The wind turns and more stuff starting to move

The west winds moved to the north, but remained light. Overcast with sunny intervals, but remained dry all day.

Jean managed a session from Heysham Head this morning:

07:40-0920 (all north unless stated)

Meadow Pipit 55

Skylark 2

Siskin 2

Goldfinch 12

Chaffinch 11

Linnet 18

Pied Wagtail 6

Raven 2

Black-headed Gull - a gang of 20 floated then flew into the Bay

Pink-footed goose 70 high to north 10:20.

Low tide channel and Heysham skeer 

Pale-bellied Brent 4

Red-breasted Merganser 18

Great-crested Grebe 11

Eider 55 around the skeer but the ones nearer Morecambe weren’t counted.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

A very enjoyable walk around the reserve in the afternoon (MD)

It started with this, slightly bedraggled looking, male Kestrel on the office roof.

Nothing particularly rare today, the best being:

Chiffchaff  2 singing

But a good variety of species:

Tits - Great, Blue and Long-tailed (I'm sure there would have been Coal around too)

Corvids - Jay, Carrion crow, Magpie

Finches - Green, Gold, Bull, Chaffinch 

Robin, Dunnock, Wren

Wood pigeon

Pheasant 

Little Egret

Teal

Moorhen 

Great Spotted Woodpecker - this female was calling

Insects:

There were several queen bees flying, not looking for flowers, but nest sites. The ones I managed clear views of, appeared to be Buff-tailed bumblebees.

This doe Roe Deer was on the northern boundary

Apart from lack of antlers, which the males will be growing again now, you can tell
that this is a female by the tuft of hair (it's not a true tail) growing from the white rump.

This is how I saw her before she saw me, her head was down feeding. The roaring in the background is the traffic on the road to the ferries.

In this clip she sees me, has a good look, and decides I'm not worth bothering about, which pleased me greatly. You can hear bees buzzing during the Mexican standoff.

 If you avoid sudden clothing and sudden movements you can be easily ignored. A trait that I quite like! She didn't look pregnant, so may have a fawn(s) under cover nearby, so I left her in peace and returned the way I came.

Plenty of passerines around

The light winds continue from the west. Very misty to start with, gradually clearing during the morning, with the sun not completely breaking through till lunchtime. It then remained mainly sunny all afternoon.

An early check of the foreshore and saltmarsh to see if anything was grounded located just 1Rock Pipit!

There was grounded stuff just inland though, the best being:

Lesser Redpoll 4 - near the pond behind Red Nab but immediately flew into the power Station grounds.

Chiffchaff  2 singing

There were lots of birds in this small area from Red Nab to Moneyclose Lane. So I decided to list all the species seen in a 10 minute amble along the tracks (MD).

Resulting in a reasonably impressive 19 species, without counting the gulls and waders passing overhead.

Tits - Great, Coal, Blue, Long-Tailed

Finches - Green, Gold, Redpoll, Bull, Chaffinch

Corvids - Carrion Crow, Jay - no Magpies despite several along Moneyclose 

Thrushes - Song, Blackbird

Chiffchaff 

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Wood Pigeon 

Robin, Dunnock, Wren

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute swan - 6 adult plus 3 juvenile on the main pond.

Plus two pairs nest building on two of the other ponds

One of these has a blue ring,
it seemed that everything I photographed today was ringed!

Canada goose 2 - still on the peninsula on the main pond

Coot 3

Moorhen 7

Mallard 5

Teal 4

Tufted duck 1 male

Pheasant 2 males calling (I can't bring myself to cal it singing!)

Chiffchaff - at least three singing males (one near the bottom car park), plus one silent bird

Chiffchaff 

This fine male Chaffinch was calling. Plus a Chiffchaff singing at the start of the clip.

Goldcrest - at least 1

Goldcrest

The Bullfinch are still eating the tree buds, these look like blossom buds, I don't know the species. A wren provides a couple of bursts of song.

Female Bullfinch 

There have been lots of frogs around, but this is the first toad I've seen this year.

It looked like it was warming itself on the road surface, between the marshes,
probably after emerging from a pile of landscaping chippings close by.

Mergansers displaying - unfortunately to wrong species

Light NW wind, hazy early on then becoming bright and warm in the sunshine.

North shore low water channels

Eider 210

Great Crested grebe 11

Red-breasted Merganser 16

This group of 8 merganser were quite agitated and the arrival of a male Eider prompted at least two of the males to display towards it.

It's a dicey place for a good looking Eider

Presumably seen as a threat more than a suitor (MD)

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Goldcrest at least 2

South shore

Wigeon c100

Rock Pipits 3 (1 saltmarsh, 1 foreshore and 1 Red Nab - lighthouse area not checked)

This is the Red Nab bird

Skylark 3 north

Grey Plover 1 - Kevin mentioned that the bird he saw here earlier in the year appeared to be limping. Today's bird definitely was.

Despite the bad leg, it managed to over winter successfully 

Black Redstarts move through

The winds still from the west, light at first but freshening later. Very low cloud with fine rain/mist early on. The sun broke through mid morning, after that it remained mainly sunny all day.

Heysham skeer - low water 07:30

It was very misty at this time, so only the close in stuff was visible.

Eider c50

Red-breasted Merganser 5. Three males and two females

The unattached male appeared attracted to a passing Eider

Pale-bellied Brent goose 27. They arrived at 07:20 and landed directly onto the middle of the skeer. Later, as I was returning there were two groups of 7 and 15 searching for weed along the north side of the skeer. Possibly the other 5 were still around, I didn't go too close.

This "atmospheric" shot shows the two groups.

There were two birds just out of frame in the first group.
The mid grey band, beyond the rocks, is the promenade and associated hotels etc.

South shore - high water 13:00

At 11:30 this Grey seal was showing at No.2 outflow

Just after this shot it dropped under the surface, so I (MD) was scanning the sea waiting for it to resurface. When I spotted two small, dark birds flying low over the water heading west parallel to the wall. I got my binoculars on them in time to confirm that they were

Black Redstart 2 female type. They weren't far out, c25m, but already past me when I spotted them and even further away by the time I was satisfied of their identity (fortunately with this species a rear view is all you need). So no chance of a picture. Kevin and Alison, then later Alan made a thorough check of likely areas further down the wall, but they were not relocated.

Rock Pipits 4 (Red Nab, sea wall, lighthouse  and waterfall)

Meadow Pipits 3-4 heading north

Common snipe 1

Jack Snipe 1

Both the above flushed from the saltmarsh by the rising tide - ref Alan Larsen.

Wigeon still plenty around, c100 today.

A couple of today's birds from Kevin:

Knot

Male Kestrel 

Not quite as uplifting as yesterday's Chiffchaff,
but this frogspawn in my garden pond is another sign of spring

Five warblers, two species.

The moderate WNW winds continue. Mainly sunny but some overcast periods during the day.

South shore

Wigeon only 62 seen today

Rock Pipit 3 (1 Red Nab, 2 near rocky outcrop on the east side of saltmarsh. Lighthouse area not checked)

Grey Plover 2

A couple of shots of one of the Grey Plover

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

It's been a while since I checked Middleton. It was a very pleasant stroll today

Mute swan 7 adult plus 3 immature - all on the main pond, I had expected the resident breeding pair to be on the "no swimming" pond, but that was deserted apart from 2 Moorhen.

Canada goose 2

The Canada geese seem to be making themselves at home

Coot 5

Moorhen 6

Mallard 6

Cetti's warbler 1 male singing on central marsh

Chiffchaff at least 4 including at least 2 singing males

This one was in the sun, but wouldn't stay still long enough for a decent photograph, but it was nice to hear this archetypal sound of spring!

This one provides good views, unfortunately looking into the light,  it appears to be watching another bird, and I'm not convinced its bill opens in sync to every chiff and chaff.

You might be able to pick out a few Bullfinch calls on both the above clips.

At one point I could hear two different Chiffchaff singing in different areas, so at least two males. But there could easily have been more, at one point near the golf course there was always one singing somewhere. Several sightings of none singing birds, but they were all quite mobile, but I was confident of a minimum of 4 different birds.

Plenty of eyes, but not much to see

The winds eased off and started just north of west again. Heavy overnight rain, but the day started dry and the rain held off till lunchtime.

Summary from various sea watchers, from WhatsApp via Pete:

Gannet 2

Red-Throated Diver 2

Kittiwake 2

Eider 234

Red-breasted Merganser 11

Both the above floating in with the tide

Pale-bellied Brent goose 9 Heysham Village bay early on (ref PC) then flew south, they didn't go to Red Nab

Four Eider heading out - note the much calmer sea conditions 

Wigeon 190 on Red Nab

Rock Pipit 1 Red Nab plus 1 displaying near waterfall

The Polish ringed Black-Headed gull is still hanging around the harbour 
This is the latest sighting so far of this bird in spring

This young Cormorant on Red Nab, looked to be worn out by the storms

The wrong sort of wind!

If anything, this morning's wind was even stronger than yesterday, but it had drifted slightly north to WNW, not much, but enough not to drive the sea birds in to the bay. Some sunshine with some very heavy squalls.

So far, the only evidence of movement is an "Auk" and a Red-Throated Diver out. Plus a couple of adult Kittiwake on the sea beyond the outflows.

Rock Pipit 4 (1 saltmarsh, 1 lighthouse and 2 waterfall)

Common Snipe 1

Jack Snipe 4

Both snipe records the result of the tide flushing them from saltmarsh. There were almost certainly more as it was only half covered when checked.

Pale-bellied Brent 3 - a similar pattern to yesterday. They came from north side, fed of Red Nab for about 30 minutes before moving south.

Wigeon 168 - feeding in the channel next to No.2 outflow. 

They were feeding on or just under the water surface, so I guessed they were feeding on wind driven broken weed. This still from the above clip confirms that.

You can see a piece of broken weed in the bill of the bottom left female 

If you ever wondered what a "heavy squall" looks like,
this is one over Blackpool, probably hail.

These South Lakes hills seemed to turn white instantly,
but probably just low cloud lifting off them. 

I think this is a great shot by Janet. It's the fishing platform just inshore of the skeer.

It shows all today's weather elements. High wind, black skies but bright sunshine.
Please open this image to really appreciate it.

Great Northern diver tops another good sea watch

The winds continue from WSW not quite as strong as yesterday, but enough to drive plenty of seabirds into the bay. Heavy, but isolated showers, with some periods of bright sunshine.

Sea watch report by Jean.

Today's seawatch 0850-1050 produced:

Kittiwake 219 

Gannet 38 (all adults like yesterday)

Great Northern Diver -1 out

Red-throated Diver - 3 out

Razorbill/Guillemot - 1 out

Guillemot - 1

Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 15 flew towards Red Nab at 0900hrs

The Brent did arrive at Red Nab, but didn't stay long

They headed off south just after this at 09:30. This clip shows just how well developed the sea was. Even in this weather, they find time to bicker. 

This clip is just a few of the Kittiwakes heading out. Not very clear, but provides a sense of today's movement.

Mediterranean gull at least one 2nd calendar year bird patrolling the south sea wall

There is no doubt that at least one of the birds swirling around was a Med, but the lack
of a face mask on this bird, could mean that it is one of the many Common gull around.
It was frustratingly difficult following birds in the wind. The jury is out. (MD).

Rock Pipits 5 (1 saltmarsh, 2 Red Nab, 1 lighthouse and 1 waterfall)

Oh dear, it looks like I'm (MD) slipping into ships and boats mode again, sorry......

...but I do like this shot. This young Herring gull looks to have a whelk egg cluster.
They don't normally bother with these, but the other two wanted a share.
(I really wasn't just photographing the ship)

This is the Pilot boat it's still in the harbour here, but it's rough.

It was going out, presumably to rendezvous with an incoming vessel. To minimise the storms impact it followed directly behind the StenaLine going out. But even in its wake it was still a rough ride.

It was still right behind the StenaLine at least three miles out and still no sign of another vessel. I wouldn't want to be the Pilot climbing from the Pilot boat onto an incoming ship in any weather. But today......

Bonxie best of a decent wind blown bunch

The west wind was really strong all night, accompanied by very heavy and prolonged rain. The winds eased slightly and were WSW by the morning. Fortunately the rain held off for most of the day, with periods of sunshine.

Pete and Jean needed to be in the area today so managed a sea watch in the morning:

Kittiwake 316 (in 8 or 9 flocks) into Bay

Gannet 50 in and then out

Common Scoter 12 (10 +2)

Great Skua (Bonxie) 1

Fulmar 1

Great Crested Grebe 1 out

I was fortunate enough to see some of the Gannet on my walk along the south wall, although all my sightings were from the lighthouse area (MD).

There was some weak sunshine, and fortunately adult Gannet are large and mainly white making them relatively easy to spot in the sun, plus their distinctive markings, make them easy to recognise. Even so, they are normally a long way out, and this is a typical view.

You will have to open this images to see
two Gannet, plus another, less distinctive, species.

But luckily a few of the Gannet went out of the bay closer in, and I managed a few more detailed shots:

These were just inshore of the buoys out from the north wall

These were even closer in

I always feel that pictures, even ones showing a rough sea, give the impression of tranquility. It wasn't so, it was impossible to stand still. I've added this short clip of the above two birds, not for aesthetic reasons, but to convey the sense of what it was like. The blue post in this clip is the light post in front of the lighthouse.

Rock Pipits 4 - one each, foreshore, Red Nab, lighthouse and waterfall 

Janet also checked out the north side later in the day and took these pictures:

This Turnstone has just found an invertebrate 

This Lesser Blacked-Backed gull has a metal ring

Jay in trees near the end of the dog walk path

As Janet said, Dunnock are often overlooked,
but have attractive plumage when seen in detail 

There is always something to see.

Singing in the rain

The south wind started brisk and steadily freshened all day, by evening it was drifting round to the west and quite strong. It is set to continue getting much stronger and to continue into the weekend. Steady rain in the morning also increased during the day.

Not a day for a casual stroll, the only stuff so far is from my early excursion (MD)

Rock Pipit 2 feeding together on Half Moon bay beach plus 2 on Red Nab, 1 chasing the other off.

Wigeon still plenty (c70) on Red Nab, but significantly reduced from recent counts

Male Greenfinch singing (wheezing) near pond behind Red Nab

Jack Snipe 1 - accidentally flushed from the perimeter of the saltmarsh. They are normally only found in the margins when moved out by a spring tide, or when the body of the saltmarsh is frozen. Neither of those today.

So, possibly a new arrival, or just possibly they actually prefer the terrain of the margins, but are normally dissuaded by the caravan park residents regularly walking by.

Reed Bunting on the saltmarsh 
This picture actually from yesterday, but what looked to be the same bird present today.

This Dunnock by the saltmarsh, seemed full of the joys of spring, but I suspect it will be last time for a few days!

Finally, I managed to totally misinterpret yesterday's picture of the tracks in the puddle. I looked again this morning, no sign of the tracks, I wasn't expecting any. But when I examined the white marking paint it was sound. The bottom of the puddle was light brown as yesterday, but underneath the thin scrim of mud there is bright white limestone dust from limestone gravel recently laid close by.

So the bird prints were caused by the birds feet removing the thin mud covering, revealing the limestone dust below. How this happens so cleanly I can't explain, but I am back to a large bird walking very precisely, one foot in front of the other, still a pheasant most likely.

This is the detail from yesterday's picture.
I should have worked out the correct answer by looking at the brown film over the white dashes!
Still, it is a bit bizarre.