An icy blast

Another overnight heavy frost. Overcast all day, the ESE wind was bitterly cold, but things should start "warming" up tomorrow.

After a Grey Wagtail was reported for the second winter at Yeovil, we discovered an admin error and it was in fact the same bird as breeding in Roxburgh in 2020.  In contrast to this extensive movement, we had a report today of one of last autumn's birds wintering at Bolton-le-Sands, 9 or so km to the north- east:

ARB7399 M/O K/B

Ringed:  Middleton NR SD414512 whilst on NW-SE vis mig 14/9/19 as a 1CY

Seen: Ninesprings CP, Yeovil ST557153. 19/1/20   345km S

Breeding male (x 3 young) Teviot Bridge, Nisbet, Roxburgh  159km NNE

Photo: Yeovil, ST550147 ‘recently’ to 11/2/21   504km S 

Thanks to Hilary Forward for the picture and Stephen Hales for help with the record.

The only other stuff I have so far is my check of the saltmarsh on the rising tide (MD):

I got there a while before the water. The intertidal mud was frozen. There was a single Bar-Tailed Godwit feeding in the bottom of the saltmarsh creek. It wasn't really practical to use my camera until I was on the eastern side, which meant protection from the wind by the high bank and being able to have my back to the wind, so I took this clip of it later, just as the tide was displacing it.

Ringed Plover c50

Grey Plover 2

Dunlin c250

Four of the Dunlin

All the waders were having to feed where the mud was not frozen. Typically in the creek and drains, but also where ground water was emerging from below the mud.

This groundwater was emerging too high up the cliff

This would normally be a pool of groundwater, too high for the water to flow, so it froze.
But you can see it emerging at the top of the picture and then flowing down to the creek.
I actually took this picture because it looked like I felt!

This groundwater is just right, seeping out from below the mud, allowing these Dunlin access to any invertebrates.

I've removed the soundtrack, I didn't want to distract you with my chattering teeth!

I was expecting the Merlin to arrive, but no sign. Perhaps it fed earlier.

I didn't want to disturb these Dunlin, plus many more further along, so I called it a day and headed back, long before the tide covered the marsh, even so 7 Common Snipe seen,

Also

Reed Bunting 2

Rock Pipit 1. This was originally near the slipway, but then flew across the marsh to the rocky outcrop.

Fish being battered.......(sorry!)

Another, less severe, overnight frost. Technically the day was warmer too, but in the bitter ESE wind, it didn't feel like it!

The cold spell significantly affects the water temperature in the bay, particularly on these spring tides. A lot of mud is exposed to sub zero temperatures for long periods, this in turn cools the relatively shallow water when the tide comes in. The cool water is focusing the over wintering Bass around the warmer Power Station cooling water. As every wildlife documentary will tell you, a concentration of prey leads to a concentration of predators, particularly when the prey is a warm water species that becomes sluggish in cooler water. Cormorants surround the outflows and the Grey Seal was there too today.

The following excellent sequence of shots were taken by Janet, as ever you will need to open the images to appreciate the detail.

First up - the Grey Seal

Initially, resting, presumably after a meal

It then did a spot of Janet watching........

...before diving again. This revealed a lesion on its back,
possibly an ulcer, but it looks like propeller damage

Now the Cormorants

This one has caught a decent sized bass,
and the good thing about being plenty to go round.....

.....is that you get time to position it right for swallowing 

You can see the cormorant's neck skin, stretched tightly over the neck vertebrae.

The above shots are very spectacular, but understandable, this next fishy tale is neither!

This 6cm specimen is a Whitebait - nothing unusual about that, 
it is the staple prey fish for larger fish and diving birds in the bay at this time of year.

"Whitebait" is a generalisation for small fish fry that school together. I think this is a young Sprat, possibly Herring. It lays were it died, fine feathering in the surrounding mud shows it to have flipped a couple of times, before quickly succumbing to the cold air. The location is just adjacent to the creek by the saltmarsh I showed yesterday. The only way it's ended up here is by jumping out of the creek water on the early morning ebbing tide (it would have been c02:30 when this mud was exposed, next to a full creek). Again, nothing unusual about that jumping out of the water is a tried and tested escape mechanism from predators, just unfortunate to have landed on the mud. The puzzle is, what was chasing it? The traditional winter predators, Codling and Whiting would not feed in such shallow water when the tide was ebbing. The only two other candidates would be Flounder, but they are not really a nighttime feeder, or Bass, but I would have thought it too cold for them in shallow water on a freezing night so far from the outflows. Even so, I'm pretty sure it would have been one of these two, so I'll plump for Bass. (By the way, there were no tracks near by, so it couldn't have been a bird or mammal).

Other stuff:

The Merlin was again hunting a small flock of Dunlin out from the saltmarsh.

Pink-Footed goose, small flocks wandering in all directions except west

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Both the Tim Butler and "no swimming" ponds are completely frozen over, but the size of the open water on the main pond has increased.

All the remaining wildfowl were using it:

Mute 2 adult 3 juvenile 

Coot 4

Gadwall 24

Mallard 4

Stock Dove 2 together flying towards the golf course

Wood Pigeon 40+ resting in trees along SW border of the reserve

Heysham ice floes

Another freezing night and sunny day. The cold east wind eased slightly and moved towards ESE.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

The good news is that the juvenile mute, that appeared to be stuck on the ice yesterday, is fine. Indeed, as with the last cold spell, it was allowed to join the others. This is it, second from the left.

I did go with the necessary rescue equipment, but was pleased not to need it. Mainly for the swan's sake, but also mine. Previous experience at rescuing wildlife has taught me not to expect it to be friendly, helpful or grateful!

No ringed gulls again.

Mallard 6

Gadwall 2

Coot 2

No other ponds checked.

Red Nab and saltmarsh area

Part of a flock of Shelduck over Red Nab - there are c80 on this frame

This, more detailed shot from Janet is later in the tide.
Still plenty of Shelduck and Cormorant close in

Lapwing 190

Redshank 70

Grey Plover 8

Dunlin c40

Ringed Plover 33

A few of the Ringed Plover

Rock Pipit - none on Red Nab again, but this one was on the rocky outcrop on the east side of the marsh.

I made an effort to get the Power Station in the background.
EDF provide a lot of support for the Observatory 

But I wanted a clear background for this recording of it calling. It does get a barely audible reply from its mate towards the end of this clip. Perhaps, this is the bird that was displaying on Red Nab on Tuesday.

The background noise, apart from the wind, is the tide starting to surround me and the rock - time to leave!

There were no snipe or Reed Bunting seen, on the return leg I found out why:

Merlin 1 female type. Flew low across the marsh then around the edge before heading north.

This is the tide coming up the creek on the southern boundary of the saltmarsh. This creek is the culmination of a succession of ground water springs making their way to the sea. So not surprisingly some of the water froze between tides. The various groans and squeaks are not me, for once, but the sound made by the ice.

I know it's hardly the Yukon, but what do you expect from a saltmarsh creek?

The juvenile Norwegian ringed Oystercatcher was back on the football pitch with just one adult. They were managing to get their bills into the ground, but I don't know if any worms remained within reach.

A scan from Knowlys produced:

Eider 210

Goldeneye 1 male

Single figures each Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe

No sign of any Brent geese

Finally, there were some nice cirrus cloud formations early to mid morning

Plenty of ice.

Another heavy overnight frost. The wind more to NE, but still cold. But the day was again pleasant to walk in, with the warming sun shining for most of the day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Again plenty of gulls on the main pond ice, but none ringed. We have just received the details of a Black-Headed gull read on the ice earlier this winter:

Black-headed gull K03025/J1TH

Adult	Musoya Strand, Drammen, Buskerud,  NORWAY 59 45N 10 08E	13/04/2013
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud,  NORWAY 59 44N 10 16E	05/07/2015	8km E
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud, NORWAY	18/05/2016
Seen	Linnesstranda, Lier, Buskerud, NORWAY	25/05/2016
Seen	Middleton NR	03/02/2019
Seen	Middleton NR	29/12/2020
Seen	Middleton NR	04/01/2021
Photo	Middleton NR	15/01/2021	1014km S

This is the second consecutive winter that it has been recorded at Middleton 

This is size of the hole on the main pond being maintained by the Mute.
Also the favoured area for the remaining 6 Mallard,
they probably also get the bread taken for the swans.

Janet took the above two pictures, this is the estranged juvenile,
Janet was worried that it may be stuck on the ice, as it didn't move to reach bread
but I'm sure it was closer to the hole when I checked.
I'll have a proper look tomorrow  and take my chest waders, just in case.

The small hole on the "no swimming" pond is now frozen over, there were just 4 coot and 2 Moorhen walking around the margins.

But, surprisingly, there is still a small hole on the Tim Butler pond, maintained by 25 Gadwall

There were also at least two Teal calling, but out of sight.

Cetti's warbler 1 singing on the central marsh

Red Nab and Saltmarsh - high water 10:20

Plenty of birds on Red Nab, nothing unusual, but easy to see on these medium height tides: Cormorant, Shelduck, Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser, Grey Heron, Little Egret, all the common gulls (and possibly some less common too), Oystercatcher, Knot, Lapwing, Curlew, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover. No Rock Pipit today.

Just a flavour of the abundance of birds, there are 70 Curlew on this shot,
and this is only a small area.

The water on Red Nab was frozen, before the tide reached it,
but it has been 5 days since the tide got this high, so the water would have been fairly brackish 

Kevin took the following shots on Red Nab

Reshank

Grey Plover (Kevin says it appears to be limping)

Cormorant in breeding plumage 

Again the tide was not high enough to cover the marsh, but it still flushed:

Common Snipe c20

Jack Snipe 1 flushed by tide plus 1 flushed by me around the edge where groundwater was seeping onto the marsh

Reed Bunting 1, but different to yesterday's bird.

A quick scan of the skeer towards low water found no Brent geese

Goldeneye 1 male

First in the queue at the breadline!

A harder frost last night froze all open water, except the few pockets maintained by the wildfowl. Although it was another reasonably pleasant day as long as you were protected from the cold ENE wind. A few short snow showers mainly in the afternoon. A very heavy frost expected tonight.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A check first thing saw 140, mainly Black-Headed, gulls on the ice of the main pond. None were ringed, a bit frustrating as a blue ringed BHG was seen briefly yesterday, out of only 6 on a small pocket of ice.

Janet took this shot a bit later

Less gulls now, but you can see the small hole being kept open, mainly by the swans.

Janet also took these two shots.

A BHG dropped this bread, and the resident Grey Heron flew over to investigate 

It wasn't overly impressed, a nice frog would have been better, but wasn't for handling it over!

Mallard 9

Teal 8 - stood on ice

Gadwall 4

Coot 6 (more on these later)

Little grebe 3 (2 + 1) I have suspected 3 birds for a couple of days (MD)

The Little grebe seemed to "know" that they needed to feed as much as possible (while they still can).

Cetti's warbler 1 singing in central marsh

Red Nab and Saltmarsh - high water 09:25

Rock Pipit - 2 on Red Nab, one displaying. 1 near rocky outcrop on east side of saltmarsh.

I thought there may have been some cold weather passerine movement to the saltmarsh, but the only additional birds were a Song Thrush and a Blackbird

This Reed Bunting was puffing itself up to keep out the cold

The 8.4m tide just reached the edge of the marsh, but still lifted 29 Common Snipe

I like this shot of a Grey Plover on the foreshore 

But this one is not quite so easy to see

Unusually, there is just one each of five species on this shot on Red Nab
Grey Plover, Knot, Lapwing, Redshank and Turnstone 

Jackdaw 10 by Trumacar Stores - a new area for local birds

Mediterranean gull 2 - one behind lunchtime ferry plus one seen out from Knowlys Road

Brent geese none seen/reported in the area today

The Oystercatchers were also not on the cricket or football field

Finally two clips of Coot. This first one is of one feeding yesterday, showing just how graceful they can be.

A grace not transmitted to walking on ice:

Walk this way........

......err......perhaps not!

Beast 2 - Day 1.... it was really quite pleasant

Today's title refers to the cold spell, that we are just starting, being heralded as "the beast from the east 2". The first beast in 2018 really was savage, the current cold spell is not forecast to be as bad, but the most sever we've had since then. 

A ground frost overnight froze the surface water but only the margins on the ponds. The ENE wind was still very cold, but suitably wrapped against the wind, it felt quite pleasant in the occasional sunshine (although I wouldn't want to spend the night out in it!). Just a few light snow flurries so far.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I managed a full circuit today (MD)

Mute 2 adult 2+1 juvenile 

Coot 6

Moorhen 8

Gadwall 25 (21 on Tim Butler pond)

Mallard 5

Teal 9 

Two of the Teal coming in to land on the fence pond

Little grebe 2 - both birds together again. One is still trilling, I was hoping to catch it on this clip, but it, stubbornly, remained silent.

Although it was a pleasant morning for a walk, it clearly wasn't springlike, apart from the Little grebe there were no birds singing today.

The other day I commented on how the tree buds were swelling, this female Bullfinch had also noticed.

There are routinely 6 Bullfinch in this area between the golf course and Tradebe. If they all feed at this rate, it must make quite an impact on the trees.

I thought that this was encouraging. United Utilities have done a lot of civil engineering on the southern boundary of the reserve. It is now complete and the area is now being landscaped.

They have already planted some trees/shrubs, but also sprayed some sort of fibre over the banking.

This is a close up of the fibre, presumably it has little nutrient value, but it will add structure
to the soil and stabilise the banking. Clearly they are not just paying lip service to the operation.
This is one of the positive signs of our times,
40 years ago you would have been lucky if the whole area wasn't concreted over!

A quick scan of the skeer at low water couldn't locate any Brent geese

Goldeneye 1 male

The Norwegian yellow flagged juvenile Oystercatcher was back on the football pitch next to the cricket ground today

There had been around 12 regularly feeding here till the ground froze in early January. An adult plus 2 juvenile have returned, just in time for it to freeze again. They obviously like it here, and this adult shows why.

Please let me know of any future sightings of the flagged bird, particularly if seen away from this area

The cold starts to bite

It never actually got below freezing last night and today's temperature hovered around 2C. But it felt much colder in the cold NE wind. Overcast all day with some light snow flurries.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A few observers took their exercise here today, shame there wasn't more to see:

Mallard 5

Gadwall 2

Shoveler 2 (pair)

Tufted 1 (male)

Little Grebe 2

Coot 4

Moorhen 4

Water Rail 1 calling from Tim Butler area

Grey Heron 1

Janet managed to squeeze all the "no swimming" pond ducks onto this frame.

Although you'll have to open the image to be able to make them out.
Also, looks like one of the Little Grebe in the margin, left of centre

Janet also took this shot.

Many visitors leave food out for the wildlife, 
I say wildlife as it isn't just the birds that feed on it, rodents also take advantage.
Although this Robin looks to have had more than its fair share!

Heysham skeer/low water channels 

Great Crested Grebe 9

Red-breasted Merganser 9

Eider c50 close in

This is Conger rock, it is by far the largest rock on the skeer (I always think of it as the Elvis Presley of rocks - no one ever calls it Conger Rock.... it's just known as Conger). Anyway, on these neap tides it's not fully exposed, allowing the eider to prise off some of the lower mussels.

Pale-bellied Brent 16 - there were 14 feeding in the middle of the inner skeer, including a group of 6 led by the red/blue ringed Canadian birds. I checked this area earlier in the week, there are only meagre patches of short weed.

This is the group of six. They were finding food, but there can't be much left here.
You can see from this image, there is very little greenery.

The additional two birds were late arrivals, from the direction of Barrow. These opted to feed on the southern edge of the skeer, exactly where two were feeding yesterday. There are a few isolated areas of weed here. It would seem that the remaining pockets of weed around the skeer require the more experienced birds to exploit. (MD).

Shag the best of a reasonable bunch

East to NE winds continue, still reasonably mild, rain showers on and off all day.

Pete managed a couple of checks of the sea whilst in the area.

Knowlys Rd:

Mediterranean gull - 1 adult with gull gathering top of horse paddock before flying towards Heysham road.

Pale-bellied Brent 12 by the skeer

North Harbour wall:

Shag 1 juvenile on far side of the first channel

My exercise walk was also on the north shore around the skeer towards low water (MD). Earlier than Pete.

There were only 7 + 2 Pale-bellied Brent by 12:15. These are the 7.

I also took this video, it shows the wealth of bird life here. Neither the Knot or Oystercatcher flying by were spooked, it's just natural movement to new feeding ground as it becomes exposed by the ebbing tide. Initially there were just 5 Brent here, but then two more flew in, you can see them splitting into two groups again as they swim.

Waders:

Oystercatcher - everywhere!

Knot c1,500

Redshank c100

Turnstone 20+

Dunlin 5

Goldeneye 1 male

Eider c60 close in - these quickly saw off an opportunistic young gull

They think it's spring, but they're wrong!

 Another mild night, the light easterlies continue. Periods of sunshine with the rain holding off till evening.

Low tide channel Stone Jetty to Heysham north wall (Viewing points - Stone Jetty, Knowlys Rd upper and lower, and North Harbour wall): 

Pale-bellied Brent 24 + group of 5 amongst rocks north of the children's play area.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult (probably the lamppost bird)

Goldeneye 1 male

Red-breasted Merganser 14 

Great Crested grebe 7

Eider 259

Wigeon 40

Yesterday Kevin commented on how nice it was to hear the resident birds singing along the dog walk. He took this nice shot of a Robin, which had been singing.

Note the buds are starting to swell

Today on a short visit to Middleton Nature Reserve there were, Song Thrush, Robin, Wren and Great Tits singing plus a Little grebe "trilling". It certainly felt like spring in the warm sunshine, but it won't last - cold weather returns tomorrow, and it will remain cold throughout next week. Still at least the days are getting longer.

Also on Middleton 

Mute swan 2 adult 3 juvenile 

Coot 6

Moorhen 6

Mallard 5

Gadwall 7

Shoveler 2 (male and female)

Tufted 1 male

Little grebe 2

Turf (actually weed) wars

Another mildish night, the wind still light and from the east, the rain managed to hold off for most of the day.

Heysham skeer - low water 10:15

Knot c2,000 - It was a tough day for the Knot, even before I left the promenade I could see flocks in tight balls obviously under attack. It lasted for 30 minutes. Closer to I saw three separate Peregrine attacks, at least two of which were unsuccessful. But eventually everything settled down, presumably minus at least one Knot.

Great Crested Grebe 5

Red-breasted Merganser 7

Goldeneye 1 male

Shelduck 2 - strangely uncommon on the north side of the harbour

Pale-bellied Brent goose 24 - at 09:00 there were just 5 feeding on the mud in the SE skeer corner. These included the two Red/Blue Canadian ringed birds.

At 09:05 another 19 came in from the north, these landed on the mud further inshore and included the/a white ringed bird (ringing details of this bird are still awaited). They immediately marched down to where the  5 were feeding and drove them off

Eventually, after a valiant stand, 6 birds were driven off. One must have changed allegiance, or perhaps, just annoyed the large aggressive bird.

Later, when I was walking off, all the birds were further up the beach, still in the same groups. Then something spooked the birds furthest inshore and they lifted the rest. They only flew as far as the water, but it gave me a chance to check the ground they were feeding on. The weed is much more patchy now and what remains is quite short - worth fighting for......

They've not been seen on the south shore yet this winter, I suspect it won't be long.

On the way home I just had a quick look at the waterlogged foreshore next to Red Nab. Quite a lot of birds were taking advantage including:

Oystercatcher 12 - I was hoping the missing yellow flagged Norwegian bird would be amongst them, but not.

Linnet 2 - not been common since the Merlin included this area in its range last autumn.

Pied Wagtail 13

A few of the Pied Wagtail 

Carrion Crow 3 - as ever the opportunists they were feeding on invertebrates forced to the surface by the high water table 

Not worms but they were catching and feeding on something. I looked where they were feeding, but couldn't see anything.