Volunteer update: The final Low Tide Count

On a calm and sunny day I did the last of my winter Low Tide Counts at Lindisfarne. It was quite a change from the gales in November, the loose dog scaring off the birds in December and the pilgrims doing likewise in January. My tetrads were astride the Pilgrims Way poles and just off St. Cuthbert's Island.

Today was the most interesting in terms of bird sightings for me. My first Long-tailed Ducks with eight, and close by three Slavonian Grebe and one Black-necked Grebe in the channel by the Island.

Around seven hundred golden plover sat on the nearby rocky platform. Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Grey Plover and Oystercatcher and Shelduck were scattered across the flats but it was the two and a half thousand Knot that caught the eye, especially when something disturbed them and they all lifted.

Today felt like Spring instead of Winter!

Richard Poyer

Shelduck © JJD