Ferry frustration

The forecast strong WSW to W winds materialised. Some heavy showers in the morning, but plenty of sunshine in between. The wind started to ease after lunch and the showers stopped.

A short sea watch, looking out from the inner harbour while awaiting the lunchtime ferry:

Kittiwake 1 adult out

Common Scoter 2 drakes out

Mediterranean gull 1 adult flew into the harbour

Unfortunately the Ferry had to anchor up off shore, presumably to wait till the incoming tide provided a greater depth in the channel. When it finally arrived 45 minutes late there was nothing of note behind it, presumably anything that followed it in had drifted away when it was anchored up.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A quick check of the "no swimming" pond found that the Gadwall had returned. There were 26, but not feeding just resting on the, still deep, water.

Shoveler 2

Little Grebe 1

Coot 4

Children's play area out from Knowlys Road

Pale-bellied Brett goose 29 - originally there were two groups of 22 and 7 at 14:40, but they were spooked twice by dog walkers while I was watching. Both times they all flew off north a 100m or so and then flew back when the walkers had moved on. How many times they would do this I don't know.

This is them flying back to the play area, 

Two of these birds were the regular blue/red ringed visitors 

This is a few seconds later, they are already starting to spit into two groups again

It's looking very favourable for a repeat performance tomorrow, it's a very low neap tide, which so far this winter has provided the maximum Brent numbers here over the tide cycle.

The wind eases...for now

The wind eased and moved more to west, it's forecast to become strong overnight. Rain pretty much all day again, but not as heavy as yesterday.

I regard myself as very fortunate to live within the recording area, everything I currently do is within its bounds, both my daily exercise walk and trips to the shops etc. On today's post, I've tried to show the location of the more regular birds of interest, for those of you who can also take your exercise in the area. Although, tomorrow's strong winds could change things.

Heysham Skeer - low water 10:20

The water was much less coloured today and the diving birds were feeding again.

Eider c50

Red-breasted Merganser 1. This bird was feeding next to

Goldeneye 1 male. The feeding partnership with the Merganser seemed genuine, whether it was just because they were both feeding where the food was or if there was some sort of benefit to one or both of them feeding together, I don't know.

This picture of the Goldeneye was actually on Monday, when it wasn't raining! This is looking from the skeer towards the heliport wall. It was in the same location today and should be easily visible, with decent optics, from many shoreline vantage points. Best time an hour either side of low water, easiest seeing when it's finished feeding, but it then drifts further out.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 23 feeding in the SE corner of the skeer at low water, but they were on the mud and not easily seen from distance. But at 14:15, when I was driving along Knowlys Road, they were easily visible, out from the children's play area.

23 Pale-belied Brent on the water with Oystercatcher on the mud.

This shot was taken from my car on Knowlys Rd with a pocket camera. The strong wind might put them off tomorrow, but the current neap tides continue till Tuesday, although not all with high water at a suitable time. This shot was 2hr before high water, 1.5 hr before is probably better for the upcoming tides, so viewing potential at least till Friday. Then all future neap tides with high water in the afternoon can provide, as long as the geese aren't spooked by dogs, weekends tend not to be good! Until they return to their breeding grounds in spring.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick check of the "no swimming" pond

The water level is still rising. The two Shoveler were the only ducks, but it was good to see two Little grebe again. I don't know if I've just not seen them recently or if they left during the last freeze over and have returned, or for that matter, are two completely new birds.

The yellow flagged Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher was on the fenced off football pitch next to the cricket field. Usually easily seen from the SW corner of Heysham Village main car park. This shot shows today's location, when not on the football pitch, it tends to be on the cricket field.

I also like this shot as it allows a good comparison between the brownish back
of the flagged juvenile compared to the black back of the adult in front.

Lots of rain, but not a lot of wind

Very heavy overnight rain continued, more or less unabated all day. The wind swung round to SW then SSW, it was fresh, but not strong.

Heysham Skeer - low water 09:40

Not a lot! Although the wind wasn't strong, it was in the right direction to stir up the sediment close inshore, this coupled with the amount of fresh draining off the beach, and taking mud with it, meant the water was too murky for diving birds within my viewing range.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 15 feeding in the SE skeer corner, including two Red/Blue ringed birds, almost certainly the regular Canadian ringed pair.

I took this snap of most of them, just to show that I was there.....

I suppose digital images are the 21st century equivalent of a postcard.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look at the two main ponds on my way home (I couldn't get any wetter!)

After the heavy rain last week, the water level on the "no swimming" pond had raised c15cm, which meant the Gadwall couldn't reach the weed that is normally just below the surface, and only two Gadwall remained. There is an overflow drainage pipe from the pond to the central marsh, possibly partially blocked, as it took two days for the water to return to its normal maximum. The overnight rain had again raised the water level, and there were no Gadwall today, just a pair of Shoveler and a male Tufted.

I took this short video, more to show the conditions than the birds.

A reasonable selection, under the circumstances

Another relatively mild night, some heavy showers in the morning eased off by the afternoon. The winds still quite light and more to WSW.

The "circumstances" referred to in the title, isn't just the travel restrictions from lockdown, but also the intermediate tide height and equally intermediate weather.

North shore - low water 09:00

Difficult viewing through the rain but still:

Eider c50

Goldeneye 1 male

Pale-bellied Brent goose 7 feeding in the SE skeer corner

Janet took these shots of, another woefully under recorded bird, a Carrion Crow "making a racket" at Half Moon bay

Unlike the uniform black plumage normally perceived, if you open these images you can see some nice plumage details

Saltmarsh area high water 14:40 height 8.8m (MD)

At this height, the tide just reaches the saltmarsh and partially fills the gullies, so I wasn't expecting to see many if any snipe, so these were as bonus.

Common Snipe 4

Jack Snipe 2

Both the Jacks relocated on the marsh, whereas the Common headed towards Middleton Nature Reserve.

Rock Pipit 1 on the saltmarsh 

Turnstone 25

Grey Plover 2

Ringed Plover 16

Some of the Ringed Plover being moved on
by the quite rapid incoming tide, on this flat section of beach.

Knot 1

I almost tripped over this bird, it paid me absolutely no heed. It had a pinkish area on its lower chest, possibly a stain, possibly faded blood.

It's drooping wings suggested that something was amiss 

This clip shows it apparently trying to feed, but it looked to me to be an involuntary feeding action, there didn't seem to be anything worth feeding on.

But, other than that it seemed to be in good condition, one possibility is that it had recently been hit by a raptor, almost certainly a Peregrine. Hopefully, it was just stunned and would soon recover. I left it feeding on nothing, and there was no sign of it when I returned 20 minutes later.

Urban Grey Wagtail

Reasonably mild overnight, the west wind continues, rain threatened all day but didn't materialise 

First, a belated record from yesterday:

Red-Throated Diver - 1 juvenile quite close in on the sea out from the north harbour sea wall.

Today's title refers to a sighting of one of the colour ringed Grey Wagtail just three miles from Birmingham City Centre (see scheme detail on side bar to the right)

Ringed on Middleton Nature Reserve autumn 2020 - distance 185km SSE

Heysham skeer- low water 08:30 (MD)

The c1,500 Knot were again flushed from their prime feeding grounds by a juvenile Peregrine falcon. I'm tempted to say that it is a nuisance, but of course it is more than that, life or death depends on it, either the prey or the predator. When the experienced Peregrines feed, a kill is almost always quick, and the remaining Knot quickly return to feeding. Today's bird failed to make a kill but managed to empty the skeer of Knot. Presumably both will go hungry and get weaker until either the Peregrine is too weak to prey or the/a Knot is too weak to escape. The law of numbers favours the Peregrine.

This is it flying round to land after the last of the Knot had gone.

It seems to have given up with the Oystercatcher (see post 19/12/20), one, reluctantly hops away as it lands. 

Great Crested Grebe 2

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Eider c60

Wigeon 3 - not common here despite hundreds just to the south of the harbour

Goldeneye 1 male

Spot, the Goldeneye. It was a lot further out than it looks

Finally, as I was leaving the skeer, I thought I would test my theory of the drain feeding the skeer corner being brackish. There has been a lot of rain recently, so plenty of ground water seeping  onto the shore. This picture shows the first pool that feeds the drain to the corner.

This is c150m from the sea wall. The ground water actually flows under the mud from the shore to this pool. It only surfaces here as the level dips, it then continues just under where I took this shot and resurfaces as flowing water in another 30m. The tide would not have covered this pool for 5 hours, and there is no sea water draining into it, so it should be substantially less salty than sea water. I tasted it, and although, you wouldn't choose to drink it, it was only mildly salty. So, theory substantiated.

The Norwegian yellow flagged Oystercatcher is still feeding on the cricket field.

Jack surprise

Freezing temperatures for the first half of the night followed by rain. The rain stopped quite early in the morning, leaving a mainly dry day with some sunny spells. Fresh west wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP)

The additional Mute swans had gone leaving the resident 2 adult plus 4 juvenile.

2 Shoveler

3 Gadwall

2 Mallard

4 Coot

This Grey Heron prefers the Main pond when it's quiet, but moves to the "no swimming" pond when disturbed.

South Shore (MD)

I left it till well over an hour past high water, as I wanted to walk around the saltmarsh to check the waders on the east shore. All of the saltmarsh was exposed, with the water just reaching it's outer edge. Even so as I walked around the edge I flushed:

Common Snipe 3

Jack Snipe 3

The good thing about flushing them when the tide is ebbing, is that they just land further inside the marsh.

Wigeon 163

Rock Pipit 1 near the rocky outcrop on the east side

Pied Wagtail 10 feeding together on the waterlogged grass behind the foreshore 

Grey Plover 5

Two of the Grey Plover

The sun was low in the sky and one of the Plovers was clearly ready for bed, but the other was still feeding up, showing the totally different feeding technique for the short billed waders.

Interesting ringing recovery news and an ice breaking party.

A heavy overnight frost froze all open water, and it didn't really get much above zero all day, despite the weak sunshine. Light SSE breeze.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult, still using the lamppost vantage point just north of Four Lane End traffic lights.

Sedge Warbler ringing recovery:

Ringed 1/07/20 Middleton Nature Reserve 

Controlled 13/08/20 Tour aux Moutons, Donges, Loire-Atlantique, France

Co-ords: 47deg 19min N -2deg -4min W. 

Duration: 43 days Distance: 747 km Direction: 176deg (S)

Half Moon Bay 2hr after high water - tide just leaving the rocks

Just to continue yesterday's theme of feeding waders, here is a Curlew catching a small lugworm. The interesting thing here is that this is only quite shallow mud above a stony bed, you can see the Curlew working its bill along to reach the worm. A possible advantage of a curved bill? (MD)

The background noise is the torrent of surface water gushing from one of the culvert gates on the Heliport wall.

Common Gulls rarely get a mention,
this one was roosting with the Black-Headed gulls

Also:

Common Snipe 1

Several Redshank, including the one legged bird. This is the first time I've seen it on the north shore.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a check of the main ponds in passing:

Black-Headed Gull c40 roosting on main pond ice, including this Norwegian ringed bird

Details awaited

Once again the wildfowl were all crowded into a small area of open water on the "no swimming" pond:

Gadwall 23

Mallard 6

Coot 1

Mute swan - The 2 adult and 3 juvenile were in a small open patch of water on the main pond, with the 4th juvenile exiled to the ice on the far side. Then 3 more adult arrived followed by another 5. The resident male was not happy and between them, more or less cleared the pond of ice. (Listen for the African Elephant towards the end of this clip)

I couldn't find the Elephant, it must have been hiding behind the breakdown lorry with a hydraulic lift.

Not even suitable for ducks!

Very heavy overnight rain left fields and roads awash. The rain continued, with some sleet till late afternoon, when it eased for a while. Light NNE breeze.

Middleton Nature Reserve

Just a quick look at the main ponds in passing.

The water level on the "no swimming" pond is 15cm higher than when it was frozen, probably explaining whey there were only 2 Gadwall remaining. The 2 Shoveler were still feeding, but they can feed deeper than the Gadwall.

The only other birds seen on the "no swimming" pond, were 3 Coot.

The 3 adult plus 4 juvenile Mute were back on the Main pond. No other wildfowl seen.

Saltmarsh as tide was covering it

Common Snipe 2 (presumably the newly flooded fields are providing alternative feeding areas)

Jack Snipe 4

Reed Bunting 3

Rock Pipit 1

Half Moon Bay beach and foreshore 

Rock Pipit 1

The beach out from Half Moon Bay has a very shallow gradient for the first 100m. This means that the ebbing tide, particularly these flood tides, very quickly exposes the mud surface, making it ideal for two different feeding techniques.

Godwits 8 - there were both Bar-Tailed accompanied by at least 2 Black-Tailed.

Black-Tailed on left, Bar-Tailed on right

These were after lugworm. The mud they are feeding on is very soft, as there is still lots of water below the surface, making it easier to reach deep into it for worms.

The other birds feeding were Oystercatchers. These were after cockles. Cockles project out of the mud when covered by sea water, then quickly burrow down when exposed by the tide. But not fast enough when they are exposed quickly and the Oystercatcher are waiting.

Watch the middle bird

The Oystercatcher has not just caught the cockle at the start of this clip, this was it's third attempt to open it, but the same soft mud that helps the Godwit, provides little leverage to prise open a cockle. But it must have cracked it that time, as it was quickly opened on, what was it's fourth attempt.

Finally, I don't think this rock sculpture was created by the same artisan that created the intricate stands below the high cliffs (they are still standing by the way - see post 21/12/20), but it had the same effect.

It made me smile, so in my book, that makes it art!
Hints of Mick Jagger? - but not quite craggy enough.

The sound of silence!

Very light east breeze, low cloud all day with the precipitation alternating between rain and drizzle.

The only stuff I have so far is from my stroll around the saltmarsh as the tide was covering it (MD). This is what today's title refers to. 

Before the caravan park first locked down last March there were c40 Starling and 12 House Sparrows "resident" around the saltmarsh. Within a week of the human residents leaving, the Starling and Sparrows were gone too, and only a few returned briefly during the temporary return of guests. They obviously rely on the many feeders to support their diet. 

But, that was fine, there was always a Linnet flock around, but since the regular visits to the area by both a Merlin and a Sparrowhawk, the Linnets are rarely seen, and there were none today.

The recent cold snap brought in a number of passerines, but they were also gone today, I didn't even see the 2 resident Robins.

It was eerily quiet. The sea was flat, so no lapping of waves, the drizzle seemed to deaden any sounds that there were, and the low visibility just added to the overall effect. There were no barking dogs, no distant sirens, the few Wigeon were subdued and even the Common Snipe only made a half heated squark as they took flight. It felt strange indeed. Anyway:

Common Snipe 19

Jack Snipe 1 - I was expecting that the recent cold weather would have encouraged more to feed here.

Reed Bunting 2

There are typically 12 Oystercatcher alternating between the Cricket field and the adjacent football field. The yellow flagged Norwegian bird is still with them. These birds feed here when the tide is both in and out, so earthworms are their food of choice - I wonder if there are others here that have made a similar journey to the flagged bird, the Norwegian ringer has confirmed that his local birds do primarily feed their young on earthworms  (only idle speculation of course MD)

Sorry no photographs today, it wasn't that sort of day.

Nice day and decent coverage

After a relatively mild day yesterday, there was an overnight frost, enough to freeze ground water and the shallower ponds, but the main ponds remained ice free. Sunshine till late afternoon when it started to cloud over. Almost no wind, what little air movement there was mainly north and west.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute swan 2+1 adult 3+1 juvenile - the additional adult is definitely a new bird in, it shied away from the regular feeder.

Coot 4

Moorhen 10

Water Rail 2

Gadwall 26

Shoveler 2 

Mallard 6

Little Grebe 1

Cetti's warbler - good, but brief, views near the new shallow scrapes in the SW corner of the western marsh.

South Shore

Some nice shots from Janet

Little Egret feeding on Red Nab

Grey Seal out from No.1 outflow

Two Herring gull stowaways on the incoming ferry

Heysham Skeer towards low water

Eider 103

Great Crested Grebe 3

Knot c1,500

Pale-bellied Brent goose - they were around the pool in the centre of the skeer, there isn't a great deal of weed in this pool (I checked on the way back when they had gone), so presumably the advantage is that it is underwater and so easier to crop. I counted as best I could from distance, 24, then skirted well past them onto the skeer. 10 minutes later I heard them in flight, there were actually 30, they set off west and I thought they were off to the west side for the night, but they doubled back and landed on the water just west of the skeer.

They then drifted back along the skeer edge and continued feeding from the water

I included this clip, mainly because it gives a good idea of the general activity around, what I regard as, the western edge of the inner skeer.

Finally, I like this short clip, the Eider appears to deliberately upset the gull