Lots of rain, but not a lot of wind

Very heavy overnight rain continued, more or less unabated all day. The wind swung round to SW then SSW, it was fresh, but not strong.

Heysham Skeer - low water 09:40

Not a lot! Although the wind wasn't strong, it was in the right direction to stir up the sediment close inshore, this coupled with the amount of fresh draining off the beach, and taking mud with it, meant the water was too murky for diving birds within my viewing range.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 15 feeding in the SE skeer corner, including two Red/Blue ringed birds, almost certainly the regular Canadian ringed pair.

I took this snap of most of them, just to show that I was there.....

I suppose digital images are the 21st century equivalent of a postcard.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look at the two main ponds on my way home (I couldn't get any wetter!)

After the heavy rain last week, the water level on the "no swimming" pond had raised c15cm, which meant the Gadwall couldn't reach the weed that is normally just below the surface, and only two Gadwall remained. There is an overflow drainage pipe from the pond to the central marsh, possibly partially blocked, as it took two days for the water to return to its normal maximum. The overnight rain had again raised the water level, and there were no Gadwall today, just a pair of Shoveler and a male Tufted.

I took this short video, more to show the conditions than the birds.