A dry day, the light NE breeze freshened as it shifted to NW in the afternoon.
Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:00 - 09:30
Not a lot going on this morning, but the weather and views were nice!
Pink-Footed goose 35 in one skein north
Eider 20
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| A nice shot of South Lakes with Eider flying north |
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| Mergansers coming in to land |
Little Egret 6
Grey Heron 2 - one flying very high west to east
Jackdaw 100+ and also flying west to east
Oystercatcher 400 plus more on the shore to the south
Curlew 12
Bar-Tailed Godwit 2
Redshank 120
Knot 150
Turnstone 40
Dunlin 8
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| Bar-Tailed Godwits |
I checked the gutweed and sea lettuce situation. Unfortunately, storm Amy stripped all vegetation low down in the SE corner. This is where wintering Brent geese choose to feed when the tide allows. Not this year! Fortunately there is still plenty of weed higher up in the corner, and it seems to be plentiful high up the shore all along the rocks.
Imperial Rd (Malcolm) 10:00
Sparrowhawk 1 male flew across the marsh
Cetti's warbler 1 singing
Stonechat at least 2, possibly 3. A male and a female type were using the fence as a perch while they looked for feeding opportunities. They were on the west side of the road about 50m from the roundabout.
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| Male Stonechat |
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| Female type Stonechat, that's a car on the roundabout at the end of the road |
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| This one was further along the road, but possibly the same bird. I couldn't relocate the other when I walked back |
Middleton Nature Reserve
I checked at 10:30 (Malcolm)
The Mute swans were practicing flying again, and Mum was helping them today (perhaps a subtle hint?)
Also on the main pond:
Tufted Duck 8
Gadwall 8
Mallard 24
Coot 16
Moorhen 4
Not much on the "no swimming" pond again
Mallard 1
Tufted Duck 1
Teal 1 (possibly more concealed)
Little grebe 1
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| Mallard, Teal and Little Grebe |
Janet checked later and took her camera for the first time since extensive repair work to her wrist. Still, quite rightly, not risking using her large lens though.
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| Red Admiral |
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| Common Darter |