Twite return with extras

Heysham Obs

North harbour wall SD36V circuit
Med Gull - the usual three (2 ad & 1 2CY) following a departing ferry out as far as the wooden jetty before returning inshore
Twite - 67 all together on the seed allowing a quick check:  6 unringed (possibly 7-8) c/f yesterdays comment, one with metal-only on right leg (not a recent ring and not a Linnet!), rest all Heysham-ringed as far as could be seen
Linnet - 3 with above (2 ringed)
Goldfinch - 5 with above - not checked for rings
Song Thrush - 1 (but again no pipits)
Great-crested Grebe - 3 in a low-tide sweep

Moth
One Mottled Umber (the 42nd of the morning - 41 at Millhouses!)

More successful Twite ringing

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Song Thrush - 1
Twite - 30 were caught of which 18 were already Heysham-ringed, including quite a few birds from previous years.  Perhaps surprisingly, there were 12 unringed birds, marginally more than have been seen in the field recently.  There was at least one small flock which was not caught and ringed, nor examined in the field for ringed/unringed ratios.  The wary behaviour of this flock and observations on previous days suggests that possibly all the current Twite have now been ringed.  Will be interesting to see if any more unringed birds materialise this winter
Goldfinch - one unringed bird caught plus a few retraps
Linnet - one retrap, possibly more around as light very bad for speciating Linnet/Twite in the field
Med Gull - 2CY
Nothing of any interest seen offshore and no Meadow or Rock Pipit sightings reported   

Showery north wall

Heysham Obs
Perhaps predictably, the location of the particular anglers mentioned yesterday was strewn with newspaper, plastic bottles and discarded fishing line

North harbour wall
Twite - a brief scan of 77 finches on the seed before they flew produced 13 Goldfinch and 64 'twinnet'.  About 15 mins later, a smaller flock of pure Twite landed on the food and comprised 48 individuals with 10-11 unringed and the rest Heysham-ringed, mainly from this autumn
Linnet - minimum 4
Goldfinch - 13
Robin - 2

Heysham NR circuit
House Sparrow - one on NE pylon
Long-tailed Tit - flock of 17

Office area
Winter moth in trap and irritating bluebottle type fly (for 3rd day)

Twite hit the height

Heysham Obs
Usually a rant-free site but excuse the minor one today, please, after experience with a visiting angler this morning.  I was informed that scoping the Twite checking colour-ring details was 'in the way' as he had decided to park as close as possible to the narrow road.  Many of the anglers are good company, but there are certain non-local visitors who seem to think that their 4-wheel drive monstrosities blocking the single-track road is their 'right' and "someone" will remove all their rubbish if they either leave it strewn about or do that "someone" a favour by tying the bag of rubbish to a fence.  Who are these people?

Twite - 57-60, at least 8 unringed
Linnet - 5
Goldfinch - 4
Song Thrush - 1

Moth
Mottled Umber 

Red-line Quaker surprise

Heysham Obs

North harbour wall
Twite - 19
Linnet - 2
Goldfinch 4
Red-throated diver - one offshore
Med Gull - 2 adult and one 2CY on the old Fisher's roof at high tide

Moths
A Red-line Quaker found on egg packing which was definitely checked yesterday - just about alive - also one Winter Moth but could have been other things as Barn Owl boxes etc being stored in trap!

Brief north wall visit

Heysham Obs
Twite - 20, including 4 unringed & probably the usual Machrihanish-ringed bird
Linnet - 6 - at least 2 unringed
Goldfinch - 5
Meadow Pipit - 1

Heysham NR
Meadow Pipit - one flew over car park

In-off finch surprise

Heysham Obs
Most surprising sighting this morning was 5 Goldfinches being picked up coming in-off from the direction of Barrow - first seen as tiny dots way out into the bay.  

North harbour wall SD36V area
Red-throated Diver - two on an incoming tide sweep
Goldfinch - see above plus about 8
Twite - absolute minimum of 53 and 11 "Twinnet", possibly/probably mostly this spp. Did some of the extra ones come from across the bay?  No chance of close examination due to centrica store forklift activity next to the feeding site.
Linnet - at least 2
Meadow Pipit - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Robin - 3

Late record
Need to add 290+76+45 Pink-footed Goose yesterday in the fog, heading south, then east

Foggy frost

Heysham Obs
Peel Holdings missed a Christmas calendar opportunity this morning as the Heysham Harbour landmarks such as chain-link fences, barbed wire, sea-buckthorn and bits of leftover Oxford ragwort were all covered in a picturesque hoar frost.  The problem was that you could hardly see across the harbour, never mind a search out to sea.

North wall circuit
Song Thrush - 1
Robin - 3
Wren - 1
Rock Pipit - 1
Twite - 29, including at least 4 unringed and presumably the usual Machrihanish-ringed bird
Linnet - 5
Goldfinch - c8
Med Gull - adult and 2CY

The rest of the day seemed to be chained to MapMate as the long-overdue moths were all finally entered, with all the 'big days' in July (it was a pretty poor year otherwise), left to the time-consuming last.  Re-sorting on a Bradley and Fletcher A to Z really brough home how scarce some normally taken for granted species were this year, especially perhaps in May and June.  Others, on the other hand were thriving, notably the recent colonist, Blackneck 

Dont write your species accounts until the end of the year!

Heysham Obs
Grandiose pronouncements like "no intertidal Teal this year" were in dire need of revision after today and there were quite a few other additions to already "completed" accounts

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Wigeon -98
Red-breasted Merganser - 4
Little Egret - one roosting on Red Nab at high tide
Mallard - 4 off Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Teal - male and three females on sea off Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Shelduck - 68

North harbour wall
Skylark - 1 east
Twite -  29-31
Linnet - 1-3
Goldfinch - 6
Meadow Pipit - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Red-throated Diver - 4 offshore in one sweep mid-morning
Med Gull - ad & 2CY
Wren - 1
Robin - 4

Mammal
Grey Seal off north harbour wall

Red-throat influx

Heysham Obs

North harbour wall dropping tide spot check 1045hrs
Red-throated Diver - 7
Great-crested Grebe - 1
Eider - 1
Twite - at least 23
Linnet - at least 2
Goldfinch - 6
Song Thrush - 1
Robin - 2

Heysham N Reserve circuit (excluding obs tower path)
Blackbird - 14 scattered around
Song Thrush - 1