Firecrest in the harbour willowherb!

Heysham Obs
A check of the south harbour wall area, ostensibly for any wind-blown seabirds at 1045 GMT produced a series of calls which seemed more emphatic and lacked the lispy quality of Goldcrest.  A male Firecrest was located in the brambles and later hiding in the willowherb along the south harbour wall.  Gate 38 is available for those in the know, the route is otherwise via the usual outfalls directions from the tall mast

Pretty impossible in the willowherb but comes out into the brambles on occasions and shows well as Janet's pics show (being posted later)
Showed exceptionally well to single observer late afternoon allowing views of the red male crown stripe
Still present until at least 1615 GMT

Shag - 1CY harbour mouth first thing
Med Gull - 'new' 2CY with very extensive black primary tips following IOM ferry
Linnet - c35 north wall
Meadow Pipit - c14 north wall

Moths
Silver Y and two Feathered Thorn

Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Silver Y

Heysham Obs
Fairly low-key morning with a later start than it should have been.

Vis mig on and off 0830-1000
Chaffinch - 66
Goldfinch - 18
Redwing - 5
Greenfinch - 25
Tree Sparrow - 1
Meadow Pipit - 2

Grounded
Blackcap - male ringed
Chiffchaff - at least one still around
Goldcrest - at least two
Blackbird - bit of an arrival with 15+ round office

North harbour wall
Linnet - 34
Meadow Pipit - 14
Med Gull - one adult
Scotsmen - two anglers rehearsing for a remix of the Pink Floyd 'song'

Moths
5 Silver Y, Feathered Thorn and (new for the year) female December Moth

More exercise less vis

Heysham Obs
The early morning was cancelled due to pretty impossible weather and the lure of ASDA and a bit of coverage from about 0930 was all that was possible today

Vis mig by office 0930-0945
Chaffinch - 15 south
Skylark - 2 south
Meadow Pipit - 3 south
Goldfinch - 2 south
.......................hardly worth carrying on?

North wall
Meadow Pipit - c14
Redpoll spp - flight only singleton
Linnet - c35 - no absolutely definite Twite heard but one probable
Rock Pipit - 1
Robin - 2 on the mound section, 3 on sandworks

Red Nab
Med Gull - 2CY and 2 adults Red Nab but legs not visible
Little Egret - one along side of H2O

Butterflies
Red Admiral and Speckled Wood by office, Speckled Wood also by office yesterday

Clear moonlit morning fare

Heysham Obs
A quick posting before the Autumnwatch team arrives - shame they are unlikely to have a charter plane ready for Unst - a bit over budget, despite the 'migration' theme?

Vis mig dawnish to 1100ish
Tree Pipit or similar - two calls heard from a very highflying bird at 1100hrs
Chaffinch - 220
alba Wagtail - 55
Goldfinch - 82
Greenfinch - 60
Bullfinch-1+2+3 high to south
Redpoll agg - 6
Starling - one flock of 10!
Fieldfare - 38+18
Brambling - heard only one
Siskin - 30
Meadow Pipit - 8
Redwing - 1!
Skylark - 13
Pink-footed Goose - one skein of 122

Grounded
1 Chiffchaff, c6 Redwing, 1+ Goldcrest, one unringed Robin

One Twite at the north harbour wall with c30 Linnet

Shag in the harbour

Heysham Obs
A 1CY Shag, probably the one seen the other day, was feeding along the western side of e harbour this morning. Otherwise its a bit grim at the moment - more reminiscent of the back end of the autumn migration in mid November................other than the temperatures

Half an hour of vis mig when the rain stopped 0840-0910 was a waste of time as the wind had swung westerly and it produced:
Chaffinch - 15
Siskin - H
Goldfinch - 3
Redwing - 2

Grounded
Heard during the above:
Chiffchaff - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Blackbird - c5 (more than yesterday!!)

North wall circuit
Linnet - 31
Meadow Pipit - 14
Rock Pipit - 1
Med Gull - ad following ferry
Shag - 1CY as above

Ocean Edge area
Med Gull - 2P96 and a 2CY with a green darvic, presumably one of the German birds together on Red Nab at high tide - the 2CY was watched following in the IOM ferry earlier along with a
1CY Kittiwake

Middleton
5 Snipe and a Jack Snipe

Moths
A new bulb has been installed!

Finchy vis between the fronts

Heysham Obs
A short gap between blocks of rain allowed an hour's vis mig and a bit of exercise on a mound circuit

Vis mig 0850-0950
Goldfinch - 43
Chaffinch - 80
Greenfinch - 23
Tree Sparrow - flock of 3
Fieldfare - flock of 3
Woodpigeon - high flock of 5
Redpoll spp - one very high
Rock Pipit - one S - unusual over here
alba Wagtail - 2
Reed Bunting - three singletons south
Redwing - 2 SW
Bullfinch - one high to S
Whooper Swan - 10 adults south about 1210hrs, then landed on tide edge on Middleton sands

Grounded
Chiffchaff - two by the office were new in but no Goldcrest noted during the hour's vis mig
No obvious evidence of grounded thrushes between 0850 and 0950

North wall
Med Gull - adult following boat
Meadow Pipit - 7 grounded
Rock Pipit - definitely at least 2
Linnet - only 13 seen
usual 3 Robin and one Wren

Outfalls/Red Nab
Perhaps the same ad Med feeding in the boat channel otherwise nothing notable.  At lunchtime a different ad Med with below tarsus metal ring (possibly the Belgian bird read in the summer|) and single Little Egret Red Nab until...................

Muttwatch
A cross between a terrier and a fox on Red Nab at lunchtime - scored 7.5/10 i.e. flushed 75% of the birds. 

Moths
Bulb broke! but 1+ Nettle Tap Moth in the mist net ride by office

Pre-frontal flurry

Heysham Obs
It was about as 'busy' as it has been all autumn for about 30 mins post-dawn today as an organised front approach from the SSW and it was difficult to know what to do.  About an hour with mist nets by the office coupled with vis mig was about it.  Unfortunately when support arrived in the form of  Bryan and Jean it had all ceased bar a few Chaffinch and odds and ends as the cloud was overhead and the leading edge way to the north-east.................and rain from about 0945hrs

Vis dawn to about 0930hrs
Redwing - 51
Fieldfare - 545
Goldfinch - 79
Chaffinch - 374
Brambling - 2+H+H - prob just 4 birds
Reed Bunting - 3
Siskin - 7
Starling - 12+30
Bullfinch - 2
Meadow Pipit - 2
Pink-footed Goose - 25
alba Wagtail - about 12 ex-roost then just one

Grounded
Goldcrest - c20 around office early on, including gang of 11 (no ruby crowned kinglet)
Blackbird - c15 around office
Redwing - about 20 which flew inland early on
No Woodpigeons seen this am as per yesterday

Inshore
Not a lot other than the huge wader flocks south of Ocean Edge - one Little Egret and 29 Linnet on feeder, two Rock Pipit north wall, 5+ Meadow Pipit north wall (south wall not checked)

A Black R-type car-sweep of the non-op land etc etc etc was fruitless but was carried out!

Moths
3 Feathered Thorn and 2 Light brown apple moth

Better coverage, more reward

Heysham Obs
Two things today produced the goods in a typical 'local patch highlight' fashion.  One was some early morning vis mig, despite unpromising weather, and the second thing was the WeBS count.

Vis mig, dawnish to 1100hrs with a 45 min gap during heavy rain
Fieldfare - 1,720 SW
Chaffinch - 165
Woodpigeon - 27 flew east early morning - unexpected - ex-roost?
Redwing - only 34 seen with Fieldfare flocks, others could have been missed but not many
Greenfinch - 6
Pink-footed Goose - 15+26+32
alba Wagtail - 20
Mistle Thrush - 4 assuming there were none lurking silently with Fieldfare flocks
Starling - 17+54 on the requisite high SW migrant heading
Meadow Pipit - 1!
Goldfinch - 22
Siskin - 10

Grounded
Meadow Pipit - 6 on mound and 8 on south harbour wall
Goldcrest - one south harbour wall and c5 reserve
Chiffchaff - one reserve
Blackbird - very few - <10 p="">
Webs
Cormorant - 82 wooden jetty
Shag - one thought to be on wooden jetty with obscured view confirmed by later sighting off Ocean Edge (amazingly including a record shot) whence it headed towards the Lune Estuary
Med Gull -  adults on Fisher's roof, north harbour wall and Red Nab
Redshank - a massive roost of 570 on the heliport seawall (and sure enough the sunny slopes groyne had been disturbed (just 34 Redshank)), 220 on beach south of Ocean Edge
Oystercatcher - 2,100 heliport, 420 remained around Red Nab (plus 1,100 SSG, 280 Battery, 520 WEG)
Turnstone - 56 wooden jetty, 30 with heliport Redshank
Ringed Plover - 16 heliport, 11 along shore south of ocean edge
Little Egret - one remained around Red Nab

Moths
Feathered Thorn, Pink-barred Sallow  and Light Brown Apple Moth



 

Dead early morning

Heysham Obs
Here are the pics of the two Grey Wagtails ringed at Heysham this autumn and subsequently seen elsewhere: from Skokholm (thanks to Richard Brown) and Seaforth (thanks to Chris Gregson).  Please do report any sightings even if you only manage to see one of the legs properly.  Thanks.

Nothing doing at first light either on the grounded front or the vis in the low cloud and rain - wind perhaps too southerly.  The coastal trek was similarly unproductive with just a Little Egret barely worth raising a pencil to a notebook - even the fishing hooked gull had disappeared

However, as it cleared up a mist net was erected and produced 20 unringed Green finch, a continental male Chaffinch (95mm wing) and what were 2/5 of a flock of Coal Tits passing thorough which had very yellow cheeks for this time of year

A Red-line Quaker and Light Brown Apple Moth graced the moth trap

Gull and Goldcrests

Today's posting is from Jean.

The posting heading could be a name for a funpub but it certainly wasn't fun for the Gull.  A young herring gull had found what it thought was some food, only to become snared by a discarded hook and fishing line.  It was impossible to rescue the bird as it was at the bottom of the sea wall and the tide was in.  It will be a slow, horrible and sickening death for the bird and just because of someone's thoughtlessness and carelessness. I intend to take a plastic bag with me every time I visit the North Harbour Wall and pick up any fishing line. I don't understand why some people think that it is someone else's job to pick up their rubbish.  Instead of hiding beer cans under rocks or just chucking fishing line on the ground I wish they would clear up after themselves. 

Hooked Herring Gull desperately trying to escape but this was as far as it could get.

Today's sightings:
Heysham Nature Reserve
Vis 0740-0940
Redwing 3
Chaffinch 39
Brambling 1
alba Wagtail 6
Rook 29
Starling 109 east
Greenfinch 9
Goldfinch 4
Grey Wagtail 1
Blackbird 1
Pink-footed Goose 150 west at 0845
Also 1 Skylark over at 1200hrs

On a walk round the reserve:
Blackbird 15, Song Thrush 1, Robin 20, Chaffinch 3, Goldcrest 18, Coal Tit 2, Chiffchaff 1, Yellow-browed Warbler? 2 calls heard but didn't manage to see the bird.  Wren 7, Great Tit 11, Blue Tit 9, Dunnock 5, Long-tailed Tit c16 in 2 flocks, Bullfinch 3, Moorhen 1, Water Rail 1, Magpie 4, Carrion Crow 4, Woodpigeon 7, Jay 1, Cormorant 1 ! - the latter landed on the fire pond near the hut.  Sparrowhawk 1

North Harbour Wall
2 Mediterranean Gulls - adults, one with yellow darvic, one with metal ring (Czech bird?)
Linnet 25
Reed Bunting 1
Robin 1
Scandinavian Herring Gull seen by Ian W.

South Harbour Wall
Goldcrest 1
Robin 2
Wren 1
Linnets commuting to North Harbour Wall

Red Nab
Oystercatcher - several hundred
Wigeon -28
Litle Egret 1