More pairing up

An overnight frost. A freshish south wind, overcast all day with some light showers.

Report from Pete:

Everything below is either within or seen from the recording area.

Shag 3cy off Heysham Head

Pale-bellied Brent goose 42 -  7 off Battery car park by the disused sewage outfall, 35 off play area 

Eider 102

Great Crested Grebe  6 

Red-breasted Merganser 9 

4 Meadow pipit from north end of stone jetty in 10 mins. 

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Mute, Moorhen and Coot unchanged 

Greylag goose 2  - they have looked like they might fancy nesting here for the last few springs. Hopefully this year they might, if not disturbed.

Greylag Goose - the other just out of shot

Mallard 5 (4 male)

Gadwall 2 pair

Teal 2 pair

Little Grebe 2 pairs at least

Common Snipe 3

Water Rail 1 calling from the western marsh

Pheasant 1 male calling (I can't bring myself to call it singing!)

Cetti's warbler, contact calls and a burst of song from the "no swimming" pond

Great Spotted Woodpecker - this female flew from the direction of the large anemometer and rested in this tree a while (I've had to remove the sound, my camera was making it sound like it was drumming!)

It then flew back in the same direction - earlier this male was near the small anemometer in the Nature Park. To us, two different areas, but the two sightings would only be 400m apart.

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker 

Kestrel 2 - presumably a pair. This female was half perching, half hovering in this tree.

She flew off, but as I walked on a better viewing line revealed a male perched below where she had been.

Male Kestrel

Just out of the recording area - Heysham Moss Nature Reserve (MD)

This was mid afternoon and it had been drizzling and it continued to throughout my walk. So I wasn't expecting to see the Barn Owl, but was thinking perhaps a Stonechat, and fortunately I did see a male. I say fortunately, as it seemed to be moving through quickly. It rested on this Willow briefly and made no attempt to feed before moving on northwards. I was using one of my old cameras, so the image not so crisp, but at least the background noise is fine!

Grey Heron 3

Mallard 2

Hopefully more species will be moving through soon!