A warm sunny day with a brisk east wind.
Heysham skear - low water 09:20 (Malcolm)
No geese seen this morning.
Eider 55
Red-breasted Merganser 14
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Male Red-breasted Merganser, quickly getting out of the way of another. Redshank in foreground. |
No grebes seen
Little Egret 4
Oystercatcher c1,000 flew from the outer skear as it was being covered by the tide.
Curlew 10
Redshank 100
Knot - just 3!
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Three Knot and a Redshank |
Grey Plover 3
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Grey Plover |
Turnstone - just 2 seen and they flew over to the east
Ringed Plover 2 - first seen here for a while
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Ringed Plover |
Meadow Pipit 7 in/off then east
Heliport (Howard)
Just 50 Knot roosting at high water. A far cry from the large numbers just a few days ago.
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These are just some of the Knot along the heliport wall on Saturday |
14:40 : c10 swallow reported in off the sea Heysham - ref Cornelius Jones
Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)
A brief check of the two main ponds and the central marsh
Mute Swan pair
Mallard 3 on the main pond and another 3 in the central marsh watercourses.
Gadwall 5 on the "no swimming" pond
Teal 4 on the fence pond (central marsh)
Coot 3 each on the two main ponds 1 on the fence pond
Moorhen 3 one on each pond
Common Snipe 1 in central marsh
The only warblers heard were several Chiffchaff and a couple of Cetti's
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One of many rooks flying around the rookery on Middleton Rd |
Just out of the recording area, horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall.
The Green Sandpiper is still feeding on the rapidly dwindling pool. These shots are when it was startled by an arriving Grey Heron.
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Green Sandpiper |