Brent Geese, Sea-Ducks, And The Diver That Wasn't!

Heysham Geese.

The geese numbers at Heysham have been picking up, with a three figure count nearly reached recently. So I decided to pay a visit on Thursday, parking up on Knowleys Road and walking down to the promenade, the high tide was around 1.50pm which was 90 minutes away when I arrived.

It wasn't easy to initially get to grips with the count, they were weaving through the stones and boulders on the north shore.

But a couple of times disturbed and split, and the tide pushing the geese ever closer, I checked through at least four times, I eventually arrived at the count of 112 Brent Geese....'the highest count so far this winter'. Thanks to Malcolm Downham for some info regarding Brent Geese movement in the area earlier in the day.

Broadway Ducks.

My next move was to Morecambe to see if there was any sign of last weeks sea-ducks, but this time as opposed to flat calm sunny weather, there was a cold wind and a swell to contend with, and it wasn't going to be as easy to search, but I eventually latched on to 8 Common Scoter.

Common Scoter. Malcolm Downham.

My sighting was much further out into the bay than these, and with a bigger swell on the sea on Thursday, but almost certainly the same birds as MD's on 17 December off the Stone Jetty.

I later picked up a 1st winter female Scaup, again almost certainly my Wednesday 8 December bird.

Pine Lake Diver.

Great Northern Diver. Brian Rafferty.

My quest to find the Great Northern Diver at Pine Lake was a failure, the bird had moved on, but a little compensation came with a lone adult Whooper Swan, 5 Goldeneye, and a drake Goosander.

All in all a decent couple of hours, resulting in the best count this winter of Brent Geese at Heysham, and 8 Common Scoter, regarded as an erratic visitor to our recording area, and in my book, verging on a rarity to the inner Morecambe Bay.