Looks like Starfish are also on the menu.
Southbound 43 Red-throated Diver, 2 Gannet, 1 Teal & 1 Oyk with northbound 32 Common Scoter & 16 Red-throats. Drake Eider, Guillemot & Shag on the river plus a Rock Pipit on the riverbank.
If any photographers with decent equipment is down at the point in the afternoon's one of the Cormorants that likes siting on the green triangle is sporting a Danish metal ring but with our inferior cameras we have not been able to read the digits. Not as photogenic as the Eider - scientifically more valuable to get the ring combination & far more challenging !
3 separate Skylark came in off and inland were the only migrants. 3 Peregrine is worth a mention as not been seeing the regulars very often recently. Offshore very quiet with 2 Common Scoter south as good as it gets. Eider still on the river & Purp on the point.
Winter Stalkball is out in profusion at present in the open moss covered areas. It is one of the site specialities noted at few sites. A lover of open calcareous 'soils' it also occurs alongside old buildings where lime mortar was used. Note the bit of Rabbit 'poo' giving a size comparison.
Today's migrants were Velvet Scoter went north just offshore, a drake Goosander flew west over the observatory & 5 Fieldfare were present early on before departing inland. Offshore movements very poor and predictable. The drake Eider remains crabbing in the river & a Purp was on the point.
1,410 Cormorant went out fishing early on plus a stack more coming in from the north when the sun was out making them uncountable. New in were 3 Fieldfare, couple of new Blackies and 2 Siskin in off the sea. Offshore southbound 6 Brent, 6 Shelduck, 2 Goosander, 2 Great Crested Grebe & Shag with northbound 2 Red-throats plus 5 Wigeon sat on the sea for a while. 3 more Red-throats were in the river plus the drake Eider & Guillemot.
Ringing: 2 Blackbird, 1 Mediterranean Gull.
No coverage - all the regular observers on a coordinated low water count up the Orwell & Stour.