The light east wind continues. A dry but mainly overcast day.
South shore Red Nab to saltmarsh (MD)
Shelduck c80
Wigeon 25 (almost certainly more beyond Red Nab
Rock Pipit 1 male parachuting over Red Nab
Reed Bunting 2 on saltmarsh - this is a slightly different viewing angle
Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)
Just a quick check of the main ponds on my way home.
Mute Swan, the 5 immature remain on the main pond while the adult pair are on the "no swimming" pond
Mallard 8
Gadwall 14
Teal 2
Coot 5
Moorhen 6
Cormorant 1
Grey Heron 1 - this clip looks like the Heron is sharpening its bill on a stone. I expect it was just cleaning it.
Little Grebe 3Jackdaw 10
Heysham skear - low water 16:00 (MD)
Eider c30
Pale-bellied Brent goose 11 - these surprised me, there was none amongst the rocks out from the play area, despite there still being plenty of available food there. They were drifting on the SW tip of the skear, but obviously had been resting on the skear itself. There was no food were they had rested, but they had been feeding somewhere, the area was marked with copious droppings. They drifted towards the SE skear corner.
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| Brent geese drifting along the southern side of the skear on the rising tide. |
Great Crested Grebe 2
Little Egret 2
Waders:
Oystercatcher c1,000
Curlew more than recently c50
Redshank 100+
Turnstone 50+
Common Snipe 2
Dunlin 12
Knot c2,000
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| A nice shot of the largest Knot flock with the South Lakes as a backdrop |
Footnote: Barn Owl - those of you who read the posts in the evening may have missed the amendment to yesterday's post. Additional images taken by Ian of the Barn Owl, and a closer check of my images, do indeed makes it look like an escapee with brown ankle straps and short brown jesses.
