More Kits

The fresh SE wind eased by the afternoon and shifted to SW. overcast all day but it remained dry.

Pete checked the lunchtime ferry in again:

35 Kittiwake and two adult Mediterranean gull  behind Ben My Chree entering Heysham port

Also 23  Pale-bellied Brent goose visible from Knowlys road off play area

I'd walked along the south wall to watch the ferry in (MD), but by 12:15 it still wasn't within sight. The cold and hunger pangs were both starting to bite, so I headed for home. Pete confirmed that it arrived late today, I should have checked timing before setting off!

I did manage some nice views of at least one immature  Shag though.

Initially it was resting between the cross bars of the nearest platform to the harbour wall.
Unfortunately only visible at range.

Closer, the platform frame was obscuring most of it, but this clip, still has a charm.

Fortunately the tide was rising above its resting place, and it took to the water.

This clip is a Shag and a Cormorant in the middle of the harbour a little later. I'm not certain, that it is the same Shag.

(Pete confirms that these are indeed two different Immature Shag a 1cy and 2cy)

Mediterranean Gull 1 was resting behind No.2 outflow. This was long before the ferry came in. So it either flew out to meet the ferry or this is an additional bird.

Distant, grainy, shot of Mediterranean gull (left) with BHGs

Rock Pipit 3

Janet's friend, Jimmy, on Slyvan Place, is receiving increasing, and increasingly noisy visits from his fox. This is the time of year when  fox's thoughts turn to "starting a family". Jimmy's old Patterdale Terrier "goes nuts" when she hears the dog fox.

The wind provides some welcome variety

The SW wind didn't get as strong last night as forecast, but continued to increase into the afternoon.

Pete managed a quick lunchtime visit:

Associated with Ben my Chree midday arrival at Heysham: 

Little gull 1 adult into Bay with flock 4 Kittiwake, both these in front of the ferry

Mediterranean Gull 1 lingering 

Shag 1 juvenile flushed out of harbour,

Kittiwake 4 adult behind ferry

3 adult and 2 juvenile Kittiwake  Hey 2 outfall.

Juv/f common scoter off Stone jetty.  

The strong wind was pushing the tide in and Pete arrived at Knowlys just in time to catch the Brent there.

Pale-bellied Brent about 38 on shore - biggest count this winter so far.  Went out of sight along shore before accurate count 

Fortunately I was on the south wall by this time (MD) and managed to see this flock of 36 flying to Red Nab.

There could easily have been more, there is a group of three that often flies separately. On my way back along the wall I saw 29 fly towards the estuary, long before they normally leave Red Nab.

One of the outflow Kittiwakes turned out to be a 2nd winter. It's not possible to
see this detail at range, I didn't see it from the sea wall, till I checked my shots!

1st winter Kittiwake 

This is one of the 1st winter Kittiwakes with a Black-Headed gull. They were very difficult to follow, most of the time they were much quicker than this.

There was also an adult in the harbour

A slightly unusual angle of an adult Kittiwake 

Shag - I didn't see any in the afternoon, but a short check in the morning saw a 2nd calendar year bird leaving the harbour, so at least two birds in the area today

Kingfisher 1 on Red Nab 

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female 

Rock Pipit 3 (sea wall plus 2 together on saltmarsh)

Linnet 2 saltmarsh 

For the second day running I failed to read a ringed bird. This young gull was on one of the harbour platforms. It is part of the NW England gull project (see link on sidebar). Unfortunately, at the range I was, I couldn't stand steadily enough for a clear shot, and it had moved on as I got closer! Hopefully it will hang around a while.

Just out of the recording area - this from Pete:

From Fylde what’s app relevant to our area: 6 Bewick’s Jeremy lane and subadult yellow legged gull off pilling lane ends

At least a pair of Jacks

Another miserable day, rain for much of it, and a freshening SW wind. 

Just my stuff so far (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 20 - there were three amongst the rocks out from the play area at low water (09:25). Another 12 were in the SE skear corner but quickly flew off and appeared to head north. But by 10:15 there were 18 amongst the rocks out from the play area. This clip shows the location, you can also see the gut weed on the rocks, but there is also sea lettuce in the intervening pools.

One of the birds had two white rings with black letters, but the rain meant reading was difficult and I didn't want to get any closer and risk spooking them. We have read a double white ringed bird in previous years, but still await any details. It seems that the organisation supporting this scheme is struggling.

The middle bird here has two white darvic rings - hopefully to be read another day

A check of Red Nab in the afternoon located 20 Brent, there could have been more as some were behind rocks, unfortunately all but 3 left quite early and I didn't see them go.

The only other record from the skear at low water was 14 Eider, plus Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone. Not even any Little Egret!

Plenty of Wigeon around Red Nab and saltmarsh again

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female on Red Nab

Rock Pipit 4 (Red Nab, foreshore plus two on saltmarsh)

Reed Bunting 4 around saltmarsh 

Common Snipe 1

Jack Snipe 2, probably 3 - three seen flushed by the tide, but the last one may have been one of the two flushed earlier.

At the time of writing this post the SW wind is getting stronger and is forecast to be very strong later and throughout tomorrow morning, hopefully something different will be blown in.

It's mainly about the Brent again

A dreary sort of day. Overcast with occasional showers in the morning becoming more persistent in the afternoon. A fresh SW wind.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 10 - there were 8 (5 & 3) amongst the rocks out from the play area at low water, plus another 2 in the skear corner. Later on the rising tide there were just 5 out from the play area. At 12:00 there were 2 on Red Nab, but by 12:30 they had been joined by 5 more.

These are two of the group of five on the shore this morning, I had to wait for them to amble past before I could move on (MD)

There was little else to see from the skear, despite the tide being out further than it has been in daylight for some while.

Shag 1 immature 

Eider1

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Great Crested Grebe 1

Pete and Jean checked the lunchtime ferry - Kittiwake 5 adult plus 2 first winter followed it in.

Plus minimum 40 Snipe on the Heliport grass and wall.

There wasn't much else around Red Nab and the foreshore either

Rock Pipit 1

Ringed Plover 2 

Turnstone and Ringed Plover

Wigeon c180 - This clip is just to show them grazing Red Nab rocks as the tide reaches them. The whistling calls are the male Wigeon, but there is also a short burst from the Rock Pipit early in the clip.

Janet forwarded this clip taken by a friend living on Sylvan Place near Half Moon Bay. It would be unfair to call it an "urban fox" as this area is just at the edge of the village. But it is clearly a dog fox and he seems intent on redefining his territory.

Very little time today, fortunately the Brent were punctual

A cold, fresh west wind with some heavy showers, mainly of hail

Howard checked the old heliport roost at high water. Unfortunately no Knot roosting, but there was this colour ringed Oystercatcher, probably ringed in Iceland - details awaited.

I just had time for a quick walk long the south wall on the rising tide this morning (MD). The wind was fresher than of late, but the sea was quite under developed and no sign of anything being blown in.

Shelduck 15

Wigeon c150 initially along channel by No.1 outflow, then Red Nab.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1 flew from north side with the Oystercatchers

Not much of a shot, but when there's not much around, you take what you can!

Pale-Bellied Brent geese 15 - the three that had been feeding near the play area yesterday left at 10:15. Today's tide was 50 minutes later and a similar height, but with the fresh westerly pushing it in I estimated that any Brent feeding at the play area would arrive 30 minutes later c10:45. They arrived at 10:55, if they had come from the play area, it would seem that they hadn't been flushed early by the dog walkers.

This is them arriving.

Pale-bellied Brent geese

They fed around the rock edges to begin with, but then flew onto the rocks as the tide gained height. You can see the lush covering of gutweed on the rocks.

This is where they flew to, a ravine filling with water, allowing the gutweed to float for easier grazing. Both the Brent and the Wigeon are feeding on it.

At this point a heavy hail shower cut short what was already a short visit. Hopefully there will be more variety tomorrow.

This is further out of the recording area than I normally post, but it is a slow news day, and it is a great shot! Howard took this picture of a Purple Sandpiper resting on the Groyne at Park Street

Purple Sandpiper with Turnstone and Redshank 

Possibly more to come, if so I will add later.

Inshore waders

 A showery day, mainly overcast. A fresh south breeze.

Green Sandpiper 1 - flew across Imperial Rd (to the recycling centre) - Pete

Common Snipe 1 - flushed from fields near Kingsway - Janet

Heysham Head 

I had a mid morning stroll in the rain (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 3 - they were easily visible from the Head, and in the same area as seen yesterday, although on the rising tide today. The following clip is from yesterday and demonstrates how they can also be seen from the Promenade. This is from the promenade at Whinnysty Lane.

At 10:15 they flew south past the Head. I don't think that they had been flushed by the dog walkers, the tide had reached the sea wall by that time and no weed would be within reach.

The tide was coming in quickly, I was expecting to see a Shag feeding, but not today. 

Red-breasted-Merganser 2

Female and male Red-breasted Merganser 

Waders feeding below rocks before being flushed by tide; Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone  and Curlew 

I couldn't locate a Rock Pipit, which again was a surprise 

Meadow Pipit 1

There was a mixed tit flock, mainly Long-Tailed Tits working their way through the wooded area. The following clip is from Tuesday, just after the cold snap, when the birds were too focused on finding food to worry about me. I've ben saving it for a rainy day.

Also during the cold snap I took a nice shot of a Robin surrounded by ice covered foliage. I was planning to use it today, but I managed to accidentally delete it! Fortunately, one of the many festive decorations in the Glebe Garden on Heysham Head was a nice replacement 

.......and the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day.

St Peter's church, Heysham Head - the Glebe Garden is just behind me on this clip, within the church grounds. It is always worth a visit, not just for the off passage birds and the residents attracted to the feeders, but also it is filled with many and varied "treasures". 

A day to enjoy the everyday

A bright start but clouded over and a light shower in the afternoon. The south to SSE wind freshening throughout the day.

Just my stuff so far, and as yesterday, there was plenty to see but little new. It's still nice to see though. I normally pre-size my pictures so that they look reasonable on the post without having to open them, unfortunately they do lose some definition. Today I haven't pre-sized any, there is some nice plumage detail on some of them, but you will need to open the images if you want to check it out (MD)

Red Nab to saltmarsh 2 hours before morning high water

Pink-Footed goose - again a steady passage north starting around 08:00 (over my house). But these 4 were heading south at 10:30

Pink-Footed geese

Wigeon 100+ around Red Nab, many later made their way to the saltmarsh.

Male Wigeon

Common Snipe 2

Rock Pipit 3 (Red Nab, foreshore and saltmarsh)

Saltmarsh Rock Pipit

Foreshore Rock Pipit

Reed Bunting 4

Male Reed Bunting 

Redshank flying along the foreshore after leaving Red Nab

Weasel - one was hunting along the foreshore. I've never seen one here before, presumably movement as  a result of the recent cold weather. It seems to have been in the wars, with a scar over its nose and a raggedy ear.

Weasel

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just the daily (at this time of year) brief check of the two main ponds.

Mute, Mallard and Moorhen unchanged 

Gadwall 21

Wigeon 2 - this pair do seem to be in association with the Gadwall

Teal 6

Tufted Duck 2 male - one on each pond

Grey Heron 1

This clip focuses on the Wigeon pair but there are also Gadwall and a female Teal.

An immaculately groomed pair of Gadwall

This female Gadwall seemed to be having a "bad hair" day

This Heron was stalking the reed beds. These were almost completely covered when the water and ice were at their peak. Possibly it is searching for creatures that succumbed to the cold.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 3 seen in passing out from the children's play area on the afternoon ebbing tide.

I hope everyone has a very nice Christmas 

Plenty around, but nothing new

The rain managed to hold off till lunchtime, then continued during the afternoon. The wind started from east then to SE

I just managed one outing today (MD)

South shore

I went down early to check the waders being pushed up the shore by the rising tide, just out from the saltmarsh. Unfortunately, the big flocks of waders were further south towards Potts, still it was enjoyable.

Pink-Footed geese 367 in 6 skeins north just after 08:30

Shelduck c150 feeding out from foreshore 

Wigeon c150 around Red Nab, they didn't go to the saltmarsh today.

Kingfisher 1 on Red Nab

Lapwing 69

Ringed Plover 1

Grey Plover 14 + Knot 1 + Dunlin 15 - there were many more of these species further south, these were just in one flock close in. These are some of them.

Solitary Grey Plover on Red Nab, peering through Redshanks legs

Redshank 30

The wind was blowing off shore, which doesn't allow the waves to develop, and these spring tides come in quickly. Several waders ended up floating before flying off. This is a Redshank 

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1 (none seen further south)

Bar-Tailed Godwit 

Common Snipe 6 - I left before the tide covered the saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 6

Rock Pipit 2 (rocky outcrop south of saltmarsh and foreshore)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A quick check on the way home.

Just the Mute plus 4 Gadwall and 2 Moorhen on the main pond.

The "no swimming" pond is back to its normal level. 

Gadwall 8

Mallard 2

Teal 4

Male Teal and Mallard pair

Tufted Duck 4 male

Things seem to be returning to "normal"

Light variable breeze. Showers mid morning and lunchtime, reasonably dry at other times.

Just my stuff so far (MD)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A quick check in the morning, the "No swimming" pond level is dropping, just 25cm above normal. The level here is maintained by a level sensor and a pump to remove excess, presumably the pipelines were frozen. I expect the pond to be at normal level at time of writing.

No sign of the Goldeneye 

Gadwall 6

Tufted Duck 2 male

Teal 2 (pair)

Water Rail two squealing 

Teal

Saltmarsh to Red Nab - high water 10:00

Wigeon similar numbers to yesterday, but already leaving the saltmarsh area and heading towards the estuary.

Common Snipe 7

Jack Snipe 1, possibly 2

Skylark 1

Reed Bunting 8 - don't think they have been around all the time. There are six in this clip.

Rock Pipit 2 (saltmarsh and foreshore)

This clip is the shoreline between the foreshore and Red Nab, just Turnstone and Redshank feeding, but I took it mainly to capture the sound of the waves gently breaking on the pebbles.

Heysham skear towards low water in the afternoon 

The skear looked and sounded more like it normally does today, partly as the higher tide was draining quickly leaving plenty of, noisy, feeding opportunities.

Shag 1 immature 

Shag with a couple of Herring gulls

Great Crested Grebe 5

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Pale-bellied Brent goose 5 feeding half way up the shore.

Eider 82 - some were feeding but most were displaying. I'm always disappointed that my camera fails to capture their display calls.

Probably the big difference today was that there were obviously loads of tiny shrimps draining with the tide, they would have moved to deep water through the cold spell. Both the gulls and waders were taking advantage, these are mainly Redshank which were well over 150 today.

Still not many Curlew or Turnstone. Just 4 Dunlin and no Knot.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 10 on the shore tideline 

So here it is.......Merry Solstice.....

The SW wind continues, a dry day with plenty of sunshine.

As a child at this time of year, I was fervently looking forward to Christmas. As I've aged, and much as I still enjoy Christmas, what I really look forward to is today, the winter solstice. This is the shortest day of the year and after today the days start to get longer. You can understand how this day caused celebrations in ancient times. (Malcolm)

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

I had a quick look first thing. The absence of ducks on the main pond could only mean one thing, there was open water on the "no swimming" pond.

It was 50% ice free, and still over 50cm above its normal level, not good for the dabbling ducks, but good for the diving ducks!

Goldeneye 1 female - I'm pretty sure that this is the first record of a Goldeneye this year, this pond provided another late "first of year" last year, when a Pochard turned up and stayed over new year. Hopefully a chance again this winter.

Tufted Duck 2 male

Gadwall 8

Female Goldeneye with a male Gadwall

This clip, captures all three species, just.

Saltmarsh to Red Nab - high water 09:15 (MD)

Shelduck 20 out from saltmarsh 

Wigeon 240 - 210 out from saltmarsh plus 30 Red Nab, these are some of the saltmarsh birds

Common Snipe 2

Bar-Tailed Godwit 4 - 1 roosting on saltmarsh plus 3 on Red Nab

Bar-Tailed Godwit with Redshank and Oystercatcher on the saltmarsh 

A few more passerines around today

Blackbird 1 on saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 3 at least on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 2 - saltmarsh and foreshore 

Greenfinch 2 Red Nab

Pete checked the lunchtime ferry in

Kittiwake 3 adult behind the ferry

Also Pale-bellied Brent goose 3 out from the children's play area

Later towards low water, presumably the same three, flew into the SE skear corner, possibly flushed from higher up the shore. They quickly made their way back up the shore where there is more weed available. They ended up on the rocks beyond the Sunnyslopes groyne, this clip, shows the location.

Other stuff from low water check of skear (MD)

Eider 39

Great Crested Grebe 1

The waders were a bit more interesting 

Oystercatcher c1,200

Curlew 2

Redshank 50+ (Still down on the typical 100-150)

Knot 25

Dunlin 1

Turnstone 15

Ringed Plover 6

Grey Plover 2

Bar-Tailed Godwit 12

The Grey Plover and the godwits were in loose association, the Plover were resting but the godwits feeding. 

Grey Plover and a Bar-Tailed Godwit

After a while the godwits stopped feeding and started preening.

It was clear that they were getting ready to move on.

Bar-Tailed Godwits plus one of the Grey Plovers
The godwits continued south, but the plovers peeled off and headed north

This Barrel Jellyfish was stranded on the beach. It's about 45cm diameter, and about as large as you see them here. I believe that they can grow three times this size!

Barrel Jellyfish and my size 9 wellie