Short-Eared Owl best of the day

A sunny day with a light east breeze

Heysham Head - David Kaye

Short-Eared Owl 1 south

Grey Plover 2 on the shore

South shore

I checked out from the saltmarsh - Malcolm 09:00 - 10:30

Shelduck 110

Some of the Shelduck before they headed off to the south

Little Egret 3

Lapwing 28

Lapwing

Grey Plover 7 just out from the saltmarsh 

Grey Plover and a Dunlin 

Redshank, Dunlin and Grey Plover

The tide was coming in quickly when a load of waders arrived at the waterline, but after just a brief stay they headed back south again. At least 3,000 Knot with a few Dunlin plus 240 Bar-Tailed Godwit.

Just a few of the Godwits

Bar-Tailed Godwits heading south

Knot Heading south

Common Snipe 28 lifted from the marsh, some returning 

Common Snipe

Greenfinch 8

Linnet c60

Reed Bunting 6

Greenfinch and a Linnet

More Linnet arriving 

Reed Bunting 

This is the saltmarsh grass that the Reed Buntings are feeding on. The white
spikes are flowers, so presumably there are plenty of seeds too.

Janet checked Red Nab later on the ebbing tide

Mute Swans

Cormorant with Oystercatchers and a Redshank

Wigeon

Black-Tailed Godwit

Kevin had a walk along the sea wall

Common Darter and Small Tortoiseshell making the most of the warm sunshine on the sea wall this afternoon. 

Middleton Nature Reserve main pond - Janet

Gadwall

Moorhen

Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:45 - 15:30

Eider 250

Male Eiders in breeding plumage 

Immature male Eider

Mature Eider along the front mainly immature ones behind 

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Female type Merganser

Teal (probably) 6

What look to be Teal, unfortunately the strong light was behind them.
Great Crested Grebe in front

They didn't stay long

Common Scoter 3 female type

They were feeding the whole time I was out. Unfortunately quite distant.

Great Crested Grebe 4

Oystercatcher c1500

Black-Tailed Godwit 1

Curlew 50

Redshank 250

Knot 300 - just one was colour marked and it has been seen here earlier this autumn 

Turnstone 40

Ringed Plover 13

Black-Tailed Godwit.......

........showing how it got its name

By this time the sun was low giving all the waders a nice warm glow

Turnstone

Knot

Curlew, Knot and Oystercatcher 

First Dark-bellied Brent

Very misty early on clearing slightly during the day. Very little air movement.

North Shore - seen from Sandylands - Nick Godden

Pale-bellied Brent goose 13
Dark-bellied Brent goose 1
Goldeneye 2
Teal 10
Golden plover 3 flew S
Black-tailed godwit 4
Skylark 4 NE
Fieldfare 2 S
Stonechat 1m

This is just part of Nick's report posted on LDBWS webpage. To view the full report 

https://lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk/forums/topic/sandylands/

South shore

Malcolm 08:45 - 10:30

Pale-bellied Brent goose 13 - there were 7 when I walked out. David Kaye checked towards high water as saw 11 + 2 fly off to the south.

Some of the earlier Brent geese. There is a Common Snipe in this shot too

Pink-Footed goose 4 small skeins SE 

Wigeon 223

Mainly Wigeon

You can her them whistling in this clip

Teal 1 male - seen by David amongst the Wigeon

Duck sp 16 south shrouded in mist

Ducks. Possibly Mallard?

Kingfisher 1 shot across Red Nab

Greenfinch 8 feeding in the brambles at Red Nab end of the sea wall

Greenfinch

The yellow stripe is on one of the stainless steel bollards

Rock Pipit 5. David saw 2 at the slipway end of the foreshore. There was 1 along the sea wall and 2 near the lighthouse breeding area.

At first glance this bird looked interesting....

......until I realised that its red belly was just a reflection!

I don't really know what is going on here. My interpretation at the time was that one Rock Pipit was favouring a nest hole that was much too low on the wall, while the other was trying to show it a more suitable higher nest hole. Possibly that is what is going on......but I have been known to be  wrong!

Linnet 2 near the waterfall 

Linnet

Saltmarsh at high water

With no waves and no surge even today's 9.2m tide only covered half the marsh

Common Snipe 18 (likely more would have left earlier)

Jack Snipe 1

Linnet 60+

Reed Bunting 8

These two are feeding on the marsh

Kevin and Alison had a walk along the wall this afternoon 

Alison spotted this rather nice Grey Plover with the Turnstone flock
near the lighthouse

Mist affected

A still day. No breeze to talk of and very low cloud/mist all day.

South shore - Malcolm 08:45 - 10:15

I started at Red Nab then worked round to the far side of the saltmarsh towards high water. It was misty the whole time, restricting visibility.

Red Nab

Pale-bellied Brent goose 15 

Shelduck 4

Wigeon 120

Eider 1 female

Little Egret 2

Linnet 35 (they then flew towards the saltmarsh)

Red Nab was clear to see, but the sea disappeared into the mist

The Brent geese were getting ready to leave

When they left they were disoriented. This group flew in circles a while
before heading west. Rather than the more typical destination to the SE

Female Eider

Wigeon. This male almost in full breeding plumage now.

Nothing along the foreshore except the regular Robins and Wrens.

Pied Wagtail 10 and Meadow Pipit 1 on Ocean Edge grass

Meadow Pipit

Saltmarsh 

All the while I was there a Pink-Footed goose was making the occasional soft call from somewhere on the sea beyond the visibility line. Possibly a winged bird, there was a lot of shooting going on somewhere to the south.

Shelduck 30+ drifted in and out of view to the south as the mist waxed and waned.

Wigeon, the birds from Red Nab started moving to the marsh

Lapwing 10

Common Snipe 54 lifted by the tide despite it only covering half of the marsh

Song Thrush 1

Reed Bunting 6

Finches 150+ mainly Linnet but also at least 10 Greenfinch

Lapwing

These Snipe landed on what remained of the marsh. Whether they were 
some that left earlier of from another location is unclear 

Reed Bunting

Looks like the mist is to continue for a couple more days.