Two species "return" to Red Nab

A strong and freshening SW wind. Heavy showers in the morning.

South Shore

I had a walk along the foreshore and sea wall mid morning, and mid shower (MD). Got a soaking on the way out and a blow-dry on the way back!

Mediterranean gulls 4 at least, there were two adults and a 1st calendar year feeding on the outflows and a 2nd calendar year on the beach by the wooden jetty.

This is the 2cy with a Bar-Tailed Godwit. The rain had just stopped at this point, but the light was still awful!

This is the 1cy on No.2 outflow

Kingfisher 1 flew out from the culvert in the sea wall at Red Nab and flew east. This is typical of the bird(s) that over wintered last year, but it is a bit early. It will be interesting to see if it hangs around.

Grey Seal 1 near No.1 outflow

Ringed Plover 6 and Dunlin 2 resting on the grass at Ocean Edge during the shower

Rock Pipits 3

Linnet 25 (saltmarsh)

Goldfinch 12 (foreshore and Red Nab)

Wheatear 20+ they were becoming active as I walked back, and when Janet checked later most had moved on.

Pictures from Janet:

One of the few remaining Wheatears

Adult Mediterranean Gull

Ringed Plover and Turnstone 

Oystercatcher, 1 leucistic bird with a white head (looks like a Puffin!)

Little Egret

Cormorant, also having a blow-dry

First Wigeon to return this autumn 

In the doldrums!

A very light east breeze accompanied by even lighter rain in the first half of the morning. Then just overcast.

Heysham Skear - low water 08:00 (MD)

East winds have the least affect on the sea on this side of the bay. Such a light one had no discernible affect and the sea was flat calm.

Great Crested Grebe 13

Red-breasted Merganser 6 - all female/immature 

Eider 21 - mainly female/immature 

Some of the Eider

Four of the mergansers 

Red-breasted Merganser

Pink-Footed goose 85 south in two skeins, both at 09:25

Little Egret 10

Not so many waders today but the outer skear was exposed and many would be feeding there.

Oystercatcher 200

Curlew 100

Redshank 50

Turnstone 100

Knot 300

The tide was so flat it was creeping in around these Knot. One picks up a small mussel, but I think it discards it again. They didn't decide to fly till prompted by passing Oystercatchers.

Back to spring tides now and they come in very quickly, concentrating the shrimps and small fish and causing a brief feeding frenzy. This is a flavour of the activity, although the egret seem to have finished feeding.

Carrion Crow, there is always a presence on the skear, about 10 today. But more interesting were a high group of 9 that flew in over the skear and continued east.

Nothing different today

A cold NE light wind. Dry with plenty of sunshine.

South shore

Pete managed a quick check early on

Mediterranean gull 11 in a quick sweep. No rings seen.

34 ringed plover, 5 Dunlin inshore off OE saltmarsh

Janet had a walk along the wall

Red Admiral 2 in off the sea at Red Nab.

Loads of gulls feeding on both outflows again.

Goldfinch 20+ on Red Nab.

This Robin on Red Nab was not in the least bothered that I was quite near.

A nice sequence of a Little Egret fishing.

Then fighting over fishing rights!

Young Herring Gull having a foam bath

Rabbit, hopping it!

Comma in the Nature Park. Also Red Admiral and Common Darters

I walked the shore between the saltmarsh and Potts for a couple of hours but couldn't relocate yesterday's white rumped wader (MD). The closest I got was this mixed group of waders resting in a drain close to where yesterday's bird flew from. The Larger Grey Plover were easily seen but a number of the smaller waders remained hidden.

Unfortunately, before I could get a closer look another small group of Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin flew to join them, but just managed to spook them all into leaving!

Flying birds, left to right. Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin

I say, unfortunately, but there was nothing lost, I managed a quick check of the birds as they flew off, the only white rumps were the Grey Plover 20. The others were just Knot and Dunlin.

Grey Plover with Blackpool Tower in the distance 

There were three other inshore feeding groups of Ringed Plover within the recording area. 66 birds in total, but nothing more than Dunlin with them.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Lapwing 16 on the saltmarsh 

Shelduck 124

Some of the Shelduck 

Swallow 1 north into the wind

Along the foreshore 

Wheatear 11 + 2 along the sea wall - ref David Kaye

Again some of the Wheatear were the larger birds

Meadow Pipit 2 grounded

Rock Pipit 2

Robin 1

The one that got away......for now at least

Very light variable breeze. Some light showers.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

Nothing migrating overhead at Heysham NR this morning but 

8 Chiffchaffs, 

8 Coal Tits, 

3 Goldcrests 

and another Sedge Warbler creeping through the bushes.

South Shore

Pete had a look early on 

Mediterranean gulls 11

Ringed Plover 12 inshore

I had a walk along the sea wall then out onto the shore beyond the saltmarsh (MD)

Wheatear 1 on Red Nab 2 near the lighthouse. The foreshore wasn't checked in the morning but there were 14 in the afternoon so at least 17 for the day

Rock Pipits 6 - 1 near the waterfall and 2 along the sea wall. 3 on the foreshore in the afternoon.

Peregrine Falcon 1 flew into Power Station grounds

I checked the meds on Red Nab but couldn't see any ringed birds. There was a blue ringed Black-Headed gull, but it was the same one I read yesterday and originally saw on the 14/07/23.

Black-Headed gull ringed at Martin Mere 6/07/20

The walk on the shore didn't find much, but probably missed plenty! A smallish brown wader took flight from the cover of a water channel and headed south towards Potts Corner. Only seen from behind, it had a white rump, long looking wings giving it a leisurely looking flight. It continued south till out of sight. Its call ruled out Wood Sandpiper. A second thorough check of the shore late afternoon failed to relocate it. Will try again tomorrow.

These 23 Shelduck were heading north this afternoon 

Turnstone 

Dunlin resting in a channel similar to where this morning's wader took flight from

Swallow 37 eventually headed south all between 15:45 and 16:00. At that time there was no wind, and they didn't seem to know which way to go.

The foreshore was full of life, there were Goldfinch 16 and Linnet 25 eating seeds.

The sun had come out briefly and the insects were rising and the Pied Wagtails (5), Wheatear (14) and  Rock Pipits (3) were also rising to catch them. I tried to get a clip of this Pied Wagtail catching flies, but ended up with the Linnet eating the Unscented Mayweed seeds, although you just get a glimpse of the wagtail flying up to catch a fly.

Quite a stocky Wheatear

The Rock Pipits weren't happy with all the activity on their patch.

Also along the foreshore, Robin 2, Wren 2 and Dunnock 1

Dunnock

Just out of the recording area - Middleton marsh

Pete had gone down to scan for the missing wader. No joy, but did see

Osprey 1 resting on a log on Middleton marsh

Gulls still feasting, but not so much variety today

Some overnight rain then dry with plenty of sunshine. A light west wind drifted to NW

South Shore

Pete checked again:

Interesting that well before the tide there were just 20 Mediterranean Gulls around Heysham outfalls area (63 yesterday) but there were at least 41 roosting on the sandbank between Lades marsh and Basil Point - no distance in direct flight from Heysham. Surely the same pool of birds - shame ring reading so difficult on lune estuary

Dunlin - close in flock of 120 

I checked along the seawall and the saltmarsh area today (MD). But first......

This looks like a bleak Scottish loch, complete with its own monster. I'll reveal the location later.

These are the gulls, mainly Black-Headed feeding on No.2 outflow. There are high numbers feeding but even more resting on the rails and the shore either side of the outflow. The clip pans to No.1 outflow with the wooden jetty behind.

There were eight species of wader on Red Nab

Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone and Curlew in high numbers, but not so many of the rest:

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Knot 4

Ringed Plover 12

Dunlin 2

These are the Dunlin with some of the Ringed Plover

This is a flock of c100 Turnstone coming in to rest by No.2 outflow. There was a solitary Knot with them (I think the 2 Redshank were already there).

This Turnstone on the foreshore has a small crab, but not for long (you can't have your crab and eat it!)

Wheatear 28, they were all along the sea wall and 15 along the foreshore 

Rock Pipit 2

Meadow Pipit 1 grounded on foreshore 

Meadow Pipit

Linnet 35 on saltmarsh 

Linnet 

Robin 6 along foreshore and saltmarsh. Two at least already on winter territory and were frantically chasing off the Wheatears.

Pied Wagtail 5 at least 3 of which seemed to be moving through

Swallow 1 south

Pink-Footed goose 124 south in 3 skeins

This is the "tree" in the loch picture earlier. Just a small plant growing in a crevice on the sea wall,
with a rainwater puddle behind it. No idea what the monster was! But it shows how angles can be deceptive. (MD)

There are still Grey Herons roaming around. Janet saw one being chased out into the bay by another Heron at Half Moon Bay

The gullfest continues and big Red Admiral movement

The light east wind in the morning had drifted to the south in the afternoon. Plenty of sunshine.

South shore

Report from Pete:

Osprey 1 fishing 0815-20

Gullfest still Heysham outfalls and area - far more than usual

Little Gull at least one juvenile but lost after Osprey flush, 

Mediterranean gull at least 63 with at least 28 2cy and four 1cy 

Sandwich Tern 1

Pink-Footed goose 190 south 0810-0846 then 50 later

Swallow only 10

Sand Martin 1 late bird

Red Admiral 157 south from 0850 including 50 in 15 minutes (0945-1000)

Jean was at Heysham Nature Reserve. 

Pink-Footed goose 500 additional 

Sedge Warbler 1

I was busy and couldn't get down till the tide was full (MD). So no chance of checking the shore for Whitebait (see yesterday's post). But there obviously hadn't been a repeat performance. The gulls were feeding on the outflows when Pete checked, the shore and any available fish were still exposed then.

Wheatear 9 plus 1 at the lighthouse in the afternoon.

Rock Pipit 1

Red Admiral 29 south in 45 minutes, most were what just fluttered past. But every time I looked through my binoculars at something there was almost always one in the field of view.

A second check along the sea wall in the afternoon saw butterflies come in off at the lighthouse at the rate of one a minute. Mainly Red Admirals but a few Small Tortoiseshell too.

Chiffchaff 1 in the scrub near the lighthouse 

Pink-Footed goose 108 south in two skeins at 15:40 - so 848 total today.

Linnet 7 feeding along the sea wall in the afternoon and 6 on the foreshore and saltmarsh in the morning.

This is one of the morning birds eating the seeds off one of the many foreshore Sunflowers, which were finally killed off by the saltwater in the last set of spring tides. Nice to know they managed to set seed though.

These are some of the Linnet along the sea wall, finding plenty of seeds amongst the sparse vegetation.

Alison and Kevin saw at least 6 Wheatear along the foreshore in the afternoon, almost certainly additional to the 4 there this morning as they were quickly moving through then.

Painted Lady on the small beach between Red Nab and the foreshore 

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP)

Quite a few Butterflies and lots of Common darter coupled up, I think there was a Black Darter on the boggy track at the main pond but lost sight of it.

Common Darters

Comma

Red Admiral 

Excellent Marsh Harrier and Little Gulls.......but eclipsed by a moth!

A light NE wind. Overcast with light showers.

Report from Pete:

Heliport 

520 Redshank 

235 Turnstone

1 snipe 

Red Nab/Ocean Edge

Mediterranean gull at least 38 (22 2cy, 3 1cy)

Little Gulls 2 juvenile 

Marsh Harrier highish to south over golf course about 0900

I had a walk on the shore (MD). Normally I thoroughly enjoy walking out on the mud, but today wasn't right. There was dead Whitebait strewn all over the mud. Gulls and Crows seemed to be ignoring them and just standing around. But two of the biggest opportunistic feeders wouldn't ignore such easy pickings, they must have woken up to a feast and gorged themselves silly! All the Whitebait were the same size and quite small, obviously all members of what was once a large shoal. There were tens of thousands of them and I only covered a relatively small area of the shore. I can't think of any natural cause in these tides and weather conditions. I have an idea for a possible cause, but only speculative, so I shall keep it to myself (nothing too bad).

This is out from the foreshore, which held the densest concentration 
It was like this for 200m x 50m. And there were still lots further out on the shore

This section near Red Nab was covered in gull footprints and droppings and still there were
hundreds of Whitebait remaining, goodness knows how many there were when the tide left them!

No gulls feeding on the outflows this morning, all too full!

Presumably the glut of free fish is what enticed the Little Gulls to hang around, although where they were resting didn't have too many fish on the mud.

These are the two juvenile Little Gulls, they appear to be resting on a young Mediterranean gull's patch of shore (we're not in black and white mode, but the wet mud was reflecting the grey sky and all three gulls were basically shades of grey).

Little Gull with 1st calendar year Mediterranean gull

Juvenile Little Gulls

Redshank 200

Knot 220 - these are some of the Knot coming in.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 2

Lapwing 13 (on saltmarsh)

Plus the Oystercatchers and Curlew. There was only a few each Ringed Plover and Dunlin while I was out on the shore, but their numbers were increasing as I left.

Linnet 6 on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Meadow Pipit 43 east in small groups - none closer than 50m from the shoreline.

Wheatear 29 - including 5 on Red Nab, Kevin Eaves saw 15 - 20 on Red Nab mid afternoon 

Robin singing its heart out on the saltmarsh edge

Pink-Footed Goose 507 in 8 skeins, the last at 10:20. Janet had 20 south early on. Jean had 731, of which at least 561 didn't overlap with mine. So minimum number today 1,088

Full report from Jean, from along the sea wall.

Pink-footed Geese - 731 in total as follows:

0840hrs 50 over HNR heading south, then 70 and then another 50

0955hrs 200 heading S over the sea

1000hrs 40 SW

1015hrs 200 S high SW over the power station

1020hrs 24 SW

1030hrs 40 SW coming over the power station m then 55 SW and finally 2 high S

Other vis:

Meadow Pipit 8 east

Pied Wagtail 1 heard

Grounded:

Goldcrest - 1 in the bushes at the harbour

Robin - 1 in the bushes at the harbour

Linnet - 4 on the wire at the harbour

Grey Wagtail - 1 flew along the sea wall and possibly the same one heard within the power station later

Goldfinch - 12 juvs in the bushes near Red Nab

Red Nab of note:

Redshank - 390 roosting at high tide

Kevin Eaves had this special moth in his overnight trap:

A rather special moth in the trap this morning. A very rare Clifden Nonpareil. A rare
migrant which may have established itself in one or two locations in the south of the country. 

They are huge!

More Curlew Sandpiper

A light SW to W wind. Overcast withe light showers in the morning, a relatively dry afternoon but more steady rain in the evening.

South shore

Pete and Jean checked from Ocean Edge on the rising tide.

Curlew Sandpiper 2 together at the edge of a feeding flock of Ringed Plover out from the saltmarsh.

Mediterranean gull 24 most on Red Nab

Sandwich Tern 4

I had a walk onto the shore (MD), but had left it a bit late, the tide was already ebbing and the Ringed Plover 100+ and Dunlin 20+ were moving to the newly exposed mud.

There were tiny sea snails everywhere on the mud that had been covered by the sea. It's not clear what the birds were actually eating. The Dunlin were probing and the Plovers picking. If they were eating the snails here, they were being very selective. This clip shows the different feeding techniques of a Dunlin and a juvenile Ringed Plover. Every dark speck is a tiny sea snail, you can see the vast quantity are ignored.

Curlew 150

Oystercatcher 200

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Grey Plover 3

Turnstone 3 

Slightly unusual seeing Turnstone resting on the mud here

Lapwing 12 on saltmarsh 

Pink-Footed goose 17 low to the south

Little Egret 7

Wheatear 2 - foreshore

Linnet 10 - saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 1 - Red Nab

A nice group of Mediterranean gulls on Red Nab. 3 adult, 4 second calendar year and 1 first calendar year.
No rings seen today. Yesterday's white ringed bird was ringed in Holland as a nestling in 2019.
From May 2020 to May 2022 it was seen in Germany, Wales, Spain, Portugal and France.
But yesterday was the first sighting in 16 months.

Janet was having a walk along the sea wall. This is the view of the Red Nab gulls from the wall.

Mainly Black-Headed Gulls on Red Nab. There is a small group at the top
towards the left that are probably the same group of Meds pictured above

Little Egret on Red Nab

This is a nice sequence of a young Black-Headed Gull picking up a fish (Whitebait) from the outflows. Worth opening these to appreciate the detail.

You can see the stunned Whitebait in the water. If gulls could smile, this one is!

This adult Mediterranean gull was also after Whitebait on the outflows

Cormorants on the wooden Jetty