The wind started SE but by evening had swung round to NE. Light rain for much of the morning then some sunshine and very heavy showers in the afternoon.
The blog should be entitled "The Best of the Rest" because we missed most of the vis, which occurred in the first hour and a half of daylight (see www.trektellen.nl for reports from other areas). Arrived at Heysham NR just 20 minutes before the rain began and in that time (07:40-08:00) there were:
Meadow Pipit 72 (3.6 per minute)
Goldfinch 2
Alba wagtail 7
Siskin 1
3 Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff were calling and a Blackcap seen.
In the short, dry spells between the heavy showers, Meadow Pipits were still coming through and several flocks of Pink-footed Geese. So in 2hrs 40 mins (between 08:40 and 11:20) there were:
Meadow Pipit 253 (1.5 per minute)
Pink-footed Goose 113
alba wagtail 2
Grey Wagtail 1
Siskin 1
Ocean Edge
A notable 15 adult Mediterranean Gulls were loafing on the shore towards Potts Corner. A juv was on Red Nab.
40 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin scurried about near them.
Low tide channel
Eider 67 - numbers are slowly building up.
Great-crested Grebe 11
Red-breasted Merganser 6
The sun chose this moment to shine through leaving the Whitethroat in silhouette. Still, a distinctive profile. |
Silver skies over Fylde |
Dark skies over the south lakes |
Revealing the unmistakable profile of Snowdonia in north Wales! |
I used a map measuring tool to find out the distance from the harbour to Snowdon, and it's 80 miles! I also realised, on close inspection, that the view was probably a mixture of the Carneddau range, the Glyders, with Snowdon behind them .It's very satisfying to see that the straight line does indeed just miss the tip of Knott End/Fleetwood.