SE breeze, very low cloud early on with some drizzle. A few light showers during the day.
It seemed like an Autumn Thrush type of morning with almost calm but damp air when I arrived at Middleton in the dark - it turned out that it was when John and I set nets. The breeze got up from the south later with fine drizzle for 30 minutes or so from 09.00. A total of 42 birds captured, of which 19 were Redwings.
Wren 1 + 3 retraps
Blackbird 2
Song Thrush 1
Redwing 19
Cetti's Warbler 3 retraps (one of these was first ringed here 22/10/2018)
Chiffchaff 1
Goldcrest 5 + 1 retrap
Long-tailed Tit 1 retrap
Great Tit 2
Chaffinch 1
Lesser Redpoll 1
Bullfinch 1
Pink Footed Geese - large numbers moving NE to feeding areas early on
Fieldfare - at least 30 in one flock flying eastwards.
Redwing - at least 244 moving west to east during the first part of the morning then twos and threes around the reserve feeding on Hawthorn berries (which are abundant here this season).
I just did a quick check of the main ponds mid morning:
Mute unchanged
Moorhen 7
Mallard 8
Gadwall 30
Little grebe 2 (one each pond)
Even with the "no swimming" pond water level being back to normal, the Gadwall can only just reach the weed they feed on. No wonder they moved elsewhere when the water was deeper. All the birds were upending to feed today.
Heysham skear mid morning (MD)
A check 1.5 hours after low water meant that the tide was rushing in and many waders already moved on. But some of the diving birds come in closer.
Eider only 38 seen but they were in the far channel and many could have been out of sight.
Red-breasted Merganser 2 (pair)
Great Crested Grebe 12
Little Egret 19
Oystercatcher c200
Turnstone c30
Redshank c30
Curlew 10
Knot - none on the skear but c40 over from north to south.
Ringed Plover 17
Heliport area
