Winter is here.....

circa 2000 Pink-footed Geese passed Whitburn Obs on this mornings sea watch. Not long ago i titled my blog 'Winter is Coming'... well its arrived, the Terns have gone and Geese have arrived. From first light they started moving in both directions and it was a fantastic spectacle, nothings quite like the sound of Pinks passing overhead.
Pink Floyd called the Harrier and it was difficult to nail the id in the strong sun but eventually we could see it was Marsh, a good bird on a sea watch
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 3rd October 06.40-10.40 W4-5 0/8
Black h Gull 65n 338s
Common Gull 1n 74s
Pink-footed Goose 708n 1304s

Cormorant 2n 81s
Merlin 1s
Curlew 2s
Meadow Pipit 275s
Red th Diver 1n 29s
Gannet 17n 4s
Ruff 3n
Golden Plover 3n 9s
Shag 1s
Swallow 1s
Eider 6s
Goosander 12s
Wigeon 2n 7s
Teal 8n 20s
Red br Merganser 3n
Skylark 2s
Marsh Harrier 1s prob a juv 09.40