Red Nab, now green oasis

The wind was quite fresh starting more or less due south then working round to SW. Mainly sunny, but an odd light shower.

Howard manage to read four ringed Knot from c2,000 birds roosting in the old heliport area at high water. These two from different ringing schemes, photographed on the Near Naze rocks.

Ringed at Ainsdale Merseyside 

A bird from a Dutch ringing scheme

Jean and Pete managed a short ringing session at Heysham, report from Pete:

Ringed

10 goldfinch (obviously moving through at moment)

4 greenfinch and a robin 

Flock 16 jackdaw plus loose flock 10 c crow north east together.  

Two Siskin heard. 

Pete also manager a short sea watch:

Shoveler 1 drake in

Red-breasted Merganser 2 out

Kevin Singleton also managed a quick visit

Knot

Magpies seldom get a mention, but they are a handsome bird
I tried, and failed, to work out what it has been eating to have its bill stained like this.

South shore (MD)

I went past Red Nab long before the tide reached it, and typically at this point in the tide it was deserted. I spotted a flock of 4 geese flying in to the bay. They turned out to be Pale-bellied Brent geese, but they appeared to be moving through, rather than just the regular local feeding movements. They were flying in, then they appear to spot Red Nab (now lush green) and turned to fly towards it. Unfortunately it took them nearly a minute so I've split the clip. This first clip shows them flying in, then veering off towards Red Nab.

I imagine patches of lush green like this along the shore indicates the presence of both food and fresh water. In this instance they only wanted a drink. They landed in the freshwater run off, began drinking, then 10 minutes later flew off again high to the north. This clip shows them landing in the freshwater run off. Unfortunately I stopped filming before they began drinking.

Pale-bellied Brent geese 62 - as I walked along the sea wall, the birds started arriving to feed on the gutweed. Three flocks 39, 4 and 19. Perhaps the 4 were the earlier birds returning. Later there were a total of 49 on and around the skear.

On the way back most were feeding on the SW corner of Red Nab, they'll be off soon, so I took the opportunity to get a good group clip.

Wigeon c130 - there were c100 waiting in the channel next to No.2 outflow. This is typical of the regular feeding birds, which wait for the tide to reach Red Nab. But, as the Brents, long before the tide reached Red Nab a small flock flew in from the south, landed in the freshwater channel and began drinking. This time, I missed the flight in, but got them drinking. I left after this, so don't know if they stayed to feed.

Rock Pipits 6 

Heysham skear low water 17:50

Brent geese 49

Eider 200+

Great Crested Grebe 8 (6 together plus a pair)

Red-breasted Merganser 3

Little Egret 3

The winter storms, coupled with a shift in direction of water flow out of the first channel has created a reef about 250m south of the normal skear edge, and a similar distance north of the green marker. It clearly wasn't fully exposed, but wave action suggest it is at least 200m long. This clip shows the location.

This area is typically just flat mud. A reef like this will only grow during the summer, and will make a significant difference to food supply here. It will concentrate detritus and the invertebrates that feed on on detritus, then fish that feed on the invertebrates. Ultimately, it must be a better area for diving birds to feed, and they don't take long to learn.

Part of the new reef exposed by this evening's 1.3m tide.
Knowlys Road in the background 

Things pretty much the same.

The wind started as a very slight SE breeze then moved around west ending a quite fresh NW. some light showers throughout the day

Middleton Nature Reserve 

This is John's report from yesterday's ringing session.

Nets set by 6.45am. Seven birds caught in the first half hour, but then only three more, before nets taken down at around 9.45am.

Birds caught were

Blackbirds x 2

Goldfinch x 2

Goldcrest x 3 (1 retrap)

Long-tailed Tit x 2 retraps

Chiffchaff x 1

South shore

Both myself, Janet and Tim had a look at different times

Pale-Bellied Brent goose 49 on Red Nab- no sign of any dark-bellied today

Shelduck 27

Eider 2 near harbour mouth

Wigeon c100

Rock Pipits 6 including the ringed male at the lighthouse 

This is one of Janet's pictures 
If you open it you can see some of the ring detail

There seems to be three birds around the lighthouse territory, I suspect one 
is last year's young bird still in association with the female (MD).
I do like this shot, you can see the rain drops falling!

Shag 1 2nd calendar year in the harbour

Nature Park:

Chiffchaff 2 singing

Siskin 2 possibly 3

Goldcrest 1

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 male drumming before flying off

Heysham skear 

Just a quick check at low water

Brent geese similar numbers to this morning

Eider 220 around the skear, more in the distance 

Great Crested Grebe 6

Red-breasted Merganser 7

Sand Martins, plus ringing resumes.

SE wind in the morning eased during the day and shifted to SSE. High cloud with occasional sunshine.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Access to the office is still restricted, but ringing is again a practical option. Report from Pete:

Jean set a net by the feeder next to the office for the first time for two years and it was immediately pronounced too gusty.  It became slowly but progressively more ok, so from 1205 just over 50 birds were caught: 

20 Goldfinch (one retrap) 

17 Greenfinch

7 Blue tit (two retrap)

4 Great Tit (two retrap)

3 Dunnock (one retrap)

2 long-tailed tit

2 Bullfinch.  

We would have almost doubled this catch had it not been windy to begin with with several gangs of greenfinches passing through and heading off 

Only vis from late morning arrival at HNR was:

one Sand Martin (first record this year)

up to 35 Greenfinch in addition to those ringed which seemed to be passing through having been attracted down to the feeder assemblage

Pete also managed a quick check of the north side chanel:

Sand Martin 2 together north

Eider c400

Common Scoter 1 male

Great Crested Grebe 6

Later Red-breasted Merganser 5

South shore (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 49

Dark-bellied Brent goose 1 possibly 2

Both on Red Nab. I am very wary about calling dark-bellied in such strong light. The other day they all looked like dark-bellied! But I thought the two below and left of the female Eider did look like dark-bellied, so I took this clip.

Pete's had a look and is satisfied that they are both dark-bellied Brent

Shelduck 61

Wigeon c100

Eider 1 - this female has been hanging around for a couple of weeks.

Wheatear 2 males on the grass behind the foreshore 

Mature male Wheatear, looking very smart this time of year

They seemed to be finding plenty to eat, but had moved on by my return leg.

Rock Pipits 6 including the pair near the lighthouse 

Skylark 1 south

Shag 1 juvenile preening on the wooden jetty.

The wind turns, but later than forecast

The wind in the morning was just about due south, it didn't shift to the forecast SW till after lunch.

South shore 

Pale-bellied Brent geese 55 on Red Nab (Pete)

Jean checked from the round head:

I didn’t see much in 2 hours from the Roundhead today 

3 Red-throated Divers (2 in and 1 out)

3 Whooper Swans (2 floating in and 1 flying south past the end of the wooden jetty)

2 Skylarks south

3 Pied Wagtails

2prs of Rock pipits in the harbour area, including the ringed male.

Heysham skear - low water 15:50 (MD)

My walk out coincided with a heavy squall driven by a strong SW wind, visibility was effectively zero!

It eased as I reached the western limit of the exposed skear, and revealed.......nothing!

Well, almost nothing, 18 Eider. No sign of any Brent geese.

But a bit of a bonus on the way back

Whooper Swan 4. Presumably blown in by the squall, they headed out over the skear, followed the coastline and then flew over Heysham Head.

One good thing about looking back from the skear, there can be no doubting the location 

Looks like the wind is back to, the less productive, SE tomorrow 

The water must be getting slightly warmer, this is the first anemone that I have seen open this year.

First Wheatear, plus other good stuff

The SE wind continues (ends tomorrow), high cloud with some sunshine and the odd light shower.

I had very little today, fortunately Shaun and Jonathan had a good look around covering most of the recording area. Report from Shaun:

Shag juv roosting on Wooden Pier.

Whooper Swan group of c70 on sea distantly off Red Nab.

Brent Geese 47 (including CR birds) north side of Heysham Head (later 54 in skear corner (MD))

Shelduck 86 with 160 Wigeon Red Nab.

Great Spotted Woodpecker pair HNR and also heard at MNR.

Rock Pipit 2 on Red Nab and 2 around Lighthouse.

Wheatear male Ocean Edge foreshore then headed east towards MNR (first record this year)

Stonechat female MNR.

Water Rail 1 calling from Main Reedbed (Western Marsh)

Chiffchaff 3 singing HNR and 3 singing MNR near Lower Car Park. Additional group of at least 12 actively feeding (and mostly silent) along footpath and in scrub north side of the Boating Pond. 

Plus 2 Goldcrest.

Treecreeper pair at HNR entrance gate (not common here in winter/spring)

Some of the Shelduck grazing the very green Red Nab

It is interesting that Shaun and Jonathan saw the colour ringed Brents. They have not been seen since mid February, the rings that is, I'm sure the birds will have been. I had a look on the skear at low water (MD). As the tide was ebbing they were just resting, scattered around the skear. They were difficult to spot as many were actually sleeping, and looking like rocks from any distance. This clip is a typical scene, there are six sleeping birds, with just one "alert".

Somehow I managed not to disturb any, then as soon as the tide started coming in, all the dispersed birds started making there way to the skear corner. I assumed that they would be feeding in the corner on broken weed brought in by the incoming tide. But no, they all made their way up the shore to feed on the sea lettuce now emerging in the shallow pools. No idea why the incoming tide triggered this, they could have fed there earlier. This is them making their way op the shore from the skear corner.

Some of the Brent making their way to the skear corner.
If anyone is unsure regarding the "blue building on Sandylands"
where the Black Redstart has over wintered, this is it.

Also from the skear

Eider just 10 (these very low tides do not go out far)

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Waders included: Oystercatcher, Knot, Redshank, Turnstone, Curlew and Dunlin 

The return of the ring

The SE wind continues but not so strong. Showers in the morning with some sun in the afternoon.

No reports as yet from anyone checking the Reserves or the Brent.

First, this picture of a Chiffchaff, is one of Janet's from yesterday. It has caught a small insect, but can't quite tell what it is.

Chiffchaff with an insect 

I had a walk along the south shore this morning, hoping the rain may have grounded some migrants, but if there were any, I missed them 

Shelduck 74 on Red Nab while the tide was low

Wigeon 250+ waiting for the tide to reach Red Nab

Rock Pipit 5 - one each Red Nab, sea wall and waterfall. But the good news is that the two near the lighthouse included the ringed male. 

The breeding ringed male, standing guard over the nest site.

This one bird that Jean managed to ring last year, has helped so much in trying to understand what is going on here. He's not been seen for some time, but there have been up to five birds bickering around the nesting area. It now seems that the female was fending off unwelcome advances from other males.

She seemed pleased at his return, they were both hopping around with their bills open, a posture I've not seen before, presumably reaffirming their bond (MD).

This clip begins with the female strutting around, after she disappears behind the bollard she drops onto the wooden structure below the wall. The bird to the left of the bollard is the ringed male, after a few more hops, he drops down to join her.......I left them to it.......

Shag 1 2nd calendar year - it was on the crossbeams of one of the platforms near the waterfall. This clip starts with the shag then pans out, first to show a cormorant, then the location detail.

Eleven warblers singing!

Very gusty SE wind high cloud with some sunshine in the morning, but rain started just after lunch and never really stopped.

Only mine (MD) and Janet's records so far - not bad though

Chiffchaffs 9 (at least) singing males plus many others seen/heard calling. 

Middleton Nature Reserve 6 - there appeared to be a singing bird either side of the road near the bottom car park, but only counted as one, another in NW corner of main pond, one near Tim Butler and at least three along the track on east border of the golf course.

Heysham Nature Reserve 3 two in the reserve and another, located by Janet along the dog walk

This is Janet's dog walk bird and typical of the semi obscured
views today, really nice to hear them singing though

This is the bird near the bottom car park at Middleton 

Still from the above clip

This is one near the golf course

The other warblers singing today were:

Cetti's warbler 2 both the central and western marsh males singing.

Other stuff on Middleton Nature Reserve 

Wildfowl as yesterday, plus additional adult Mute on Tim Butler

Common Snipe 1

Jack Snipe 1

Other stuff on Heysham Nature Reserve 

Bullfinch 6

Reed Bunting 1 male

Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 - there was a male drumming and this female, presumably looking for food. It makes a change for me to be still and the background swaying.

I like this clip. Its only short and "only" a Blue Tit, but we sometimes forget just what an attractive bird they are,

Pete advised that there could be Wheatears moving through today, unfortunately it was after lunch before I checked the foreshore, any that there may have been had already moved through. Still some birds around though.

Glodcrest 1 near small anemometer 

Rock Pipit 2

Meadow Pipit 1 grounded on foreshore 

Stonechat 1 female initially on foreshore then moved to Red Nab, where this brief and distant clip was taken.

Finally, I've shown this effect before, but this is slightly different to last time. It's just the wind blowing the "sand" over the shore. As last time we are in a series of neap tides so this stretch of shore has not been covered for a few days. But last time the sand storm was initiated by a strong wind suddenly starting. Today's wind is in a long line of southeasterlies, what triggered today's "storm" was the onset of the rain. The mud was dry, so every raindrop raises a puff of particles that the wind catches before it can land again. As soon as the rain wetted the mud, the sand storm stopped.

Brents increase, and increasingly flighty

The SE winds continue although not as fresh today. At 15:00 it swung briefly to SW, but then returned SE. Dry all day with occasional sun.

Heysham skear - low water 10:25

Pale-bellied Brent 28 scattered around the skear, mainly at rest - more on Brent later.

Eider c100 close in plus a similar number feeding further out

Still no sign of Great Crested Grebe

Red-breasted Merganser 5 (pair plus individual 2 males and a female)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Both myself (MD) and Kevin Singleton checked out the two main ponds today.

Mute Swan 7 adult plus 7 juvenile on main pond. 2 adult on "no swimming" pond

Mallard 8

Gadwall 8

Moorhen 6

Coot 1 

Little grebe 2 - both on main pond, one trilling.

Chiffchaff 1 near main pond car park.

South shore mid afternoon 

Pale-bellied Brent goose 65 at least, almost certainly including this morning's birds. There were at least 13 already feeding on Red Nab, when another 50 arrived and landed on the sea. Later 2 more flew in. All the birds were flighty and most remained on the water, rather than feed.

Shelduck 40

Wigeon c150

Shag 1 2nd calendar year flew into the harbour 

Possibly more to come

Brent behaviour changing

A strong SSE wind all day, possibly easing slightly in the afternoon. High cloud with some sunshine. Rain started just before dusk.

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 35 - at low water there were 25 around the skear, a group of 20 and another of 5. But neither group was feeding, the 20 were just resting and preening in the skear corner. The 5 just resting on the calmer sea on the north side. Presumably, the longer days and greater availability of weed (it is growing quickly now) provides them the opportunity to rest and conserve their energy for their long migration flight. These are some of the birds in the skear corner. I've never seen them just sat on the mud like this (MD)

In the afternoon a flock of 35 arrived towards Red Nab. 12 behaved typically and flew to the freshwater stream for a drink and a freshen up. But the rest seemed to be unfamiliar with the area, they landed on the beach and went to the water's edge for a drink.

The freshwater stream does feed into the sea here, but the water must be very saline. But they did appear to be drinking. Very unusual, particularly as just 100m across the beach the stream will be fresh.

The light was very frustrating, it was directly behind the birds, making many look like dark-bellied. I had to go on the shore to be able to look back at them to make sure. They were all pale-bellied. After they had a drink, they took to some vigorous bathing. This clip shows some of them, and the effect of the strong light behind them, you can't even make out the white crescent on their necks.

These are four of the birds from the above clip, as they flew to Red Nab

Also from skear this morning:

No Great Crested Grebe or Red-breasted Merganser seen

Eider c150

Wigeon 9

Also from south shore this afternoon:

Shelduck 50

Wigeon 250

Shag 1 2nd calendar year on wooden jetty

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Whooper galore. And, Jaz....solo no more.

The cold east to SE wind continued and freshened during the day. Mainly sunny in the morning, although visibility was limited, you couldn't see the other side of the bay. Mainly overcast after lunch.

Yesterday, Jean advised that the Whoopers were on the move. None were located yesterday, but today:

Whooper Swan 69 minimum. There were at least 47 on the sea beyond the skear, plus 9 high to the north. 

Jean had another 12 north from Heysham Nature Reserve and there was a single bird out from the Harbour.

David Kaye saw 38 on the sea from the Barrows, these could have been some of the ones seen earlier from the skear, or possibly additional birds.

These are the 9 Whooper flying north over the skear 09:00. Surprisingly difficult
to locate against the clear blue sky, despite them flying right over my head! (MD)

These are some of the Whooper on the sea, out from the skear, they were much further out than this clip suggests.

This next clip gives a sense of how the camera zoom foreshortens distance. These two flew towards me, for what seemed ages, without getting much bigger, I was expecting them to be almost at the skear by the end of this clip. Instead.....

Other stuff on the skear:

Eider, Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser not counted, but present in similar high numbers than of late.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese 23 in the SE skear corner (some were also on Red Nab in the afternoon). There is some broken weed around still, but these birds were mainly resting, preening or exercising their flight muscles. They look to be getting ready to cross the Atlantic.

Also over the sea - ref Pete

Red-Throated Diver 2 in at 13:45 (in the Cumbrian half of the bay's air space)

Common Gull 27 adult "dribbling" north in an hour

Shag 1 2nd calendar year on the platforms near the harbour waterfall

2nd calendar year Shag 

Grey Seal between the outflows, but only showing periodically and briefly to breathe.

Finally, a bit of good news. Pete is a member of a Facebook group for lost birds of prey. Through that he discovered the details of the escaped bird seen on Sunday. It's called Jaz, and is a 2nd calendar year female Lanner Falcon. Happily Jaz is now reunited with her owner.

Jaz, now safe and sound at home. Hopefully a little wiser from her experience.