Heysham Bird Observatory

The observatory was set up in 1980. It involves ringing,'vis mig' counts (including seabirds) and general monitoring in the Heysham Nature reserve/power stations/harbour area. The statutory moth trap is in place and also a daily log for butterflies, dragonflies etc. We share an office, kindly provided by EDF Energy, with the County Wildlife Trust. This is located next to the Nature Reserve car park. Do call in. Please leave sightings in the letterbox, ESPECIALLY 'fly-by' seabirds.

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Whistle stop

Heysham Obs
A very brief visit just after lunch saw:

Harbour/outfalls area
Kittiwake - now back up to five around the waterfall and one on the outfalls
Shag - just two visible in brief check
Twite - heard near the feeder
Med Gull - adult patrolling north wall

Friday, 17 February 2012

Finches and wildfowl increase

Heysham Obs
Sorry for the late posting - thought someone else was doing it

North harbour wall
Twite - c35 first thing, including some unringed birds
Med Gull - ad on beach off heliport

Office feeder
Four unringed Goldfinch and three unringed Greenfinch in the feeder net, plus single 'new' Great and Blue Tits

Middleton NR
Wildfowl still increasing: Mute Swan - 4, Coot - 6, moorhen - 3, mallard - 7,
teal - 7, Tufted duck - 15, Gadwall - 4 (2m + 2f), Goldeneye - 2 (f/j), Pochard - 1 (f)

Thursday, 16 February 2012

Moths lead the way

Heysham Obs
Harbour area
Twite - c16 at the south of the sandworks, but not a scrap of food left on the feeder at 0930hrs! After stocking the feeder, 33 were seen early afternoon with 'several' unringed birds
Goldfinch - one same area, later 3
Shag - two visible roosting on platform, including the ringed bird which is definitely not darvic-ringed on the left leg, narrowing the likelihood from observed numbers down to the usual Puffin Island source. We need the last ring number, but the access is currently closed due to fence construction/demolition work!
Med Gull - adult patrolling
Eider - at least 63 offshore

Moths
The first record for here of the fuscata form of Dotted Border along with a Chestnut

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Nothing obviously new in

Heysham Obs
Just to remind people, if you are returning from (light better later in the day) visiting Heysham, its well worth taking a few minutes to turn right at the Overton turning along the bypass and view Heaton/Aldcliffe marsh from SD444608. A break between tidal counts today saw 350 Pinks with 2 Euro Whitefronts with them and the highly synchronous and wary Lesser Snow Geese with the 250 or so Greylags

Inshore sightings
Twite - 12 trapped and 6 of those were unringed birds. Earlier about 30 seen.
Med Gull - two adults on the mudflats
Shag - at least two
Kittiwake - two 2CY outfalls/harbour mouth
Ringed Plover - 19 off Ocean Edge all day
Wigeon - 84
Goldfinch - one on the seed
Meadow Pipit - one sandworks

Moths
Another Pale-brindled Beauty, this time a melanistic individual.

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

A February moth at last and an offshore mystery

Heysham Obs
A flurry of activity early on soon degenerated into office work. Sorry should have posted the offshore mystery earlier to alert people.

Offshore
Eider - at least 60
unidentified probable small grebe - this was seen in flight with structure and distribution of white on the wing suggesting a small grebe (female Goldeneye eliminated), although it was very distant. It then landed on the water and couldnt be relocated although it was about "half the size" of a Great-crested Grebe at a similar distance further north

Harbour area
Twite - at least 18
Med Gull - at least one adult
waterfall area not checked by me

Moths
Pale Brindled Beauty was new for the year and not guaranteed every year here

Monday, 13 February 2012

Cetti's highlights reasonable variety

Thanks Janet - the bottom four could make a nice mystery pic

Heysham Obs
A vocal Cetti's Warbler in the central marsh mid-afternoon

Harbour area
Twite - 33, 7 unringed, 2 ringed at Machrihanish in autumn 2011
Goldfinch - one with above
Med Gull - 2 adults
Guillemot - one
Shag - four
Kittiwake - one
No obvious sign of any Purple Sandpiper

Outfalls
Little Gull - 2CY, then flew offshore as the tide came in

Middleton NR
Cetti's Warbler - one calling central marsh
Returning wildfowl to thawed water comprised: 4 mute swan, 6 coot, 5 moorhen, 9 tufted duck, 2 female goldeneye, 3 teal, 5 mallard

Sunday, 12 February 2012

Poor visibility

Thanks to Rosie and Mario

Heysham Obs
Intertidal work knocked on the head today and its not going to be easy for Sunday WeBS counters

Harbour area
Shag - four by waterfall
Kittiwake - just one by waterfall
Med Gull - two adults on sandflats off north wall
Purple Sandpiper - two north harbour wall
Guillemot - rather dishevelled individual by waterfall at high tide (out of the underground area of water??)

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Access details

Newcomers to this area: Please visit the map at the base of this page and print it off, along with the following access instructions. We have recently had problems with people arriving here (e.g. 'twitching' Glaucous Gull) with just the bare bones of access info, usually via second-hand information, and making a nuisance of themselves taking wrong turns into restricted access areas

North Harbour Wall
Please note that pedestrian access to the harbour mouth, beyond the 'red gate' is possible but inadvisable with young children. On 'busy' days at high tide, please avoid parking alongside the seawall as this restricts the room available to anglers. Thanks.

South harbour area/Power Station outfalls
The old "Gate 38 (39 on the map)" to the west quay of the harbour is now open and therefore access to view the 'waterfall' and thence the wooden jetty/outfalls area can be made via this route as well as the traditional walk from the tall mast/nature park/seawall past the outfalls (see map at base of blog)

Gate "38"
Follow the signs to the IOM ferry passenger terminal taking the left-hand lane after crossing the railway labelled 'thru lane'. Follow this over the ramp whence it becomes a single-track road. You may have to pull the gate open when you arrive and then walk round the 'catwalk' and (initially) view the waterfall area.

Anyone birdwatching and photographing in the harbour area is likely to attract the attention of the harbour police (and you will be on a security camera at all times). You will be expected to provide details on request and any refusal could jeopardise future access. Gate '38', of course, could be re-locked if any construction work or dockside activities are taking place. Please gently close the gate and dont leave it swinging open, especially in high winds. Boots advisable due to puddles and rather slippery path

The southern route via Red Nab
Park by the tall mast about 120 metres before the entrance to Ocean Edge and take the path to the shore via the Nature Park. Alternatively park in Heysham Nature reserve and access via the Landscape Strip/dog-walk track, then through the Nature Park

Please do not enter Ocean Edge caravan park without calling in at reception. If anything turns up along the shore at the southern end of Ocean Edge properties, you can access this along the shoreline from Red Nab, not by walking through the caravan site. Thanks

Contacts for Heysham Nature Reserve & Bird Observatory

REUBEN NEVILLE: Any enquiries relating to Heysham Nature Reserve or Heysham Moss e.g. help with working parties or organising a visit. You can also phone/text 07979652138, the Nature reserve office landline 01524 855030 or e-mail rneville@lancswt.org.uk during normal working hours.

STEVE RYDER: Please contact Steve on Middleton NR issues or if Reuben is not available on 07935833433 or 01524 855030

EMMA GARSTON: Please contact Emma re-any events being organised by the Wildlife Trust, including those in partnership with other organisations. egarston@lancswt.org.uk or 01524 855030

ALAN DRAPER: Please contact Alan if you are interested in observing, helping with or indeed wish to become a ringer. Observers/helpers are very welcome; there is absolutely no 'obligation' to train to be a ringer - we appreciate many people are not able to commit themselves to this time-consuming process. Please phone/text 07929899834 or e-mail alanjdraper@fsmail.net

PETE MARSH: Please e-mail or text Pete with any interesting sightings from the Heysham area (or post them to the LDBWS site). Also please contact Pete with any general enquiries concerning the observatory. Text/phone = 07532433043 [NOTE NEW NUMBER] or e-mail PMrsh123@aol.com

JEAN ROBERTS: ....... is the BTO rep for North Lancashire and anyone wanting to get involved with BTO activities such as the current Atlas project should contact Jean. It would be useful to 'cc' Jean if you are contacting Pete Marsh re-the observatory/any sightings. Text/phone = 07815979856 or e-mail jeanrbrts6@aol.com

Please note that two of the team (Pete Marsh and Jean Roberts) are full time ornithological consultants. Contact details above.

Twite information and request

Twite are tricky creatures to check for colour rings with their short legs often concealed. If you do get a chance to view any of the coastal Lancashire flocks, please try and concentrate on a quick check of ringed to unringed ratios and then the SINGLE-COLOUR rings, not spending time on the split TWO-COLOUR rings.

Most birds will have a metal ring on the right leg and two colour rings on the left, one a single colour, the other a split two-colours. The SINGLE-COLOUR ring is the SITE ring and for Heysham this is PALE BLUE.

There are plenty of Twite with Pale Blue site rings wandering around between Knott End and Heysham and, whilst we are interested in especially ratios of ringed/unringed birds in flocks away from Heysham, the priority along the Lancashire coast is to try and find birds with SINGLE-COLOUR rings on the right leg which are NOT Pale Blue!

The most regular is YELLOW from Askam in Furness There are at least five combinations of Heysham split-colour rings still in existence, denoting the year/season code and these are mainly for the benefit of the ringers and we urge you not to spend time on these, but try and see what site rings are showing in the flock before they rapidly clear off, as they are apt to do!

If your bird has colour rings on BOTH legs (also a metal on the left leg) and these are split green/white, this will be from the 500 or so ringed at Machrihanish Bird Observatory during late summer 2010. If it has split green/white & metal on the left leg and split red/white on the right leg, this is a 2011 Machrihanish bird. Please send any sightings to Alan (see contacts below). Thanks very much

A colour-ringing programme has been commenced to try and elicit some information on destination, passage routes and origin of the large number of Grey Wagtail passing through north Lancashire in autumn.

76 were ringed at Heysham Obs in autumn 2008, 75 in autumn 2009 and 41 in 2010, when there appeared to be fewer passage birds, possibly an effect of the 2009/10 winter.

One has been seen on passage, at Seaforth Nature reserve and there has been a recent report from the River Leven, near Heversham, but a disappointing lack of reports so far from subsequent breeding sites.