Freezing overnight, but the NW wind kept the larger ponds ice free. Sunny but cold in the fresh wind, until it suddenly eased mid afternoon.
Imperial Rd - Janet
The Stonechats came to check me out
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| Male Stonechat - this is one of the rocks that prevent cars entering the opening just 50m from the roundabout |
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| Very inquisitive....... |
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| Female Stonechat |
Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet
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| These two Mallard were having a bit of a bicker |
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| Coot |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Robin |
Heliport - Howard
C1200 Knot on near naze pre high tide, 7 flagged birds photographed, they were spooked by corvids and flew off north
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| A Dutch scheme top, an Icelandic scheme and a UK scheme flagged Knot |
Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:00 - 15:00
Pale-bellied Brent geese 28 (26 + 2)
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| 26 Brent heading north after being spooked from the play area rocks |
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| Two flew to the rocks from the west |
Eider 44
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| Some of the Eider heading north, no snow on the hills yet |
The word has finally gotten around the Black-Headed gulls that there are shrimps a plenty. Each time they bob their head they are probably catching a tiny shrimp.
There were over 2000 Knot and many of those were also after shrimps. But they prefer (need) the shallower water. They also find them in the crevices between the shells and stone above the water line, where the shrimps can happily wait out the tide. Unless they are eaten of course!
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| These Knot are shrimping, but the one bottom left has a small mussel. The Knot just to its right has a shrimp, but they are translucent and difficult to see. In the water it is normally their shadow on the mud below that betrays their whereabouts |
All of the flagged Knot seen by Howard earlier were eventually seen feeding here today, along with a few others.
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| I normally struggle to remember the code, but this one is easy! Ringed at Merseyside 2020, it has been seen at Heysham for the last three winters |
