Seawatching vigil

Heysham Obs
Thank to Pete and Pete for covering the sea this morning - unfortunately conditions not quite as good as yesterday with some low cloud and drizzle. Note complete absence of Arctic Tern.

Sea 0610-0920 then 1115-1125
Arctic Skua - dm in 0826, lm in 0843
Gannet - 17
Guillemot - 9-11
Common Scoter - 15 in, 4 out
Red-throated Diver - 4 out
Little Gull - adult out early on, then adult out 1120
Sandwich Tern - 16 blogging
Mute Swan - 2 out

Red Nab/outfalls/Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 4 'large' birds
Bar-tailed Godwit - 275 on tideline just north of cable route
Kittiwake - 2CY outfalls
No terns

Mammal
Grey Seal offshore
Fox flushed from the back of the sandworks - headed through Centrica storage area (36V)

Itsy bitsy seawatching

Heysham Obs
This unfortunately looks like being the theme for the rest of the spring seawatching season as the main protagonists are just not going to be as available as usual in the next week or so.  Help would be appreciated, especially during the incoming stages of the tide

Seawatch 0645-0700
A 50 minute journey (thanks to the two excruciatingly slow Argos trucks) and work away constricted what should have been at least 30 minutes of availability - same couldnt stay a bit longer:

Common Scoter - 2 out
Arctic Skua - lm in then on
Gannet - adult out
Manx Shearwater - one out (possibly 2 - very distant)
Kittiwake - 2CY inshore/outfalls
No terns

Sea 1015-1115
Kittiwake - flock of 90 eventually out high
Red-throated Diver - one u-turning
Common Scoter - 10 on
Sandwich Tern - 3

Office area -0705hrs
Grasshopper Warbler  -one singing by the car park

Middleton Nature reserve Canada geese passing over

A few early morning migrants

Heysham Obs
A quick check of the north wall and the outfalls on the dropping mid-morning tide was thoroughly unproductive but there were a few early morning migrants around the office area

Outfalls
Kittiwake - 1 2CY
Arctic Tern - zero
Sandwich Tern - none offshore or sitting on buoys

Office area
6 Lesser Redpolls ringed & another 6 seen, single out of habitat migrant Sedge Warbler and single Whitethroat ringed in the early morning before the wind got up

Middleton NR
Wheatear - 1

Clear moonlit frosty dross saved by the French

Heysham Obs
A look out of the window at a clearly outlined Ingleborough, courtesy of the moon, at 0400hrs nearly sent me back to bed.  Definitely not the conditions for land-falling night migrants contra some forecasts.  However, the lure of the early morning Lesser Redpoll passage and the incredibly high ratio of birds ringed elsewhere.................

Due to problems with the CD, this was a disaster with a concentrated passage between 0515 and sunrise completely missed.  Plan B - a presumed Common Redpoll on a 'foreign' CD also failed to impress and it was only when Lesser Redpoll was played on the MP3 that half a dozen belated birds were ringed

Then it was Middleton CES time and this was an excellent little three hour/four net session for so early in the year with a French-ringed Sedge Warbler highlighting.

Needless to say there were few night migrants this morning although two, possibly three singing male Reed Warblers seemed to 'drift in' and establish their territories during the morning and the CES indicated a trickle of presumed migrant Willow and Sedge Warbler

Odds and ends mainly very early morning
Sandwich Tern - 17 offshore
Arctic Tern - just one seen this morning, 15 on the outfalls later
Little Gull - adult outfalls late afternoon
Kittiwake - 2CY outfalls late afternoon
Guillemot - c5 late afternoon
Bar-tailed Godwit - 329 on tideline off Ocean Edge
Grasshopper Warbler -singing before dawn on the tank farm, but just once thereafter - presumably paired and nesting
Green Woodpecker -one by the office first thing
Canada Goose - two casing out the pond near the office
Tree Pipit - one north
Lesser Redpoll - 35-40 north
Linnet - 16 north
Goldfinch - 20 north
Swallow - one north! - too early for them?

Middleton
Reed Warbler - up to 3 singing males by mid-morning, following none for the first two hours or so
Ringing: 8 Sedge Warbler (including French bird), 5 Willow Warbler plus retrap, one Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Bunting plus 2 retraps, one Goldfinch, one retrap Blue Tit

Mammals
Harbour Porpoise seen very early morning and then late afternoon, presumably the same beastie

April ringing
This was the worst in the 30-odd year history of the Obs for phylloscopus warblers, especially Willow Warbler.  Whilst this was partly due to observer unavailability, it was also due to the big fall day being just too wet to risk operating mist nets as the birds piled in  (Thursday 25th).  Only 237 birds were ringed of which 110 were Meadow Pipit, 33 Goldcrest, 32 Lesser Redpoll, 13 Chiffchaff (c/f internet postings on much reduced numbers on territory) and just 9 Willow Warbler

Early morning vis mig

Heysham Obs
As usual, didn't get here quite early enough this morning to completely monitor a decent vis mig corridor before the weather came in from the west and wind increased

Probably getting on for 100 Lesser Redpoll over since I arrived at the late hour of 0545hrs along with a really decent count for here of 9 Tree Pipit with the first three as soon as I arrived

Managed to belatedly retrieve the situation ringing-wise a little with 20 Lesser Redpoll including the second bird ringed elsewhere this spring from the same ring string Y794701-800. 

A late flock of Pink-footed Geese headed north as is often the case in early May

More later...but the weather is deteriorating into mediocrity

This late Snipe was photographed by Janet this afternoon

Skylark highlight

Heysham Obs
Rather different coverage an usual today with no attempt to seawatch after the recent paint-drying experiences.  A bit of unproductive early-morning ringing, breeding bird survey of Middleton and a visit to the outfalls near high tide

Outfalls near high tide
Kittiwake - two 2CY
Arctic Tern - just 30-35

Middleton NR
Skylark - singing male
Grasshopper Warbler - 3 singing males

Lesser Whitethroat - 4-5 singing males
Tree Pipit - one grounded.  Linnet

Heysham NR
Lesser Whitethroat - at least 3 singing males. 2 Male Blackcaps 1 female

Butterflies
Speckled Wood - 2 along road
Brimstone - male
Plenty of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell

Maximum work, minimum birding

Heysham Obs
An 0700 start but straight to the computer rather than being tempted by the sea.  A short check at lunchtime revealed fractionally more than yesterday's zero, courtesy of some auks. Good numbers of Arctic Tern still 'off passage'.  Purple Sandpiper still around, or a migrant joining the Turnstones

Sea 1145-1215
Auk spp - 11 out
Razorbill - one out
Guillemot - one on
Turnstone - 140
Purple Sandpiper - one
Redshank - 45 on wooden jetty

Outfalls
Arctic Tern - 165

Moth
White-shouldered House Moth was an exciting addition to the year list

Med Gull, Bonxie and three figures of Arctic Tern but not a lot else

Heysham Obs
North wall 0600 intermittently to 1315hrs
Bonxie (Great Skua) - blogging, then flew in along Kent Channel c0625
Arctic Tern - 6 purposefully in before outfalls checked
Guillemot - one floated in
Managed one hour of seawatching (1015-1115hrs) without a single notable entry over and above Lesser Black-backed Gull, despite decent visibility

Outfalls/Red Nab
Mediterranean Gull - a 2CY was new in - winter plumaged head with a strong mask
Arctic Tern - 105, mainly seaward end Heysham 2
Common Gull - 175
Black-headed Gull - 15
Kittiwake - 1 2CY

Moths
Muslin Moth a surprise, also Herald of note

Saved by the Grasshopper Warbler

Heysham Obs
You don't normally organise a seawatching event in order to obtain excellent views of Grasshopper Warbler, the only grounded migrant on the mound/sandworks!

 

Thanks to Peter Last for these

The rest of it was dire with a northerly blocking wind not displaying any easterly element early in the morning.  The old saying - 'you should have been here (pick any other say this last week other than yesterday)..........or even tomorrow where there is a decent wind, plus a even more promising howling gale on Monday for a few displaced Manxies etc. We've had a really bad run of weather for events over the last twelve months.

North harbour wall
Grasshopper Warbler - present for at least two hours in the region of the 'gap' between the mound and sandworks, last seen in/under the sea buckthorn along the south-eastern corner of the sandworks
Swallow - 16 north
Arctic Tern - 96 accumulated on the outfalls but no movement until 1250 when 48 flew purposefully north
Sandwich Tern - 30 in
Auk spp - one out
Greylag - one in
Guillemot - 3 on
Willow Warbler - one late morning
Red-throated Diver - 4 out, one on
Kittiwake - adult behind the ferry
Little Gull - 2
Turnstone - 81
Siskin - 1
Linnet - at least 15 north
alba Wagtail - 2 north
Reed Bunting - late migrant north

Mammals
Harbour Porpoise - 1
Grey Seal - 1

Swallows

Middleton NR
A few left-overs from yesterdays fall plus newly-arrived residents including 2 singing male Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 30+ Willow Warbler
Gadwall - 2 males and female
Tufted Duck - 9
Little Grebe - 3

Outfalls
Kittiwake - 2 2CY

North harbour wall 0715-0830
Vis:
Swallow 64 - following the channel in
House Martin - 3 on the same line as the swallows
Meadow Pipit - 3 north
Linnet 1 - north
Goldfinch 1 north
Siskin - 2 north
Whimbrel - 1 heard, 3 heading towards Red Nab later

Seawatching:
Arctic Tern - 34 blogging

On the mound:
Dunnock - 1
Linnet - 5