Plenty going on, but nothing new

Another dry day with a sunny morning, more cloud cover in the afternoon. A light east breeze.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:45 - 10:30

Pink-Footed goose 40 - well, probably 40. 2 skeins south an hour apart both had exactly 20 geese each.

Pink-Footed geese

Eider 10

Red-Breasted Merganser 9

Great Crested Grebe 9

Grey Heron 3

Little Egret 10

Shag at least one juvenile 

Gulls 120

Swallow 1 south

It was hard estimating the wader numbers as an immature Peregrine Falcon was harassing everything.

Immature Peregrine Falcon 

It even had a go at the Carrion Crows

It finally caught something and landed on the mud to the north of the skear.
That's a Red Admiral coming in off the sea above the Peregrine.

 

Oystercatcher 600

Curlew 30

Redshank 120

Knot 45 in small scattered groups

Turnstone 40

Ringed Plover 6

Knot and a Redshank

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet (still with only one functional arm)

Plenty of Common Darter and a Migrant Hawker

South shore (Malcolm) 12:15 - 14:00

A check of the shore out from the saltmarsh saw only one small feeding group of waders.

Ringed Plover 20 

Dunlin 6

There were quite a lot of waders along the waterline.

Curlew 100, plus others flying south

Oystercatcher 150

Bar-Tailed Godwit 88

Grey Plover 7

Knot 300

Dunlin 250

Knot and Dunlin

Bar-Tailed Godwit 

Bar-Tailed Godwit

All the waders except the Oystercatchers quickly left to the soutth.
The Godwits were the last to leave, a Knot with them here

Not all the waders were feeding, these resting Dunlin were half way
up the shore

Shelduck 15

Shelduck

Lapwing 4 at the saltmarsh 

Linnet 100+

Wheatear 1

Wigeon 2 resting birds drifted in with the tide, presumably the same 2 were feeding at Red Nab later.

Wigeon

Mediterranean gull 5 on Red Nab, despite it being almost covered by the time I got there. 4 adults and a 2nd calendar year 

Adult Mediterranean gull (top right)

2cy Mediterranean gull (left)

Adult Mediterranean gulls