Brents behaving.......for a change!

A fresh WNW wind gradually made its way round to north by evening. Mainly bright with occasional light showers.

South shore morning ebbing tide

From Shaun:

Kingfisher showing well and feeding on Red Nab

Wigeon  136

Also:

Shelduck c50

Lapwing 31

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 4

Little Egret, looking particularly Gandalf like

Rock Pipit 1 on foreshore

North shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 33

I just had a quick look in passing from Knowlys Rd at 10:30. Only 4 visible near the children's play area.

Later, when Shaun checked there were 28, none with colour rings.

I walked passed the children's play area at 14:15, initially the Brent were spread around the rocks further out from the area that I showed yesterday (MD). The good news is that there is also plenty of gut weed there too, but not ideal for the Brent when the tide is out as most of it is on the rocks and mud (i.e. not floating in pools which makes for easy grazing). They must have been recently spooked as they quickly made their way back to the same area as yesterday, where there are plenty of pools. So, even more good news, they are now not leaving the general area when spooked by walkers, although I suppose a particularly tenacious dog would force them further.

This clip shows one small group heading back, you can see one of the Canadian ringed birds already feeding  (only one showing here, but both were there and the first to return - these are obviously very experienced birds for the area)

A dog walker had already passed without bothering them, so I knew I was ok on the beach near the sea wall. Yesterday, I said this is the area where ground water seeps out, perhaps an understatement at the moment. This clip shows just one of several "springs" of ground water, feeding the gut weed and ultimately the Brent with essential minerals.

As I left the area, 26 Brent were feeding, there were four additional birds on the water in the skear corner. They had gone on my return and by 15:45 there were 33 feeding at the children's play area. 

One of today's birds was the first juvenile that I have noticed this year, you can see it in the middle of the shot below.

First winter Pale-bellied Brent centre, with the pale wing bars.

Other stuff:

From Shaun

Shag 1 juvenile feeding off Heysham Head

Red-breasted Merganser 14

Eider 154

Also

Great Crested grebe 3

There was a flock of feeding Knot today c500

Emboldened Brent

A fresh warm(ish) west wind, overcast all day but only the occasional light shower.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick early check of the main ponds to check the gulls for rings, before the ice melted......to late, all the ice had already completely gone,

Mute 2 adult 9 cygnet 

Mallard 9

Gadwall 34 (30 back on "no swimming" pond)

Moorhen 5

North shore

Pete and Jean had a look from Knowlys Rd in the morning's ebbing tide.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 30 - none with colour rings

Shag 1 juvenile 

Eider 167

Pintail 1 out

Single figures Great Crested grebe and Red-breasted Merganser 

I had a check at low water in the afternoon (MD)

Didn't see anything on the sea, not covered above. 

Waders were mainly Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank with a few Turnstone but no Knot.

Pale-bellied Brent goose now 33, but it wasn't obvious what was going on. As I was walking out they were all in the skear corner, but looking agitated. Then, without being spooked they flew towards the children's play area, this group of 12 first then the others in smaller groups.

The above clip was 13:45, it was 14:40 by the time I was heading back. Still no Brent in the corner, so I scanned the rocks around the children's play area, the Brent were feeding just out from the promenade on the north side of the play area. This despite dog walkers regularly passing by. As I walked a bit closer three different dog walkers passed. The geese stopped feeding but stayed where they were. This clip is really is just to show the location, n.b. I don't think many of these would have been visible from Knowlys Rd, as they were so close in,  but great views from the promenade.

This is the point when they were finally spooked, I saw another dog walker approaching but didn't see exactly what tipped the balance this time, presumably the dog came too close. They all flew back to the skear corner.

By this time it was 15:05, so they had been feeding here for an hour and 20 minutes. At least it gave me an opportunity to have a close look at the feeding area.

This is the lowest point on the land side and lots of ground water seeps out onto the rocks. When I checked this area at the end of autumn there was very little gut weed here, now it was quite lush and lots floating in small pools. Obviously the lack of ground water in late summer had resulted in a dearth of weed, but it is good to see it can still grow in winter conditions.

This is the gut weed growing where the Brent were feeding.

That said, it is a bit of a worry that the Brent are having to feed so close in, so early in the winter, I called them emboldened in the title, I hope it is just that and not just hungry! As I walked away I saw all 33 birds returning to the same feeding area. It has to be a good viewing opportunity here from the promenade, my advise would be to choose a wet weekday when dog walking will be at a minimum.

A fragmented day

Freezing overnight and into mid morning, despite being overcast. But as the east breeze switched to SW it started warming and light rain began after lunch.

Nothing went to plan today, every time I set off for a walk something else cropped up and foreshortened my walk. Still it was very pleasant in the cold dry morning (MD)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick check of the main ponds, primarily to see if any of the gulls resting on the ice were ringed....they weren't.

The "no swimming" pond was completely frozen over, but the ducks and swans maintained an open patch in the middle of the main pond. That would be fine for the Mute and Mallard that are happy to waddle over the ice to the bank to be fed by visitors. But the weed here wouldn't support the Gadwall for long. Fortunately, the current freezing temperatures are over for the time being.

Some of the wildfowl maintaining an open area on the main pond.
Meanwhile the gulls are happy to stand on the ice

Gadwall 21

Mallard 11

Moorhen 2

Think they're all on this clip

I hope if we get another cold snap, they do as they did last winter and keep a patch of the "no swimming" pond open, there is so much more weed available there for the Gadwall.

South shore

Just time for a look at Red Nab and foreshore at low water.

Wigeon c100 - it's unusual to see so many on Red Nab at low water. They were feeding in the fresh water run off when something spooked them all, allowing a rough count. They only went to Red Nab rocks, but would have returned to the fresh water soon as the gut weed on the rocks was frozen to them.

Shelduck c130 feeding out from foreshore 

Lapwing 55 resting on the frozen mud

Common Snipe 1 flew from slipway

Greenfinch 2 at Red Nab

Rock Pipit 2 on foreshore 

Song Thrush 1 near slipway 

North shore late afternoon 

I had planned to walk down to waterline, but didn't have time, so just a quick check from the promenade at Four Lane Ends

Pale-bellied Brent goose 5 (at least)

Red-breasted Merganser 5 (at least)

Mild and wet tomorrow, and again I haven't much time, I'll have to plan more carefully!

Skearing in the snow

 Light ESE breeze till lunchtime moved to ENE in the afternoon. Snow started late morning, but quickly started to melt away by mid afternoon.

First an update of the Pale-bellied Brent on the north shore yesterday. Initially we thought there were two new colour ringed combinations, but in fact it was just the low bright sun highlighting the white letters on a blue ring, making the ring look white. Fortunately, Howard's photographs cannot be fooled. If you open these images you can clearly read all three of the ringed birds.

Some of yesterday's Pale-bellied Brent near the rocks out from 
the children's play  area

These are the regular Canadian arctic ringed pair

We are awaiting the history for this white ringed bird

Today:

Heysham skear low water 11:50, 3.2m! (MD)

This "height" of tide barely exposes the skear, and the snow storm started when I reached the shore. To begin with the snow was very cold and dry and just bounced of my camera and binoculars, so I went for a couple of atmospheric shots. But it quickly turned to the more typical wet soft Heysham snow, so all optics stashed (unless something special had turned up)

Pale-bellied Brent 7 in the skear corner - all seven in this clip.

Red-breasted Merganser 8 (6 + 2)

Great Crested Grebe 3

Eider c60. The snow in this clip looks like rain, but it was very dry snow, you can hear it bouncing off my camera. The male Eider are in full display mode now and are trying to woo the available females. You can clearly see the pink flush on their breasts.

Knot c500

There isn't much skear to walk around on these tides, particularly when you are avoiding half of it so as not to disturb the Brent. It was a short walk, so I checked the two main ponds on Middleton Nature Reserve on my way home.

This was the no swimming pond at lunchtime, two odd things, one fairly easy to explain, the other requiring a bit of thought.

A deserted "no swimming" pond

The first oddity is in the caption - deserted! It is easy to explain at one level, as all the birds were on the main pond

Mute 2+9 cygnets 

Gadwall 21

Mallard 14

Moorhen 6

The main pond was also largely covered in thin ice (not thick enough to support the Black-Headed Gulls who rest on it when it is thicker). But there was plenty of open water, but there was also a corner of open water on the "no swimming" pond, and last winter it was that corner that all the wildfowl worked together to keep open.

The other puzzle is that there was no snow covering the ice, on both ponds plus my garden pond at home. Most times when it snows the pond ice is the only surface that holds the snow. What was different today?

The only answer that I can come up with was that today's snow was so cold, perhaps it changed directly to clear ice in contact with the pond ice, rather than remaining an opaque snow ice crystal. It's the only theory I have, any other thoughts/knowledge would be welcome (MD)

The snow here today wasn't much more than a distraction, but inland it was much worse. Pete was snowed in at home. So there may be some displaced birds around.

Brents defy the wind

The very strong overnight NW winds continued throughout the morning, easing over the afternoon. Again, a surprisingly dry day, with plenty of sunshine, but bitterly cold.

South shore

I did a couple of quick checks in the morning and again when the wind had eased somewhat in the afternoon. A marked shift in behaviour, in the morning all the shore birds were sheltering in the lee of something. Some feeding but most just waiting out the storm. By the afternoon, there was a frantic clamour to feed before the quickly approaching night.

Morning shift:

Shelduck c100 feeding just in front of the foreshore, unfortunately too close for their comfort when I walked along, as they took flight, the wind caught them and lifted them high.

Shelduck caught by the wind, fortunately they landed further
out and continued feeding in a "sheltered" shallow drain

Wigeon, just a few sheltering behind No.2 outflow

Rock Pipit 1 on foreshore

Mediterranean gulls 2 adult sheltering amongst the rocks on the seaward side of the beach near wooden jetty.

You really need some south in the wind to drive seabirds into the bay, even so, with such a strong overnight wind, there is always a chance of something unexpected. But I wasn't expecting this unexpected land bird (MD)

Kingfisher 1 briefly on Red Nab, before flying west along the sea wall, I suspect it then flew into the Power Station grounds.

Kingfisher - it flew off just after this shot

The afternoon look didn't find anything new apart from a lot more Wigeon. This short clip demonstrates how frantic the activity was around No.2 outflow. Most of these are Wigeon and Black-Headed gulls, but also a few waders.

As ever when there are plenty of birds around, the predators aren't far away. This young Peregrine was searching for opportunities.

North shore 

Howard checked the north shore, and despite my assertion yesterday, that Brent are reluctant to come over in high winds, he located 21, although at least some of them did not arrive until the wind had dropped. 

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 21. Initially 12 in the channel out from Heysham Village, later joined by 9 more. They all then made their way towards the rocks near the children's play area. They were still there at 16:00.

Three of the birds were ringed. Hopefully pictures and possibly some details for tomorrow's post.

Finally the first snow picture this winter, it looks nice, but I wouldn't want to be up there today, although I know that some, hardier souls, would.

Snow on the South Lakes hills

Time to hunker down!

The strong overnight west wind eased slightly and shifted to NW. it became strong again by evening and forecast to become very strong overnight. Surprisingly, it remained dry today, with quite a lot of sunshine.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a brief check of the two main ponds showed little change.

Mute 2 adult plus 9 cygnet 

Moorhen 5

Mallard 10

Teal 1

Gadwall 36 (34 on "no swimming" pond plus 2 on main pond.

These are some of the Gadwall, still having to upend to reach the weed.

South shore

A walk along the sea wall at low water, isn't the best time to visit, but it was the only time I had (MD).

Greenfinch 10 near Red Nab

Shelduck 121 feeding on mud out from Red Nab

Wigeon, just a few starting to gather near No.1 outflow, c40

Mediterranean Gull 1 adult on shore near No.2 outflow - this first clip is just to show the location plus the amount of gulls currently feeding on No.2 outflow (there were none feeding on No.1).

The drain it is in, is fed by the freshwater culvert from Red Nab, and although it will be brackish at this point, it is still better than bathing in sea water.

By the time I was heading back, it had switched to the unsheltered side for a blow dry!

Mediterranean gull, with Black-Headed gull in foreground 

North shore

Just a quick check of the Children's play area in the afternoon, failed to locate any Brent Geese, not a surprise, they tend to stay on the west side in harsh winds. Plenty of waders trying to avoid both the wind and the increasingly close walkers.

Oystercatcher c2,000

Knot c400

Redshank c100

Dunlin 20

Turnstone 20

Grey Plover 1

Ringed Plover 10

If you look closely at the Knot at the start of this clip, you can see  one with a yellow flag (you may need to watch in slow motion). I had thought there were two with white rings too, but probably just a trick of the low light.  No chance of me reading rings at this range in these conditions.

Unfortunately, they were all flushed by a blissfully unaware walker just after this clip

Another old visitor pops by again (perhaps)

Cold WNW winds, overnight frost and a mainly sunny day (albeit a short one!)

First, these shots from Howard, when the Peregrine chased the Knot from the Heliport on Monday. These, and Janet's below are best viewed by opening the images.

Peregrine Falcon......

......and the prey - Knot

Janet took these shots during her walk around Heysham Nature Reserve this morning

Female Kestrel 

Jay

Goldfinch feeding on seeds from Alder cones

Moorhen 

You can expect to see all the above species, and more, during a walk around the well maintained footpaths. A very pleasant walk on a day like today.

Heysham skear - low water 08:45 (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 4 (2+2) none ringed.

Pink-Footed Goose 58 very high to south at 09:15

Eider c60

Common Scoter 1 juvenile feeding near conger rock

Great Crested Grebe 4

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Knot c150

Dunlin c60

South Shore

Not a lot today

Shelduck and Wigeon in similar numbers to recent visits.

Lapwing 33

Reed Bunting 1 on saltmarsh 

This is today's "old visitor". A Black-Headed Gull with a toe growing out of its left knee was on the upstands in the harbour 18/09/20. This is the picture I took then.

I called it Toe Knee (Tony for short)

This is it, or a very close relative, today, again on the upstands in the harbour.

The toe growing from the left knee does look identical to the previous picture,
but I suppose all Black-Headed gulls toes will look pretty much identical.

But there is a difference, seen from behind there is another growth on the right knee, which appears to be a truncated or possibly broken off toe. So this has either happened since last September or it is a different bird.

 Tony Two?

Purple Sandpiper and good news from Canada!

A fresh west wind, overcast all day with plenty of showers.

Heysham skear - low water 08:00 (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 6 in the SE corner - this is the good news from Canada. On 12th November There were four adults including just one with red and blue rings. The two regular red/blue ringed birds from Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic were ringed as a breeding pair in 2014, and I have never seen one more than 2m from its mate. Today, there were six adult birds including both the ringed birds. I don't suppose we'll ever know if the solitary red/blue ringed bird was a different individual or if somehow the two had become separated in transit, then reunited. Either way it's nice to have them back! Although this is the second year when they haven't had juveniles with them.

This is today's six, they were drinking from the groundwater run off as well as picking up the bits of sea lettuce. You can make out one of the ringed birds in the middle.

The light wasn't good, and it had started drizzling, I needed to get a little closer to check the letters on the rings. If you move slowly and keep quiet Brent will let you approach quite closely, but if you encroach into their comfort zone they sound warning "honks". It's a nice warm sound, not like the normal harsh goose honk. The other birds stop to see what the danger is, but if you remain still, they return to feeding. And so it was today, at the beginning of this clip you can hear four soft honks from of a couple of the Brent as I came "close enough". After a fifth honk, two ringed birds stopped feeding, unfortunately, one behind an Oystercatcher.

But, no matter, I was close enough, and managed to confirm both birds. This is a still from the above clip it shows the male bird VDRB (VD are the letters and RB the ring colours)

Canadian ringed Pale-bellied Brent goose

There wasn't a lot else around and the rain was getting harder.

Eider 13

Knot c500

Dunlin 15

Later Pete and Jean checked some key areas, and located some key birds! - report from Pete:

All 6 Pale-bellied Brent out from Knowlys Rd at 11:35

Mediterranean gull 1 adult behind the lunchtime ferry

Shag 1 juvenile exited Heysham Harbour late morning then headed north

Purple Sandpiper - 1 on Sunny Slopes groyne 13:30 - technically, this is a "seen from" the recording area, even so Pete managed this phone/scope shot.

Purple Sandpiper centre, flanked by Redshank and Dunlin 

After Pete sent me this shot, I went down for a look (MD). It was more or less in the same place at 14:45, but the beach was becoming exposed and the waders had started to drift off. The Purple Sandpiper was one of the last to leave at 15:00. Even then it only went further out along the groyne. 

All in all, quite a satisfying day.

Great White Egret duo

Calm and sunny initially after another cold night. Then a slight southerly air movement brought in the clouds. The breeze freshened slightly and moved to west.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A quick check of the main ponds confirmed there are still 38 Gadwall, although no sign of the Wigeon today.

Red Nab and saltmarsh area (MD)

Wigeon c120 on Red Nab

Shelduck 143 most out from the saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 1 on foreshore 

The plan was to check the mud out from the saltmarsh for waders on the incoming tide, unfortunately, someone else also had plans for this area. Someone exercising a horse quickly cleared most of the birds.

Curlew 48

Lapwing 20

Knot c100

Grey Plover 12

Redshank 20

Oystercatcher c30

Dunlin 8

Ringed Plover 41

Both the above were feeding together and appeared to be finding plenty to eat.

I checked the area where they were feeding after the horse had flushed them. I couldn't see anything to eat, certainly nothing moving. I can only think they were finding tiny molluscs, although the way they were feeding it did look like they were "catching" their food. Presumably the molluscs quickly retreat under the mud and my heavy tread gave them ample warning to get out of sight.

Greenfinch just one near Red Nab, none around the saltmarsh. It looks as though the mustard bonanza is over, although all the plants still have some pods.

Great White Egret 2 together 13:30. I was surrounded by trees near the small anemometer when they flew directly over me to the west. I didn't see them coming so had very little time to get my camera out, so only managed this hasty low magnification shot of one of them.

By the time I'd got to a clearing, they were quite a distance away and had turned north towards Heysham Nature Reserve. Again I only managed a soft focus shot of one of them, but it does show their impressive wing span.

One of two Great White Egret 

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 3 11:30 - seen from promenade below Heysham Village - seen by a visiting birder, Phil Byle via Pete

Out of recording area - just north of the Stone Jetty.

Purple Sandpiper 2 at Bare pool, where Seaborn Road meets the promenade - ref Jeff Butcher

Gadwall numbers continue to increase

Overnight frost left thin ice on the shallowest pools. The very light breeze varied from NE to NW with some calm periods in between. Sun for most of the day.

Heliport area

Unfortunately, a very active Peregrine Falcon flushed the Knot from the sea wall. Today's tide was the last in this set of spring tides. The next set starts in 10 days and are higher, so hopefully further opportunities for the ringed Knot to be read.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I had a short walk around (MD)

Mute Swan 2 adult plus 9 cygnets 

Moorhen 11

Mallard 14

Gadwall 38 - I think this is the highest count this year and equals the peak for 2020. 32 on the "no swimming" pond plus 6 on the main pond.

Wigeon 2 - this pair were feeding with the three pair of Gadwall on the main pond. This clip has the Wigeon pair on the left with a pair of Gadwall on the right. The drakes are easy, the bills on the ducks are the best separator.

Little grebe 2 on "no swimming" pond

Thrushes - a few more feeding on Hawthorn berries today.

Song Thrush 2

Blackbird 37

Redwing 28

Redwing 

Grey Wagtail 1 - finding small insects 

As ever when there are lots of birds, the bird predators turn up (as per Peregrine on Heliport this morning). 

Here a more modest Sparrowhawk 

Juvenile Sparrowhawk 

Red Nab

Just a quick check on the way home. No sign of the Brent goose today, but the tide had only just reached the outer rocks.

Wigeon c150

Shelduck 127 - most on mud out from the foreshore 

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 3

Greenfinch, just a couple flitting about

Finally, just a couple of images to show how much the light, particularly low winter sun, and location affect the appearance of a bird. This clip is the Grey Heron resting on the peninsula of the main pond at Middleton. The ripples of light reflecting across its back give it a very serene appearance.

In contrast, the Grey Heron resting on Red Nab rocks had its back to the light, and looks, for all the world, to be straight out of a Dracula movie! 

Grey Heron on Red Nab, looking very black!
Oh..... is that a 1971 type Grab Hopper Dredger in the background