Just a bit of Knot stuff

The morning rain soon eased, then dry with occasional sunshine. A fresh east wind.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 12:30 - 14:00

Not a lot of time today and not really a lot to see. 

No Brent geese seen or heard. Just 24 Eider on the sea, no Mergansers or grebes seen.

Waders as recent including 700 Knot.

The offshore winds are still no good for stirring up the shallow water to allow the small shrimps to move into the shallows around the skear. But we are moving back towards spring tides now and the quickly ebbing water in the narrow drains is enough to muddy the water. The gulls were shrimping in the main drain, but only closer to the Stone Jetty where the drain is narrow and the mud less consolidated.

A line of mainly Black-Headed gulls shrimping in the drain as it meanders 
towards the northern edge of the skear

The Knot headed towards the northern edge of the skear.
The water upper right is the same drain that the gulls were feeding in, but
here it widens as it passes along the edge of the skear

Many of the Knot fed in the water, but not after shrimps, they were easily finding mussels the size they like. Presumably the flowing water was helping to expose them. You can see several mussels being swallowed in this clip.

Knot eating mussels

Some of the Knot elected to feed on the dry mussel beds, several flagged birds
read, but all seen recently. This one was ringed at Skógarnes Iceland last year

A few Common and Black-Headed gulls tried shrimping in the drain along the skear edge, but soon gave up. But this clip does show the speed of the ebbing tide, and we are only half way to full spring tides.

No insects today!

It was a cold fresh SE wind, it remained dry but overcast.

Heysham skear - Malcolm

Two checks again, one on the ebb tide this morning and again on the flood this afternoon/evening

Pale-bellied Brent geese 25 seen flying around this morning and 22 this afternoon 

Brent Geese

Eider 47 this morning, none seen this afternoon 

Eider

Red-breasted Merganser pair seen both visits

Red-breasted Merganser

I mentioned yesterday that there is always a Starling presence on the skear, today their presence was unmissable.

Starlings

Waders pretty much as yesterday. There were 1000 Knot this morning and still 700 this afternoon, no Peregrine disturbance seen while I was there.

A few flagged Knot were read, but this terrain is tricky. This is one of the better
areas, but not many of these have their legs on view. One flag can be read though.
MAP ringed Merseyside 2024

This one is a bit easier to see in a brief bit of morning sunshine.
Ringed at the Wadden Sea Netherlands 2019. Seen in Iceland 2024

Knot, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and Redshank

Insects emerging!

 A very light SE breeze and relatively warm sunshine (10°C)

Heysham skear -Malcolm

I went out this morning 10:15 on the ebb tide, then checked again on the flood this afternoon (13:30).

Pale-bellied Brent goose 31 seen this morning, 21 this afternoon 

Brent geese this morning 

Brent geese this afternoon, with conger rock behind

These two are on a quite barren area of skear, there are traces of gutweed, but they are looking for weed (sea lettuce is favourite) broken free in deeper water by the recent storm, leaving fragments trapped between the stones.

Eider 45 around the skear 100+ nearer the Stone Jetty

Great Crested grebe 2

Little Egret 3

Oystercatcher 1500

Curlew just 20 this morning, 45 this afternoon 

Redshank 120

Knot 1000 before a Peregrine attack sent them all north this morning. Only 100 in 2 small groups this afternoon.

Turnstone 45

Dunlin 30

Ringed Plover 7

The Peregrine must have been a male, it was so small, that I mistook it for
a Merlin 

Other birds, in this case Oystercatchers, get much closer to raptors
when their talons are full.

Starlings rarely get a mention, but there are always some on the skear.
They definitely collect grit here, but I think some do find food as well.

When I got back to my car this morning, a Common Drone Fly was warming 
itself. Clearly tempted out of hibernation.

Imperial Rd - Malcolm

Just a quick check this afternoon, this morning's drone fly reminding me that insects were on the menu again. Sure enough both Stonechats were feeding. This is the male, but the female zips through the frame, unfortunately I didn't pick her up again in this clip.

Female Stonechat

Male Stonechat

Teal 5

Accidentally spooked Teal, leaving a trail of........"confetti"

Water Rail 1 squealing

Other insects were also stirring.

2 Ruby Tiger caterpillars in the sunshine on the south sea wall this afternoon - Kevin Eaves

At least two Shag around

Very strong overnight east winds eased during the day. Some heavy showers, but not many and the day actually finished in sunshine.

South shore - Malcolm 14:00 - 15:30

For once I timed my walk well regarding the weather. As I set off the skies were still dark and menacing, but brighter weather was on its way, making for interesting lighting. By the time I got back the sun was shining!

The Fylde coast, including Blackpool Tower heralding the brighter weather 

The tide was rising, but even as I finished it was way too early for any Brent geese to move from the north shore.

Shelduck 15 on Red Nab

Wigeon 255 counted on the sea but more flew in as the tide reached Red Nab.

Many of the Wigeon were between No.1 outfall and the wooden jetty

This one looked deep in thought, or perhaps just admiring her reflection 

Great Black-backed gulls

Red Shank 95

Redshank.
Other waders: Turnstone 6, Curlew 12, Oystercatcher 1

Cormorants on No.2 outfall displaying their breeding plumage white thigh patch,
the middle bird is more mature with a grey head

Cormorant 

Shag at least two. There was one in adult plumage in the harbour, plus another in the harbour that looked to be a 2nd calendar year bird. Walking back along the sea wall there was an immature bird feeding alongside No.1 outfall, but possibly the same bird.

2nd calendar year Shag

This is where the adult was resting, on the closest platform 

It then had a swim around, but showed no interest in diving.

Quite striking plumage 

In the Nature Park

Long-Tailed Tits one small feeding group.

Sparrowhawk 1

It's mainly about Brent

A cold and freshening SE to E wind. Dry but mainly overcast 

First a few shots taken whilst on the road yesterday (Malcolm)

Kestrel at Imperial Rd. Also 2 Little Egrets. No sign of the Stonechats

There were over 60 Rook feeding in fields by Heaton Rd. This is actually just beyond the recording area, but presumably these are Rooks belonging to the two relatively recently established Rookeries. One just east of Imperial Rd and one within the recording area at its southern boundary. These fields are between each Rookery, but closer to the bypass one. There was no bickering.

Just a few of the Rooks in what looks to be a recently harrowed field

Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:00 - 14:30 today

This was my first chance to get out on the shore for almost a week. But I didn't think I was missing much and today's check bore that out. The offshore winds continue which keeps the small shrimps in deeper water, so not attracting the birds that would feed on them. Observations this winter suggests that some birds, e.g. Knot can anticipate the availability of shrimps by wind direction alone. Whereas the Black-Headed gulls seem to need to physically look, but they do not hang around when there are no shrimps. I suspect the difference is because Knot are birds that flock together, and therefore follow when the more experienced birds sense a new opportunity.

Oystercatcher 1000

Curlew 25

Redshank 10

Knot 150 in total flew south across the skear in small groups. None were seen feeding.

Turnstone 40

No Eider seen

Red-breasted Merganser pair quite a way out

Great Crested Grebe 1

Pale-bellied Brent goose 25 minimum. These 22 arrived from the south

Brent geese with an out of focus Great Crested grebe behind

This shot is focused on the grebe, but it is quite a way out

This one found a rock with gutweed just as the incoming tide was lifting the filaments off the rock, allowing for easier grazing.

At least 20 went to feed very close to the promenade, they didn't go anywhere 
near as close as this last year when the weed was more plentiful elsewhere.

This Herring gull was having a rest after, so far, failing to open the mussel
by dropping it onto the skear. I had no doubt that it would eventually succeed 

Gales tomorrow, but still from the east!