Cleethorpes sightings - January 15

Billy no mates...and not another barnacle in sight. Egyptian still hanging around with the greylags, 11 pochard, 26 tufteds and a single gadwall amongst all the mallards on the boating lake.

I’ve noticed the loner barnacle a few times. I wonder why it is not part of the flock. Hard not to feel a bit sorry for it.

Re the Egyptian, I haven’t seen it for a while, but you’re right, it’s a very friendly bird - good with children. Everyone seems to get attached to it. There’s some speculation (probably idle) that it may have flown here from Sandringham House where the species breeds.

No sign of purple sandpiper this morning, but it was a higher tide when I was there at 7am, before the hoards amassed.
No sign of the barnacles, or the loner either. The Egyptian is still there and friendly too.

Thanks Pete.

Possibly, it’s moved on. I checked mid-week, but didn’t see it. In my experience, best time is half an hour on either side of high tide.

The difficulty is that the prom is very busy at weekends, especially in fine weather.

Hi Jim, great picture of the barnacles, do you know if the purple sandpiper is still at Wonderland? If so it may be worth a trip to Cleethorpes

Regards Pete

They have been here for a couple of years at least now. Interestingly, there is a sole bird who always remains at the boating lake. He/she never mingles with this large flock, even when they graze around the boating lake perimeter .It is in good health and always remains separate from the others. Also, there is a leucistic barnacle that has been with this large flock for the last year.
The Egyptian is still hanging around the lake too.