Mobile hide birding

Heysham Obs
Had to resort to a little bit of mobile hide i.e. sat in the car birding today as short breaks from work and give myself just a tiny amount of time on what looks like a promising morning tomorrow.  I don't think anything was missed flying overhead today in what was mainly driving rain!

Bits and pieces
Razorbill - two out
Twite - Just two plus 23 Goldfinch and 1 Linnet
Med Gull - 1CY outfalls, ad north wall
Tufted Duck - 18+ model boat pond
Pochard - 2 males model boat pond

Moth
Angle Shades

Wintry chill

Heysham Obs
A dawn start saw a gradually increasing and progressively colder wind correlating with fewer birds until going back indoors and getting on with work seemed a better option.  Then the thrushes got going again!  Brief visit to north harbour wall, then work-related spot counts of waders may produce something to add to this lot:

Vis 0730-0830
Fieldfare - flock of c350 north, then east(ish) plus another 570 in three flocks all heading north on a line to the east of us by 0930 (very intermittent checks)
Redwing - dribs and drabs totalling about 30 in the half-light, including flying inland(see reserve circuit for leftovers). 16 with the first lot of Fieldfare, plus another c45 scattered amongst the later vis mig Fieldfare
Song Thrush - 3 migrants headed inland
Chaffinch - c15 SW
Brambling - heard on two separate occasions but could not see them - very high!
alba Wagtail - 5 SE
Jackdaw - 41 S
Rook/Carrion Crow - 4 with above but not seen very well
Meadow Pipit - 1 SE mid am
Grey Wagtail - one heard mid-am - blogger?

North wall
9 Twite (later 10), 14 Goldfinch (later 23), 8 Linnet on/around feeder, 6-7 Meadow Pipit scattered around

Reserve circuit
Not bad for thrushes in the sheltered NE corner but no more seen flying overhead
Blackbird - 30-40
Song Thrush - 8-10
Redwing - 8-10
Treecreeper - one NE corner
Woodcock - i flushed from eastern woodland
Goldcrest - 6, including group of 5 unringed birds

Ocean Edge
Med Gull - adult and 1CY outfalls but no sign of long-staying adult Little Gull at a stage of the tide it is normally visible
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1,350 along tideline
Whooper Swan - 7 very distantly and high to ESE

Moth
Light-brown Apple moth.  No butterflies or dragonflies on circuit of the reserve 1100hrs, including checking the NE corner ivy which was sheltered in full sunlight and covered in drone flies etc

Yellowhammer surprise

Heysham Obs
A check of the mound/north wall produced a bunting but not the species which was being looked for in the freezing cold northerly wind!  A female/immature Yellowhammer was finally clinched after getting right side of the sun - loosely associated with the finch flock, but then remaining on the mound when they returned to the gate area.  The remainder of the 'coverage' amounted to oversleeping (last night's rock and roll lifestyle playing at a ceilidh at Lowgill village hall?) and picking up the very back end of a few thrushes, Chaffinches and Meadow Pipit before the wind started getting up and it 'went dead'

Not a good morning to give vis mig coverage a bit of a miss - see thread on LDBWS and FBC sites - however most of the birds seemed to be heading north to the east of us

North wall 
Finches amounted to about 22 with circa 15 Goldfinch, 5 Twite and 2 Linnet but heavy duty work in the centrica compound kept them off the food
Yellowhammer - female/imm with the above - what was probably this gave a single half-heard (a lot of background noise here for hearing vis mig) call seemingly quite high in the sky, so may have just come 'in-off' before pitching in and being located five minutes later in loose association with the finch flock.  Last seen around the gorse on the mound
Med Gull - adult and 1CY

Office area
Single Goldcrest ringed and not a lot seen (see intro): 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chaffinch and 5 Redwing

Moths
Surprisngly there were some: Caloptilia stigmatella, Light-brown Apple Moth and Pink-barred Sallow

Pre-dawn coverage

Heysham Obs
Pretty lively pre-dawn this morning, including catching and ringing four Lesser Redpoll in the dark - hadn't had these on the 'night-migrant' radar.  Coverage guillotined at 0830 due to work - plenty of Redwing, a few Brambling and Fieldfare, no moths.

Pre-dawn by the office
Redwing - 162 grounded but only one caught - counted as they flew inland from the tank farm - odds and ends casually seen later but no time
Lesser Redpoll - a bit surreal.  Whilst sitting by the office in the dark listening to Redwing, at 0715hrs, I heard a redpoll calling.  Pure laziness had led me to switch on a Redpoll MP3 by the nets to save going back in daylight and four were sat in the net by 0720hrs!  Definitely vis mig droppers, not ex-local roost.  Also surprising was that only one was subsequently seen/ringed when daylight arrived
Fieldfare - 25 pre or just after dawn
Grey Wagtail - another call in the dark and then again just as it was getting light - surely a 'wintering' blogger?
Brambling - 6+3+4+1 south-west in about a 2 minute spell just as it there was enough light to see them
alba Wagtail - 5
Meadow Pipit - 4?+ (at least 2 of these in the dark!!)
Chaffinch - 27 SW
Song Thrush - 2 east at dawn
Chiffchaff - one calling at dawn
Goldcrest - not one heard or seen pre-0830 (or afterwards)
Goldfinch - 3
Raven - 1+1 high to south just as it was getting light
Woodpigeon - 6 SE

More rubbishy medium-high cloud

Heysham Obs
Almost relieved when I saw the rubbishy clear but cloudy weather at dawn today as had so much work to do!  A few early morning thrushes and a miniscule scattering of Goldcrest = the grounded stuff.  Overhead was more productive, especially Pink-feet

Vis mig until 0930, then very on and off (S-SE unless stated)
Lesser Redpoll - 5 (4 ringed)
Meadow Pipit - 17
Redwing - 124
Grey Wagtail - 2
Fieldfare - 3
Chaffinch - 16
Goldfinch - 6
Mistle Thrush - 1
Greenfinch - 8 (NONE on feeder!)
alba Wagtail - 5
Pink-footed Goose - 250N, 20S, 140N, 10S, 70N
Carrion Crow - 1
Bullfinch - 4+2+1
Woodpigeon - 3
Coal Tit - one irruptive flock of 5

Grounded
Highlight of the walk round was meeting another moth trapper, Justine, who had set an overnight actinic.  Absolutely dead bird-wise apart from 12 Blackbird, flock of 5 Song Thrush, one Chiffchaff and four Goldcrest

Moths
The actinic produced Dark Chestnut, Epirrita, 2 Large Wainscotand a Mottled Umber.  The hut produced a Silver Y, Light-brown Apple Moth, Red-line Quaker and Pink-barred Sallow

Butterfly
Speckled Wood in the eastern woodland
 

Still a bit too clear

Heysham Obs
Nice to meet photographer David Millward and coloured pencil artist Jo Goudie today who are heavily involved in the Machrihanish twite ringing.  Jo has re-vamped the Machrihanish website and it can be accessed at the moment via: colouredpencilart.co.uk/msbo

Bird-wise this morning was a little disappointing, although par for the course once the uniform medium-high cloud and clear visibility across the bay was evident.  This seemed to suppress vis without producing a vast amount of grounded stuff.  However, its usually day 2 after the big east coast fall, so tomorrow is hopefully 'game-on'

Vis mig until about 0930
Redwing - 122
Woodcock - one flew over the office and landed in the wood by the pylons just before dawn
Chaffinch - just 6
Meadow Pipit - 8
Blackbird - 12
Starling - 29 south
Lesser Redpoll - 6 (3 ringed)
Bullfinch - one high to south, at least one other 'grounded'
Fieldfare or Mistle Thrush - 6 high in the sky to the east, heading north
Greenfinch - low single-figures only
alba Wagtail - 1
Linnet - 2
Goldfinch - just 12
Rock Pipit - 1

North harbour wall
At least one Twite and a Rock Pipit

Grounded migrants
Redwing - c10
Song Thrush - 5
Blackbird - 25
Chiffchaff - 1
Goldcrest - at least 3
Brambling - one Heysham head

Moths
Much better: Large Wainscot, 2 Feathered Thorn, Feathered Ranunculus, Silver Y, Epirrita spp, 5 Red-line Quaker and a Pink-barred Sallow

The day before it all happens?

Heysham Obs
Coverage limited to intermittent vis mig and a few mist nets by the office (thanks John) due to work.  A Twite-ringing session took place on the north wall with the site inundated by Goldfinch.  Quite a 'finch' morning with the notable exception of Chaffinch which saw very few on vis mig.

Vis mig intermittently to 1100hrs
Redwing - 19
Lesser Redpoll - 11
Goldfinch - 13
Starling - 600 ex-roost
Chaffinch - 11
alba Wagtail - 2
Meadow Pipit - 29, including flock of 14, most mid-morning
Coal Tit - no obvious movement - just two unringed singletons
Mistle Thrush - 1


Grounded
Goldcrest - 3 new ones
Blackcap - one caught pre-dawn
Chiffchaff - one by office mid-morning
Very few thrushes grounded first thing (e.g. none ringed)


Late afternoon circuit of the reserve
Brambling - flock of 9 headed south
Redwing - dribs and drabs over, about 15 in total
Chiffchaff - one by dipping pond
Goldcrest - 2 in NE corner
Blackbird - c20 grounded

Ringing
New birds: Twite (7), Coal Tit (2) Greenfinch (11), Lesser Redpoll (9), Goldfinch (19), Dunnock (2), Goldcrest (3), Coal Tit (2), Chaffinch (1), Blackcap (1), Blue Tit (2)

Moths
No Saharan migrants - just Red-line Quaker, Pink-barred Sallow and Light-brown Apple Moth and a Silver Y seen in the field

Plane-spotting day

Heysham Obs
Too clear this morning and this led to boredom and messing about with an 'app' which revealed one of the 'northbound' planes was heading for Orlando and another, just to the west, for Mexico.  Very poor vis mig this morning and an almost unbelievable situation where NO Redwing were recorded, either pre-dawn or subsequently overhead!  Highlighted by a flock of Rook and Jackdaw and a few Lesser Redpoll.  A few new Coal Tits were caught this morning, but in dribs and drabs, not sizeable irruptive flocks

Vis mig on and off to 1000hrs (S/SE unless stated)
Bullfinch - 1 (and one unringed bird caught)
Mistle Thrush - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 12 (4 ringed)
Carrion Crow - 4+2+2+1 high to south
Meadow Pipit - 21 (including 11 in-off on north wall)
Rock Pipit - 3 in-off together on north wall
Chaffinch - only 8 recorded but the only bird caught was bearing someone else's ring! (Y868 sequence)
Woodpigeon - 4+6 high to SE
alba Wagtail - 7
Siskin - 1
Pink-footed Goose - flock of 15 north
Goldfinch - c15 SE
Jackdaw - flock of 58 eventually high to SE
Rook - 5 with above

Grounded
Meadow Pipit - 17 already grounded on north wall (plus the 11 in-off)
Rock Pipit - 2 on north wall (plus 3 in-off)
Song Thrush - at least 8 at or just after dawn
Blackbird - c10 at or just after dawn
Chiffchaff - one round office (caught and ringed)
Goldcrest - one mound, one sandworks, four new ones on reserve
Coal Tit - 12 unringed birds caught
Great-spotted Woodpecker - unringed bird caught
Blue Tit - one unringed bird caught
Great Tit - one unringed bird caught

Ringing
A bit slow, but 30-odd new birds eventually ringed, including 12 more Coal Tit

Moths
Feathered Ranunculus was late

Snapshot coverage

Heysham Obs
Dawn was not very promising with a niggling southerly and medium-height cloud spilling in from the west, prompting a decision to get on with a pressing workload.  Coverage of the reserve was limited to a few mist net rounds and associated snapshots of vis which seemed to increase mid-morning as the skies cleared to the north.  The outer circuit of the reserve was lapped late afternoon

Grounded Heysham NR only
Single-figures of Redwing, Song Thrush and Blackbird
Chiffchaff - 2 in north-east corner, one high in the canopy by the entrance gate, the latter with an interesting rather soft and 'feeble' call (but not tristis), but only offering silhouette views
Goldcrest - small influx with 8 ringed and about 6 in the NE corner
Robin - two unringed birds caught

Extra bits and pieces of vis mig from mist-net rounds 
Grey Wagtail - 1
Skylark - 2
Meadow Pipit - 12
Redwing - 25
alba Wagtail - 5
Lesser Redpoll - 2
Linnet - 3
Goldfinch - 27, including flocks of 11 & 7 high to SE
Siskin - heard once
Bullfinch - 1 high to south
Pink-footed Goose - 63 N
Greenfinch - at least11 high to S

Vis at Heysham Head 0740-0920
Grey Wagtail - 2
Skylark - 1 heard.
Meadow Pipit - 9
Redwing - 4
alba Wagtail - 4
Linnet - 4
Goldfinch - 16
Siskin - 1 heard
Pink-footed Goose - 475 N, 90 SE
Greenfinch 6
Chaffinch - 57
Brambling - 1
Numbers and species very similar to the Nature Reserve over the same time period.  Difficult to say whether they are the same birds, more likely just indicative of the rates per hour. Some birds arrived over Heysham Head from the east and then, on reaching the sea, circled trying to decide which way to go.  Some went along the coast, others went SE.  Other birds arrived from the NW and continued SE.  Some were just coming down the coast. 
No obvious grounded birds.

North Harbour Wall
Goldfinch 26 (mostly ringed), Twite 3 (1 unringed), Robin 2, Meadow Pipit 8 grounded, local Pied Wagtail family (mum, dad and the kid).

Ringing
15 new Greenfinch confirmed the impression that new birds were passing through today, 8 Goldcrest, just four Coal Tit with no obvious flocks on the move, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Robin (one quite orange-breasted & grey, the other very christmas cardy), 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird

Moths
Epirrita spp and a Silver Y.  2 Silver Y and a Small Tortoiseshell on the yellow buddliea yesterday

Varied vis and mid-morning tits

Heysham Obs
This morning 'evolved' into quite a reasonable one after a poor start where useless uniform cloud cover at 'medium height' knocked any dawn thrush arrival on the head.  The rest of the morning saw gradual clearance to 'fine, sunny with light winds' by 1100hrs.  Interesting to note the different behaviour by two Coal Tit flocks where the birds were released together (after ringing) to try and retain the 'irruptive flock mode'.  The first was caught when the cloud cover was prominent, the second as the sky was virtually cloud-free.  The first lot just trundled into the nearest bushes and ambled their way south, the second lot circled up and within 10 seconds of release were at 'top of pylon height' and heading off noisily to the south-east.  Justification indeed for a strict protocol re-releasing these birds together instead of in dribs and drabs as they are ringed.

Vis mig dawn to about 1000hrs with a few bits thereafter
Meadow Pipit - 17 SE
Chaffinch - 182 SW
Lesser Redpoll - 4 SW
Brambling - 2 SW
alba Wagtail - 17 SE
Grey Wagtail - possibly the same off-passage bird seen twice
Starling - flock of 10 S
Mistle Thrush - 2 SW
Carrion Crow - 3+2+1 high to south
Goldfinch - 43 S
Redwing - 93 SW in dribs and drabs, no double-figure flocks!
Woodpigeon - 4+2 high to SE
Pink-footed Goose - 12+4 SE
Linnet - 3 SE
Skylark - 10 SE
Song Thrush - 2 SW
Greenfinch - at least 38 SW
Tree Sparrow - 4 together S
Siskin - flock of 25 SE
Jay - 2 S
Coal Tit - at least 16 migrants
Long-tailed Tit - 10 unringed birds were retained and released together along with two 'locals' caught at the same time - headed off to the south
What was probably a Snow Bunting was heard twice high to the west but it obviously isn't being claimed

Grounded
Hardly anything, so two Chiffchaff a little unexpected
Song Thrush - c10
Blackbird - much reduced on yesterday - 10-15
Chiffchaff - two newly arrived birds caught and ringed
Blackcap - one female ringed
Goldcrest - only two seen and both caught and ringed

Ringing
Expensive!  New-ringed stuff:  Goldfinch (45 plus a control), Long-tailed Tit (10), Coal Tit (16), Chiffchaff (2), Redwing (2), Song Thrush (1), Blackbird (1), Chaffinch (3), Bullfinch (1), Goldcrest (2), Greenfinch (10), Dunnock (1), Blue Tit (7), Blackcap (1), Linnet (2), Twite (5).  Goldfinch control was D057 sequence = pretty recent.