Heysham Obs
.....from whence come Whooper Swans, more Pinkfeet, belated Meadow Pipits and 'our' Scottish Twite.......& hopefully another Snow & Lap Bunt or two. Tomorrow, however, will theoretically see the last 'corridor to Scandinavia', albeit a pretty weak one, for a bit and the radar & vis mig reports suggest a thrush passage tomorrow. Work in north Cumbria today gave c1000 SW-bound thrushes (via the Tyne gap) in two hours over midday - about 5:4 Fieldfare:Redwing. We'll see what happens here - it certainly wasnt at Thrushgill this evening
Office vis mig 0730-0800
Chaffinch - 6 SW
Song Thrush - 3 grounded, then inland
Blackbird - 5 grounded then inland
Redwing - 1 SW
Greenfinch - 2 SW
NHW mound area early morning
Meadow Pipit (5), alba Wagtail (7), Linnet (21), Twite (2), Wheatear (1), (continental) Blackbird (2), Rock Pipit (1), plus the two resident Robin.
Ringing
3 Twite and 8 (out of a flock of 14) Linnet caught by Alan Draper mid/late afternoon
Moths
A really good catch for here at this time of year comprising 17 Red-line Quaker, 9 Pink-barred Sallow, Large Wainscot, 4 Silver Y, Dark Chestnut, Parsnip Moth, 3 Epirrata spp, Common Marbled Carpet, 2 Mottled Umber, Feathered Thorn. The forecast suggests this might be twice as many moths as for the rest of the year put together!
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.