Heavy rain till mid morning then just the odd shower with sunny spells.
South shore (Malcolm)
Just an evening check again.
Eider 1 female/immature some distance out from the harbour mouth
Cormorant 54
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| 53 on the wooden jetty |
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| This one on No.1 outflow |
Kittiwake 1 1st calendar year feeding occasionally on No.1 outflow
Mediterranean gull 19 at least.
There were 2 1st calendar year feeding, 1 on each outflow.
3 adults milling around
Just 12 adult and 2 1st calendar year turned up at the feeding beach by the wooden jetty. None of the darvic ringed birds were seen. Presumably those that were absent weren't hungry, they have had all day to feed. Those that did show were easily catching the sandmason worms.
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| The sandmason worm tubes were even more pronounced than yesterday |
This metal ringed Med catches a sandmason worm.
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| Extracting the worm from its tube is not as easy as they make it look. The worm, understandably, doesn't want to be extracted and swells its tail to grip the tube sides. Its body stretches as the gull tugs, pull too hard, or too quickly and the worm will snap and half the meal lost. |
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| This is another worm, probably a similar size to the first one, but now contracted and much shorter |
Not all the Meds relied on their hunting skills, some resorted to bullying instead. This Oystercatcher catches two in this clip, before the Med pinches its third, presumably odds that the Oystercatcher is happy to live with.
Note how the Med tries to appear not to be interested in what the Oystercatcher is doing.
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| First calendar year Mediterranean gull |
