More Siskins

A dry and largely sunny day with a light west wind.

North shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 33  including the two colour ringed birds off Knowsly Road play area, before being flushed and flying north - Barrie Cooper

The following from Janet:

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Cetti's Warbler singing at the main pond.

South Shore

A morning check - these Eider actually yesterday's birds, none seen today

Male Eider in Harbour mouth

Female Eider in Harbour mouth

Little Egret 

Rock Pipit on Red Nab

Nature Park

Siskin 6 at least feeding on the Alder near the white barrier

  Siskin

Robin singing its heart out

One of several toads in the pond

I didn't manage to get out till late afternoon today (Malcolm). No sign of the Siskin at that time.

Wigeon 380

Shag 1 on the wooden jetty 

Shag (middle) with Cormorants 

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

The Glossy Ibis was feeding happily at 16:50. 

The rain almost held off long enough!

A freshening SSE wind. The threatened heavy rain held off till 15:00.

Just my stuff today so far (Malcolm)

South shore 

I had been expecting rain this morning but I managed a walk along the sea wall and back without a spot of rain. The tide was out but still some things to see.

Wigeon c200

Eider 3 (pair in harbour mouth and one immature feeding at the seaward end of No.1 outflow.

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male near the wooden jetty.

Male Red-breasted Merganser

Bar-Tailed Godwit 9 feeding along the waterline between No.1 outflow and the wooden jetty. These are 5 of them coming in.

There is a small area of Honeycomb worm beds just out from the roundhead that always attracts waders. Here, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Turnstone.

Rock Pipit 5 (one each, Red Nab, sea wall and waterfall, 2 near lighthouse)

The rain was still holding off at 14:30 so I went out on the shore out from the saltmarsh to check out the waders. Unfortunately, just as I was approaching the waterline the heavens opened. Fortunately, I had got to the south of them so the wind and rain was to my back. Even so it wasn't really conducive to counting so I just estimated:

Curlew 100

Bar-Tailed Godwit 300

Oystercatcher 200

Knot 500

Dunlin 150

Nevertheless, I took a few clips, if only to show that in today's conditions the mud appears to be mud coloured (see post on 10th February)

This is the Manxman leaving the harbour just before 15:00, and before the rain began.
Even so it was already dark enough for its lights to be clearly visible 

Shelduck 9

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 21 - I counted 15 on the Red Nab rocks from some distance, there were almost certainly more, as David Kaye saw 21 on the north side earlier.

Not a lot to be seen, and not a lot of light to see it in!

The cloud was very low all day, the very fine rain in the morning was really just the clouds reaching the ground. A light SW wind.

Heysham skear - low water 10:20 (MD)

It was strange on the skear this morning, not just the lack of visibility, but also the lack of birds to be seen. The only birds seen on the water other than gulls and cormorants were

Eider 30+

A lot of waders were missing too. Plenty of Oystercatcher (2,000+) but only

Curlew 4

Knot 5 individual birds

Turnstone 12

Redshank 23

The mist like rain wasn't unpleasant to walk in but it immediately covered anything with a lens in a a film of water. There isn't much to see in this clip, mainly Oystercatcher, but it does give a flavour of how bleak it was on the skear this morning. The grey blobs on the horizon when I pan out are buildings on the promenade.

Occasionally the clouds lifted high enough to reveal the bottom of the Power Stations 

But most of the time they were obscured 

South shore

Kevin had a walk along the sea wall at low water. The only birds of note were:

Bar-Tailed Godwit 9 feeding on the beach next to the wooden jetty.

I had a look from Red Nab to the saltmarsh in the afternoon, towards high water. At least it was a bit "brighter" (Malcolm)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 32  - there were at least 3 already feeding on Red Nab when these 29 came in low from the north side.

Wigeon c200

Rock Pipit 2 together on saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 2 on saltmarsh 

Male Reed Bunting 

Imperial Rd (MD)

Buzzard 1 pale bird

Greylag goose 26 on the east side of the road.

Greylag Geese

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Both the Glossy Ibis and a Green Sandpiper were feeding in the field next to the paddock at 15:30.

This is the Green Sandpiper 

Fickle weather!

Yesterday the forecast was for light rain and it chucked it down! Today was forecast for heavy rain, but after a morning shower it was pretty much just very low cloud. A fresh SSW wind and very mild.

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP, MD)

Janet saw this female Roe Deer on the southern section of the reserve

I checked the two main ponds (Malcolm)

Wildfowl as yesterday 

Cetti's warbler 2 singing from the western and eastern edges of the "no swimming" pond. I couldn't see them, this clip of Gadwall while one sings was the best I could do.

South shore (MD)

I managed the full walk with just a few spots of rain.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 14 - 2 arrived high from the north very early in the tide and had a drink, then rested on the mud waiting for the tide to come in.

It was 40 minutes later, as I was almost back when another 12 arrived low from the north side.

Shelduck 2

Wigeon 276 - many had taken to feeding on the very short gutweed high on the sloping sea wall. Whether it is down to the shortage of gutweed on Red Nab or if the morning rain had made it more appetising, isn't obvious.

Curlew 126 flew south in small groups, no more than normal, I just decided to count them today.

Shag 1 sub adult in the harbour

Shag, swimming across the inner harbour 

Rock Pipit 7 - one each on foreshore, Red Nab and sloping sea wall. Two each at the lighthouse and waterfall. This is one of the lighthouse birds, you can hear the second bird calling.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

I called in this morning just as the shower was ending (Malcolm). The forecast suggested rain for much of the day so I thought I would get some clips while the going was good. As it turned out that was the last of the day's rain.

Glossy Ibis, still catching worms and still losing feathers.

A Little Egret was feeding in the pool. But not the stealthy technique used for catching fish. It was after frogs, probably expecting to find males awaiting the females, but in this clip at least it just finds something small, possibly an early (and now late!) newt.

Swans top the bill......well, it was wet!

The forecast "light" rain became increasingly heavy during the morning, more showery in the afternoon. The south wind increased throughout the day ending quite fresh.

Just my stuff today, so far (Malcolm)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

The 2 adult Mute Swans were still on the "no swimming" pond. It's nice to see  them feeding naturally and doing a bit of reaffirming bonds.

There were only five immature birds on the main pond and two of them were bonding. Presumably one of these was the stray cygnet that the group "adopted".

Gadwall 8

Male Gadwall

Mallard 10

Tufted Duck 1 male

Coot 6

Moorhen 4

Little Grebe 1

Imperial Rd

Mallard 12

Teal 6 

A nice size comparison shot between a Mallard and Teal

Little Egret 3

Saltmarsh 

A quick check just after high water

Wigeon 120

Rock Pipit 6 (3, 2 and 1)

This is one of Howard's many colour marked Knot from Monday.

Ringed as an adult at Skógarnes Iceland 17/05/23
Seen at the Wash in Norfolk 29/10/23 then here 12/02/24

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

The Glossy Ibis was seen both during the morning and afternoon in the horse paddock behind the Hall. These excellent shots are not today's but taken by Janet earlier in the week (I've been saving them for a rainy day).

Plenty going on

An overcast day, but it managed to remain dry. A light south wind drifted to the east.

South Shore 

Pale-bellied Brent goose 2 on Red Nab - Pete(M)

I had a walk along the sea wall a bit earlier (Malcolm)

Wigeon 300

Shelduck 4

Shag 1 sub adult on the wooden jetty. It had arrived quite early in the rising tide, and was stood on the planking having a preen as the Stena Line was heading out. Note how few Cormorants are on the jetty at this point. 

But the tide was rising quickly and the Cormorants were arriving all the time from both directions, these came from the north.

Cormorants 

This is the wooden jetty just 10 minutes later

Rock Pipit just 1 near the lighthouse today

Nature Park.

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 female

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker 

The finches weren't overly happy about it. Here Greenfinch and Goldfinch perch, unusually quietly, close to the woodpecker.

Long-Tailed Tits 6 still finding plenty of leftovers near the white barrier

The bird with the bad leg (foreground) was still limping. but managing
to balance itself without using its wings or tail for support today.

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP)

Some of the 15 Magpies in close association 

This fine shot is actually from yesterday when the sun was shining 

Gadwall

The Coot have not stopped battling since last spring!

North shore (HS)

Howard has taken full advantage of these particularly high spring tides and has read many colour ringed  Knot on the Heliport and Near Naze over the last few days. This is a particularly incredible shot.

Just out of the recording area, Glossy Ibis in horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall till mid morning at least

Finches feeding

Once again, a heavy early morning shower followed by a dry and sunny morning. More overcast in the afternoon. A light SW wind.

South shore (MD, JP)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 26 - none had arrived on Red Nab when I left, but Janet saw 5 when she went past a little later. 26 were seen flying into the recording area past Cockersands.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese arrived late and can't have stayed long on Red Nab

Wigeon 350+

Wigeon 

Shelduck 4 south

Shag 1 on the wooden jetty

Redshank 180

Redshank and a few Turnstone on the edges of No.1 outflow, a small group of Wigeon
behind them and beyond the wooded jetty with Cormorants and a Shag

It is surprisingly difficult spotting birds in a clear blue sky, it's easier with a blanket of white clouds. This is a clip of a group of Curlew heading south, although when I first saw them coming I wasn't sure what they were. It was a case of shoot first, ask questions later!

Nature Park

There were a lot of finches around today, unfortunately I couldn't find any Siskin (Malcolm).

This Male Chaffinch had been feeding in the leaf litter and was only using the tree to clean its bill and have a preen.

Meanwhile the Goldfinch were using their finer bills to eek the seeds out of the Alder catkins.

Perhaps the Goldfinch eating its seeds is slightly detrimental to the Alder, but the Alder only needs one seed to germinate in its lifetime to maintain continuity. This female Bullfinch on the other hand seems to be taking most of this trees flower buds (not sure what species). Again, I don't suppose it will matter much to the tree, but it's an awful lot of flowers that won't bloom for the insects and fruit that won't set for the autumn birds. That said, this decimation happens every year and I am always amazed how much blossom still manages to bloom.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD) 

Just a quick check of the two main ponds

Mute Swan 2 adults on the "no swimming" pond, 6 immature on the main pond, although they were well spread out unlike previous behaviour.

Mallard 18

Gadwall 5

Tufted Duck 1 male

Teal 2

Little Grebe 2 (one on each pond, the main pond bird trilling constantly)

Coot 6

Moorhen 4

The Tufted Duck's tuft was looking splendid in the wind.

Imperial Rd (MD) - mid afternoon 

Buzzard 1

Teal 12

Jay 2

Mistle Thrush 4

Pink-Footed goose 800 - they had been resting/feeding in one of the fields to the north of the bypass when they decided it was time to fly south.

Pink-Footed geese

Just out of the recording areas - Middleton Parish Hall (JP)

Glossy Ibis initially feeding in the horse paddock behind the hall this morning, then flew to a tree to rest a while 

Not so much today (if you can call a Shag and a Glossy Ibis "not much"!)

A clear sunny morning, overcast with light showers in the afternoon. A light west breeze

Pale-bellied Brent goose 26 - No sign of any Brent geese  on both the north and south side feeding areas when you would normally expect them. But 26 flew past the Heliport and ended up at Potts Corner.

South shore 

Red-throated diver 1 distant on incoming tide (Pete)

Shag 1 at least on the wooden jetty towards high water.

Cormorant 55 on the wooden jetty including a ringed bird that was unfortunately too distant to read.

I originally thought this to be a red ring (Malcolm), but my pictures suggest orange

Rock Pipit 5 at least- one each near the waterfall, the lighthouse and Red Nab. Two on the saltmarsh 

There were at least two on Red Nab when Janet checked later

Wigeon feeding right up to the shoreline at the saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 1 at the saltmarsh 

Imperial Rd 

These shots by Edward Wilkinson this morning

Goldfinch 

Male Greenfinch

Buzzard

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Both the Glossy Ibis and the Green Sandpiper were feeding in the horse paddock and adjacent field, when Pete and Jean checked this morning.

These shots, also from this morning, by Edward Wilkinson provide some nice plumage detail