Friday 16 March 2007

Try the sea tomorrow morning on incoming tide?

Heysham Obs
Seawatching
3 observers at various (short) times during the morning saw between them from the north harbour wall:
Kittiwake: Flock of c50 'in'
Skua spp: Dark and bulky individual 'out' at rather long range
Red-throated Diver - 2 'out'
Eider pair 'out'
Merlin - female 'in'

Outfalls/Red Nab
Ad & 2 1st W Little Gull Stage 2 outfall mid afternoon
Shelduck 133 off Ocean Edge + 6 Red Nab
Red-breasted Merganser pair RN
Wigeon 2 males RN

Harbour/wooden jetty
Shag 2 in harbour (& 1 cormorant) + 2 wooden jetty
Cormorant 20 wooden jetty

Ringing
A single 40' net plus Goldcrest tape produced 2 male and one female Goldcrest on the first round before it became too windy. Implicitly a few sneaking through in the windy unsettled conditions

Info: The large gulls seem to be building up a bit around the outfalls/harbour waterfall. Keep checking these - there are so many Icelands around and they should start moving north if they have not done so already

Elsewhere
Spotted Redshank on the bubbles groyne at the Stone jetty. 16 Sand Martin at Pine Lake late afternoon (poor things!) with a 2nd S Med Gull passing through there towards the Keer estuary roost with Common & Black-headed Gulls. I only had the briefest of glimpses of the legs but there appeared to be a white darvic