The cloud was very low all day, the very fine rain in the morning was really just the clouds reaching the ground. A light SW wind.
Heysham skear - low water 10:20 (MD)
It was strange on the skear this morning, not just the lack of visibility, but also the lack of birds to be seen. The only birds seen on the water other than gulls and cormorants were
Eider 30+
A lot of waders were missing too. Plenty of Oystercatcher (2,000+) but only
Curlew 4
Knot 5 individual birds
Turnstone 12
Redshank 23
The mist like rain wasn't unpleasant to walk in but it immediately covered anything with a lens in a a film of water. There isn't much to see in this clip, mainly Oystercatcher, but it does give a flavour of how bleak it was on the skear this morning. The grey blobs on the horizon when I pan out are buildings on the promenade.
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| Occasionally the clouds lifted high enough to reveal the bottom of the Power Stations |
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| But most of the time they were obscured |
South shore
Kevin had a walk along the sea wall at low water. The only birds of note were:
Bar-Tailed Godwit 9 feeding on the beach next to the wooden jetty.
I had a look from Red Nab to the saltmarsh in the afternoon, towards high water. At least it was a bit "brighter" (Malcolm)
Pale-bellied Brent goose 32 - there were at least 3 already feeding on Red Nab when these 29 came in low from the north side.
Wigeon c200
Rock Pipit 2 together on saltmarsh
Reed Bunting 2 on saltmarsh
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| Male Reed Bunting |
Imperial Rd (MD)
Buzzard 1 pale bird
Greylag goose 26 on the east side of the road.
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| Greylag Geese |
Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall
Both the Glossy Ibis and a Green Sandpiper were feeding in the field next to the paddock at 15:30.
This is the Green Sandpiper
