A light SW to W wind. Overcast withe light showers in the morning, a relatively dry afternoon but more steady rain in the evening.
South shore
Pete and Jean checked from Ocean Edge on the rising tide.
Curlew Sandpiper 2 together at the edge of a feeding flock of Ringed Plover out from the saltmarsh.
Mediterranean gull 24 most on Red Nab
Sandwich Tern 4
I had a walk onto the shore (MD), but had left it a bit late, the tide was already ebbing and the Ringed Plover 100+ and Dunlin 20+ were moving to the newly exposed mud.
There were tiny sea snails everywhere on the mud that had been covered by the sea. It's not clear what the birds were actually eating. The Dunlin were probing and the Plovers picking. If they were eating the snails here, they were being very selective. This clip shows the different feeding techniques of a Dunlin and a juvenile Ringed Plover. Every dark speck is a tiny sea snail, you can see the vast quantity are ignored.
Curlew 150Oystercatcher 200
Bar-Tailed Godwit 1
Grey Plover 3
Turnstone 3
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| Slightly unusual seeing Turnstone resting on the mud here |
Lapwing 12 on saltmarsh
Pink-Footed goose 17 low to the south
Little Egret 7
Wheatear 2 - foreshore
Linnet 10 - saltmarsh
Rock Pipit 1 - Red Nab
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| A nice group of Mediterranean gulls on Red Nab. 3 adult, 4 second calendar year and 1 first calendar year. No rings seen today. Yesterday's white ringed bird was ringed in Holland as a nestling in 2019. From May 2020 to May 2022 it was seen in Germany, Wales, Spain, Portugal and France. But yesterday was the first sighting in 16 months. |
Janet was having a walk along the sea wall. This is the view of the Red Nab gulls from the wall.
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| Mainly Black-Headed Gulls on Red Nab. There is a small group at the top towards the left that are probably the same group of Meds pictured above |
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| Little Egret on Red Nab |
This is a nice sequence of a young Black-Headed Gull picking up a fish (Whitebait) from the outflows. Worth opening these to appreciate the detail.
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| You can see the stunned Whitebait in the water. If gulls could smile, this one is! |
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| This adult Mediterranean gull was also after Whitebait on the outflows |
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| Cormorants on the wooden Jetty |
