A day to reflect

A mainly overcast but dry day. A cold SE breeze.

First some shots from Kevin Singleton, taken by the Cafe area at Half Moon Bay yesterday, when the sun shone!

Curlew

Lapwing 

House Sparrow 

Heysham Skear (Malcolm)

I didn't have much time today just a quick check as the tide was covering the skear this morning.

Pink-Footed Goose 9 west

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 11 at least feeding in ones and twos between the rocks to the north of play area and the SE skear corner.

Two of the Brent in the skear corner, a shot that nicely conveys today's conditions!

Eider 13

After yesterday's success in finding and reading coded Knot, today was a total failure. There were about 300 flying around as I was walking out, but they gained height and headed off to the north. 

These seven Knot were all that remained!
The one on the right trying the vegetarian option.

Oystercatcher 1500

Curlew 40

Turnstone 30

Ringed Plover 7

Redshank 150 - one was taken by a Peregrine Falcon, possibly why the Knot had moved on.

We have done well this winter with the coded wader schemes. It provides the scheme organisers valuable movement and behaviour information, and also can provide some unexpected insights......

This Bar-Tailed Godwit was on the south shore earlier this week. 

Unfortunately, there are two more rings on its other leg required to identify a specific bird, and it never revealed them. But with just the flag and rings seen the scheme manager was able to make these observations.

Combinations starting with Y1WY were used in the Wadden Sea Holland in 2001 and 2002, so this is an old bird, the last observation of one of these codes starting with Y1WY was in 2016. There is an observation of Y1WYBR at Glasson on 14 November 2010. This could very well be this bird, but it would be nice to have a confirmation.

So, this Godwit is at least 23 years old! None of its contemporaries have been seen for 9 years. It goes without saying that several parties would love to know the complete history. Any information about any further sightings would be very welcome. Either directly to the scheme or via any of the observatory team - see sidebar for contact information.

South Sea wall (Kevin)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 20 on Red Nab (these will include this morning's birds)

Red-breasted Merganser 1 in the harbour mouth.

Howard took these splendid shots of a female merganser feeding at the Near Naze earlier this week. Possibly the same birds as seen by Kevin today.

Red-breasted Merganser with a Common Blenny

Soon polished off!

Plover surprise

An overnight frost followed by a bright sunny day with very light variable breezes.

North Shore (Malcolm)

I went out to watch the inner skear being covered by the tide, then ended up following the Knot to the beach out from the play area.

Pink-Footed goose 25 east

Pale-bellied Brent goose 23 - they had been feeding amongst the outer rocks beyond the play area, but there is precious little gutweed for them there. This is some of them heading for the sea.

Pale-bellied Brent goose

Eider 14

Knot 800 were moved on from the skear by the incoming tide. 100 flew north and 700 began feeding on the shore out from the play area. The tide was covering the shore quickly now and the Knot and Oystercatchers were constantly on the move.

Eventually they were running out of shore and called it a day.

If you open the above shot and look closely, you can see that there is only one orange/green coded bird. Nevertheless, I did locate others and three new records for this winter were found.

Golden Plover 2 - I cannot recall seeing one on the north side of the harbour before.

Golden Plover, with Knot

Grey Plover 1 flew north from the skear

Dunlin 30

Redshank 40

Oystercatcher 900

South shore 

Alan Physick took this location shot of a Grey Seal near No.2 outfall
with his mobile, it is exactly where it was feeding on Tuesday 

Pale-bellied Brent geese 16 feeding on Red Nab (almost certainly some of this mornings birds) - Kevin

Alan, Kevin and myself (Malcolm) checked the firs near the white barrier where the Firecrest was reported yesterday. There was a lot going on with two visits of mixed tit flocks (mainly Long-Tailed). And at least two Goldcrest, but no Firecrest seen today.

Goldcrest

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

An "evening" check from the south side to watch any birds coming in to roost.

Jackdaw 120+

Wood Pigeon 12

Stock Dove a significant reduction to just 10

No sign of the Barn Owl(s) this evening 

Before checking the south side I had a quick look at the main pond

A young Roebuck on the north bank

It was nibbling any early buds off the low trees.

The Mallard Numbers have returned to pre freezing levels. 28

Little Grebe 1 also returned 

And we end today, as we did yesterday, with a grebe on red water

An odd day, but with a good record

Another fine mild day. Very misty in the morning but some prolonged sunshine by late afternoon.

Firecrest 1 - seen at 14:50 - reported on birdguides, in fir by car park at ‘south end hey NR’ (near the white barrier that leads to the Nature Park) 

Other stuff on the south shore:

Yesterday I couldn't see any waders along the shoreline (Malcolm) and Howard only saw Oystercatcher at the heliport. So today I decided to make a thorough check, and sure enough there was nothing!

Along the waterline from Ocean Edge to the edge of the recording area.

Oystercatcher 94

Curlew 10

Scanning along the waterline further south no other wader species could be seen.

Pink-Footed geese were constantly moving overhead, obviously disoriented by the mist/low cloud. They were flying in all directions, until the mists began to lift and then they headed north. 300+ was the most seen at any one time.

Shelduck 12

Kevin checked the saltmarsh later in the afternoon.

Reed Bunting

Curlew

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond (Malcolm)

Mute Swan pair plus 1 immature 

Gadwall 22

Mallard just 3

Moorhen 5

This male Gadwall seemed pleased to have the opportunity to freshen up.

This male Chaffinch (right) is more than just fluffed out, it is huge. It was 
perched directly above where visitors regularly leave grain for the swans
 (and rats). Even the Blue Tits seemed curious.

Heysham Skear (Malcolm)

I went down late afternoon as the ebbing tide was just exposing the inner skear. Having not seen a Knot in two days, I wasn't overly expectant, so was surprised when three groups (500 total) came in and rested while their feeding areas became exposed. A few were coded and two new birds seen.

Knot, one with an orange flag. Unfortunately, the rough terrain here
was obscuring most of their legs

Redshank 600 

Redshank and Oystercatcher

These high spring tides drain very quickly leaving the small shrimps vulnerable. The Redshank hunt for the shrimps in the shallows. This is just one feeding group, by this time the sun is setting.

Oystercatcher 1,000

Curlew 4

Turnstone 15

Dunlin 12

Ringed Plover 10

Pale-bellied Brent geese 19 flew in low from the south. Possibly had been feeding near the play area. They did find some scraps of weed where they landed, but they seemed more interested in having a drink from the freshwater runoff

Eider 64

Wigeon 23 (later flew off to the north)

Wigeon and Eider drakes

Red-breasted Merganser 3

Great Crested grebe on a red sea

I said the other day that sunrises here are seldom as splendid as the sunsets. Well, this evening's sunset wasn't one of the best, as there were no clouds to illuminate......

.....but it was still good enough to turn everything red!

A few glimpses though the mists

Quite a fresh south breeze was constantly blowing in banks of mist off the sea. Otherwise it remained a dry day.

South shore (Malcolm)

A walk from the saltmarsh and along the south sea wall.

Reed Bunting 2 on the saltmarsh edge

Reed Bunting - the sun had broken through the mist briefly

Whenever the ground is wet, a small group of Oystercatchers probe for worms on the Ocean Edge grass.

The mist had temporarily cleared from Ocean Edge, but it was still rolling in from the sea.

The pale band on the horizon is the mist. You can see it deflecting
over the Power Stations as it comes in

Pale-bellied Brent goose 19 arrived from the north side, fed a while on Red Nab then moved further south.

Brent geese flying past the roundhead 

Three of the Brent geese on Red Nab

Eider 3 south

Shelduck 3 on Red Nab

Wigeon 220 on Red Nab and saltmarsh 

Wigeon on Red Nab

Grey Seal 1 

As I was walking out, this female Grey Seal was near No.2 outfall

When I returned 20 minutes later she was just finishing off, what looks to be,
a Bass. It is stripped like a cartoon discarded fish, just a head and tail joined
by its bones. In this case with some flesh still between them. The seal let the 
remains sink, but what remains will not be wasted.

A bit of survey work and dredging in the harbour mouth.

North shore

Howard checked the heliport and Near Naze towards high water. Surprisingly there were plenty of Oystercatcher, but no other wader species.

I did three passing checks this afternoon (Malcolm)

Imperial Road

Buzzard calling somewhere but lost in the mist

Roe Deer two backsides seen disappearing into a thicket

Middleton Nature Reserve- main pond

Now largely Ice free. 

Still Mute Swans, Mallard and Gadwall, although more Gadwall had returned, now 12.

Field beside the horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Also, now mainly Ice free.

Green Sandpiper 1 easily visible from Middleton Rd

Green Sandpiper survived the freeze

A morning gulp provided a bit of variety

Much milder with a fresh SSE breeze. Light rain showers in the morning then again by evening.

South shore (Malcolm)

I did the same walk as yesterday, and started at the same time (08:00). But the days couldn't have been more different. Yesterday it felt like someone had switched on a floodlight at sunrise. Today it remained gloomy all the while and almost constant fine rain.

Cormorant 83 headed south at 08:30 (the collective noun for cormorants is a gulp). Presumably something, a pretty significant something, had spooked them from their roost on the wooden jetty.

A gulp of Cormorants flying south along the waterline

The only waders out here today were Bar-Tailed Godwit, at least 700, plus c100 Knot. But they didn't stay long and also headed south.

Mainly Bar-tailed Godwit plus a few Knot heading south.

And that was it, the outer shore was deserted!

A little later a Peregrine Falcon was also searching for waders.
It flew south along the waterline but nothing lifted.

Closer inshore 

Dunlin 12 

Redshank 24

Lapwing 14

Oystercatcher 40

Curlew 3

Curlew on the saltmarsh 

There were 4 Carrion crow and 8 Magpies swooping towards and gathering beside a gap between the caravans. I thought at first they must be trying to flush a predator, but they weren't alarm calling. Perhaps it was just a feeding opportunity that they were all a bit wary of.

Magpies clearly focused on something. But I couldn't see anything 
when I reached this area.

Reed Bunting 3

At Red Nab

Cormorants 25 between Red Nab and No.2 outfall. Clearly they hadn't all flown south.

Wigeon 130

Shelduck 14

Pale-bellied Brent goose 19

Brent, Wigeon, Cormorant and Oystercatcher 

This clip shows the Brent geese cropping the already close cropped gutweed.

Knot, a decent day.

An overnight frost but not as cold as of late. A dry day with the odd sunny spell, but mainly overcast. A light SE breeze.

South shore (Malcolm)

I managed to get to the shore out from Ocean Edge a couple of hours before high water and walked the tide in (very quickly).

Pink-Footed Goose 680 in three waves of varying sized skeins all heading for their feeding grounds to the north.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 930. These are some coming in.

Knot 450, 7 coded birds were seen but not all close enough to read, but three schemes were involved. 4 from an Icelandic, 1 from a Dutch and 2 from an English.

The sun was just rising, its rays illuminating the Godwits at the back.
But not yet reached the front ones or the Knot feeding on the shore.

Sunrises here are seldom as splendid as the sunsets. But this one made an effort

Other waders feeding away from the shore:

Oystercatcher 100

Curlew 80

Grey Plover 11

There were also Dunlin but they consolidated to feed inshore later.

The incoming tide quickly covered the shore and the Godwits rested near the saltmarsh.

Mainly Bar-Tailed Godwit out from the saltmarsh. Last nights high water
reached the ice line seen here. This side of the line, the mud was still frozen.
Today's tide was higher and was about to cover this last frozen section.

Dunlin 600 - as the tide reached the frozen section above, all the Dunlin began feeding. As yesterday, I suspect they were finding invertebrates that had not survived the freeze and were now being released. You can see the tide lifting the ice from the mud.

Ringed Plover 9

Turnstone 5

Redshank 60

Redshank

Lapwing 72

Lapwing

Rock Pipit 1 on the south side of saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 7 on saltmarsh 

A quick check of Red Nab

Pale-bellied Brent geese 17

Wigeon 150

Kingfisher not seen today, but it has been around.

This rock at the outlet from the freshwater runoff culvert is one of the 
Kingfisher's favoured spots. The two characteristic defecation streaks
shows that it has been used, at least within the past week.

Redwing in the Nature Park

Janet had a look a little later.

Wigeon

Pale-bellied Brent geese

Carrion Crow about to remove every last morsel from what remains 
of a likely Peregrine kill

Wren in the Nature Park 

And that's it from Janet for a couple of weeks. Off for a well earned break.

Near Naze/heliport (Howard)

Knot c1000 knot estimated when in the air on the approach to the naze, due to the flat calm condition and peak tide height the birds chose to roost on the far end rocks next to the old lighthouse base so reducing positive readings of coded birds.

Even so at least five coded birds identified, again from three schemes, but not including any seen earlier on the south shore.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

This shot and video from Angela Gillon

The open area that had been maintained by the Swans and ducks.

The freeze eased today, unfortunately the surface melt water made the ice more slippery, as the Mute Swans discovered when they headed for the feeding area.