Light SSW breeze freshened during the day and moved to SW. Overcast all day with light showers, very misty early on.
Heysham skear - low water 09:00
Great Crested Grebe 11
Red Breasted Merganser 7 (5 + 2 all female/immature) - first record this autumn
Eider 28
Teal 2 - flew in from the east and appeared to land on the skear, but not relocated,
Little Egret 13
Grey Heron 2
The middle skear was pretty much deserted, Turnstone being the most abundant wader. There were Oystercatcher on the mud, and presumably on the outer skear.
Knot c25 - a small flock with Curlew and an even smaller flock alone.
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| Small flock of Knot and Curlew, with a misty Heysham Head behind |
Mediterranean gull 1 adult on the mud beyond the north edge of skear
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| A quick check of the heliport wall at high water found that it too was bereft of Knot. It's mainly Redshank with a few Turnstone in foreground, Oystercatcher beyond |
Red Nab and Ocean Edge towards high water
Mediterranean gulls 4 adult + 4 1st calendar year. The four youngsters stayed around Red Nab at high water, making for easy viewing. This one takes something from the water surface, probably a whelk egg cluster.
Wheatear 11Rock Pipit 5 on Red Nab
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| One of five Rock Pipits on Red Nab at high water |
Common Snipe 2 on saltmarsh
Linnet 15 on saltmarsh
Lapwing 12
Ringed Plover c40
Dunlin 2
Robin 2 on Red Nab plus another on Near Naze (not sure if this qualifies as "Robin Day", but it sounds good, and will get a few disappointed Google hits (MD))
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| Red Nab Robin |
Raven 4 together, but not in close formation north over the saltmarsh 13:00
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| One of four Raven heading north |
There were several butterflies in the nature park behind Red Nab. These are nice comparison shots of a Red Admiral and a Painted Lady.
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| Painted Lady |
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| Red Admiral |
