A fresh west wind, dry all day with plenty of sunshine
Half Moon Bay to Heysham Head - high water 11:00
Howard managed to read two ringed Knot from the Heliport wall, unfortunately two others has damaged/dirty flags and couldn't be read.
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| I particularly like this dynamic shot, by Howard. You'll need to open the image to appreciate the detail (MD) |
A walk along the shore line located three Rock Pipit.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Brimstone butterfly 1, seen by Janet in the morning. Quite a distant shot, but fortunately of a very distinctive species.
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| Late Brimstone butterfly |
I had a good walk around in the afternoon, but failed to see any butterflies or dragonflies (MD)
Mute 2 adult 9 cygnet
Moorhen 4
Mallard 12
Gadwall 32
Tufted duck 1 male
Teal 2 (on Tim Butler pond)
Little grebe 2 (one on both main ponds)
Water Rail 1 calling from Tim Butler pond
Green Woodpecker 1 - unfortunately flew into the low sun and I lost it
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 female
There were surprisingly few winter thrushes around considering the amount of Hawthorn berries still available. The following are my best estimates in excess of resident birds:
Blackbird 15
Song Thrush 4
Redwing 13
All were gorging on Hawthorn berries:
Blackbird
Also Chaffinch, although I wasn't clear exactly what they were eating. This still from the clip below, suggests they were eating partially withered Hawthorn berries.
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| Male Chaffinch with what looks like a withered Hawthorn berry |
Even a Long Tailed Tit was having a go, obviously not feeding on the berries, but seeming to be finding plenty to eat amongst them.
Wood Pigeon 20 north plus 7 west at 14:30 - presumably local movement
Roe Deer 1 female
