Plenty of ice.

Another heavy overnight frost. The wind more to NE, but still cold. But the day was again pleasant to walk in, with the warming sun shining for most of the day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Again plenty of gulls on the main pond ice, but none ringed. We have just received the details of a Black-Headed gull read on the ice earlier this winter:

Black-headed gull K03025/J1TH

Adult	Musoya Strand, Drammen, Buskerud,  NORWAY 59 45N 10 08E	13/04/2013
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud,  NORWAY 59 44N 10 16E	05/07/2015	8km E
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud, NORWAY	18/05/2016
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud, NORWAY	25/05/2016
Seen	Middleton NR	03/02/2019
Seen	Middleton NR	29/12/2020
Seen	Middleton NR	04/01/2021
Photo	Middleton NR	15/01/2021	1014km S

This is the second consecutive winter that it has been recorded at Middleton 

This is size of the hole on the main pond being maintained by the Mute.
Also the favoured area for the remaining 6 Mallard,
they probably also get the bread taken for the swans.

Janet took the above two pictures, this is the estranged juvenile,
Janet was worried that it may be stuck on the ice, as it didn't move to reach bread
but I'm sure it was closer to the hole when I checked.
I'll have a proper look tomorrow  and take my chest waders, just in case.

The small hole on the "no swimming" pond is now frozen over, there were just 4 coot and 2 Moorhen walking around the margins.

But, surprisingly, there is still a small hole on the Tim Butler pond, maintained by 25 Gadwall

There were also at least two Teal calling, but out of sight.

Cetti's warbler 1 singing on the central marsh

Red Nab and Saltmarsh - high water 10:20

Plenty of birds on Red Nab, nothing unusual, but easy to see on these medium height tides: Cormorant, Shelduck, Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser, Grey Heron, Little Egret, all the common gulls (and possibly some less common too), Oystercatcher, Knot, Lapwing, Curlew, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover. No Rock Pipit today.

Just a flavour of the abundance of birds, there are 70 Curlew on this shot,
and this is only a small area.

The water on Red Nab was frozen, before the tide reached it,
but it has been 5 days since the tide got this high, so the water would have been fairly brackish 

Kevin took the following shots on Red Nab

Reshank

Grey Plover (Kevin says it appears to be limping)

Cormorant in breeding plumage 

Again the tide was not high enough to cover the marsh, but it still flushed:

Common Snipe c20

Jack Snipe 1 flushed by tide plus 1 flushed by me around the edge where groundwater was seeping onto the marsh

Reed Bunting 1, but different to yesterday's bird.

A quick scan of the skeer towards low water found no Brent geese

Goldeneye 1 male