Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)
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| Gadwall coming in |
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| Gadwall pair |
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| Little grebes |
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| Not welcomed by this Coot |
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| Coot |
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| Mallard pair on the secluded fence pond |
All the regular tits were taking advantage of the feeders in the bottom car park.
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| Great Tit, taking great care with its meal |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Long-Tailed Tit, in punk mode |
Saltmarsh to Red Nab
Janet checked in the morning when the tide was out.
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| Shelduck |
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| Little Egret |
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| Curlew |
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| Redshank - the forest of Samphire behind it is binding the mud in this section beyond the creek that historically only had temporary tufts of marsh grass |
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| Female Stonechat |
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| This is a cuttlebone, the internal skeleton of a Cuttlefish. They often wash in during spring tides, sometimes in large numbers. This one appears to have remnants of its skin on the upper surface. |
I checked again this afternoon towards high water (Malcolm).
The, or another female Stonechat was along the western edge of the saltmarsh, near the slipway.
Reed Bunting 2
Linnet 4
Rock Pipit 6 - two along the foreshore and four feeding together on the flotsam at the saltmarsh. Unfortunately some of the flotsam is manmade waste, but to be fair there is much less of this now than there was twenty years ago. Three of the Rock Pipits in this clip.
Common Snipe 4 flushed by the rising tide.
Wigeon 167 at the saltmarsh.
North shore
Shag 1 out from Heysham Head at low water - David Kaye
Pete checked later
Great Crested grebe 7
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Low numbers of Eider
I checked as the tide covered the skear late morning (Malcolm)
Pale-bellied Brent goose 6
Oystercatcher 1,500
Curlew 40
Redshank 80
Knot 1,000 got as close as the middle skear, just 400 as far as the waterline. Two Peregrine attacks saw them off.
Turnstone 140 - three flocks of 30 - 40 flew east, plus typical feeding numbers
Dunlin 80
Ringed Plover 12
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| Ringed Plover |
