A walk in the rain

A freshening SW then NW wind. Today's rain confined itself to the duration of my lunchtime walk, then quite a sunny afternoon 

Jean managed a check of Middleton Nature Reserve:

Main pond 
2ad 5imm Mute Swans as per usual
Moorhen 1
Mallard 2M, 1F

No swimming pond
4prs Gadwall
1 Coot
1 male Tufted Duck

Cetti’s Warbler at edge of reedbed on W side of ringing area

Pink-footed Goose 28 flew over heading south

Borrans Lane
Little Egret

South shore (MD)

My only outing today was to exercise my daughter's dog along the sea wall at lunchtime. It lashed it down on the way out, not so bad coming back.

Wigeon 200+ around Red Nab then south as it was covered by the tide.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 22 - I didn't see any on the way out, but they could have been missed in the rain. As I returned, they were gathering on the water, which is often a prelude to flight. And so it proved to be.

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female

Kittiwake 17 - 6 on the outflows (2 adult), 2 x first winter behind the ferry, 9 in the harbour (3 adult)

I like Janet's term for this pipe where they choose to rest......."their pipe". These are two adult and a first winter on their pipe. There were four more 1st winter birds further along the pipe.

This is the third adult with another first winter on the secondary waterfall. The young bird seems to have a particularly broad neck band, perhaps it was just the way it was holding its neck.

Rock Pipits 4 - sea wall near wooden jetty, sea wall near Red Nab, foreshore and saltmarsh.

Skylark 2 saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 5 saltmarsh 

Ringed Plover 26 - flew south over the caravan park, did a couple of circuits of the saltmarsh....

Ringed Plover

.....before settling on Ocean Edge grass. I say "settling" but they were far from settled!

At least the weather is set fair for tomorrow, and I am hoping to get further out on the skear in the morning than the light has allowed me since autumn - can't wait! (MD)