A dry, mainly overcast day with a light west wind
South shore (Malcolm) 10:30 - 12:00
A walk along the sea wall then to the saltmarsh as the rising tide was reaching it.
Little Egret 3
Shelduck 44
Eider 1 near No.1 outfall
Wigeon, there were 39 waiting by No.2 outfall while the tide reached Red Nab. At least that many on Red Nab later then on to the saltmarsh.
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| Wigeon and Little Egret next to No.2 outfall |
Rock Pipits 3 (later Janet saw 5)
Chiffchaff 1 in the scrub near the waterfall
Shag 1 juvenile on the wooden jetty
As I walked out there were no gulls at all on Red Nab, none on the beaches, just 8 Black-Headed gulls on No.2 outfall and none on No.1 outfall. So it was a bit of a surprise that Meds had turned up by the time I got back to Red Nab
Mediterranean gull 9 including 3 x 2nd calendar year.
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| Adult Mediterranean gull landing a 2cy bird on its right |
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| All nine Mediterranean gulls in this shot |
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| Four gull species, the Meds are on the finger top left. Also Wigeon, Cormorant, Little Egret, Curlew and Oystercatcher |
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| The Kingfisher is in this shot, but immediately apparent |
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| Kingfisher and Wigeon |
Looking out along the waterline the only waders visible were Curlew and Oystercatcher
Lapwing 4 at the saltmarsh
Common Snipe 8 flushed by the rising tide
Reed Bunting 2
Linnet 100+ these spring tides leave a feast of seeds from the marsh amongst the flotsam on the strandline
I checked the two main ponds
Just three birds on the "no swimming" pond
Tufted Duck, Moorhen and a Little grebe
It was a different story on the main pond
Mute Swan female was in the process of chasing away a young swan
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| Female Mute Swan chasing off an immature swan |
Some shots on Facebook suggest a juvenile Whooper Swan was being chased off, perhaps so. But there were only four Mute Swan cygnets. Where were the other three? More investigation required.
Tufted Duck 39
Mallard 35
Gadwall 10
Coot 16
Moorhen 5
Little grebe at least 2 probably 3 possibly more
Grey Heron 1
Cormorant 1
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| Little Grebe and Tufted Duck |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and a Tufted Duck |
It was only 16:45 but very overcast and quite dark, so I went to the top of the hill on the southern section of the reserve to see if anything was heading to roost. I normally check the roosts here mid winter, when it gets dark quite quickly, but dark as it was this evening it wasn't getting any darker. Still in 30 minutes I did see some evidence of roosting
Jackdaws were gathering 57 in total
Wood Pigeons were flying to roost mainly individually 14 total
Stock Dove 1 flew south 16:50 and that was it till 6 flew north, possibly landing where they roost at 17:05
Meadow Pipit 1 over
A couple of shots by Kevin Singleton near the Heliport
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| Juvenile Lapwing |
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| Curlew |
