Brent geese 60 - 54 Brent's still on shore at Sandylands after a separate group of six left earlier.
2 Rock Pipits
3 Greenfinch
6 Linnets
pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
Heysham skear (Malcolm)
A heavy shower began as soon as I was on the shore!
Almost nothing seen whilst it was raining. No, Eider, Mergansers or grebes.
But as soon as it had stopped and I had my camera out, things began to happen.
First the Brent started coming in, all from the north. All the ones seen were pale-bellied.
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| One of four small skeins of Pale-bellied Brent geese arriving from the north. The South Lakes behind were sunlit all the while the dark cloud above had poured rain! |
This clip is a little later as they were waddling further up the shore towards the play area rocks.
Knot 500 in three or four small groups, they must have hunkered down somewhere during the shower but now began feeding. Unfortunately, the end of the rain was also the beginning of feeding time for at least one Peregrine Falcon and they were spooked several times before the tide covered the skear.
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| Knot taking a bath after just sitting through a shower! It was still very dark, but fortunately I did manage to read one new coded bird |
Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)
Just a quick passing check of the two main ponds, by this time the sun was shining. The "no swimming" pond is still 2m above its regular height. The only wildfowl was a Moorhen.
Main Pond.
Mute Swan pair with an increasingly adventurous immature
Mallard 24
Gadwall 19
Tufted Duck 1 drake
Moorhen 3
Coot 1
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| Coot |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| This female Mallard was swimming around with a large piece of weed, and was being followed by a male |
Its a bit early for courtship, but these certainly appear to be bonding.
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| Dunnock oblivious to my presence with the low sun behind me. |
I stopped by the roadside gate by the horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall. Much of the field beside the paddock is now covered in pools, the margins of which were still iced over.
Green Sandpiper 1 - flew into the field from the west, but it didn't stay long. It flew off high over the trees where the rookery is and headed towards Imperial Rd, well within the recording area.
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| Green Sandpiper |
South sea wall (Janet)
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| At least some of the Brent ended up on Red Nab |
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| Rock Pipit also on Red Nab |
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| 2cy Kittiwake above No.1 outfall with the wooden jetty behind |
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| Grey seal with impressive eyebrows |
