Knot numbers still increasing

A sunny day, but a cool start. A light variable breeze.

South shore - Malcolm 10:30 - 11:30

Linnet 200+ on the saltmarsh 

Robin 4 along foreshore

Skylark 1 flew SE

Meadow Pipit 7 flew SE

Rock Pipit 2 on Red Nab

Shelduck 117

Some of the Shelduck out from the foreshore 

Little Egret 6

Mediterranean gulls 3 on Red Nab 1 adult plus 2 2nd calendar year

Adult Mediterranean gull

2cy Mediterranean gull (top centre)

In the Nature Park

Red Admiral 6

Comma 1

Speckled Wood 2

Red Admiral sipping the syrup from a Rose hip

Comma and Red Admiral 

Kevin Singleton visited Middleton Sands a Clouded Yellow flew south past him. It must have come out of the recording area

North shore

David Kaye

Heysham head 10.45 

250 knot south carried on past harbour 

No knot on heliport but 11 lapwing and 7 snipe and a sanderling past

Heysham skear - Malcolm 15:45 - 18:15

Eider 30+

Eider - the males are following the females again

Red-breasted Merganser 3

Merganser - there were two in this frame, but one dived

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 16

Knot c3000

They all arrived from the south in groups from 50 to 500. Many of them juveniles, they seem to have had a good breeding season. Once again they were easily finding seed mussels and fed in one area until spooked by a passing Crow. It gave me a chance to carefully scrutinise them for any colour coded birds. I eventually found four, one from a Scottish scheme and three from a Welsh scheme. There were none from the more usual English, Icelandic or Dutch schemes.

Some of the Knot nicely spaced out on terrain as good as you get out here
for seeing marked birds. You just have to tread carefully!

This is the Scottish scheme Knot swallowing a seed Mussel

One of the Welsh birds having a preen

This Welsh Knot is also swallowing a seed Mussel

Dunlin 2

Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone not really checked, I was literally focused on the Knot. But numbers seemed similar to of late.