Auks moving through

A light west breeze began at 09:30. Prior to that it was almost still. Just a couple of light afternoon showers with some sunny spells.

Seawatch report by Pete Crooks:

6.55 – 9.45 am (with Mark Prestwood)
3 dark morph Arctic Skua – 1 flew into the Bay at 8.26 am, with presumably the same bird returning back out of the Bay at 8.40 am; 1 flew in and landed on the sea at 9.10 am, then another flew in at 9.15 am and landed alongside the previous bird, before both flew off further into the Bay separately at 9.25 am and 9.30 am.
c.130 Auks – mostly Guillemot, but including 10+ Razorbill drifted in on the incoming tide between 8.20 and 9.30 am. Mostly distant (beyond the two buoys) and in groups of up to 20, with quite a few flying back out as others were still drifting in on the flat, calm sea.
c.65 Common Scoter – groups of 15, c.40 and 9 flew into the Bay, but mostly distant.
3 Red-throated Diver – 1 in at 7.50 am, then 2 in at 8.58 am
2 Great Crested Grebe
8 Sandwich Tern
c.250 Bar-tailed Godwit – flew from Half Moon Bay towards the Wooden Pier
2 Harbour Porpoise
No passerine movement; just 1 Rock Pipit flew from Near Naze towards the harbour

Additional after Pete left - Mark Prestwood

2 red-throated diver

25 common scoter

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report by Alan:

I set three nets again at Middleton and a very modest catch was the result.

Sedge Warbler  2

Reed Warbler  1 retrap

Lesser Whitethroat  1
Blackcap  1

Willow Warbler  1

Lesser Redpoll   7

This brings the total number of Redpolls for this spring to a respectable 68, mostly at Middleton with a few at Heysham also. Surprisingly no birds captured elsewhere have been encountered so far.

I walked out to the waterline on the rising tide out from Ocean Edge (Malcolm)

Cetti's warbler 1 male singing on territory from bushes along shoreline where Pontins used to be. I could hear it from 300m out on the shore.

Not quite as vociferous, but more conspicuous was a male Common Whitethroat in the same general area. Here he is, not happy as a Wren was also singing in his patch.

Carrion Crow 19 on the mud

Some of the Carrion Crows. All 19 flew north towards Ocean edge, when moved off by the tide. 

Shelduck 6

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 3

Common Gull 45

These spring tides come in very quickly and the waders were very flighty. Best assessment of numbers:

Oystercatcher 30

Bar-Tailed Godwit 130

Knot 450

Dunlin 50

Curlew 7 (3 on saltmarsh)

Whimbrel 4 (1 on saltmarsh)

This is a Whimbrel at the edge of the saltmarsh trying to outpace the incoming tide.

This clip begins on a Whimbrel on the saltmarsh, then pans across to 3 Curlew.

Wheatear 2

North shore just as the ebbing tide was exposing the inner skear rocks (Malcolm).

Going down early has one main advantage, there is less space for the birds to occupy, so they are more concentrated. Unfortunately two disadvantages, not all the birds arrive this early, and a dense concentration of birds attract predators!

Peregrine Falcon 2 at least. Three attacks seen.

Peregrine Falcon - they looked particularly formidable as they were zipping
past  my head at close range! I was pleased not to be a Knot!

Resting places are a premium early on. These two Sandwich Tern were on prime real estate. They had been being buzzed by a group of Oystercatcher and finally gave way.

But the Oystercatchers didn't benefit as this young Herring gull took possession of the rock

Turnstone and Dunlin on another rock

The Turnstone are at various levels of moult to summer plumage.

How many Knot can dance on the head of a pin?

Oystercatcher 350

Curlew 2

Whimbrel 11

Knot c800 till cleared off (and culled) by the peregrines 

Turnstone 45

Dunlin 10

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Eider 20 close in.

The RNLI hovercraft was out and about, hopefully just exercises.

Just out of the recording area

Manx Shearwater 11 - would have been within visual range from OE - off plover scar just after high tide almost certainly went past Heysham first