A cold dark and windy start to the morning but by 0815 hrs the wind has eased slightly to WNW>3 with broken cloud and some sunshine at 12 degrees with an odd rain shower.
The first thing apparent was an overnight fall of Wheatear with mainly adult but a couple of juvs present in autumn plumage all very mobile along the shoreline with at least 8 counted, probably more, with birds later scoped on the north shore though stuck at 8 with fear of double counting.
The Kestrel family were making a nuisance of themselves on the north shore flushing 3 Common Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin but I would not have picked these waders up in the scope if they had not been flushed.
A couple of Black Headed and 7 LBB gulls were on the north shore And as I was scoping these I saw a Kestrel and LBB gull mobbing, what I thought was a Buzzard, very high and beyond the Nab. A look through the bins set alarm bells ringing and when I picked it up in the scope it was plain dark brown underside and pale head, Cream Crown Marsh Harrier. It was moving away from me in a NW direction and very soon disappeared into the cloud heading into Lancashire.
Looking cloudy with showers for tomorrow on a very light WNW at 12 degrees.
BS