Lightish SE wind all day, rain for most of the day and no sign of the sun. At least it was a bit warmer.
Heysham Head
Just a quick walk round mid morning.
Rock Pipit 2 - one on Half Moon Bay beach, one below high cliffs
Red-breasted Merganser 2 - pair feeding just out from the Head
Oystercatcher and Knot roost
There were over 1,000 Knot and a few hundred Oystercatcher roosting on the rocks, they often start their roost here, but are usually driven off by the rising tide/waves or by the high numbers of people taking exercise on the Head. Today's weather and tides meant that these were not factors.
No ringed birds were seen
Brent Geese - A check from Heysham Head an hour after high water could not find any out from the play area. A quick look in the skeer corner at low water could only locate two groups: 4, which quickly flew off north plus 9. They all looked to be pale-bellied.
Kevin took this picture of the Black-Headed gulls on Sunday. All lined up along the rail on one of the upstands inside the harbour
As Kevin said, it does make the question of why they never rest on No.2 outflow structure all the more puzzling (see the post 31/12/20). This year, the three regular walkers along the wall, myself, Janet and Kevin are specifically checking for any birds resting on the outflow structure, so far, not a sign. There must be some conditions that a gull would benefit from resting there. If no records are forthcoming, I may resort to bread and see what happens.
