Flat calm and freezing

Yesterday's hail and sleet showers left icy roads and paths all day today, as temperatures never rose above freezing. Dry with hazy sun, almost no air movement.

Heysham skear - low water 12:10 (Malcolm)

No Brent geese seen by me today, but Pete saw 5 Pale-bellied Brent up at battery outfall

Eider 30, most flying north as the tide was leaving the skear.

Some of the Eider heading north

Feeding Eider with an escort of gulls

Red-Breasted Merganser 5

Red-breasted Mergansers

Great Crested Grebe 3

Oystercatcher 1,500

Curlew 10

Redshank 100

Knot 600

Knot, including a yellow flagged bird from an Icelandic scheme.

Turnstone 25

Dunlin 30+ some feeding with the Redshank for shrimps, others foraging with the Knot.

Dunlin

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

The main pond had extensive ice cover. Remaining ducks included Mallard, Gadwall and 8 Teal.

Three Teal and two Gadwall

Mallard

None of the Black-Headed gulls were ringed

Blue Tit

Robin
Neither of the above two birds require naming for any European readers.
But we do have other continental readers.

Heysham Nature Reserve (Janet)

Very little seen except a Jay.

Jay

Kevin checked the south sea wall. No sign of the Kittiwake, but this Grey Plover was resting near the wooden jetty.

Grey Plover