Saturday 20 April 2013

Lesser insomnia

Heysham Obs
A 0500hrs alarm seemed early enough to catch and ring some of the Lesser Redpoll passage.  The reality was at least 25 birds passing over before sunrise and certainly before the mist nets were set!  A few other passed through later in the morning but the ringing was rather meagre

Best bird today was a Blue Tit in SD36 on the mound!

Outfalls/north wall
Twite - 14 on arrival, all very noisy - 5 flew off over the sea at about 0700hrs and this left 8 which were very restless and last seen sitting on top of the 'gasometer'.  Surely their last day in calm sunny weather? Still 14 on seed at lunchtime
Arctic Tern - flock of 43 in, c30 blogging & 60 on the outfalls
Sandwich Tern - 37 'out'
Common Scoter - 6
Gannet - 3
Little Egret - one flew 'out', it or another appeared later 'in-off' then inland
Red-throated Diver - 1
Whimbrel - one heard
Little Gull -
Blue Tit - one working its way inland

Vis mig early-mid morning
Lesser Redpoll - 30-40 NE
Siskin - at least 10 NE (3 lots)
Common Buzzard - probable off-passage wanderer circling over the golf course area
Woodpigeon - 11 E
Goldfinch - 15 NE
Meadow Pipit - 25 NE
Tree Pipit - 2 NE (one ringed)

Grounded early/mid-morning
Goldcrest - an extraordinarily late passage with 6 ringed (including 3 males which should be earlier than females!), one on the north wall mound, one at Middleton
Chiffchaff - 2 new ones ringed
Willow Warbler - small fall right at dawn with 2 ringed and 19 together in bushes around the Middleton no swimming pond
Sedge Warbler - 2 Middleton (overlap of this with Goldcrest very unusual)
Grasshopper Warbler - none heard at Middleton or on the tank farm

Waders
Knot - 500 on shore as seen from Ocean Edge
Bar-tailed Godwit - 165 as above
Grey Plover - 32 as above
Dunlin - c150 as above

Update from late morning:
Middleton NR
Warblers singing
2 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Common Whitethroat
15 Willow warbler
7 Chiffchaff

2 Tufted
3 Gadwall (1 male)
3 Little grebe

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
3 Wheatear
1 Little Egret

Outflows
97 Arctic Tern
3 Little gull (one 2CY)
1 Kittiwake

Moths
Powdered Quaker new for the year