Better! In fact, warm and better

The temperature never got below 8C overnight and peaked this afternoon at 15C! (Thanks to Kevin Eaves weather station for weather details). The very light south wind continued. Just a few light showers plus one heavy one in the afternoon 

Pete advises that Wheatears were seen today just to the south between Fluke Hall and Knott End, but none seen or reported yet from the recording area, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

South shore 07:40 - 09:20 (MD)

Shelduck 25

Wigeon 150

Redshank 180

Wood Pigeon 11 on grass behind foreshore

Pied Wagtail 5 north

Skylark 1 grounded on foreshore 

Meadow Pipit 36 north. 25, 07:40 - 07:55 between saltmarsh and Red Nab. Only 8 more as I walked along the wall and only three on the return leg. These two landed briefly on Red Nab.

Rock Pipits 6 - saltmarsh, Red Nab (displaying male), seawall plus 3 between lighthouse and waterfall 

Greenfinch 8 on copse edge behind Red Nab

Male Greenfinch

Linnet pair near lighthouse 

Female Linnet

Stonechat 1 female near the lighthouse 

Female Stonechat 

Shag 1 immature flew out of the harbour towards the wooden jetty 

Shag, looks to be a 3rd calendar year (MD)

Kittiwake 1 first winter on "their pipe" near the waterfall 

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Just a quick mid morning check of the two main pond's located nothing new, but this was interesting. It was already quite warm and there were lots of midges around. With the current dearth of insect eating birds, this Little Grebe filled the niche. You can see the insects on the water before it eats them. It seems easy pickings, but there won't be much fuel provided by a midge.

Imperial Rd (MD)

Last stop on the way home, and again some interest.

Common Buzzard 2 - this one has a small rodent, or possibly a frog.  I was still in my car at this point and struggled to keep my camera still.

By the time I'd gotten out and steadied myself better, it had eaten all it was going to. It cleaned its beak and flew off.

This one was calling a lot, fortunately I managed a short sequence when my camera wasn't making too much noise. You can hear it calling a couple of times.

Jackdaw 87 feeding in the field to the east of the road.

As dismal days go........today set the bar pretty high!

A light south wind, the rain alternated between drizzle and heavy drizzle!

Pete advises that Sand Martins are passing through the general area but none seen/reported so far within the recording area.

Just my "stuff" so far, but I didn't have much time today (MD)

Saltmarsh to Red Nab 09:00 - light drizzle

Shelduck 6

Rock Pipit 1 Red Nab

Pied Wagtail 1

Dunnock 1

Greenfinch 2

Imperial Rd - light drizzle

Normally a good detour for some records, but today I couldn't even manage an Egret or Raptor.

Mallard 2

Teal 4

Middleton Nature Reserve - early afternoon heavy drizzle

Wildfowl pretty much as yesterday but two pairs of Mute Swan. At least one female nest building.

This is just a flavour of the conditions, one male each Gadwall and Teal.

As I was leaving it was fairing up a little, so I took a couple of token clips. This is a Cormorant, immature Mute Swans and Black-Headed Gulls.

There are two pairs of Little Grebe on the main pond and at least one pair on the "no swimming" pond. No trilling heard today, but you don't have to watch for long for a feeding bird to show.

Jackdaw 25

Jackdaw and feral Pigeon vying for roof roosting rights

Pale-bellied Brent goose 12 at least, seen out from the play area from Knowlys Rd this afternoon. This clip isn't great, not much was today, but it was taken from my car and does show that the feeding birds here are easily visible from the road, with half decent optics.

The weather doesn't look great for tomorrow, but perhaps the birds will be better.

More pairing up

An overnight frost. A freshish south wind, overcast all day with some light showers.

Report from Pete:

Everything below is either within or seen from the recording area.

Shag 3cy off Heysham Head

Pale-bellied Brent goose 42 -  7 off Battery car park by the disused sewage outfall, 35 off play area 

Eider 102

Great Crested Grebe  6 

Red-breasted Merganser 9 

4 Meadow pipit from north end of stone jetty in 10 mins. 

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Mute, Moorhen and Coot unchanged 

Greylag goose 2  - they have looked like they might fancy nesting here for the last few springs. Hopefully this year they might, if not disturbed.

Greylag Goose - the other just out of shot

Mallard 5 (4 male)

Gadwall 2 pair

Teal 2 pair

Little Grebe 2 pairs at least

Common Snipe 3

Water Rail 1 calling from the western marsh

Pheasant 1 male calling (I can't bring myself to call it singing!)

Cetti's warbler, contact calls and a burst of song from the "no swimming" pond

Great Spotted Woodpecker - this female flew from the direction of the large anemometer and rested in this tree a while (I've had to remove the sound, my camera was making it sound like it was drumming!)

It then flew back in the same direction - earlier this male was near the small anemometer in the Nature Park. To us, two different areas, but the two sightings would only be 400m apart.

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker 

Kestrel 2 - presumably a pair. This female was half perching, half hovering in this tree.

She flew off, but as I walked on a better viewing line revealed a male perched below where she had been.

Male Kestrel

Just out of the recording area - Heysham Moss Nature Reserve (MD)

This was mid afternoon and it had been drizzling and it continued to throughout my walk. So I wasn't expecting to see the Barn Owl, but was thinking perhaps a Stonechat, and fortunately I did see a male. I say fortunately, as it seemed to be moving through quickly. It rested on this Willow briefly and made no attempt to feed before moving on northwards. I was using one of my old cameras, so the image not so crisp, but at least the background noise is fine!

Grey Heron 3

Mallard 2

Hopefully more species will be moving through soon!

Tide and time.......

Quite mild, a light NW wind with some heavy, snow, sleet and rain showers with some sunny spells in between.

I was planning to, check the skear at low water at  09:45 today. By 09:30 the snow was of blizzard proportions. But the tide doesn't wait, so I donned my waterproofs and set off (MD)

Heysham skear - low water 09:45

To my delight the sun shone and the wind was almost absent for the duration of my walk. It rained during my drive home.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 38 - they weren't obvious to begin with as they were scattered around the skear, mainly in twos and threes. There is a modest amount of gutweed on most large rocks now. Nothing lush like the play area rocks or Red Nab, but plenty to go around, and only one person around to disturb them, and I made sure that I didn't. This is a typical relaxed feeding party.

As the tide rose, 8 flew off to the north.

This one has a damaged wing, it will do well to fly back across the Atlantic.
Good luck.....

The remaining birds collected in the NE skear corner. Most are in this clip.

They then flew to the south, 28 landed on the sea to the south of the skear, 2 continued south past the harbour. Some stayed on the sea

While others just had a paddle - they really are a handsome Goose

Eider 20 +

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female

Apart from the Oystercatcher, not many waders. Curlew 15, Turnstone 30+, Redshank 30+, Knot just 15

Sometimes when I walk along the shore I see something so familiar, that I forget that the logic of what I'm seeing may not be apparent to everyone (MD) This is an example:

Most of the Redshank feed on small invertebrates found in the small pools, channels and crevices between the rocks and mussels. But there are inevitably a few feeding higher up the beach on the mud. These are likely to be feeding on Blow Lugworms, but not whole worms, just their tail tips. The lugworm extend their tails above the mud to shed the waste mud that they have filtered any goodness out of, leaving the familiar "casts" on the mud surface. The tail tip is vulnerable and therefore has evolved to easily detach from the rest of the worm. A new tail extension then regrows, and although the tail tip will not be as nutritious as a whole worm, it will be a decent source of protein for a smallish wader. This clip begins with the Redshank grabbing a tail, washing it (probably only half of the detachable section), eating it then looking for the next worm actively casting.

When a worm is grabbed, it immediately contracts, this makes is wider and its body is held firm by its burrow sides, and shorter so any tail tip held becomes detached. This works well when the mud is relatively firm as it is here, but not so well in the soft mud, near the water's edge. That's why the serious worm eaters (Curlew, Godwits) feed close to the water's edge. What a lot of people forget, but waders know through experience, is that the tide comes in under the mud before it reaches it on the surface. So the mud near the edge is liquified and any worms grabbed can be extracted. (this is one reason why cars get stuck in the mud. They are driven around on the flat beaches, the mud supporting them easily. But as the tide starts to come in the mud can liquify below them, long before the tide reaches on the surface.  Once the tide is above the mud, the weight of the water compacts it, and it becomes firm again. Too late for any vehicles unfortunately. they are now firmly stuck!)

Saltmarsh to Red Nab - high water 15:25 (MD)

Another fortunate sunny spell between showers

The only passerines were 2 Rock Pipit and 2 Dunnock on the saltmarsh.

Pale-Bellied Brent at least 26 on Red Nab - almost certainly some of this morning's birds.

Pinkfoot 1 grounded on Red Nab

Wigeon c100

Imperial Rd

Just a drive along on the way home.

Greylag Goose 2

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 1

Mallard 3

Teal 4

Wood Pigeon 25

Buzzard 1

The Wood Pigeon roost in these trees and feed in the field on the east side of the road. These are a few of them roosting with the Buzzard in the next tree.

It blew and rained a lot!

Heavy overnight rain with a strong south to SW wind, not easing till the evening. The morning remained largely dry but heavy rain again in the afternoon and evening.

First, I've been saving this for a rainy day. It's one of Howards shots of the Knot on the Near Naze on Saturday.

It's worth opening, if only to see the water globules in freeze frame

South Shore today (MD)

I had a walk along the sea wall to watch the lunchtime ferry arrive - nothing other than juvenile large gulls behind it.

Rock Pipit 1 near wooden jetty

Shelduck 5

Wigeon 157 (I had time for an accurate count while waiting for my boat to come in).

Curlew 65 flew south past the roundhead in small groups. These are some of them battling the wind. The sea looks  relatively calm in this clip, this is because both the tide and the wind were heading in the same direction, in to the bay.

Curlew 

Shag 1 immature. Unusually, it was resting on the rail of No2 outflow.

Immature Shag with mature Cormorant in breeding plumage 

The tide was rising and it was soon displaced, but it tried to settle again a little further along.

It continued north, and I thought it was going to settle on the regular Shag roost on the wooden jetty. But it appeared to head in to the bay, although it could have gone in to the harbour. Either way atypical behaviour for the two regular birds.

Some shots from Janet:

Female and male (above) Red-breasted Mergansers out from Heysham Head

Female House Sparrow with nesting material at the north end 
of Moneyclose Lane

Three Stonechats

A lot milder with a SW light wind. Mainly overcast with some light afternoon showers.

I didn't have much time today, but it proved quite productive (MD)

Saltmarsh to Red Nab 08:45 - 09:15

Shelduck 42

Stonechat 2 - this female was in the same area near the slipway as yesterday's bird, but quite elusive.

Female Stonechat 

A male at Red Nab was more obliging, the green blur in the background is the gutweed covered Red Nab.

Male Stonechat 

Imperial Rd  - 09:40 -10:00

Stonechat 1 male - a bit more distant this time

A more typical view of a Stonechat 

Greylag Goose 2 - on the wrong side of the road so, "seen from" the recording area.

Greylag geese

Grey Heron 1 feeding 

Little Egret 1 feeding

Great White Egret 1 flew over to the west

Great White Egret

Sparrowhawk 1 male

Pete and Jean were doing the WeBS (wetlands bird survey) today, including:

Pale-bellied Brent goose 8 flew from the skear towards the south side

Shag 2 immature roosting on the wooden jetty

Details from Jean

Heysham high tide WeBS count today from Ocean Edge saltmarsh to Heysham Head :

Cormorant 42

Shag 2

Wigeon 127

Oystercatcher 3862

Snipe 6

Curlew 8

Knot 180

Redshank 81

Black-headed Gull 7

Lesser Black-backed Gull 4

Herring Gull 35

Wader numbers are lower this count due to several reasons: 

a) some have moved inland towards breeding areas 

b) Sparrowhawk disturbance at the heliport (hence few Knot recorded which are more sensitive to a predator than the Oystercatchers) 

c) a fox prowling about on Near Naze had scared all the waders off there.

Pete's shot of a Fox, having seen off the waders from the Near Naze.

Stonechat best of a reasonably decent day

An overnight frost, very light SE breeze early on freshened slightly during the day. Mainly overcast with some late afternoon sleet showers.

Heysham Skear - low water 08:00 (MD)

It was a very pleasant morning, but there wasn't a lot on show, many of the waders would have been on the outer skear.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 3 including the only first winter bird I've seen this winter.

Adult Pale-bellied Brent in front with a first winter bird behind
The other adult is just out of shot

Eider 35 - this clip is a bit different, a flavour of the skear and the females shooing away, at least some of the males.

Wigeon 7 floated in with the tide then flew off to the north. They are uncommon on this side of the harbour and normally only seen during passage. This is them heading off.

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Great Crested Grebe 2 - one of the grebes was feeding near the green marker post.

Unmistakable silhouette of a Great Crested Grebe with Oystercatchers in foreground 

Shag 1 immature 

Waders: Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Redshank, Curlew and just 150 Knot.

South Shore - high water 13:30 (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 2 flew south, unlikely to be two of this morning's birds.

Shelduck 30

Wigeon c100

Shag 1 immature on wooden jetty.

Rock Pipit 5 - 1 between lighthouse and waterfall, 2 on Red Nab (1 not welcomed by the male), 2 on saltmarsh 

Stonechat 1 female near the saltmarsh slipway.

Female Stonechat 

A nice plumage detail shot

Reed Bunting 1 

Common Snipe 93 at least. Counted 93 lifting off the saltmarsh, flocks flying around could have been them, not being sure where to go, or could have been additional birds from the north side.

Common Snipe and Redshank 

Common Snipe and Wigeon

This is one group flying around looking lost. Not really much to see of the birds, but it does provide views looking south from the saltmarsh.

These shots are of today's Shag sightings, both distant, but they do appear to be different birds (MD).

This is the Shag on the wooden jetty, looking obviously brown.
Suggesting that this is a first winter bird

In contrast the bird out from the skear looks much darker.
Suggesting this is a second winter bird

Better than expected!

When I looked out at 22:00 last night it was pouring down and everywhere was wet. An hour later, the snow was so hard that it blanketed everything. It was blowing hard from the north and the snow continued into the early hours. I certainly didn't expect today to turn out to be as pleasant as it did!

By morning the snow still lay deep on vegetation, but quickly cleared from roads and hard paths. The north wind continued but much lighter and moved to the NW in the afternoon. Sunshine, pretty much all day. It was still cold but a nice day for walking, as long as you wrapped up.

Pete and Howard managed to read a number of colour ringed Knot on the Heliport and Near Naze high tide roost. These are a couple of Howards shots.

A ringing report in the upcoming Annual Report summarises all
ringing including colour ringed Knot recoveries 

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

A nice stroll around in the morning sunshine.

Wildfowl pretty much unchanged.

The main pond Coots had clearly decided that threats alone were not enough to defend territory. They were obviously "squaring up". The subsequent battle looks fierce, but was over quickly. 

Both sides seem to claim victory, I suspect it was more like a draw, either way hostilities ceased, at least for the time being.

The Black-Headed Gulls were resting on the main pond edge, there are first winter and adult birds in various degrees of moulting to summer plumage.

Snipe sp 1 - what looked and behaved like a Jack Snipe, but it took flight while I was over 5m away. Jack Snipe often wait till you are almost on top of them before they take flight. But this was on snow covered ground, perhaps they only trust their camouflage when on appropriate terrain.

One advantage of walking on the snow (although it was melting quickly by this time) is that you can see what there has been. These are classic Pheasant tracks, not just the footprints, but the impression of the tail dragging behind.

Pheasant tracks

Imperial Rd (MD)

Just a quick stop off on the way past.

Buzzard 2 - this clip, shows one flying towards the bypass 

This is a still from the above clip, the second Buzzard is circled.
It is on the fence behind the tree, it followed the other a little later.

Heysham skear (MD)

I had a walk late afternoon, still three hours to low water, but the inner skear was exposed. This clip, shows gulls amassing to land on a newly emerging sand bar. But it's really just to show how lovely the South Lakes looked.

Eider 10

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Oystercatcher c2,000

Knot c600

Turnstone c150

Redshank 30

Dunlin 80

This small patch of broken mussels was already full of Oystercatcher and Knot (plus at least 1 Dunlin), before another flock of Knot arrived.

These are mainly Turnstone and Redshank 

Of all this afternoon's birds, this is the only one I saw that was ringed.
Dunlin with metal ring - no chance of reading of course. It is just to show that
spotting and reading ringed birds, as Howard and Pete did this morning, is no mean feat.

Hampered by a nasty flurry!

Unlike much of the country, Heysham got away with just light snow flurries. Even so the east wind was bitterly cold and became very strong in the afternoon.

Pete checked the Heliport wall, just 980 Knot roosting at high water.

Shag at leat 1 immature on the wooden jetty

South Shore (MD)

This clip shows an immature Shag on the wooden jetty (just left of centre), in the middle of the "worst" of today's snow. It wasn't easy to be sure, as its head was down for most of the time, but this clip begins with its head up.

The Black-Headed Gulls are quickly mounting to summer plumage.
The bird on the right is the regular overwintering Polish ringed bird.
Ringed as a nestling in 2017 it has been seen here every winter since 2017/18

Shelduck 57

Wigeon 140 - this clip, shows the Wigeon making their way to the inshore Red Nab rocks as the incoming water reaches them, allowing easy feeding on the gutweed.

Rock Pipit at least 3 - none seen/heard near the lighthouse, two on saltmarsh, the Red Nab bird was heard display calling, but from somewhere behind in the more sheltered Power Station grounds. This bird feeding along the sea wall may have been the Red Nab male, you can see Red Nab behind.

And that's about it! I was thinking of going out again in the afternoon, but the cold and now strong east wind wasn't enticing, and the tides and weather didn't suggest anywhere to see anything different. It looks even worse for tomorrow, we might have to do a bit of barrel bottom scraping! But, you never know.......

A cold east wind - didn't seem to blow anybody any good!

Down to -2C overnight the shallow pools etc were covered in ice. A cold east wind freshened during the day. At least it remained dry.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Just a quick check, nothing much different to yesterday other than 8 Gadwall today. One of the Mute Swans was thinking about building a nest. My camera was mercifully quiet during this clip, you can hear a Little Grebe trilling a couple of times..

South Shore

I had a look as far as Red Nab on the rising tide (MD)

No Brent turned up today, they quickly learn that the increasing height tides provide diminishing feeding opportunities.

All there was, were the regular birds:

Rock Pipit 1 displaying on Red Nab.

Shelduck 30

Wigeon 120

Both the above on Red Nab, also on Red Nab was this Little Egret. 

You can see the gutweed limp and close to the exposed rocks, making for difficult browsing.
But the gutweed behind the Egret is being reached by the rising tide, this makes it swell and
 float, making for easy browsing.

Curlew (and a bit of Redshank)

These Long-Tailed Tits, joined by a Blue Tit were feeding in the Nature Park. This area is where seeds and bread are often left for the birds. Whatever they are finding must be tiny and not deemed worthwhile by the other birds.

Kevin Eaves had a walk along the wall later and took these nice shots of a mature Cormorant in breeding plumage.

Heliport - 3,700 Knot roosting

Heysham Nature Reserve - one Weasel shot across the road

Both the above from Pete

The wind and weather are looking even less promising for tomorrow!