Oystercatchers feeding on the grass to the south of Whinnysty Lane yesterday - Kevin Singleton
South shore (Malcolm)
I walked along the sea wall mid afternoon on the rising tide (just in time to catch the only serious shower of the day!). The wind was still strong and partly from the east, but after the squall it eased and was SSW.
Wigeon 120 on Red Nab
Shelduck 2 on Red Nab
Shag 1 in the harbour
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| Just a hint of a tuft, when the wind was behind it |
I took this clip expecting it to dive but it just kept swimming, although it had clearly been feeding well (note the white cloud that appears in its wake).
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| It swam to the middle of the harbour, this shows its location. It stayed there till a young gull swooped at it. It dived out of the way and was not seen again. |
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| Cormorant, also in the harbour, and also sporting a wind assisted tuft. |
It was at this point that the threatening dark clouds started delivering what they had threatened! Fortunately the lighthouse makes for a good shelter. What I saw as an inconvenience, this Rock Pipit saw a feeding opportunity. Don't know what on, and I wasn't tempted to go and investigate.
Curlew and Oystercatcher a steady movement south
Grey Plover 1 had been resting on sea wall then south
Redshank 29 along the sea wall
Turnstone 5 along the sea wall.
There wasn't really anything feeding on the outfalls. There were lots of large gull hanging on the wind above the sloping sea wall. I didn't see a single Black-Headed gull, they were probably following a slurry spreader somewhere.
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| This is a telling shot. The sea is rough between the outfalls, but quite calm Between No.1 outfall and the wooden jetty. This is the area where the Sandmason worms flourish, and this reduced disturbance is one of the key reasons (coupled with the wash of nutrients the beach receives when ships enter and leave the harbour) |
