Thursday 7 October 2010

whistlestop, then wader delight

Heysham Obs
Any coverage the next two days, especially vis for a couple of hours or so would be very very good.  Thanks (away)

Little Gull Ad Red Nab along with 280 Knot just about it for today

In Pete's absence I (Sean) saw the following from the South Harbour wall over the high tide today (from 0815 to 1445hrs.  Due to it being the highest tide for a while (9.7m) it seemed to flush birds from other roosting places around the Bay, hence larger than usual numbers of Dunlin and a few other surprises, including Black-tailed Godwit and Sanderling.

Sights of the day though must be reserved to a Great Spotted Woodpecker in off the sea and stopping briefly on the Mound on the North Harbour Wall before going south and a Peregrine chasing Dunlin towards the north in the Bay, but then having lost them after bombing down it switched its attention to a Guillemot, knocked it out of the air, but dropped it into the sea!!  Not sure if the same guillemot turned up later in the Harbour or a different one.......

South Harbour Wall
Shag (1 first winter)
Cormorant 60+
Pink-footed Goose 8
Eider 2
Peregrine (north over sea chasing Dunlin, then almost caught a guillemot!!)
Kestrel (out to east over sea flying south)
Oystercatcher 5284
Black-tailed Godwit 1
Grey Plover 11
Dunlin 390
Sanderling 4 wink.gif
Knot 997
Turnstone 120+
Curlew 152
Redshank 40+
Med Gull 2 (1 adults & 1 1st winter)
Common Gull 2
Common Guillemot 2 (1 in Harbour, 1 north out in bay) smile.gif
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (unusual record and very strange seeing in off sea)
Meadow Pipit 70+
Rock Pipit 1 (on jetty)
Skylark 20+
Wheatear 1 (on jetty)
Lesser Redpoll 1
Linnet 10+
Pied Wagtail 17+
Goldfinch 12
Greenfinch 4