Not a lot of movement

Quite a fresh SSW to SW wind, mainly dry with long sunny spells.

Report from Jean:

Did a seawatch from Heysham Head graveyard from 0840 - 1040 

I was hoping to see some Gannets but none appeared. The visibility wasn't great, very hazy in the distance but there wasn't much movement in any case. All I saw were:

Red-throated Diver - 1 flying out of the Bay at 0945hrs

Kittiwake - 2 flying into the Bay at 0955hrs

Great Crested Grebe - 1 out

Common Gull - 13 heading into the Bay mainly in twos over the course of the 2 hours

Shelduck - 2 out

Meadow Pipit - just 2 north

Then the usual inshore Herring Gulls and a handful of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. 90 Turnstone flew past heading towards the heliport, as did several hundred Oystercatchers. 

Pete checked from further south:

Bit too clear for seabirds at Heysham this am:  flock 20 kittiwake 

Pete and Jean also checked the Heliport roost. They managed to read three colour ringed Knot from the 650 birds, despite fox trouble again.

"Cute" Fox (not Pete's (or the wader's) description!)

South Shore (MD)

A morning full circuit with just a check of saltmarsh to Red Nab in the afternoon 

Stonechat 3 - 1 male and 2 female. I was surprised to see these in the NE corner of the saltmarsh this morning, as there had been no recent showers to ground anything. I couldn't relocate them on the return trip, but 3 again in the afternoon, and they looked to be the same birds.

Wheatear 8 - there was just 1 near the slipway in the morning, but my visit in the afternoon coincided with what proved to be the only shower of the day and 7 were on the new layer of flotsam on the saltmarsh. Another 1 on Red Nab.

Rock Pipit - 9. 2 saltmarsh, 2 foreshore, 3 Red Nab, 2 near lighthouse 

Rock Pipit and male Wheatear 

Shelduck 2

Wigeon 65

Shag 1 immature, at least, on the wooden jetty (a second candidate kept its head down)

Shag, on left, with Cormorants 

Kittiwake 2 x 2nd calendar year, one on No.2 outflow plus one on their pipe in the harbour. This is the outflow bird.

It managed to find something to eat

This is a 2nd calendar year Common Gull on No.1 outflow