Mute in name only!

The east wind freshened all day ending up very strong. Showers all day mainly of sleet. 

Heysham Head (MD)

I had a walk around this morning, partly to see how many Rock Pipits there were below the cliffs. We have had a least two nesting pairs here for the last few years, but I couldn't find a single bird today. Plenty of time yet.

Oystercatcher 1,000

Knot 1200

Redshank 20

Turnstone 10

Curlew 4

Shelduck 2.

Red Nab (MD)

Just a quick look at high water 

Pale-bellied Brent goose 10

Wigeon 100+

Shelduck 9

Curlew 40

Oystercatcher 300

Redshank 18

Turnstone 10

Janet's shot of a Turnstone in yesterday's more clement weather

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Again, just a quick passing check. It wasn't a day for lingering!

The pair of Mute Swans were trying to clear the main pond of last year's cygnets. Whether they have decided to nest on this pond this year, or just want both ponds to themselves remains to be seen.

In this clip the female is preventing the young ones from accessing the feeding station (you can see them looking at each other, wondering what they've done wrong). Meanwhile the male was actively chasing them away.

You can hear a Little Grebe trilling quite early in this clip.

One of the youngsters had already been chased off to the "no swimming" pond. I doubt it will be tolerated there for long. It looked forlorn and was making contact calls to its missing siblings. You can just about hear its calls above the traffic and a Great Tit.

Mallard 10

Gadwall 4

Coot 6

Moorhen 5

Little Grebe 1

Cetti's Warbler - full blown song today from NE corner of the "no swimming" pond.

Jean shared an interesting statistic, there were 74 bird species covered by this post in January. It isn't really a reflection of a high number of rarities, but often the regular birds fail to get a mention. Janet's regular supply of excellent pictures of "ordinary" birds, goes a long way to addressing this.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis still feeding in the horse paddock behind the Hall.

Pete advises that for the last couple of days at least it has left early, before 15:00. If you are planning a visit, best arrive before then.