Another Woodcock

A freshening SW wind. Some light drizzle with a couple of heavy showers by afternoon.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Josh Hedley - a check this morning:

Woodcock- 1 flushed from woodland at northern end

Goldfinch- 25

A mixed flock contained:

Long-tailed Tit- 11

Blue Tit- 4

Goldcrest- 2

Coal Tit- 1

South Shore (MD)

Little Gull 1 adult - same pattern as the other day with periods of fishing interspersed with periods of preening on the mud.

This is it preening

Kevin managed a better shot of it on Monday

Shelduck 125

Many of the Shelduck were feeding close to the foreshore rocks

Wigeon 175 - this group mistakenly landed in No.2 outflow. They normally rest in the channel just beyond. They can't rest in the outflow as they have to paddle furiously just to remain still. They quickly moved to the adjacent channel.

Rock,Pipits 2

On the saltmarsh 

Linnet 80

Lapwing 114

Little Egret 3

These are some of the Lapwing and a Little Egret amongst what remains of the Samphire. The Lapwing look as though they are in a slow moving queue, apart from the inevitable queue jumper.

Janet took these shots of  Carrion Crow with a cockle. They open the cockles by dropping them from height on to the rocks. A trick they picked up from the gulls. But, they are better at it than most gulls, who appear to drop almost at random, whereas the crows appear to target suitable rocks.