More good seabirds and Meadow Pipit passage

A fresh SSE wind to begin with, switching to SW by lunchtime. A heavy shower at 08:00 after that mainly dry with sunny periods.

Pete and Jean checked the south side this morning:

Black terns 4 - three juveniles left outfalls and flew out down the shipping channel then another darker bird of uncertain age at that range appeared and was still present when we left

Little Gull 1 adult on the outfalls

Arctic Tern 1 juvenile 

Common Tern c8

Mediterranean gull - 3 Juvenile and at least 8 other assorted age.  

Guillemot in harbour

Swallow at least 20 south 

Meadow Pipit over 500 south over sands and red nab 0900-1020

In the afternoon myself (MD) and Alan Physick checked the sea wall. There were at least 4 juvenile Black Terns feeding on both outflows. The light was still difficult, but with more birds around, spotting them was easier, but they fly so quickly and erratically they are hard to track. I couldn't manage a clip of more than a few seconds, so put a few together to give a sense of their movement.

Juvenile Black Terns

The afternoon light is difficult, especially when the sun is out behind the birds. I was fooled into thinking this Tern was also a Black Tern

But it turned out to be a juvenile Common Tern

It tried to rest on the sea with the Black-Headed gulls, but it wasn't welcomed!

On the way back down the wall Alan saw a Skua fly low in front of him before lifting all the gulls from Red Nab. It then flew out to sea and was lost in the sun. Seemed to be a dark morph Arctic Skua, but just possibly a juvenile of another skua species.

Rock Pipit 3

Wheatear 2

Heysham skear - low water 10:00 (MD)

The heavy shower had moved on from Heysham over an hour before I started, but the west side of the bay was clearly still getting wet.

Double rainbow, framing the skear

Pink-Footed goose 198 SE in 4 skeins, 171 in three skeins all arriving at 10:15

Eider 35

Red-breasted Merganser 8

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 17

As I was walking out on the skear there was a trickle of Meadow Pipits coming in and flying east. 11 in the first 15 minutes. Then they stopped, but by that time I was towards the south side of the skear. They resumed again in earnest when I got back to the north side. The flight line seemed to be SE till they hit the skear then due east taking them ashore near Rydal Rd. 72 in total including 2 groups of 17 and 18.

Janet took these shots from Heysham Head

Kestrel 

Herring Gull with what appears to be a Common Blenny