South shore
I went along the wall at high water 08:40 (MD)
At No.2 outflow there were just two species feeding
Little Gull 7 - 1 adult, 1 second calendar year and 5 first calendar year. This clip is remarkable, not for what you can see, just a 1cy and adult Little Gull, but for what is missing, not a single Black-Headed gull was feeding here.
The only other species was..... |
| Arctic Tern 1 juvenile |
It isn't as though there was nothing to attract the other gulls, the juvenile Arctic Tern easily picks a Whitebait off the surface towards the end of this clip.
When Janet checked at lunchtime there were a few Black-Headed Gulls feeding with the Little Gulls, but not many.
 |
| 1cy Little Gull with 2 BHG |
 |
| 1st calendar year Little Gulls |
Also this morning:
Shelduck 25 at saltmarsh
Wigeon c70 around Red Nab
No Rock Pipits seen or heard again today.
This orange ringed Cormorant was on the wooden jetty, frustratingly just beyond my capability to read.
 |
| It is just in front of the lighthouse on the wooden jetty. I've seen it here before. High water is always best for seeing Cormorants roosting here. This shot is 30x optical magnification zoomed to 60x digitally. It should be within reading range of good scope with a decent zoom |
Mediterranean Gull 1 adult resting on Red Nab
 |
| Mediterranean Gull (top) with Black-Headed Gull |
 |
| This Mediterranean Gull was on Red Nab 31/08/23. It was ringed as a nestling at Leipzig Germany 18/06/22 and was seen in Newport Wales 12/11/22 and Dawlish Warren Devon 21/07/23 |
Two days ago it was seen at Alderney in the Channel Islands. Wayne Turner nicely summarised its history with this map.
Thanks to John Horton for the record and Guy McClelland for spotting this on Alderney Observation Blog.
Chiffchaff 1 calling in the Nature Park
North Shore
Report and Pictures by Howard Stockdale
The helipad Knot were displaced by the female Sparrowhawk within 10 minutes of my arrival.
 |
| Female Sparrowhawk |
The Knot looked like they were going to land on the naze but did many passes before heading over to the headland where they stayed until around 11.0am, they were too far off for any viewable sightings so I watched the Turnstone feeding on the shoreline on the skear in the hope the Knot would eventually arrive but alas they didn't.
 |
| Turnstone with what remains of a Hermit crab |
 |
| Turnstone with a Cockle |
 |
| Redshank |
Just out of the recording area - Newgate White Lund - first Waxwing (ref Pete - see https://lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk/forums/forum/bird-insect-sightings/ for details)
