Against a high undulating cloud base, Woodpigeons and Stock Doves were on the move, mostly northwards. The first pigeons I noticed, though, were flying very high SE, out across the sea. As I watched them, a flock of (I guess) Chaffinches crossed my field of view, going North.
A brief (15 minute) sea watch this morning found 131 Brent Goose, 20 Great Crested Grebe and one Red-throated Diver, the latter almost in full breeding plumage and quite close in shore. On the Long Pit, the Slavonian Grebe was still present along with five Goldeneye, while at Ternery Pool, 10 Mediterranean Gull were present mid-morning.
Walking along the strandline yesterday morning, I found a total of 31 Mermaid’s Purses. These are the eggcases of skates and rays. Once the infant has hatched the empty eggcase gets washed ashore, and by collecting and identifying them, we can help the Shark Trust locate important nursery grounds in UK waters.
The eggcases I found included a number of different species, however the find was dominated by 22 Thornback Rays, 5 Spotted Rays, 1 Undulate Ray and 3 Blonde Rays.
Seed in the winter bird food cover crops planted on the reserve is now getting harder for the birds to find. So supplementary feeding is proving to be very attractive to some of the wintering flock of Tree Sparrows.
 