A few morning showers, then dry but overcast. A light SW wind
South shore (MD)
A check towards high water
Pale-bellied Brent goose 26 on Red Nab, but they left towards the south quite early in the tide. These are some of them, not long before they flew off. You can see how close cropped the gutweed is here, and tempers were becoming frayed.
Wigeon 140
Rock Pipit 2 - one on foreshore and a displaying male on Red Nab.
Imperial Rd (MD)
Buzzard 2
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| Common Buzzard |
This is it taking to the air, you can just hear a contact call above the Greenfinch chattering (the bird ziping past early in the clip is a Wood Pigeon)
Stock Dove 4 to the NW
Greylag Goose 29 feeding next to the road in the field to the east.
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| Some of the northbound Pinkfoot flying over the pylons - it is glamorous here! |
Heysham skear (MD)
A few more birds on the sea this evening.
Eider 36
Red-breasted Merganser 5
Great Crested Grebe 1
Pale-bellied Brent goose 10 rested in the SE skear corner a while, probably some of this morning's birds. Resting is all they can do here, there is absolutely no food for them. After a while they moved to the outer rocks from the promenade. You can see some green in this area where there is still some gutweed on the rocks. Not lush but at least there isn't 300+ Wigeon to share it with on this side.
Hopefully the longer and, possibly warmer, days ahead will allow the gutweed to grow faster than it is being eaten.
Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall
The Glossy Ibis was absent at 11:00 but seen at 12:00. Always worth waiting for if you want to see it.
