasonal shot.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Gadwall 17

Mallard 2

Shoveller 4 (1 female)

Teal 2

Little Grebe 2

Woodcock 1

In hindsight, I should have taken a shot of a Robin.
But I like this shot of a male Bullfinch, so it will have to do.

Today's title refers to the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. They were closest on Tuesday, but today was the first clear evening. This alignment only occurs every 400 years (last one 1623), there would have been one around the birth of Christ, leading some scholars to speculate that this could have been the "Star of Bethlehem". I remain skeptical, the ancients may not have had optics or knew what planets actually were, but they knew every point of light in the night sky and the movement of the "wanderers" across them.

Even so it's worth a look.

This one is looking over the trees before Red Nab - the trees are just visible (trust me)

This is the "detail" - you can just make out Saturn's rings (the right hand blob).

They are visible, low in the SW as soon as it is dark enough after sunset, these were 17:00. But a bit further apart every day

Well, Christmas Eve! I would like to be able to wish you all a "merry" Christmas, but I'm afraid that merriment is not really practical this year. But it will be a happy Christmas for everyone, if we get through safely. So:

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Malcolm

A surprise guest

Fresh NE wind with heavy showers in the morning, the rain eased a little by the afternoon.

Pale-bellied Brent - just a quick check from the promenade with x10 binoculars located at least 5 in the skeer corner at 12:45

Middleton Nature Reserve early afternoon (MD)

Gadwall 15

Shoveller 2 (1 male, 1 female)

Tufted 1 (male)

Goosander 1 (male) I think this is the first ever record of one on the reserve ponds. Goosander are barely annual here, but there have been more sightings than usual this year.

This is on the "no swimming" pond

It didn't dive at all, but kept dipping its head in the water as though drinking. Hopefully it had been fishing and was washing one down, there are plenty of small Perch in this pond. It does look like it's trying to digest something.

First seen 13:15 and still on the pond at 14:15, but I saw it flying north as I drove away. Probably just a quick stop off after the morning's heavy rain, but hopefully it may return, the red headed Goosander seen on Saturday was flying from the direction of this pond.

Finally, I'm not a botanist, but I'm pretty sure that December is early for these Hazel catkins 

My (albeit elderly) reference book says:
"A sure sign of spring"!

A more clinical approach

A light east breeze with some warm sunshine made it quite pleasant.

Heysham Skeer - low water 11:30 (MD)

Eider c60

Great Crested Grebe 2

Knot c2000

Pale-belled Brent goose 14. 

The Brent hadn't arrived when I went down, so I took the opportunity to check out what they are feeding on.

"Sea lettuce" in the corner of the skeer.

I think this is sea lettuce, I'd be happy to be corrected if anyone knows differently. Either way, it looks more appetising than the gut weed available out from the children's play area.

Gut weed on shore out from the play area.

The Brent arrived about 10:30. I also parked briefly on Knowlys Road at 15:20 and could see all 14 on the water just out from the children's play area. I would expect them to be around for most of the day again tomorrow.

Today's title refers to a more clinical and effective Peregrine attack. 

The Knot were feeding on the skeer when a low flying Peregrine flushed them. The Peregrine shot up and I lost it, but knew where it would be heading next. The Knot knew too, you can see wave after wave ripple through the flock as each bird tried to be in the middle. Twelve seconds into this video clip the Peregrine comes in from the top, just left of centre. In real time it looked like it had missed, but I knew it had got one, as there were no further attacks and the Knot quickly settled back to feeding - they knew it was over, for now at least.

This still from the video shows the point just before the kill. The arrow is pointing to the fated bird, which presumably had either weaker instincts or muscles than the others. You can also see the Peregrine's tail and wings spread to brake its speed to match the Knot 

This is typical of Peregrine strikes on Knot here. Suggesting that it is either an experienced adult or the juvenile are learning quickly.

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.