More movement

A dry sunny day. A light NE breeze switched to NW after lunch.

seawatch over neap tide high water to 08:45 - Pete -  heat haze a nuisance: 

95 common scoter, plus 5 more outbound

24 sandwich tern

1 Red-throated Diver

1 Gannet

3 Swallow

additional c200 outbound dribs and drabs of wildfowl in distant heat haze included some drake eider but also some common scoter probably left unidentified

Heysham skear 11:00 - 12:30 (Malcolm)

On the ebb tide as the skear became exposed.

Pink-Footed goose 68 north in one skein

Eider 88

Mallard 2 in/off from the south then east inland - Pete advises that this is the first record of Mallard on migration 

Mallards heading east after coming in/off the sea.

Teal 4 on the sea

Teal

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Little Egret 2

Sandwich Tern at least three still hanging around.

Sandwich Tern

Oystercatcher 800

Bar-Tailed Godwit 39

Bar-Tailed Godwits

Curlew 6

Curlew probing under the stones

Redshank 550

Knot 19

Turnstone 22 (flocks of 7 and 15 flying west)

Swallow 1 in/off then east

South shore (Malcolm)

A pleasant evening stroll along the sea wall.

Rock Pipit 3 - foreshore, Red Nab and in the scrub near the lighthouse 

Red Nab Rock Pipit

Willow Warbler in the copse behind Red Nab.

Willow Warbler 

White Wagtail - at least 4. There was one feeding on Red Nab when I walked out. Two feeding at the roundhead, and two feeding on the sea wall on the way back.

Red Nab White Wagtail 

One of the roundhead White Wagtails 

They were finding lots of flies to eat. I don't think the flies were migrating, but probably Kelp Flies hatching in the warm weather and neap tides. This roundhead White Wagtail catches 3 flies in this clip.

These are the two along the sea wall.

(The abundance of flies here could hold other migrating insect eaters - multiple Black Redstarts at Fleetwood today)

Turnstone 120 just out from the roundhead

Peregrine Falcon 1

Peregrine Falcon

Swallow 1 north

A pair of Mallard on the newt pond in the Nature Park

More Terns

Another sunny day with a cool east wind.

Heysham skear 09:30-11:00 (Malcolm)

The ebbing tide was just exposing the skear as I started.

Eider 48

Red-breasted Merganser 6

Female Red-breasted Merganser with three displaying males

Great Crested Grebe 5

Little Egret 3

Little Egret

Sandwich Tern 7 minimum.

Sandwich Tern

They were fishing as they headed north

They dive in hard.....

........and deep! This one watched on by a Great Crested Grebe

Success, it emerges with a small fish

Tern sp - just a brief distant glimpse of a "darker" Tern.

Oystercatcher 600

Curlew 6

Bar-Tailed Godwit 159 - three flocks, 6, 10, 143

This is the large flock coming in

Just a few in summer plumage

These are some of the 10 feeding along the waterline just south of the skear

Redshank 350

Just a few of the Redshank

Knot 3

Dunlin 1

Turnstone 120 - most in smallish flocks flying west

Meadow Pipit 2 north

Sand Martin 4 together north

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Common Buzzard

Chiffchaff 

Female Speckled Wood

Male Orange Tip

Plenty of Hirundines

Another sunny day, not quite so warm, particularly this morning with a cold NE wind. The wind more due east this afternoon and not quite as cold.

Ocean Edge (Jean)

08:00-09:30 

2 Wheatears

14 Meadow Pipits going north

2 Swallows north 

29 Linnets - the Linnets were  hanging about the saltmarsh area.

Heysham skear (Malcolm)

08:30-09:45 on ebbing tide

Eider 47

Red-breasted Merganser 8

Red-breasted Merganser pair

Wigeon 1

Wigeon and Oystercaters

Great Crested grebe 6

Little Egret 3

Oystercatcher 800

Bar-Tailed Godwit 105 - here they are coming in to rest on the skear, after feeding along the waterline further south. Pretty much everything else caught in this clip, Eider, Merganser, Oystercatcher, Redshank and a Knot.

Six were in full or partial summer plumage

Curlew 6

Redshank 150

Knot 3

Turnstone 100 - 80+ in one flock

There was a trickle of passerine movement NE, the only ones identified were 7 Meadow Pipit.

Then a female Merlin turned up and the trickle turned into a dash!

Female Merlin

Merlin chasing a small passerine 

It seemed to disappear inland, but a few minutes later, it or another flew north to the west of the skear.

Barrel Jellyfish 

Not a particularly large one. That's my size 9 welly

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Moorhen

Summer plumage Little Grebes

Willow Warbler 

Green-veined White

Heysham Head (David Kaye)

15:00-16:00

Swallow 30

House Martin 3 - first of the year

South shore (Malcolm)

15:20-17:00

I walked to the waterline out from Ocean Edge

Wheatear still 2 along foreshore

Linnets still at least 2 on the saltmarsh 

This male Linnet was carrying a largish seed, a possible gift for his mate?

The only obvious waders along the waterline were 

Oystercatcher 80

Curlew 50

Curlew and Oystercatcher 

Dunlin 4 - I think these must have just come in as initially all 4 bathed in a drain. Then just stood still as the tide rose up around them.

This one didn't move as I walked past just a few metres away.
Is it just me, or has it a wry smile at the base of its bill?

Bar-Tailed Godwit 60

They were resting with Oystercatchers just out from Red Nab

Bar-Tailed Godwit just beyond Red Nab

Until moved on by the rising tide, they then flew north over the caravan park

Shelduck 5

Pale-bellied Brent goose 4

Three of the Brent on Red Nab

Swallow 3 individuals north. That brings today's total to 35 Swallow and 3 House Martins

Brent enjoy a leisurely meal

Another warm sunny day with an east wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet watched this young Great Black-backed gull diving several times from height into the main pond.

She wondered what it was after.....

.......turned out to be just weed! It is too young to need nesting material
but perhaps its instinct is to collect it at this time of year. Although it did eat
some, so possibly there are enough invertebrates mixed in with the weed to 
justify the effort.

South shore (Malcolm)

Just a short evening check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh towards high water.

Swallow 2 in/off together

15 Brent geese on Red Nab. They all appeared to be Pale-bellied

Pale-bellied Brent geese

The gutweed has grown quickly with the warm weather and the lack of grazers (typically 250 Wigeon over winter). The Brent were spread out and feeding quietly, with no bickering. These are some of them.

Just one Wigeon remained

Wigeon

Curlew and Oystercatcher 

One of three Little Egret

Along the foreshore 

Pied Wagtail
2 other Pied or White Wagtail in/off and continued north

Wheatear 3

Wheatear

Nothing on the saltmarsh except.......

........a lone Redshank

c100 large waders on the distant waterline, most of them at least Curlew.