Take solace in the solstice

Another overcast day with showers. The fresh west wind continued, but ended up NW.

Well, today was the shortest day. Technically the winter solstice is 03:30 in the morning, but "daylight" tomorrow is a full minute longer than it was today. On the slightly more sobering side, tomorrow is officially the first day of winter!

South Shore (MD)

Another morning walk along the sea wall, but a bit earlier in the ebb, at least there were still a few Wigeon around c150

As with most of this morning's birds, the priority was finding somewhere to shelter from the wind.

These are mainly Herring Gulls sheltering on No.2 outflow rocks

This group of Black-Headed gulls were also looking for somewhere to rest. Surprisingly, they decided on the beach, where they could barely stand!

Not all the gulls were hunkered down, there were a few Herring Gulls patrolling out from the 
harbour mouth. Hoping the rough sea would provide a feeding opportunity.

Grey Seal 1 - looks to be a male, in the middle of No.2 outflow.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Just a passing check of the two main ponds

Main Pond:

Mute Swan pair plus 7 immature 

Gadwall 4

Coot 4

No Swimming pond:

Gadwall 14

Mallard 16

Tufted Duck 2 male

Grey Heron 1

Moorhen 2

Three drakes - Gadwall, Tufted and Mallard

These are the Gadwall and Mallard, with a guest appearance by the Heron.