Better variety today, plus an "Inland" Kittiwake

A day of two haves.....the strong overnight SW wind soon eased. Rain showers reduced in frequency and length as the morning wore on. The afternoon was sunny.

South shore mid morning (MD)

It was raining for much of the walk, but you could see the clear weather front approaching.

Clear weather approaching from the SW

Wigeon c200 Shelduck c50 on/around Red Nab

Reed Bunting 1 on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 3 - 1 each on foreshore, Red Nab and near lighthouse 

Knot c1,500 flew past the roundhead in two flocks

Shag 1 immature on wooden jetty

Kittiwake 9 - 2 first winter feeding on No.2 outflow. 2 adult and 7 first winter in the harbour, mainly on their pipe.

Adult Kittiwake with a white winged feral pigeon
- this bird can be frustrating when you only get a glimpse of it in flight

These Great Black-Backed gulls appear to be bonding, shame you can't hear them clearly with all the background noise.

Pete managed to read the Iceland ringed Oystercatcher on the Near Naze - White XE

Ringed as an adult male nesting 31/05/21 

Árn.,Selfoss,Svarfhólsvöllur (golf course), south ICELAND 63 94N 20 97W

Also seen breeding the following year in the same area 9/04/22 - 10/07/22

Now seen twice at the Heysham Near Naze 26/12/22 and 17/02/23

Also:

Mediterranean gull 1 adult in the harbour at lunchtime 

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

A very pleasant afternoon stroll in the sunshine! No Stonechat seen today.

The Pochard was back, plus 4 Gadwall, 2 Teal, 11 Mallard, 3 Coot and 4 Moorhen, plus the Mute Swan family.

Little Grebe 3 at least, including a trilling bird on the main and "no swimming" ponds. This bird was on the "no swimming" pond. It has caught what looks like an invertebrate. There were no gulls around today so it ate its meal where it surfaced.

Kittiwake 1 first winter bird resting on one of the shallow scrapes on the western marsh. This is about 1km inland from the harbour and at least 0.5km from the nearest reach of the highest tide.

I couldn't resit checking where I "released" the Smooth Newt yesterday. I decided there were two likely scenarios, one, she lay where I left her, having not made it. Or, two she wasn't there, meaning she had at least revived enough to move on. This is the stone where I left her.

When I got there, the stone was bare 😊

But, there was a third scenario. If you look closely at the top right hand corner of the stone, you can see a newt looking back at you. Not only had she revived but was now looking healthy and happy with her new environment.

This is just a detail from the above shot
I doubt she recognised me today.....I didn't have my mitts on