Mainly overcast with light showers. A very light variable breeze.
South shore (Malcolm) 08:20 - 10:30
A walk along the foreshore then along the sea wall.
Wheatear 1 juvenile near the slipway on the foreshore.
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| Juvenile Wheatear, still with some juvenile plumage, but looking a bit more like a first winter bird now |
Rock Pipit 3 - 2 together on the foreshore as I walked out, 2 together on Red Nab as I returned, probably the same birds. 1 near the lighthouse
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| Two Rock Pipits on the foreshore |
Little Egret 4
Whimbrel 2
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| Whimbrel |
Common Tern 2 adult on No.1 outfall. Not feeding at the same time, but one had a much more pronounced wing wedge.
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| This is the one with the lighter wing markings |
It was feeding first.
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| Later this one with the darker wedge on the wing arrived from the south |
Mediterranean gull 12 - 10 adults and 2 juveniles arrived at the feeding beach by the wooden jetty as it was exposed.
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| Adult Mediterranean gull on the sea above where it was planning to feed |
The gulls only seem to be able to catch the Sandmason worms at certain times (I assume when the worms have to protrude from their tubes to breed). Today wasn't one of those days, so the Mediterranean gulls resorted to robbing the Oystercatchers, quite successfully! (Although the worms the Oystercatchers were catching looked more like Lugworm)
Meanwhile, the juveniles sought titbits at the waterline.
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| Not always amicably |
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| Immature Cormorants |
Peregrine Falcon 1 above the Power Stations
Heysham skear (Malcolm) 14:15 - 15:30
I walked the tide in again, quite a pleasant walk, but unfortunately accompanied by light rain.
An unfamiliar calling and a raptor like bird flying around the skear had me stumped, but somehow my grainy shots taken through the rain were identified as a parakeet species and listening to call recordings confirmed it to be a
Ringed-necked Parakeet
This comment from Angela Gillon - a squawking bird flew over my house at about 17:30 today, I couldn't see it but is sounded very Parakeet like
Eider at least 5 female/well grown immature plus a raft of smaller juveniles. Two of the larger birds were shepherding them. They stopped off for a rest on a sand bar.
Red-breasted Merganser 5
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
Great Created Grebe 5
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| Two pairs and a single Great Crested grebe were swimming out as the tide moved the gulls in |
Little Egret 4
Gulls c150 mainly Herring, but also Lesser Black-Backed, Black-Headed and a Mediterranean
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| Looks to be the same adult Mediterranean gull as seen here last time. It has a small invertebrate |
Waders:
Oystercatcher 600
Curlew 60
Whimbrel 2
Redshank 35
Turnstone 9
Heysham Nature Reserve (Kevin)
I had a wander around Heysham Nature Reserve this afternoon and saw the white moths. One of them was dead on the surface of the water and I could see it well enough to confirm that the moths are Small China-mark (see yesterday's post)
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| Also a very confiding baby rabbit that hasn't yet learnt that humans are potentially dangerous! |
