A dry day, but mainly overcast a south to SW wind.
Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:15 - 12:00
I started just after low water, but apart from the Gulls and Oystercatchers there were very few birds around.
Gulls c400 but thinly scattered over the extensive skear.
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| The dark line just below the horizon is the mussel covered eastern edge of the outer skear. The rest of the outer skear behind it is currently covered in mud. |
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| The rough and broken mussels in the foreground are the old mussel beds. The browner mussels behind are this years. |
Only one green ringed gull was seen and again, one seen previously this year. We don't seem to have numbers of gulls seen in recent years. There is plenty to eat here, but there are other mussel beds in the Bay, many on the west side, and they too will have seed musses aplenty.
Eider 2 males, one moulting to eclipse plumage.
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| Drake Eider |
Great Crested Grebe 5. Initially there were two pairs and a single bird, but later in the tide they joined forces.
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| Four in this shot behind some of the north side Honeycomb worm reefs |
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| Just managed to get all five in this shot |
Oystercatcher c1500
Curlew 19
Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet
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| First Meadow Brown this summer - it won't be the last! |
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| Not so many Ringlets today, but there were a couple of Painted Lady |
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| Just for a change, a Six-spot Burnet |
