Heysham skear - low water 07:40(Malcolm)
Pale-bellied Brent goose 2 in SE skear corner.
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| Pale-bellied Brent geese - later, likely the same, two were on Red Nab |
Eider 3
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Great Crested grebe 6
Little Egret 4
Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone in similar numbers to recent.
Knot just 25 on the skear, but a large flock c1,500 was seen to the south, they appeared to be heading for the skear, but disappeared, probably headed back to the south side.
Dunlin 3 - 1 with the Knot the other 2 close inshore
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| Dunlin - looking like I felt! |
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| Ringed Plover |
Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)
I went to the south side this "evening" (15:30!) to see what was was coming in to roost. It turned out to be quite productive.
Carrion Crow 6
Jackdaw 120+
Wood Pigeon 6
Stock Dove 19 minimum, likely 24 - only three had arrived until the last rays of the sun was turning everything red, then several groups arrived in quick succession.
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| Stock Doves right and Jackdaws |
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| Stock Doves turned red by the setting sun. |
It all seemed to have stopped when the sun set, but I couldn't be sure there wasn't more to arrive. I was watching from the hill on the west side of the southern section, It was too cold to stand around any longer so I walked south along the crest of the hill and then back again. Nothing else had come in to roost, but when I returned to where I was watching from, a Barn Owl was hunting!
It wasn't easy getting a decent shot as it was quite dark by this time, and it was moving quite quickly. But amazingly, I did manage a half decent clip (It was darker than this clip makes it look)
Didn't catch anything that time, but this is ideal hunting terrain and worth checking again on another dry evening.
