Slightly more over the sea, less overhead

Heysham Obs
Fractionally more interest today although Meadow Pipits and alba Wagtails are in reduced numbers so far

North harbour wall
Common Scoter - flock of 17 out
Red-throated Diver, 14 in, including groups of 3+5
Raven - one purposefully north over the sea
Coal Tit - very noisy flock of 5 on the fence by the ex-sand-works, then flew towards Heysham Head along the seawall!
Pink-footed Goose - 4+47 NW
Twite - maximum of just 47 but a lot of activity in nearby yard
Linnet - one on seed, first for a bit
Purple Sandpiper - on rocks below seawall on dropping tide
Eider - 189
In addition, 3 small gulls together in the direction of the wind turbines were almost certainly Little but extremely distant!

Office area & general vis mig
Goldfinch - 7 north
Reed Bunting - one north
alba Wagtail - 12 north
Meadow Pipit - just c35 north during the morning (9 ringed)

Ringing in March
Don't normally post much about ringing totals, but the newly-ringed stats for March are quite interesting for the wrong reasons!  Note that most of the activity involved nets set next to feeders, which were just not producing "any" new birds apart from a trickle of Blue and Great Tits, a few migrants Robins and the occasional 'new' finch:  Long-tailed Tit (3), Great Tit (5), Goldfinch (6), Blackbird (2), Chaffinch (2), Greenfinch (8), Twite (9), Mediterranean Gull (1), Robin (8), Meadow Pipit (49), Dunnock (3), Blue Tit (5).  The grand total of this lot was more than doubled by Goldcrest and Lesser Redpoll in March 2012 - conspicuously absent this year, along with Chiffchaff.       

No April drool

Heysham Obs
Today was about as devoid of anything new happening than I can remember at this time of year. There is the bonus of a prolonged stay by the Twite flock and unscheduled expense on nyger seed but otherwise just a dribble of Meadow Pipit overhead. The seawatching was really dire with nothing worth writing down in the course of just over an hour

North harbour wall
Twite 73, including two unringed and the usual Machrihanish bird, along with an old pale blue over white/red which I don't recall having seen recently

Office area
Meadow Pipit - 55 NE

Middleton NR
2 Greylag, 2 Snipe

Thanks Janet

No summer visitors seen or heard

Meadow Pipits but what else?

Heysham Obs
The highlight today was ticking the requisite boxes for a "white Easter" as a few snowflakes appeared late morning. Very disappointing morning with less happening than yesterday and not even a compensatory Osprey through the massive amount of airspace given good coverage

North wall 0700 onwards
Watching paint dry
Kittiwake - flocks of 14+12 the "highlight"
Eider - 91
Twite - c70
Great-crested Grebe - 9
plus vis dealt with below

Vis mig combined office & NHW 0700-1130
Siskin - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 2
Jackdaw  - flock of 4
Carrion Crow - 1 high & purposeful
Canada Goose - 5 did a circle of the golf course
alba Wagtail - 42
Meadow Pipit - 377
Goldfinch - 5
Greenfinch - 1 (!)
Linnet - 3
Coal Tit - 2+1 north

Miscellany
No Meds seen
Wigeon - 33

The spring passage of Turnstone is well under way -the time of peak numbers here.  In contrast, Little Grebe seems to have declined in the last three years as a breeding species at Middleton and so far this year, there may only be two pairs.   Thanks to Sandra and John Truran for the pics

Night migrants
None unless two unringed Robins being chased come into this category

Ringing
27 Meadow Pipit and 2 Greenfinch 

Meadow Pipits get going

Heysham Obs
Interesting Twite statistics.  35 were caught yesterday, two lots of 20 were caught today.  Only 10 of the 40 caught today were not caught yesterday and 7 of the first lot of 20 were retrapped in the second lot.  Yet the grand total of Twite in the last two days has been c82 yesterday and c75 today with just 5-6 unringed/day.  These probably accounted for the 5 unringed birds caught in the last two days.  Conclusion being that there is a 'core' of habituated birds, a handful of unringed birds unfamiliar with whoosh nets and a gang of wary ones!  Permission granted to use in Key Stage ?5 maths.  60-70 were back on the seed by lunchtime

Meadow Pipit and Kittiwakes were on the move today with three very short seawatches producing the latter and there may have been many others

North harbour wall
Twite - c75, including the usual Machrihanish-ringed bird
Med Gull - the displaying summer adults were still there early on at least
Mute Swan - 2 in harbour, one inshore

Vis mig
Kittiwake -  flocks of 18, 38 and 15 seen heading up the bay early morning
Red-throated Diver - 3+1 as above
Carrion Crow - flock of four purposefully north
Grey Wagtail - one north
alba Wagtail - minimum of 35 north
Meadow Pipit - c480 north
Goldfinch - c20 north
large raptor - Buzzard or harrier spp as a disappearing V shape heading over Heysham head early on

Miscellany
Pintail - male still at Middleton
No  Wheatear seen today
Knot - 8,200 on sands south of Ocean Edge
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2,850 as above
Dunlin - 2,400 as above
Grey Plover - 175 as above

A mixed bag of quality

Heysham Obs

Two out of the three Med Gulls yesterday afternoon on the north wall - the 3CY in the middle - this was not seen (so far) today.  Thanks Janet.

A lot of effort was put in today and it wasn't too bad at a local patch level, although a fly-over Osprey might have been a deserved reward.  Thanks to Malcolm, Pete Cook and John for extra records

North wall from very early on!
Med Gull - two noisy displaying adults as per yesterday for much of the early morning but no sign of 3CY
Yellowhammer - at least one of a flock of three birds heading north was a male of this species - most unusual in spring
Sandwich Tern - one flew up the Kent channel early on (first of year)
Kittiwake - flock of 14-15 up the Kent channel early on
Red-throated Diver - flocks of 3+4 up the Kent channel early on
Teal - 4
Twite - up to 82.  11 of these flew off high to the north towards Barrow during the early morning still air and the rest were quite noisy and flighty and at one point c50 circled high in the sky over the wooden jetty.  Normally only small numbers left by now (35 caught, 3 unringed)
Rock Pipit - one
Meadow Pipit - c35 north in 3 hours
alba Wagtail - c15 north in 3 hours
Goldfinch - 5 north in 3 hours
Whooper Swan - c15 distantly to the NW early morning

Ocean Edge/Red Nab area
Bar-tailed Godwit - c2,700
Wigeon - 25
Shelduck - 74
Jack Snipe - 3 different birds ocean edge saltmarsh inner edge at high tide
Common Snipe - on with above

Middleton NR
PINTAIL - male on Tim Butler pond - a mega!  First one ever known to have landed in this area
Teal - at least 40
Tufted Duck - 15
Mute Swan - 7 (2 juv)
Mallard - 6
Coot & Moorhen - 6 each
Little Grebe - 2
Gadwall - 3
Chiffchaff - one by no swimming pond (first of year!)

Seasonal mishmash

Heysham Obs
This weather is sending all sorts of mixed messages to the birds as they try and prepare for spring.  The following examples:

Med Gull - the pair of summer plumage adults (presumably from earlier in the month, not new ones) and Belgian-ringed 3CY returned to the north harbour wall for an afternoon's scavenging - these were all presumed long-gone

Linnet - a newly-arrived female gathered a bit of nest material, but her mate appeared to look up to the sky and shake his head, upon which the female let go of the piece of grass.  This is the first vaguely territorial Linnet seen this year - not even any vis mig yet

Wheatear - a male struggled in-off, then headed north

Meadow Pipit - a painfully slow trickle totalling 12 birds over 3 hours!

Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher display flighting over the inner shore

Pink-footed Goose - 47 struggling north over the sea

Twite - still at least 88, including 6-7 unringed and the usual Machrihanish bird

Whooper Swan - 6 reported as heading NW early morning

Wheatear still in the snow flurries

Heysham Obs
Still as you were migrant wise with a few Meadow Pipit prior to the route being blocked by east to west-moving snow cloud and poor visibility over the Fylde and not a lot else on the move

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Ringed Plover - flock of 24 by Middleton Towers
Still 8,500 waders, mainly Knot and Dunlin but also significant numbers of Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit on the intertidal to the south of Ocean Edge and north of Potts Corner until flushed to the south by a Peregrine at c0930hrs
Wheatear - the pristine male still at Red Nab

North harbour wall/wooden jetty area
Purple Sandpiper - 1
Twite - 88, including at least 10 ringed prior to this winter and the usual Machrihanish bird.  Therefore no real evidence of departure e.g. by older birds familiar with the journey
Black-headed Gull - still 125, mainly s.p.adults on Fisher's roof at high tide
Red-throated Diver - flock of 4 flying into the Bay

Heysham NR office area
Meadow Pipit - c60 NE early on, then a complete block from at least 0900hrs
Robin - two  very heavy unringed birds which are presumably migrants putting on fat
Blue Tit - one unringed bird

Off Carr Lane
Stonechat - female in the area of reeds and damp field between the Middleton Towers complex and
the footpath leading from the cattery to the shore

Spring has arrived!

Spring weather hasn't arrived but this Wheatear photographed by Janet has made it to Red Nab.  It may well be the one reported yesterday.

North Harbour Wall
Twite 69
Rock Pipit 1
Robin 2

Whoopers chill out

Heysham Obs

South of harbour
Wigeon - 89 Red Nab
Gadwall - pair on Red Nab
Whooper Swan - 10 arrived from the south and landed on the tidal edge at 0930 and fell asleep for at least two hours, despite the receding tide leaving them high and dry
Meadow Pipit - off-passage gang of 10

Middleton NR
Little Egret - 1
Goldeneye - female model boat  pond

North harbour wall
Twite - c100 but flighty
Red-throated Diver - one casually seen offshore (no lengthy seawatching)

Thanks to Pete Antrobus, Janet Packham for today's records

Counting the lingerers

Heysham Obs
Completely dead in terms of coastal new arrivals/sea passage

North harbour wall
Absolutely nothing moving over the sea in 30 minutes watch
Twite - 87 (just enough time to count them before flew off)
Goldfinch - 3

Ocean Edge inner foreshore
Knot - 2300
Dunlin - 670
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1850
& more of the above species plus Grey Plover further to south.  Justifying the new notices!

Outfalls/Red Nab
Black-headed Gull - 374 - 80% s.p. ads
Wigeon - 47