At least one more Stonechat

An early shower then overcast till more extended rain over lunch. The sun came out this afternoon and it ended very pleasant in the light onshore breeze.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:30 - 15:30

I started later than I would have liked, but waited for the rain to stop.

No wildfowl other than 17 Eider heading back into the bay.

Little Egret 2

It seems a Peregrine had been waiting for the rain to stop too. It chased two small flocks of Knot north as I was walking out.

A little unusually the only other Knot were 500 strung out along the middle of the mud to the south of the skear.

A line of Knot strung out in front of Heysham Head

They were lifted by an alarm calling gull and they flew to the skear.

By the time I reached them the sun was out. I could only find one marked 
bird. One of a Dutch scheme, quite an old one as it should have a lime flag.
Unfortunately the flag is missing and it could have been in any one of eight
possible positions. The flags are made of very flimsy plastic and are designed 
to outlast the average life of a Knot. But no guarantee that they will outlast a
longer lived Knot.

This is another aging Knot. One of those seen yesterday. We have now received
its history. It was actually flagged at the first ever session of the UK orange flag 
scheme in 2017 at Merseyside. It has subsequently been recorded in several UK
locations plus Holland and Iceland. Its flag looks in remarkably good condition 

Bar-Tailed Godwit 16 feeding and resting along the waterline to the south of the skear.

Redshank 500

Dunlin 250

Dunlin

Other waders similar to recent 

Imperial Rd 

I popped by on my way home Malcolm

Stonechat pair - they were along the fence between the bypass roundabout and the gate blocked off with boulders. Easily visible from the road

Female Stonechat

They seemed to be finding plenty to eat 

Male and female Stonechat

Janet checked this evening. They were still around and still flighty