Monday 21 November 2022

You need to feed quickly when the opportunity arrives, particularly during these short days!

A cold and freshening east wind. Overcast all day with showers increasing in the afternoon 

Heysham Head (Steve Brown)
An hour after high tide this morning, it was cold, dark, windy and wet! 
There was a decent sized mixed flock of Knot, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatchers resting on the rocks, also 10 Curlew and a solitary Ringed Plover! 
Ringed Plover

Pete checked the noon ferry in:
Kittiwake 1 adult behind ferry
Shag 1 juvenile in the harbour


Heysham skear - low water 16:00 (MD)
It was still cold, darker and wetter!
Eider 3 female together
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Great Crested Grebe 2
No Knot seen today but there were c100 Dunlin feeding along the tideline. I couldn't see what they were feeding on, but presumably tiny crustaceans.
They were very flighty 

Bar-Tailed Godwit 7 were also feeding along the draining channels, but were soon spooked by the flighty Dunlin.

These Black-Headed plus a Herring gull with Redshank are almost certainly catching small shrimps. There are a couple of Dunlin on the fringe too, and I like the Oystercatcher sleeping through the clamour.