Goosander still around

Overcast, but the rain held off till early evening (we have evenings again!). A freshening south to SW wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Kevin Eaves - many of the Tufted ducks have moved on. The 15 or so still remaining, split between the main and "no swimming" ponds, and were mainly males.

Male Goosander still showing nicely on the "no swimming" pond.

Goosander

Janet advises that the Mute Swan pair on the main pond are beginning to build a nest platform 

The frog tadpole embryos in the pond on the southern section 
are already quite well developed 

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:30 - 12:00

Checked on the incoming tide

Pale-bellied Brent goose 26

Brent geese finding plenty of pockets of gutweed here

Eider 12

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Shag 1 adult

It was the king or queen of conger rock for a while

But later dethroned by a Cormorant 

I was out longer than my normal walk here today, mainly as there were 3000+ Knot, but they were very flighty and choosing to feed in the more difficult areas to check them for flags. These are some of them resettling after lifting in a false alarm. You can see how rough the terrain is where they land.

I eventually managed to read some flags, including two new ones for this winter

Treecreeper passing through

A dry, but overcast day with a light SE breeze.

Heysham Nature Reserve - Alan

It was a possible morning for some early spring migrants so I set a couple of nets at Heysham from just after dawn.  It was damp and a little breezy but a Treecreeper, Chiffchaff and two Goldcrests were caught early on.

The feeder ride was not too successful as the light southerly breeze was billowing the net.  Lots of finches were eyeing up the feeders from the adjacent trees but were rather put off by the moving net.

The catch list was:

Chiffchaff  1

Goldcrest  2

Treecreeper  1 - First ever unringed therefore implicitly passage treecreeper in spring 

Greenfinch  5 + 1 retrap

Coal Tit  2

Goldfinch  5 + 1 retrap

Great Tit  1 + 3 retraps

Robin  2 retraps

Dunnock  1 retrap

Long tailed Tit  1 + 2 retraps

Blue Tit  3 retraps

South shore - Kevin Eaves

Several Brent Geese and Wigeon still on Red Nab

Grey Plover on No.1 outfall

Middleton Nature Reserve - Malcolm

Mute Swan, a pair of adults on both the main and "no swimming" ponds. An immature also on the main pond.

Goosander 1 male on the "no swimming" pond

Shoveler pair on main pond

No Gadwall seen.

Tufted Duck, an impressive 34. 6 on the main pond plus 28 on the "no swimming" pond

Mallard 6 on the main pond 2 on the "no swimming" plus 3 flying around 

Coot 8

Moorhen 7 including 3 on/around the fence pond

 

Goosander

The Shoveler pair resting on the peninsula 

Tufted Duck pair

Some of the Tufted on the "no swimming" pond

The grunts in this clip are the Mute pair politely explaining that I am not welcome!

I startled this Moorhen along the road next to the fence pond. Don't think it's the sharpest bill in the brood, as it decided that squeezing through the fence was its best option!

It eventually gave up and half climbed, half flew over the top.

The only warblers heard were 4 Cetti's. 1 by the main pond plus 3 in the central marshes

Murky and miserable!

The rain held off till mid afternoon, but it was murky with low cloud all day. Virtually no breeze.

South shore - Malcolm 09:00 - 11:30

I walked out to the waterline again. A bit of an act of faith as visibility was terrible and there was no way of knowing if there was anything waiting for me. Eventually I reached waders but most were scattered over a vast range of mud. 

The dark line is mainly Knot and Dunlin

Unfortunately when they are spread out like this it isn't possible to get close to many.These are minimum numbers:

Curlew 15

Oystercatcher 100

Bar-Tailed Godwit 50

Grey Plover 15

Knot 3000

Dunlin 2000

Curlew and Oystercatcher 

Grey Plover and Dunlin

Bar-Tailed Godwit and Knot

Also:

Shelduck 10 higher up the shore 

Pink-Footed goose 1 flying around to try and get its bearings.

Shelduck 

Pink-Footed goose

Just about every year a car gets stranded out here. The mud can be quite firm and no problem to drive on. But many fail to realise that when the tide comes in it comes in under the mud first, before covering it. This makes the mud firm no more, and too soft to support a car. Not sure if this is a new casualty or a previous one being revealed by the shifting mud.

Looks in quite a fresh condition, but it will very slowly rot away.

This Hermit crab was in a drain. You can just make out a leg and a bit of
claw. Quite a small crab for this size shell. I turned it the right way round
but it didn't try to move in the flow of the drain. It will be fine when there
is less flow as the tide comes in

A lovely day, perhaps the last for a while

An overnight frost then a dry and often sunny day. Very light breeze, mainly SE.

Heysham Nature Reserve - Alan

I set a single 18 metre net this morning by the feeders behind the Heysham office from just after 08.00.  It was still and frosty to start with and the air remained chilly throughout.  It was a slow start with few birds coming to feed until mid morning onwards when things picked up a little. By 13.45 a total of 43 birds were caught:

Greenfinch  7

Chaffinch  2

Goldfinch  14 + 5 retraps

Great Tit  3 retraps

Blue Tit 4 + 3 retraps

Singles of Siskin, Robin, Long tailed Tit, Dunnock and Wren (retrap)

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

There is still at least one pair of Shoveler on the main pond

Chiffchaff in the southern section 

Greenfinch

South shore

I walked out to the waterline just after low water, it's a long walk on these tides, but it was a lovely morning for walking - Malcolm

One of two Reed Buntings on the saltmarsh, with a Wren.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 2 were flying around before heading south

Shelduck 6

Great Crested Grebe 1 drifted in with the tide.

Pied Wagtail 1 in/off

Bar-Tailed Godwit 72

Knot 3000 - they split into two flocks 2000 moving south, 1000 moving towards the outfalls

Dunlin 25

Mainly Knot on the mud

The Knot were easily spooked, lifting whenever an Oystercatcher or Gull
called. The remaining birds in the water are Bar-Tailed Godwit

But they kept landing again, they seemed to be finding small molluscs quite easily 

Janet checked later towards high water

One of two Rock Pipits on the foreshore 

Knot and a few Dunlin

Pale-bellied Brent geese and Wigeon 

Male Wigeon

Despite the gutweed being quite lush now, they still argue over feeding rights!

Feeding Brent goose

Heysham skear - Malcolm 16:15 - 17:15

I checked the skear as the tide was leaving it. It is nice to be able to get out in the evening again!

Pale-bellied Brent goose 10

Eider 18

Red-breasted Merganser 3

By this time there wasn't a breath of wind and the sea was flat.

Brent geese filing past

A Merganser pair were feeding, albeit leisurely. The male doesn't even bother to dive, he just looks below the surface to see if there is anything about worth diving for.

800 Knot were feeding but only two flags seen and both seen before. By the time I finished, the light wasn't conducive to checking Knot, but it was a very pleasant evening.

You can't beat a bit of slurry!

The light morning rained eased by mid morning. Then dry for the remainder of the day. A light breeze, mainly from the NW.

Pete did a couple of checks:

Shag 1 flew from the harbour, its dark plumage suggesting adult

Whooper Swan 5 high to the north

Pink-Footed goose 32 south

Heliport - Malcolm

c3000 Knot roosted again, but they remained on the sloping wall and very few flags were seen.

Redshank, Dunlin and Knot

Low clouds/mist rolling down the South Lakes hills

South shore -Janet

These Brent Geese circled the covered Red Nab area a few times before
 heading off south. The regular birds know when Red Nab is exposed.

Wigeon pair

Cormorants on the wooden jetty

Rock Pipit near the lighthouse 

There were two chasing each other then just one feeding.

Plenty of Rabbits along the harbour wall, this one looking like she is
about to increase the number

Good visibility today - Piel Castle to the west

Blackpool Tower to the south

Mallard pair on the newt pond in the Nature Park

Bumblebee sp - no butterflies seen today

Imperial Rd - Malcolm 15:30

Fieldfare 3

Fieldfare

There was a commotion as hundreds of gulls began gathering over the field on the other side of the road.

I guessed that the farmer had been spreading slurry, so I went to check. I was correct.

I thought that there must be at least one Mediterranean gull out of this lot. And I was correct again!

Adult Mediterranean gull (left) with Black-Headed gulls

I scanned all the gulls, there were also Lesser Black-Backed, Herring and Common gulls. But this was the only Med I could find. It had a bit of a limp, unless it was just being careful where it trod!