The eye and the teeth of the storm

Reasonably strong overnight winds, but at 07:00 the wind ferocity increased dramatically. It died down again for a short while before gale force winds returned. Some very heavy squalls, including hail.

First, a reminder of brighter times. These two nice shots were taken by Kevin Singleton yesterday in the horse paddock.

A handsome Wood Pigeon 

The German ringed Black-Headed gull
Ringed in 2013 and over wintered in Heysham every winter since 2018

South shore (MD)

I set off at 09:45, braced for a gale. Instead, there was a gentle SSE wind and no rain. The centre of the cyclone driving the storm must have passed over, close to Heysham. 

Pale-bellied Brent goose c30 - these arrived at Red Nab at 10:00. This clip isn't really to show the Brent, but to demonstrate just how "calm" it was at this time, note the sea condition, but more strikingly, the sound, no wind, just the waves lapping against the sea wall.

Wigeon c150

Common Gull 1 second winter bird feeding on No.2 outflow. I actually took this clip yesterday, I was expecting to be short of material today. But this Common Gull, or another was there today too. The clip begins with Blackpool Tower in the background.

Rock Pipits 5 minimum -  I'm not sure what's going on on the harbour wall between the lighthouse and the waterfall. There were at least four birds involved today, three were definitely not the ringed lighthouse male. I didn't get a good enough look at the fourth bird. Not only was the bird in this clip not ringed, I'm pretty sure it only has one leg. I've never seen Rock Pipits hop like this.

The above bird was near the lighthouse, so I presume it's a female, or just possibly the male, having lost or injured its right leg. Although I can't think of how that could happen so quickly (I saw it last week)

There were two Rock Pipits "vying" along the harbour wall, at just about the mid point between the two territories. I was hoping one of these was the ringed bird, but neither are ringed. I suspect it more an "unwelcome" advance rather than a territorial dispute.

By this time the rain had started and the wind shifted to SW and was increasing quickly. Within a few minutes of the above clip I was being driven along the wall in a heavy and prolonged hail storm. I'll try and have another look tomorrow.

After lunch, Jean and Pete checked several venues, but nothing to be seen. Jean took this clip of the old heliport wall, this is two hours after high water and the waves were still washing over the wall.

This area has not proven productive so far on this set of spring tides, Howard checked it out yesterday, but this Sparrowhawk had just cleared all the birds!

Sparrowhawk at the far end of the heliport wall yesterday, 
 but Howard still managed this decent record shot

Not too bad.....despite missing the boat!

Strong west wind in the morning with sunny spells, the wind eased a bit after lunch and started shifting to WNW. Some heavy squalls but still sunny periods.

South shore

I managed a mid morning look (MD)

Pale-bellied Brent geese 35 Red Nab (I counted 33 minimum in the Morning, Tim counted 35 in the afternoon)

Wigeon c200

Shelduck 8

Common Scoter 1 female/immature 

Common Scoter

There is a possibility that the dark belly is (oil?) staining rather than natural colouration 

It was just out from the sea wall between the outflows, but it looked healthy enough. This clip demonstrates how close to the wall it was.

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Male Red-breasted Merganser
The wind providing the full Johnny Rotten look

Grey Seal 1 male

Male Grey Seal

I am often asked about seeing Grey Seals here, later in the year, they can be reasonably predictable, particularly when they are typically resting in the water. But today's seal was fishing and very difficult to locate as it was only surfacing briefly to breathe, and can easily be missed in the choppy sea. This was the best clip I managed.

Rock Pipits at least 5

The following three records were from the saltmarsh, but it was still only half covered when I left

Turnstone 59 in two mobile flocks (44 & 15)

Common Snipe 9

Jack Snipe 1

Unfortunately, there was nobody available to check what was behind the (very promising today) ferry. So Pete made a valiant effort to get to harbour, arriving just in time to see the ferry already docking! 

Later in the afternoon, myself, Tim and Kevin were all out for strolls along the south sea wall. It seemed we were going to get a soaking (it was hailing as Tim walked down the wall). But the wind eased, and veered more to the north and the sun came out, it was really very pleasant.

Shag 1 ( probably 2) 2nd calendar year, near the waterfall - Tim took this respectable shot with his mobile 

2nd calendar year Shag

This bird was in the harbour when I met Tim, Kevin saw one outside the harbour mouth at a similar time, unlikely to be the same bird.

Eider 1 male in harbour mouth

Kittiwake 1 adult - just seemed to appear in the harbour out of nowhere. It settled on the water for a while, then just disappeared again!

Adult Kittiwake in harbour mouth

This conifer is at the very southern end of the dog walk, next to the metal barrier. It was absolutely full of birds!

By this time we had all met up. The bulk of the birds were a mixed tit flock, but not mobile (one Blue Tit actually appeared to be asleep). Then Kevin spotted a Siskin

So a reasonable estimate of the birds in this one tree and the immediate scrub around it

Long-Tailed Tit 10

Great Tit 4

Blue Tit 6

Coal Til 2

Siskin 1 (at least) female

Chaffinch 1 male

Goldcrest 1 (at least) - later Tim saw another two further along the dog walk.

Goldcrest 

In full sun its crest looked vivid yellow, but in shade it looked orange, so I'll leave sex as indeterminate (MD)

The Tits and Goldcrest would be seeking out insects etc, but the Siskin was there for the seeds out of the pinecones and finding plenty, presumably this afternoon's sun must have allowed the cones to open up.

Female Siskin 

Just out of recording area:

Mediterranean gull 1 adult on Lamppost (Heysham Rd and Oxcliffe Rd traffic light junction)

Black Redstart 1 female/immature at Sandylands

I don't suppose you need reminding, but very strong winds are forecast for tomorrow. Be careful where you go (hopefully, I'll heed my own advice!) 

The sea not really providing......yet

Strong SW wind with squally showers for most of the day, but by evening, not a cloud in the sky.

Pete checked the sea for a while from the north wall:

Kittiwake 1 adult at the seaward end of outflows during a squall.

Shag 1 (looked to be a 2nd calendar year) flew into the bay

I had a walk along the south wall, mid afternoon, but didn't see anything of note over the sea (MD).

Pale-bellied Brent goose 12 at least, quite late in the ebbing tide on Red Nab.

Wigeon c200

Rock Pipits 2 on Red Nab

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look on the way home, the duck numbers are reducing now, hopefully some of the Gadwall will remain here to breed. And a Shoveler family would be nice, but less likely.

Mute 6 adult plus 7 x 2nd calendar year 

Moorhen 8

Coot 1 (now on the main pond)

Mallard 10

Gadwall  7 - one female with two male suitors plus another female with three male suitors 

Wigeon (pair) 

Tufted Duck 2 males (one on each pond)

Shoveler 3 - mature male plus two female

Little grebe 1

Little grebe in summer plumage

Hopefully more tomorrow, I definitely have more time tomorrow.

Not much, but a bit different

A steady west wind all day, high cloud with the occasional glimpse of the sun in the morning, overcast all afternoon.

I only had time for a high tide check of the saltmarsh area today (MD)

Wigeon c140 out from the saltmarsh 

Red-breasted Merganser 3 ( pair plus 1 male flying around)

Rock Pipit 3 (2 together + 1)

Reed Bunting 1

Common Snipe 4

Jack Snipe 1 - flushed as I walked around the saltmarsh edge. Quite a bonus really as high water today only covered half the marsh. I managed my usual soft focus silhouettes, although perhaps slightly better than average.

Jack Snipe

I continued along the east shore as far as the faux castle (the edge of the recording area)

Shelduck - just one 

Curlew 13 (one flock)

Grey Plover 2

Ringed Plover 8

Turnstone 2

Dunlin 1

Oystercatcher - just a few on the saltmarsh 

Redshank - none at all, this is unusual for here, there is normally a reasonable sized roost.

Grey Plover about to land

I like this shot, I managed to get all of today's Grey Plover, Dunlin 
and Shelduck on one frame.

Similarly, these are all of today's Turnstone and Ringed Plover
Not sure what is wrong with the bottom bird, but it was struggling to keep up

Tomorrow's wind is looking promising, unfortunately I'll not have a chance to check anywhere, till later in the day.

Well....the weather was better....eventually

Heavy overnight rain again, but it eased off by late morning. The sun came out by lunchtime and remained largely sunny for the remainder of the day. The fresh wind was WNW all day.

I just had time for a short check of Red Nab at high water (10:10), it was still raining heavily at that time (MD).

Pale-bellied Brent goose 47 - the clip below shows 41 coming in, the smaller birds in flight are Wigeon. A little later another 6 Brent flew in from the south.

Wigeon c150

No Shelduck today

Rock Pipit 2

I didn't get a chance to get out again until low water (17:00), so I checked out the skear in the light of the setting sun.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 38 (almost certainly many from this morning's count) - there was one group of 13 in the SE corner, with smaller groups from 2 to 5 swimming and flying around the skear, but by low water they had all made their way to the SE corner. Most were still searching for scraps of weed. The sun was setting behind me, providing both nice lighting and rendering me invisible to the birds, so I took this clip of the activity, apart from the Brent, there are: Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew, Little Egret and Black-headed gulls (Turnstone, Knot and Dunlin were just out of frame)

Meanwhile, the experienced colour ringed Canadian Arctic birds (ringed as a breeding pair of adults in 2014) were taking it easy. The male is on the right, I didn't know for sure that the bird on the left was the female, but they are seldom separated by far, she duly revealed her ring detail. 

Two Pale-bellied Brent and an Oystercatcher 
Flying over a sea of Oystercatchers

Eider 100+ they normally dive to feed but these were browsing the bottom in shallow water. Not sure what they are feeding on.

Peregrine Falcon 1

It was such a pleasant evening, I called in to Middleton Nature Reserve on the way home, to see if the Jackdaw were still roosting there. At 17:30 there were c40 Jackdaw milling around, but no more by 17:45, when they all moved off to the east. So presumably the main roost has moved east, more towards the recycling centre.

..........day two!

SSE wind with very heavy overnight rain continuing till lunchtime, it eased slightly in the afternoon but still some periods of heavy rain.

My closing comments yesterday of "can't wait", were of course tongue in cheek, although I don't really mind walking in the rain during the winter. You can at least wrap up well and keep warm and dry. The problem is that it is not really practical for photography, but that was mitigated today by there being very little around to photograph. The wind was in a poor direction and the tides indifferent, nevertheless I had a look (MD)

Imperial Road - just off the bypass to waste recycling centre

Grey Heron 2

Mallard 6

Teal 15

Wood Pigeon 24 feeding together 

South shore - "high" water 09:15

High water just about reached Red Nab, so a creditable:

Pale-bellied Brent goose 28

Wigeon c100

Shelduck 24

Cormorant 26 - there are always plenty around but this was a larger than usual number resting on Red Nab

This clip shows some of what was going on at Red Nab today

This shot provides a comparison of the smallish size of Brent Geese when compared with the large Sheldrake pictured below.

Shelduck left with Sheldrake right with Pale-bellied Brent geese

No Shag again in the Harbour - Pete advises that it is unusual for young birds to stay beyond the new year, let alone this late.

Goldfinch 36 - one flock near small anemometer, there is often a flock here, but typically only c12 birds.

Heysham skear - low water 16:15

Not a lot really

Eider 38

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 17 - 13 + 2 + 2 resting/feeding along western and northern edge of the skear. This clip shows the relative size of both species.

This is a couple stripping a rock of its last vestiges of gutweed.

No sign of either Great Crested Grebe or Red-breasted Merganser today

Hopefully more tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic. We'll probably have to wait for storm Dudley to stir things up later in the week.

Just a precautionary footnote:

I've had some technical  problems with the blog today. At the moment, it isn't preventing posts, but if there isn't one tomorrow it's a technical issue - there is always something to see.

A good soaking...........day one of two!

Quite fresh SSW wind with rain pretty much all day.

Pete and Jean managed to check the south side sea, but nothing on the outflows or behind the ferry.

Black Redstarts 1 + 1. A brief glimpse in passing of the Power Station bird, before it disappeared behind several fences within the Power Station. If you want to see a Black Redstart, much better to check out the Sandylands bird (better in that it is not in a security sensitive area and generally easier to find). This is Pete's description of today's sighting location: by plastic gnome north of blue house, Sandylands, then flew to sea defence rocks.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute Swan 6 adult 7 second calendar year 

Moorhen 8

Coot 2

Mallard 13

Gadwall 30 (numbers reducing)

No sign of the Wigeon pair

Shoveler 3 (2 female 1 mature male)

Tufted Duck 2 male

North Shore low water

It had rained on and off all day, but it really made and effort this afternoon and lashed it down all the time that I was out on the shore (MD)

Eider c120 - this is the largest group, the benefit of a strong wind is that you can keep your camera "dry" with your back to the wind. (Not an overly exciting clip, but there was little to choose from today!)

Great Crested Grebe 2 - this clip is slightly more interesting, but unfortunately rubbish quality. The grebe has just caught a reasonable sized fish. But note how easily it is swallowed.

Although the fish looks large in relation to the grebe, I think it is only a large Whitebait. The only other fish that colour here would be a small Bass, there are a few still around in winter, but a Bass that length would be much too round to swallow so easily. Whitebait are very thin cross section, there was one on the beach here yesterday, I had presumed that it could have only become stranded, on such a calm day, if it had been disoriented by being chased by something. This is yesterday's Whitebait.

Yesterday's stranded Whitebait, smaller than the one today's grebe caught. Presumably
 it ended up running aground after being chased. A gull will have  found it soon after this. 

Red-breasted Merganser 2 (pair)

Red-breasted Mergansers

Waders, again mainly Oystercatchers. 

Curlew - A flock of 20 lifted from the skear and flew off inland to the east.

Also in small numbers: Redshank, Knot, Turnstone and Dunlin

Pale-bellied Brent goose 18 minimum - just a check from Knowlys Rd on my way home.

The forecast tomorrow is for more rain......I can hardly wait!

Not much, but a hint of movement

A cold SE wind and clear skies resulted in an overnight frost. The cloud cover quickly increased but still plenty of sunny spells. The wind had moved to SW after lunch.

South shore - mid morning ebbing tide

Wigeon c150 - Red Nab was clear of water, these neap tides barely reach it, but the Wigeon were in the channel along No.2 outflow

Shelduck 38 - bizarrely these have been feeding on the mud till these neap tides. There was no other wildfowl on Red Nab today, but it was "right" for the Shelduck to feed here. I did notice that they were taking a sip of water regularly from the pools, and possibly using it to wet the gut weed. This may give them an advantage over the shorter necked Wigeon for feeding here when the weed is "dry", but doesn't explain why they tend not to feed on the rocks when the feeding is easier.

Rock Pipit 6 (saltmarsh, 2 on Red Nab, sea wall, ringed male at lighthouse and male displaying near waterfall)

Again, no Shag seen in the harbour

Skylark 3 together flew south over Ocean Edge at 11:00.

North shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 25 - 9 out from the play area plus 16 along the skear edge in the SE corner. They are still finding some broken weed, plus there is signs of the gut weed growing again here, although it is far from "lush". I noted last year that within a couple of weeks of the Brent leaving there was gut weed all around the skear.

It doesn't look exciting, but this is what they prefer to feed on. It is a piece of sea lettuce broken from its bed by the weekend storm. This piece was along the beach and quite isolated, but the wind and the tide will concentrate whatever there is into the skear corner.

Sea lettuce fragment left on the beach by the ebbing tide.
This is what the Brent in the skear corner are after.

Eider 72 counted close in to the skear

Oystercatcher c2,000

Knot c1,000

Also: Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone - no Dunlin seen today

Possibly more to come, but probably not.

Much of the same, but signs of change

A fresh SW wind, mainly high cloud and sunny spells till mid afternoon then a few showers.

Heysham Nature Reserve (MD)

It was a cold wind this morning, so a short walk around this sheltered reserve was pleasant. Plenty going on although just the regular residents.

There were almost as many mammals on view as birds, rabbits everywhere, looked like they were looking for more than food! A couple of Grey Squirrels and a Roe Deer, female I think.

Bullfinch 4

Goldfinch 10+

A mixed tit feeding flock passed through the alder copse. You only get a glimpse of each as they move through the scrub quickly, so I strung four clips together, Long-Tailed, Blue, Coal and Great Tits. Note the Long-Tailed and Blue Tits are ringed:

In contrast to the camaraderie of feeding flocks, this Blue Tit on Middleton yesterday seemed to be defining its territory boundaries.

Talking of territories, this Robin wasn't happy as the Tits passed through. Once again, it reacts to the click of my camera as I alter focus. Although this is an obvious click on the video, in reality it is very quiet. It must just be the right (or wrong) pitch for small birds hearing range. 

Sparrowhawk 1

Mallard 2

Moorhen 3

North shore inner skear

These very low neap tides only just uncover part of the inner skear.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 45 - originally they were still feeding on broken weed on the water line, but as the tide turned they all moved to the rocks out from the children's play area. This is a nice clip of two on the water, you can see the clumps of weed washing in, but this is mainly wrack and ignored. They seek out the broken pieces of sea lettuce.

Eider c80

Waders were mainly Oystercatcher, but also Knot, Redshank, Turnstone, Curlew and Dunlin.

Dunlin, blending nicely into the background 

This 2nd winter Herring gull has a small crab. It has done very well finding one on the shore this time of year. After "disarming" the crab, it is swallowed whole. Also, Dunlin, Redshank and Oystercatcher.

Just out of the recording area, Craig saw the Sandylands Black Redstart.

Nothing new, but at least the sun shone!

A lightish west wind, some light showers, but the sun shone for most of the day.

Just my afternoon outing so far (MD)

North shore mid afternoon on the rising tide

Pale Bellied Brent goose 45 - they were still managing to find enough broken weed on the tide line, till the tide reached the rocks. Then at 14:05 they flew to the rocks out from the children's play area. 

This clip starts with a group of four, which includes the Canadian arctic ringed pair. You can see bits of weed in the water, although most of it is brown weed now, which I've never seen them eat. Another flock of 8 birds fly in and join the main group.

Shortly after the group of four flew over and joined the main group too, you can make out the colour rings on the two lead birds.

Pale-bellied Brent geese, including the colour ringed birds

They are surprisingly difficult to count, on the shore I counted 37, then counted 28 and 14 flying over to the play area. But on this clip of them feeding near the play area I can count at least 45. There are also Turnstone and Black-Headed gulls.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult - this is the same regular bird, although at this resolution you can't make out its crossed bill tips. I videoed it here on Monday when it flew in with a group of Black-Headed gulls and started drinking greedily. Today it sipped at the fresh water run off, like a fine wine connoisseur. I speculated on Monday that it and the BHG were washing down a recent feast, today it just looked to be enjoying a pleasant drink.

This was a surprise, and a credit to the Council. These steps were partially blocked by large boulders after the weekend storm (see picture on Monday). But today they have already been cleared, not as easy as it sounds.

The steps below Whinnysty Lane now cleared of the boulders from the weekend storm

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I actually had a short walk around today, but saw little more than than my regular quick visits.

Wildfowl, pretty much the same, but only 7 immature Mute Swans (2 absent). The "no swimming" pond was peaceful today even with only a few less Gadwall (34).

Woodcock 1

Buzzard 3 (1+2) beyond the eastern boundary of the Reserve, but within the recording area boundary.

Roe Deer - again none seen, but many of the seldom trod tracks had fresh Roe Deer footprints.

One of the less used tracks showing typical Roe Deer tracks