Sanderling trickling through

A day of two halves really. Overcast and showers in the morning then a sunny afternoon. A light SW wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Male Broad-bodied Chaser

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer

Small Tortoiseshell 

Small Heath

Burnet Companion 

Roe Deer

Heysham skear (Malcolm)

I checked twice today, this morning as the tide was covering the skear and this evening as it was being exposed again. Totals are highest count unless specified.

Canada goose 8 north low up the middle of the bay this morning 

Eider 18

Drake Eider

Red-breasted Merganser 3 - just a male in the morning and an additional pair this evening.

Male Red-breasted Merganser

Pair Red-breasted Merganser

Little Egret 6

Grey Heron 1

Oystercatcher 1,200

Whimbrel 1 heard this morning 

Curlew 1 seen this evening 

Sanderling 7 this evening. Two groups 2 and 5 and both quickly continued north, despite there being lots of invertebrates to eat. Perhaps they already had eaten their fill.

Sanderling centre. Note the gull on the left, it has a shrimp in its bill 
but can hardly be bothered to swallow it!

A nice size comparison shot Oystercatcher and Sanderling 

Five Sanderling in this shot

Sanderling, well on the way to Summer Plumage 

Gulls 800+ this morning 600 this evening. No ringed birds seen this morning, but 4 this evening, including one new one for here.

This one has been seen before, but we have just received its details.
Ringed 2/07/24 on Inchcolm Island in the middle of the Firth of Forth.
The sightings here are the first records