Stop, start rain!

At least there were gaps in the rain today, not only that, they were visible gaps with sunshine allowing you to see the next shower arriving. When they came they were heavy and sometimes of hail. It was much cooler, peaking below 8°C, with a WNW wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet checked first

Roebuck on the peninsula of the main pond, with 4 male and 3 female Shoveler

Roebuck and Little Grebe

Chaffinch - Finches are particularly susceptible to this scaling on the feet and legs. 

I checked mid afternoon - Malcolm

The water level on both ponds was notably higher, particularly on the "no swimming" pond. Still a pair of Mute Swans on each pond, but when I checked the main pond female was swimming with the male. I feared the nest might have been swamped, but Janet advised that the female was on the nest when she  checked.

Still 4 male and 3 female Shoveler on the main pond plus another pair on the "no swimming" pond.

Tufted Duck pair on the main pond, plus 2 female and 8 males on the "no swimming" pond

Mallard 6

No Gadwall seen

Little Grebe 2 on the main pond.

You need a long neck to preen if you have a long bill.....

.......and Shovelers certainly have long bills!

These are the "no swimming" pond pair

Some of the Tufted Ducks

Little Grebe

A bit further south

Jackdaws had invaded the Rookery on Middleton Rd...

.......but the Rooks soon cleared them off

There was no sign of the Green Sandpiper in the horse paddock across the road, but there was:

A White Wagtail 

A Mistle Thrush 

South shore - Malcolm

Same walk as yesterday along the sea wall, but timed between showers, I almost got back before a heavy hail shower.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 38 on Red Nab

Pale-bellied Brent geese

Shelduck 4

Shelduck, actually a drake with an impressive bill knob

Red-breasted Merganser pair

No Wigeon seen

The iridescent feathers on this Magpie were catching the sun nicely 

Wheatear 1 male

Wheatear

Pied Wagtail 1

Pied Wagtail 

Rock Pipit 2

Nothing of note along the sea wall or in the harbour. 

Despite it being a "nicer" day it was still wild, it was obvious that few people had ventured along the wall today as my path was blocked by a line of resting gulls.

Gulls resting on the sea wall

As I was setting back the next shower was clearly on its way. I got back as far as No.2 outfall before it hit. Fortunately, the wind behind me and hail bounces off you, so better than rain provided that you are protected.

This is literally seconds before the hail hit. The ship is still sailing in sunshine.... 

........but not for long!

Non stop rain!

Very strong SW wind driving heavy rain all day. 4.5cm fell during daylight hours. Although falling isn't the correct adjective, most of the time it was almost horizontal!

There was only me daft enough to venture out - Malcolm

South shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 29 flew south from Red Nab.

Wigeon c30 around Red Nab

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Nothing along the sea wall except the regular gulls and nothing in the harbour. It always puzzles me why more birds don't take advantage of the harbour's shelter in these conditions.

Linnet 2 near the waterfall

I took a breather in the lee of the lighthouse, at least I could unstash my camera there.

It was pretty wild

A pair of Red-breasted Merganser flew out

Male Red-breasted Merganser

Heliport towards high water

Knot and Oystercatcher hunkered down behind the sea wall

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond

Just a passing car bound check

Mute Swan 1 adult male and an immature 

Mallard pair

Tufted Duck pair

Little grebe 1

The Tufted were feeding. It couldn't have been any wetter underwater than above!

Cetti's warbler one burst of song

This is the Rookery at the southern edge of the recording area, on Middleton Rd
opposite the horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall. At least ten nests

And this Green Sandpiper was on the other side of the road in the horse paddock. Just beyond the gate on to Middleton Rd. Therefore just outside the recording area, although easily seen from it.

Looking through the bars of the gate to Middleton Rd

Every day I put a string of peanuts in shells on top of my bird table. Some days Jays get to them first, other days the grey squirrels beat them to it. Today the squirrels had cleared them before two Jays arrived, so the Jays began looking for the ones that the squirrels have buried, at least I won't have too much moss to rake out of my lawn! Watch out for the Jay flashing its crown in this clip.

Every time that I put a trowel anywhere in my garden, I invariably find a peanut in its shell, so I am sure the Jays would have found some eventually.

Still plenty of Knot, but probably not for much longer.

A dry overcast day with a light southerly wind.

Heysham Nature Reserve yesterday's ringing - Jean, Nick and Rachel.

We caught 27 birds of 12 species:

New birds comprised

Goldfinch 3

Chaffinch 2

Great Tit 2

Coal Tit 1

Goldcrest 3

Robin 1

Blackbird 1

Wren 1

Retraps consisted of:

Goldfinch 6

Greenfinch 1

Robin 1

Wren 1

Blue Tit 2

Long-tailed Tit 2

Treecreeper 1

The retraps were mostly last year's youngsters and local to Heysham NR but the Greenfinch was much older, having been ringed on 8/10/2021 at Middleton NR.

A Cetti's Warbler was heard in the bushes near the fire pond area. It's been there a few days now so hopefully it will attract a female and breed. 

Saltmarsh to Red Nab - Janet

This Carrion Crow has found a dead rodent on the saltmarsh 

Shelduck flying from Red Nab

Female Eider on Red Nab

Two male Wheatears were quickly moving through, first seen on the foreshore rocks, these shots on Red Nab

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Two male and a female Shoveler, we're hoping for the patter of tiny shovels this year!

Cormorant 

This Coot on the "no swimming" pond came right up to Janet.
Certainly being bold, but definitely not bald!

North shore - Malcolm

Pale-Bellied Brent goose 10

A check of the waterline to the south of the skear 10:00 saw 2500 Knot feeding on the mud. I took this clip hoping that their soft calls would be clear, you can hear them, but the south breeze sounds stronger than it was.

Very few flagged birds were seen

A Peregrine Falcon eventually cleared them all

A check on the skear this evening saw 2000 Knot with at least one new flagged bird for this winter. It won't be long before most of them will leave our area, although we do sometimes get some late flocks.

The yellow ring under the orange flag denotes ringed in Scotland.
Details and history awaited

Eider 14

Red-breasted Merganser 7

Merganser reinforcements

A dry day but mainly overcast and cooler. A light west breeze

Middleton Nature Reserve main pond - Janet

Just a brief check

Pair of Shoveler

It wasn't certain that this male Shoveler was another male, but it probably was.

Reed Bunting 

He takes advantage of the seeds dropped from the feeders

Showing his specialised bill shape

North shore

30 Pale-bellied Brent geese south past Heysham Head - David Kaye

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:30 - 10:30 and 16:00 - 17:30

Pale-bellied Brent goose 17 seen both visits. These will be some of David's.

Shelduck 2 north this afternoon 

Eider 18

Red-breasted Merganser 23 this morning. 3 feeding around the skear plus 20 that drifted in with the tide.

Female Red-breasted Merganser

Little Egret 4

c3000 Knot left the skear early in the tide again this morning. Half flew south the other half fed along the waterline for a while, before returning to the skear. Later on the ebb tide there were at least 3000 knot, many moving on to the north after a feeding session. Some of the groups had very few flagged birds amongst them, but one new bird for this winter was seen.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 12 this morning 

Some of the Godwit arriving 

Knot and Godwit along the waterline

Knot on the sker

Pale-bellied Brent goose and Oystercatchers