Wednesday 8 March 2023

A cold east wind - didn't seem to blow anybody any good!

Down to -2C overnight the shallow pools etc were covered in ice. A cold east wind freshened during the day. At least it remained dry.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)
Just a quick check, nothing much different to yesterday other than 8 Gadwall today. One of the Mute Swans was thinking about building a nest. My camera was mercifully quiet during this clip, you can hear a Little Grebe trilling a couple of times..

South Shore
I had a look as far as Red Nab on the rising tide (MD)
No Brent turned up today, they quickly learn that the increasing height tides provide diminishing feeding opportunities.
All there was, were the regular birds:
Rock Pipit 1 displaying on Red Nab.
Shelduck 30
Wigeon 120
Both the above on Red Nab, also on Red Nab was this Little Egret. 
You can see the gutweed limp and close to the exposed rocks, making for difficult browsing.
But the gutweed behind the Egret is being reached by the rising tide, this makes it swell and
 float, making for easy browsing.

Curlew (and a bit of Redshank)

These Long-Tailed Tits, joined by a Blue Tit were feeding in the Nature Park. This area is where seeds and bread are often left for the birds. Whatever they are finding must be tiny and not deemed worthwhile by the other birds.

Kevin Eaves had a walk along the wall later and took these nice shots of a mature Cormorant in breeding plumage.


Heliport - 3,700 Knot roosting
Heysham Nature Reserve - one Weasel shot across the road
Both the above from Pete

The wind and weather are looking even less promising for tomorrow!