Overnight frost left the ponds largely ice covered. Light northerly breeze and plenty of sunshine.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Pete managed to read a white Darvic ringed Black-headed gull roosting on the main pond ice. It's worth checking this pond, which has a good history of hosting roosting ringed birds when ice covered.
Wildfowl pretty much as yesterday, but more concentrated in the ice free areas of the "no swimming" pond.
This is a nice clip of a female Gadwall dabbling and a female Shoveler "shovelling". Showing the different depths these species feed here.
Red Nab/saltmarsh approaching high water
Common Snipe 12 flushed when the tide reached the small sea grass islands just south of the saltmarsh
Reed Bunting 2
Rock Pipit 1
The one legged Redshank is still around and seems to be doing well
It tends to feed in different areas to the other Redshank, presumably because it's feeding options are restricted. Today, it seems to have come across the apparently ubiquitous small shrimps.
Heysham Skeer
Pale-bellied Brent goose 13 I wasn't really expecting any today as it was very late in the day before the weed bed in the skeer corner was exposed. Sure enough as I walked out about 14:15 there were none. But looking back at 14:50 there were 13. But they soon took flight and, surprisingly, flew low to the north, last seen passing the Stone Jetty. Perhaps the large numbers over the last few days have stripped the easy pickings. I'll have a look, when I can get there when nothing is feeding.
Eider 76
Great Crested Grebe 2
Knot c1000
