An overcast but dry day. A very gentle breeze moved from NW to east over the course of the day.
Just my stuff so far (MD)
South shore
Just a check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh at high water.
Pale-belled Brent goose 18 - it was both brighter and the birds closer with the higher tide, so pictures slightly better.
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| This is a first calendar year bird, the most obvious feature being the white wing bars. |
These are two adults with a first calendar year feeding on the gutweed.
Wigeon 160
Little Egret 2
Waders:
Oystercatcher c300
Curlew 4
Redshank 20
Turnstone 6
Knot 25
Lapwing 40+ amongst the Samphire on the saltmarsh
Imperial Rd
A quick afternoon stop off located
Buzzard 1
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| Buzzard on one of the three concrete posts at the southern end. Unfortunately resting with its back to the road. |
Mute Swan 2 adult
Little Egret 1 - it is using the same technique here as it does when it is fishing. The ground is very waterlogged and at other times of year frogs would be an option, but I think this is just about earthworms. Egrets just can't help being stealthy!
Middleton Nature Reserve
Again, just a quick stop off, but I did manage to check both main ponds today.
Main Pond:
Mute Swan 2 adult plus 8 immature, they must have been having a fly around yesterday
Coot 4
Moorhen 2
Mallard 2
Tufted Duck 1 male.
No swimming pond
Tufted Duck a second male
Teal 2 male
Gadwall 26 - 18 already on the water and 8 more came in.
The water level of this pond is now up by 2m. The dabbling ducks have no chance of reaching the weed, they must just be using the pond as a safe place to rest.
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| The water level is to the top of its banks in many places |
These are some of the Gadwall and the Tufted.
This is the arrival of more Gadwall, they circled several times before finally landing.
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| Gadwall |
Pink-Footed goose 2000+ - this was odd, at 14:05 a single bird flew over low to the south. At 14:08 what seemed to be the entire local population flew over my head to the south. Unfortunately, I had low trees on either side of me so it wasn't possible to do a more accurate count.
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| Just a small proportion of the Pink-Footed geese heading south |
It was very early for them to be heading back to their roost, they were low so presumably had been feeding close by. I'd driven along Oxcliffe Rd and the bypass earlier and saw no sign of feeding birds. But there is a lot of slurry spreading happening at the moment. Perhaps "their field" was about to be sprayed. If so, you could understand them taking flight!
