The forecasted "light" rain surpassed itself!

The early morning light rain had become torrential by late morning. It cleared in the afternoon and the sun shone briefly. The initial SE wind shifted to a SW breeze by late afternoon 

Heysham skear - Malcolm 14:45 - 16:00

Pale-bellied Brent goose 48 minimum 

Some of the Brent geese flying to the skear, possibly spooked from the 
play area rocks

Others chose to walk

There was no rush, they all just rested along the skear edge

Eider pair

Red-breasted Merganser 2 pair

A slightly different mix of wader numbers

Oystercatcher 1000

Curlew 15

Redshank 150 

Turnstone 40

Dunlin 20

Ringed Plover 12

Knot 150 initially scattered around in small groups, but many ended up resting together along the northern edge. Three flagged birds were seen, unfortunately one was totally unreadable, a yellow and an orange flagged bird, both seen earlier this winter, although the orange flag was its first winter sighting on the skear.

Ringed in Iceland last year

Ringed at Merseyside in 2024 - so much easier seeing flags when the sun shines!

Curlew, Oystercatcher and Knot

Four of the Ringed Plover