It rained for most of the day. Not as heavy as the other day, but still miserable. The light SE breeze switched to the west in the afternoon.
Imperial Rd (Malcolm)
Not a lot going on apart from at least 12 Carrion crows that seem to be in dispute.
Shelduck 4 south
Kestrel 1
Heliport/Near Naze (Malcolm) 11:00
A passing check saw a flock of 120 Knot coming in to land on the Near Naze rocks.
 |
| They were clearly still nervous and stood tall, providing a clear view of their legs |
 |
| Unfortunately, none of them sported a flag |
 |
| This is one of yesterday's flagged birds. It was ringed as adult in 2014 in the NW of Iceland. So it will be at least 15 years old now |
 |
| The flags are fabricated from light strips of plastic, and although the flags tend to last longer than the average lifespan of a Knot, they are sometimes worn away during the lifetime of the longest lived birds. The logic of placing this flag above the knee, is to reduce wear on rough terrain. It has clearly worked in this instance. But the downside is that they are more difficult to read in the field and this scheme now places the flag below the knee. This flag was also the last year that the code was printed on. Note how faint the code is in the above shot, compared to the clearer marking on the other face of the flag. The code is now engraved into the flag. |
 |
| This Knot seen several times on the skear this winter is from the same scheme. It was also ringed as an adult in Iceland, this time in 2017. You can see the wear towards the end of the flag where it has been abraded by terrain such as this. |
There was a carpet of Oystercatcher on the heliport wall again.
Also on the wall
Rock Pipit 1
Greenfinch 2
 |
| This shot of a Pied Wagtail pretty much sums up today. It couldn't even be bothered to wag! It is a ringed bird. |