Purple patch on the sea

Heysham Obs
The period 0735 to 0805 was either the back end of a spell of a decent un-watched early morning seawatch or just hitting the right time.  It was absolutely dead from 0805 onwards as the dropping tide started to expose sandbanks   Beware: both the Kittiwake flock and the Pomarine Skuas MAY have been missed by people using telecopes on 'half horizon' whilst seawatching.  I never use a scope when on my own in spring and regularly scan the sky with the scope at ready.  Ok you may miss some low over the sea distant small stuff, but can you identify it anyway & you certainly do not miss any flying skuas/Gannets etc?


Sea 0735-0835
Pomarine Skua - three full-tailed lm adults were on view for 'ages' from about 0802hrs as they slowly circling round gaining height until lost as tiny dots with tails over Morecambe.  I'm assuming they went overland but inland conditions were not perfect with low cloud around e.g. Ingleborough
Arctic Skua - in contrast the three birds were in blogging mode.  Dark and light morph got up off the sea and flew into the bay and landed again (0740).  Five minutes later another dark morph flew low into the bay further out and again landed on the sea.  Unusual behaviour in what were good migration conditions over the bay and no obvious food source in the absence of terns
Kittiwake - flock of 35 high in the sky and spiralling around heading north up the centre of the bay but not gaining any further height
Whimbrel - 5+1 'in'
Common Scoter - 18 out
Gannet - singleton out at the same time a flock of 9 were heading in
NO terns!

Middleton NR
Pair of Little Ringed Plover displaying and mating in suitable habitat
Wall Brown - one by model boat pond - looked like male

Moths
Rustic Shoulder Knot was new for the year

Low-key May continues

Heysham Obs
Struggling with any semblance of proper coverage so far this month - at least the forecasted weather this week points towards just one thing - seawatching - instead of making the wrong early morning decision during 'not quite right' easterlies, as has been the case on two occasions recently based on events nearby.

Sea intermittently mid-morning
Sandwich Tern - 3
Arctic Skua - dark morph out
Swallow - c20/hr north
Swift - one north (IOY)

Others
Little Egret - one Red Nab - why are there so many hanging around the Lune Estuary and up to here?
Wheatear - 13 Ocean Edge and area

Moths
Least Black Arches good for here

Isolated quality!

Heysham Obs
No early morning coverage seemed justified when a half hour seawatch 1000-1030 produced nothing to trouble the notebook.  Pete Crooks then put in 1.5 patient hours and had three sightings:

Common Scoter - 33
Black Tern - one in (the only tern!!)
Pomarine Skua - light morph on the sea, then got up and flew out, climbing all the time

Then a phone call from elsewhere suggested we had missed some early morning landbirds.......................

Then later on the blog title became even more appropriate - summer plumaged AMERICAN BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT at nearby Cockersands - found by Stuart!   

Moths
Male Muslin moth was a nice less than annual visitor

Dreadful

Heysham Obs
Gave up any coverage and started work at 0630! (thanks Pete for rest of stuff)

Gannet - 2 in Cumbria
Common Scoter - 2 in Cumbria
Swift - 3 Middleton model boat pond lunchtime (IOY)
Common Sandpiper - one Middleton model boat pond
Whimbrel - 5 seen
Lesser Redpoll - flocks of 6+4 north but no nets up!
Goldfinch - 2 obvious migrants NE
Greylag - 2 flew over the HN reserve
Sparrowhawk - female - 'in-off', then high to NE - the most interesting sighting of the day!
Wheatear - 6 Ocean Edge
Willow Warbler - one ringed

Very slow going

Heysham Obs
Bad news: Due to refurbishment of Heysham One outfall, the WHOLE of the seawall is likely to be closed and this includes locking Gate 38.  Imminent. 


A bit of effort on the sea today gave the usual sum of the parts looking rather better than actually being there staring at a largely empty sea


Sea 0700-1115
Arctic Tern - 9+21+47+29+33+5+1 'in'
Black Tern - flock of 5 'in' 1030ish
Swallow - 86 NE
Sand Martin - 1 NE
Cormorant - flock of 4 N
Little Gull - adult summer offshore early morning
Med Gull - 2CY blogging early morning


Grounded
Wheatear - 9 Ocean Edge early on


Just one Lesser Redpoll reported by the reserve office and nothing suggesting any migration in the mist nets

Robin and sedgeWarbler at Middleton

Early morning Sedge Warblers

Heysham Obs
In conditions which the rainfall radar suggested was just about ok, the rather minimalistic 3 hour CES at Middleton was attempted this morning, prompted by conditions which looked pretty good for a Sedge Warbler arrival.  It was a good job it was only a three hour session and the nets could be whipped down fairly quickly before the heavens opened.   The problem was not rain, but a niggling F2/3 ESE wind which is not a good direction for here but at least the nets were spared direct sunlight.


Apart from the life-changing experience of putting a B ring on a Dunnock, there were a good number of Sedge Warblers around as the nets were being set, before the wind got up, and 12 were caught.  Wing length suggested all were males.  The only ringed bird was one of ours from last year - this species seems second only to Lesser Redpoll for producing birds ringed elsewhere - an average of about 1/10 of spring birds


Middleton 0545-0900
Meadow Pipit - one in song flight (absent for a year or two on territory)
Skylark - 2 singing males
Gadwall - two males and female flying around
Common Sandpiper - singleton heard
Sedge Warbler - 30+
Grasshopper Warbler - 3-4 singing males. all intermittent
Reed Warbler - 4-5 singing males
Willow warbler - again no evidence of any migrants
Whinchat - female passed through
Hirundines - not one seen!
Greylag - three


Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 11


Sea
No birds of interest in a 30 minute watch mid-morning - tomorrow looks better for tern passage


Moths
Dark-barred Twin-spot, Flame and Common Carpet............& Parsnip Moth

HNR this afternoon and the regular Robin outside the office

Early morning Wood Warbler reward

Heysham Obs
An early start saw a decent first light migrant spread by recent standards, although Willow Warbler conspicuously absent.  Then the nets had to be furled due to heavy rain which I hadn't foreseen


Tomorrow looks a bit better with a decent fall of migrants yesterday on Portland suggesting that stuff is at last getting thorough in numbers after a difficult week of weather around the channel.  Middleton CES with a few extra migrants/Heysham migrants/which forecast to believe???


Early morning Heysham NR
Redstart - female by office first thing appeared to move off north across the plateau, then probably another female escaped from mist net!
Wood Warbler - singing male started in the screening planting by the dipping pond at 0555hrs, then presumably the same went via the car park willows into the trees along the pylons.  Last heard singing about 0610.  A rather strange route through the site by a migrant!
Whitethroat - 2 ringed and at least one other migrant
Lesser Whitethroat - one ringed
Lesser Redpoll - one ringed - 3 over when nets furled
Willow Warbler - no evidence of any migrants
Wheatear - 7 Ocean Edge
Sedge Warbler - one by office first thing
Garden Warbler - singing male by obs tower pond first thing (IOY)

Middleton nr
Four different grasshopper warblers, single singing male garden warbler and seven other species of warbler. Surely the best dawn chorus site in this area?

Todays selection from Middleton site

Please dont say "isnt it a lovely day"

Heysham Obs
More 'fly straight over' weather this morning with migration being absolutely hopeless

Sandwich Tern - 6 bloggers
Common Scoter - 1
Wheatear - 8
Redpoll - I lesser ringed
Willow Warbler - 1 ringed
Sedge Warbler - 1 ringed
Swallow - 6 or so
House Martin - 3 or so

Moths
Oak Tree Pug and Spruce Carpet at Middleton

Slack and slow

Heysham Obs
Just about worth an early start this morning in conditions with no clearly defined airflow which produced exactly as expected


Sea 0625-0800
Sandwich Tern - 9 blogging, 6 in
Arctic Tern - flock of 23 in
Black Tern - one in at 0705hrs
Swallow - 1!
Whimbrel - 1
Red-breasted Merganser - 4
Redpoll - 1


Ocean Edge
Whimbrel - 1
Wheatear - 7 male, 2 female


Grounded
Four 'new' Lesser Whitethroat were caught in the office nets comprising half the new birds by 0900hrs!
The only vis noted over the office was a pre-dawn redpoll

Early morning sea passage switched off just after 0730

Heysham Obs
'Facilitation' can mean missing most things in rapid transit and this was the case for me this morning (including the Wood Warbler giving two bursts of song as it passed through).  However, the fare for the early morning sea-watchers was reasonably good, for the later ones it was an empty sea, as also happened at JBP.  Not sure where the additional 500 Arctic T passing Rossall ended up unless they were pre-0600hrs or went up the Lune 'flightline'?

Heysham North Harbour Wall (0605 - 0850 hrs) (thanks Pete C for count - the Tree Pipit were over the gate area):
Arctic Skua - 1 dark morph flew into the Bay at 0620 hrs
Black Tern - 10 - comprising a flock of 9 flew into the Bay at 0630 hrs, then 1 followed a flock of Arctic Terns into the Bay at 0705 hrs
Arctic Tern - 337 flew into the Bay, including double-figure flocks of 90, 74, 16, 41, 17, 54 and 35
Common Scoter - 13 - groups of 3 in, 2 out, 2 in and 6 out
Sandwich Tern & Red-throated Diver - None!

Also offshore: 1 Gannet, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Eider, 4 Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Whimbrel

Overhead passerines included 20 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 6 Tree Pipit, 2 Sand Martin, c20 Meadow Pipit and 1 Grey Wagtail, while grounded migrants comprised 3 Wheatear and 1 Willow Warbler

Grounded elsewhere
Wood Warbler - singing male by the dipping pond mid-morning
Wheatear - at least 19 different birds, mainly Ocean Edge
Whinchat - male Ocean Edge
Blackcap - three new birds ringed
Willow Warbler - just two new birds ringed

Middleton NR
A 'new' continuously singing male showed well to some observers, increase in Sedge Warblers to low double figures of singing males
Gadwall - 5