Monday 28 March 2022

Dramatic weather change......it drizzled a little!

The air (and the birds) still reluctant to move. What little breeze there was today mainly northish. Some very light drizzle early on and it remain cloudy till early evening.

Red Nab to saltmarsh high water 09:10 (MD)
It was still drizzling slightly and I had hoped for some grounded stuff, but nothing grounded and nothing passing over.
Pale-bellied Brent goose 40+ So much for my prediction that they were off yesterday! To be fair, I think this is a different group, and there were none on the skear this evening. This group included the two red/blue Canadian Arctic ringed birds. It was good to see them again before their return. Hope they get home safely and return next year. They were ringed as a breeding pair on Axel Heiberg Island in 2014. It's a straight line distance of over 4,000km. Whichever route they take, they will have to fly across the Atlantic. You can see them both on this clip.

Shelduck 52
Wigeon 14
Rock Pipit 1

Heysham Nature Reserve 
Just a quick walk around the east side
Mute - now just one adult pair on the main pond, plus 5 remaining cygnets from last year. Another pair on the "no swimming" pond, the female sitting on nest again.
Gadwall 4 two pair
Mallard 6 three pair
Little grebe 7 at least - 2 pair on the main pond, another pair on "no swimming" pond plus at least one on Tim Butler pond
Moorhen 10
Coot 5
Coot

Cetti's warbler 1 singing at "no swimming" pond
Chiffchaff several singing birds
Blackcap 2 - a silent male and a female in the same Blackthorn bush. I couldn't manage to get one clip showing both, so I stuck two clips together. Male first then a female.

Female Blackcap
Bullfinch 8 

Heysham skear
Just a quick look. Nothing on the sea except Eider c150, Great Crested Grebe 2 and Red-breasted Merganser 2.
Knot c1,500

Finally this is the North West Gull Project Herring gull seen in the harbour on Friday.
Herring Gull - ringed Bowland Lancs 7/07/21
Seen at Roosebeck Cumbria 28/08/21 and 28/09/21
Seen Heysham 25/03/22

A link to the scheme is included on the sidebar, but I've also placed it here: