At least one more Stonechat

An early shower then overcast till more extended rain over lunch. The sun came out this afternoon and it ended very pleasant in the light onshore breeze.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:30 - 15:30

I started later than I would have liked, but waited for the rain to stop.

No wildfowl other than 17 Eider heading back into the bay.

Little Egret 2

It seems a Peregrine had been waiting for the rain to stop too. It chased two small flocks of Knot north as I was walking out.

A little unusually the only other Knot were 500 strung out along the middle of the mud to the south of the skear.

A line of Knot strung out in front of Heysham Head

They were lifted by an alarm calling gull and they flew to the skear.

By the time I reached them the sun was out. I could only find one marked 
bird. One of a Dutch scheme, quite an old one as it should have a lime flag.
Unfortunately the flag is missing and it could have been in any one of eight
possible positions. The flags are made of very light, flimsy plastic and are
designed to outlast the average life of a Knot. But no guarantee that they
will outlast a longer lived Knot.

This is another aging Knot. One of those seen yesterday. We have now received
its history. It was actually flagged at the first ever session of the UK orange flag 
scheme in 2017 at Merseyside. It has subsequently been recorded in several UK
locations plus Holland and Iceland. Its flag looks in remarkably good condition 

Bar-Tailed Godwit 16 feeding and resting along the waterline to the south of the skear.

Redshank 500

Dunlin 250

Dunlin

Other waders similar to recent 

Imperial Rd 

I popped by on my way home Malcolm

Stonechat pair - they were along the fence between the bypass roundabout and the gate blocked off with boulders. Easily visible from the road

Female Stonechat

They seemed to be finding plenty to eat 

Male and female Stonechat

Janet checked this evening. They were still around and still flighty

The drakes are overwhelming the ducks, plus another Stonechat

Overcast, but mild with a light variable breeze.

Middleton Nature Reserve main pond - Janet

Still two pairs of Shoveler

The male Mallards wouldn't leave this female alone

Cormorant 

Imperial Rd

I checked just after lunch - Malcolm

Water Rail 1 squealing

Mallard pair

No Stonechats seen.

Janet checked mid afternoon 

Stonechat 1 male

North shore

Shag 1 off the skear - David Kaye

I checked the skear twice today (feeling fresh, well not as tiered, after not managing a walk yesterday) Malcolm

10:00 - 12:00

Mute Swan 1 immature flew north

Pale-bellied Brent goose 35. 8 seen flying to the fishing platform rocks where they joined others. Later all 35 flew back to feed around the skear.

Pink-Footed goose 22 to SE

Eider 88 - these are just some of them. The males displaying, but it all seems relatively amicable.

Wigeon 4

Red-breasted Merganser 4 - another female with more suiters than she probably wants, although I always get the impression that the males are more intent on impressing each other than impressing the female.

Little Egret 2

Oystercatcher 800

Curlew 20

Redshank 120

Turnstone 40

Knot, initially there were just 100 scattered around, then a flock of 1200 arrived from the north. Not many were flagged but there were some new birds.

This lime flag is part of a Wash scheme. JAC. I couldn't help but say "Hi Jac"
 No reaction, probably heard it before!

I returned this afternoon at 14:30

The or a immature Mute Swan was to the south of the skear

The Wigeon were resting along the waterline 

The Brent geese were scattered over a rapidly greening skear

There were more Redshank 200, and Turnstone 80.

c500 knot were around in several small flocks, I managed tho check the largest (200) for flags but there were none. I was just heading off when large numbers began arriving. There ended up being three flocks, totalling 2400. The light was going, as was my stamina! But I headed back. I checked a flock of 900, but could only find 4 flagged birds. Partially down to the fading light, but mainly as not many were flagged. Fortunately two were new for this winter.

This are some coming in to land

It's a washout!

It rained all day. It rained heavily all day! A SW wind.

Knowlys Rd 

Pale-bellied Brent goose 8 - David Kaye

It was just a day to see what you can see from a car. I checked a few spots and saw, mainly rain! (Malcolm)

Imperial Rd

The only things of note were 6 Little Egret in the horse field just east of the roundabout.

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond 

Mute Swan pair plus 3 immature 

Mallard 20+

These two males were fighting over a female.

Tufted Duck 11 minimum, both males and females

These were working on their synchronised diving, doing quite well after a bit of practice.

Gadwall 4 males

No Shovelers seen

Several Coot and a Moorhen, there was no sign of a Little grebe.

The feeders were well stocked and attracting several species.

Blackbird 2

Reed Bunting 4 (2males)

Ronin 1

Dunnock 2

Great Tit 2

Blue Tit 2

Long-Tailed Tit 4

Great and Blue Tits

Great and Long-Tailed Tits

This male Reed Bunting was finding the morsels dropped from the feeders.

Stonechats on the move

Showers all day, most light. A SSE wind

South shore - Janet

Stonechat 1 female near the harbour lighthouse.

By this time a shower had started

Janet also saw one on Middleton Nature Reserve yesterday and five males were together pilling lane ends - obviously passage in these southerlies 

Rock Pipit 1 female with nesting material also near the lighthouse 

Only the female builds the nest

They are very secretive about the nest location and never fly to it when they
know they are being watched. Possibly why she dropped the material.
Easy enough to pick up again.

Cormorants looking like book ends. How long before the phrase book ends
will have to be googled to understand what it means? 

Cormorant in breeding plumage

Turnstones on the honeycomb worm beds below the roundhead

Little Egret at Red Nab

North shore - Malcolm

It felt like the weather was taking the mickey! Every time I stepped out of my car it began raining! I checked the skear twice. This morning on the ebb tide the rain was constant but fine. There were no Brent Geese and nothing seen on the sea. There was just one flock of 300 Knot, the rain had eased and I was just going to check them for flags when a Peregrine attacked and cleared them to the south.

I tried again on the flood tide after lunch, it had been fine all through lunch, but this visit coincided with the only heavy shower of the day. I didn't get far before accepting defeat and retreating.

Still no Brent geese and no Knot seen.

Pink-Footed goose 42 - 35 to SE as I was pulling up (still dry at that point) another 7 low to SE just as I was setting of and the rain wasn't too heavy.

So back home to watch my garden birds......but not for long.

This male Sparrowhawk made sure the garden birds kept clear.

Spring is in the air!

Mild with a light SSW wind. Sunny spells.

This from Kevin Eaves: some signs of spring today with a Gorse Weevil on the dog walking path and a Ruby Tiger caterpillar on the sea wall. 

Gorse Weevil 

Ruby Tiger caterpillar 

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Female Stonechat along the western edge near Ocean Edge

Male Bullfinch 

Two male Tufted Duck. Is the Coot behind on a nest?

Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:30 - 12:45

Pale-bellied Brent goose 20+

The Brent geese seem to be able to find sufficient food pretty much everywhere now.

More Redshank again today at least 250. The reason the walk took longer than normal was that there were 2500 Knot. There were several flagged birds, but they took a while to read in the rough terrain.

These all seem to be in plain sight, but not many are showing their legs, and this
Is one of the flatter sections. The bird in the middle is from a Dutch scheme

Curlew