Just my check of the south shore so far (MD). Towards high water mid to late morning.
Rock Pipits 3 (2 Red Nab plus 1 near waterfall)
Linnet 2 on saltmarsh plus 5 between lighthouse and waterfall
Mediterranean gulls 4, possibly 5 2nd calendar year - as I walked out there were 3 feeding on No.2 outflow and 1 feeding on No.1 outflow. Possibly one had moved across, but the bird on No.1 was the one with the broken tail bar, and I hadn't noticed it on No.2.
2cy Mediterranean gulls weren't the only medium sized gulls with dark primaries today, there were also two 2cy Common gulls. This clip starts with a 2cy Med then switches to a 2cy Common gull.
On the way back, there were 2 feeding on No.2 outflow and 3 on Red Nab, but again, possibly an overlap. But later there were at least 4 on Red Nab. I say "on Red Nab", but by this time the tide was covering Red Nab and the gulls were floating on the sea in rafts. This clip shows a section of a raft containing 3 x 2cy Mediterranean gull, but also includes; Common Gull 2 adult plus 2 x 2cy. Black-Headed gulls 18 adult plus 1 x 2cy and a Lesser Black-backed gull.
Eider 3 female near saltmarsh
Common Scoter 1 male - I was pleased with this, on my way out along the foreshore I spotted a distant dark speck to the south. It was in the water but not out far and it seemed to be moving along with the tide and waves. I thought "duck", and dark ducks here tend to be Eider, but something didn't look right. I decided that if it continued moving as it was, it would end up in the far corner of the saltmarsh. So on my return I went back to the saltmarsh and walked around till I reached the SE corner. And there it was. It's nice when a plan comes together!
It drew quite a bit of attention. First a couple of Black Headed-gulls
I couldn't work out why I couldn't get a clear shot of its bill, but when I got home and checked my pictures I realised the reason was that it had wart like growths on its bill.
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| Male Common Scoter with some sort of growths on its bill |
The Eider came to check it out and eventually sat on the saltmarsh near it. A Lesser Black-Backed gull also came for a look. Perhaps the interest was just for something "different", but I did wonder if the presence of Scoters normally suggests the presence of a nearby food source (MD).
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| Female Eider checking out the Common Scoter |
The Carrion Crow have fledged two young, they are still at the "testing everything to see if its food" stage. The closer two birds are the young ones.
