Kingfisher consistent on these high tides

 The odd heavy morning shower. Sunny spells and a light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm) 10:45 - 12:30

Not many waders along the waterline on the rising tide.

Curlew 80 - most heading south quite early

Oystercatcher 60

Bar-Tailed Godwit 14

Grey Plover 12

Dunlin 12

Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and Curlew. That's No.2 outfall in the background 

Bar-Tailed Godwit, Grey Plover and Dunlin

The tide was covering the mud even faster today with the west wind behind it. The waders soon gave up trying to feed and flew south.

Bar-Tailed Godwits

Ringed Plover 8 and Redshank 46 close to the saltmarsh 

Curlew on the saltmarsh 

Around the saltmarsh 

Linnet 80

Greenfinch 4

Goldfinch 6

Reed Bunting 4

Wren 3

Robin 2

Greenfinch with a metal ring

Reed Bunting

Wren

Wigeon 118 arrived at the saltmarsh from Red Nab. At this point the sun was shining but a huge black cloud was approaching quickly, making for some interesting lightning

Wigeon and the looming dark cloud

Wigeon and nothing else!

Shelduck 3

Kingfisher 1 was flying around Red Nab again. This was the same time in the tide as Wednesday, as the tide is covering Red Nab. It settled briefly by the small pool just below the steel bollards.

Kingfisher

Just after this shot the rain arrived!

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

I called in early this morning, but the only thing I could see or hear was a Kestrel. I was passing again this evening so I checked again, this time with more success.

Stonechat 1 male towards the middle of the marsh. It didn't look to be the same bird as yesterday.

Male Stonechat

Chiffchaff 1 was calling near the roundabout 

Chiffchaff and the roundabout signs

Kestrel 2 hunting 

This Kestrel was hovering over the roundabout 

Mistle Thrush 1

Roe Deer 3 a female with two of this year's youngsters 

They were quite relaxed. They knew I was there, but just watched me.
The teatime traffic was roaring along the bypass less than 20m away.
Later they, and the Mistle Thrush were spooked by a wagon with a loose
plastic covering, as it flapped along the bypass. No louder than the
others, but obviously a different and unsettling sound.

Jacks on the move

A dry day, the light NE breeze freshened as it shifted to NW in the afternoon.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:00 - 09:30

Not a lot going on this morning, but the weather and views were nice!

Pink-Footed goose 35 in one skein north

Eider 20

A nice shot of South Lakes with Eider flying north

Red-Breasted Merganser 6

Mergansers coming in to land

Great Crested grebe 4

Little Egret 6

Grey Heron 2 - one flying very high west to east

Jackdaw 100+ and also flying west to east

Oystercatcher 400 plus more on the shore to the south

Curlew 12

Bar-Tailed Godwit 2

Redshank 120

Knot 150

Turnstone 40

Dunlin 8

Bar-Tailed Godwits

I checked the gutweed and sea lettuce situation. Unfortunately, storm Amy stripped all vegetation low down in the SE corner. This is where wintering Brent geese choose to feed when the tide allows. Not this year! Fortunately there is still plenty of weed higher up in the corner, and it seems to be plentiful high up the shore all along the rocks.

Imperial Rd (Malcolm) 10:00

Sparrowhawk 1 male flew across the marsh

Cetti's warbler 1 singing

Stonechat at least 2, possibly 3. A male and a female type were using the fence as a perch while they looked for feeding opportunities. They were on the west side of the road about 50m from the roundabout.

Male Stonechat 

Female type Stonechat, that's a car on the roundabout at the end of the road

This one was further along the road, but possibly the same bird.
I couldn't relocate the other when I walked back

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I checked at 10:30 (Malcolm)

The Mute swans were practicing flying again, and Mum was helping them today (perhaps a subtle hint?)

Also on the main pond:

Tufted Duck 8

Gadwall 8

Mallard 24

Coot 16

Moorhen 4

Not much on the "no swimming" pond again

Mallard 1

Tufted Duck 1

Teal 1 (possibly more concealed)

Little grebe 1

Mallard, Teal and Little Grebe

Janet checked later and took her camera for the first time since extensive repair work to her wrist. Still, quite rightly, not risking using her large lens though. 

Red Admiral

Common Darter

Scoter dropped in

Just one heavy shower mid morning. Otherwise dry with sunny spells. The early west wind shifting to SW during the day

Imperial Rd (Malcolm) 08:45 - 09:00

Wood Pigeon 25

Water Rail 2 squealing 

Cetti's Warbler 1 singing 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I checked at 09:10 (Malcolm)

Tufted Duck 9

Gadwall 8

Teal 1 on the "no swimming" pond

Little Grebe 4 (2 on each of the two main ponds)

Little Grebe

Grey Heron 1

Heron having a nap in the trees by the "no swimming" pond

Cetti's warbler 1 singing 

Janet checked this afternoon - one of the Tufted Ducks was close to where the Mallard and Mute are regularly fed.

Male Common Darter

South shore (Malcolm) 09:45 - 11:15

I walked out to the waterline from the saltmarsh 

Pink-Footed Goose 41 SE

Shelduck 35

Wigeon 80 (around Red Nab later)

Little Egret 5, including 2 singles flying south

Oystercatcher 45

Curlew 15

Bar-Tailed Godwit 4

Lapwing 18 near the saltmarsh 

Grey Plover 23 - 15 near the saltmarsh plus 8 along the waterline

Redshank 60 near the saltmarsh 

Dunlin 180 initially along the waterline before 140 flew off to the south

Sanderling 1 along the waterline

Ringed Plover 9 near the saltmarsh 

Lapwings and Ringed Plover, with the foreshore in the mid ground

Grey Plover near the saltmarsh 

Sanderling with two Dunlin

The wet mud was reflecting the blue of the sky (it didn't stay blue for much longer!). These are Grey Plover, Dunlin and Sanderling 

Dark clouds were moving in quickly, the mud turned grey! This clip has the same mix of birds and shows just how quickly these spring tides cover the shore here.

The waders headed south, time to leave

Dunlin, Sanderling and a Grey Plover

It lashed it down all the way back to the saltmarsh 

On the saltmarsh 

Linnet 25

Greenfinch 3

Meadow Pipits 2 looking exceedingly wet, presumably grounded by the downpour 

One wet Meadow Pipit

Common Scoter 1 male was on the sea just out from the foreshore, presumably also the result of the recent downpour.

Common Scoter

It had a few dives, one in this clip,  but there is unlikely to be any potential food for it here and it drifted off to the south.

Kingfisher 1 flying around Red Nab

Another Pochard

Heavy showers, particularly in the afternoon. A freshening west wind.

A quick check of three locations between morning showers (Malcolm)

South shore 10:00 - 10:45

A check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh 

Pink-Footed goose 190 SE in one skein

Wigeon 100 (just an estimate today)

Little Egret 4

Kingfisher 1 on Red Nab

Rock Pipit 2 (one each saltmarsh and foreshore)

Linnet just 2 seen

Common Snipe 11

Lapwing 32

I had planned to watch the tide cover the saltmarsh, but the weather was closing in......

Wigeon and a black cloud arriving at the saltmarsh. It was chucking 
it down just after this shot. Time to leave!

Imperial Rd 11:00 - 11:15

The rain was just easing off, I was hoping that it had grounded something, but for the first time in four visits I couldn't find a Stonechat.

Grey Wagtail 1 flew west

Little Egret 1 also flew west

Buzzard 1 was calling from the copse. They have been conspicuous by their absence this year.

Buzzard

Buzzard bottom right here, the Wood Pigeons were keeping a close eye on it!

Middleton Nature Reserve (main pond only) 11:30

The cygnets were practicing taking off. They flew diagonally across the pond from SE to NW, then swam back and did it again.

This clip shows them landing, then pans across to a Roe Deer on the peninsula 

Male Roe Deer (Roebuck)

You might have noticed a female Pochard in the above clip. It is definitely a different one to last week's bird. Pete confirmed that today's bird is in more immature plumage.

This is the female Pochard last seen on 17th October 

This is today's bird

Gadwall and Pochard females

Female Pochard 

In this short clip, all four of the duck species on the pond make an appearance 

Tufted, Pochard and Gadwall.
The Tufted on the left has some sort of bivalve 

Tufted Duck 6

Gadwall 12

Mallard not counted 

Little Grebe 1 trilling

Another YBW

A dry day till mid afternoon showers began. A light breeze SE to begin with ending NE.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Pete:

Doodling around yesterday evening checking XC, Metcheck, Ventursky etc seemed to show the approaching depression grinding to a halt and contorting itself amoeba-like producing (for Heysham) a slack, hopefully dry-ish east-south-easterly at least seeming to reach the east coast.  This was supposed to be day two of the great wet and windy lie-in but Jean and I decided to go for the pre-dawn ringing start. Probably a mixture of odds and ends dropped by yesterday’s wet southeasterly and this mornings arrivals saw Yellow-browed Warbler in the first net of the first mist net round!  The decent little session also produced a late Garden Warbler.  Really grateful for detailed weather forecasts suggesting this successful option - ok sometimes they are wrong like yesterdays eight hour rain delay but sometimes the jackpot like this morning

New birds ringed this am:

Yellow-browed Warbler -1

Chiffchaff - 10

Goldcrest - 8

Blackcap - 6

Garden Warbler - 1

Chaffinch - 1

Goldfinch - 1

Greenfinch - 5

Coal Tit - 2

Great Tit - 1

Blackbird - 1

Yellow-browed warbler 

Only notable vis was a flock of 47 Woodpigeon south and 11 Jackdaw ‘purposefully’ south.  Just low single figures of common finch species and thrushes with perhaps a spike of c20 Blackbird grounded.  Incidentally the absence of Wrens in the nets has been puzzling although we are not complaining. Only 8 ringed all year at Heysham NR and the forecast suggests that might be it for migrant ringing this autumn

Middleton Nature Reserve

Shaun Coyle had a good look around 0815-1015:

Teal 9 on No Swimming Pond.

Tufted Duck 4 and Gadwall 6 on the main pond.

Goosander 3 female types over heading west quite high.

Woodpigeon 24 heading south.

Great Spotted Woodpecker pair 

Cetti's Warbler 3 singing.

Blackcap 6

Chiffchaff 5

Goldcrest just 1

Three tit flocks with 22 Long-tailed Tits and 3 Coal Tits.

Blackbird 40

Song Thrush 6

Redwing 35

Chaffinch 12 SW

Reed Bunting 2 dropped down then headed off SW high.

Had a scout around Moneyclose car park and nature park area but nothing calling/found, except a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap.

Imperial Rd (Malcolm) 10:30 - 11:00

Woodpigeon 35, feeding not moving through

Pheasant 1 male

Kestrel 1

Stonechat 1 female type

Stonechat

Long-tailed Tits 8

Roebuck 3 - 1 mature plus 2 youngsters together 

Mature Roebuck, his antlers are quite large

This is one of this year's males, he is not sat down but beyond the crest
of a slope. He only has tiny antler buds

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 14:30 - 15:30

Eider 104 probably more

They were on the sea in all directions some close in others distant.
There were always some on the move too. Making accurate counts difficult 

Red-breasted Merganser 6

Red-breasted Mergansers

Great Crested Grebe 6

Shag at least one juvenile fishing

Little Egret 8

Oystercatcher 500

Curlew 20

Black-Tailed Godwit 5 north

Black-Tailed Godwits flying towards the inner bay

Redshank 250

Knot 100

Turnstone 45