A SSE wind till mid afternoon when it switched to SW. The odd light shower till late afternoon, then more prolonged rain.
South shore
Pale-bellied Brent geese 6 on Red Nab quite early in the tide when Kevin checked 11:00. They were just getting ready to move on when Janet checked towards high water.
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| Brent geese in two groups on Red Nab |
Also from Janet:
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| Little Egret on Red Nab |
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| Redshank on Red Nab |
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| Adult Lesser Black-Backed gull |
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| Immature Lesser Black-Backed gull |
There was one Rock Pipit feeding near the lighthouse and another seen going to the nest hole in the harbour wall.
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| Rock Pipit swallowing a bit of broken mussel shell to act as grit |
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| Although the tiny insects it was eating wouldn't need much grinding up! |
In the Nature Park
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| Male Chaffinch |
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| Carrion Crow with nest lining material |
Heysham skear - low water 07:30 (Malcolm)
Very little happening, although the gull numbers continue to grow.
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| Some of the c150 gulls,,mainly immature Herring |
Eider 18
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Oystercatcher 800
Curlew 4
Bar-Tailed Godwit 12
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| Some of the Godwits |
Redshank 200
No Turnstone, Knot or Ringed Plovers seen
I took these shots a couple of weeks ago after strong winds (I've been saving them for a rainy day). Most of you will know that they are Common Whelk egg cases. But this is the largest clump I have ever seen.
Most of the cases were empty, the creamy coloured ones not. Each individual case hold hundreds of eggs, but the first few to hatch in each case feed on the unhatched ones. Originally it would have been anchored on something on the sea bed, before being broken free by the storm. The Whelk returns each day to add more cases, but dozens of Whelks must have created a mass this size.
