With poor weather forecast for the weekend I completed the monthly WeBS counts early and whilst doing so saw an Oystercatcher and a bundle of Goose Barnacles washed up on the shoreline at Skaw, a Moorhen, a male Stonechat and 5 Reed Buntings at Norwick, a female Stonechat at Ungirsta mires and a Red-throated Diver, a Great Northern Diver and a Pink-footed Goose at Burrafirth.
Goose Barnacles at Skaw
Lepas anatifera has a cosmopolitan distribution and is found in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide. Because it is often attached to objects carried into colder seas by currents, such as the North Atlantic Drift, it is often found well away from its place of origin and in waters too cold for it to reproduce. In this way it has been recorded from Norway, the Shetland Islands, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Spitsbergen.
Male Stonechat at Norwick
After a good Autumn for the species it appears that at least a couple are attempting to winter...
