Thirteen members attended this meeting starting at the Headland Lighthouse on a cold breezy day. Sheltering behind the buildings we looked out to sea. 7 Common Scoter drakes, 3 Eider Ducks and 4 Red-throated Divers flew past during our hour watching. On the rough sea we spotted 3 Great-crested Grebes, several Guillemots and 4 more Red-throated Divers. 1 Curlew, a Fulmar, 3 Shags and Cormorants flew past. On the grassy area in front of us 5 Turnstones and a Pied Wagtail were looking for morsels to eat. Kittiwakes were seen flying by.
The rocks on the shore were fairly quiet, probably because of the strong breeze and rough sea. There were Herring, Black-headed and a Common Gull on the rocks. The only waders were four Purple Sandpipers, 3 Redshanks, 4 Turnstones and a Curlew. A briefly visible Rock Pipit flew past.
Down near the harbour entrance a Ringed Plover was on the beach with another Rock Pipit. A House Sparrow and Starlings were on the roof tops and a Robin was seen in the bushes on the beach. On the rocks a group of Black-headed Gulls were loafing with a Mediterranean Gull. Four Cormorants, a Shag and Eiders were also here resting on the rocks. On the way to the Fish Quay a group of 22 Eiders were on the water preparing to come ashore. We could hear their gentle “ooing “ call. 5 Oystercatchers were already roosting on the shingle.
In the Fish Quay there were 5 Red-breasted Mergansers with only 2 Guillemots, several gulls and 2 Grey Seals. On our return along the sea front to the cars at the Headland we scanned the gulls again. The Mediterranean Gull had departed and been replaced with a wonderful juvenile Glaucous Gull which had probably come in with the Herring Gulls which weren’t here earlier. We watched it for 10 minutes before it flew off to the North.
At Jackson’s Landing we found the juvenile Black-throated Diver that has been around a few weeks. It showed very nicely for us along with 4 Red-breasted Mergansers. A Shag was resting on one of the jetties and a Mute Swan and a Cormorant were in the marina area.
We then stopped at Newburn Bridge for our lunch. This is usually a good wader high tide roost but we only saw 3 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Ringed Plovers and 4 Turnstones. Numerous Herring, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls were flying along the coast.
Our next stop was Greatham Creek which at high tide fills all the gullies. A good selection of ducks included 2 Goldeneyes, a Shoveler, lots of Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Shelduck and a Red-breasted Merganser. There were numerous Lapwings and 70 plus Redshanks over the area, 23 Curlews, 8 Turnstones and 5 Dunlin. A Barn Owl was hunting along the far ridge (no Short Eared Owls) and a Marsh Harrier was seen in the distance.
We then walked to Seal Sands. A Little Egret flew up from the first pool which had a Little Grebe. The next saline lagoon had an over wintering Greenshank with a Redshank and a Dunlin. 25 Meadow Pipits and a Skylark flew up from the rough grass while two Magpies flew ahead of us. 4 Red-breasted Mergansers were at Seal Sands and a very distant large diver remained a mystery. On our return to the cars 200+ Starlings were gathering to roost towards Saltholme and 70 White-fronted Geese were in the air over Holmefleet marsh.
This ended the meeting with a species total of 49.
All photos by Mike Smithson.
