White winged black, dodgy falcon and Goosander

Heysham obs
A bit slow first thing in the almost, but not quite, first light frost. Then things got going and produced some interesting sightings, none more so that that very tricky Heysham Patchwork species, Goosander. The White-winged Black Tern reappeared mid morning and subsequently on and off into the afternoon and just prior to that a large sandyish falcon with 'pale around the head' was chased east by one of the local peregrines - seemingly a saker or similar crossbreed.  Ringing at the Heysham NR was predictably slow but Middleton was surprisingly good for a clear morning with a huge reddish moon!

Thanks to Colin Davies for two more pics from yesterday

Coastal
White-winged Black Tern - appeared about 0950 and showed on and off until at least 1330 at least including roosting on the wooden jetty and feeding on Heysham 2 outfall
Saker-type falcon - not as far as we know one of the gull-scaring birds from the Power Station - flew SE prompted by a bit of noisy aggro with the local Peregrine.  A "large sandy bird with a pale head"
Goosander - two female types on the sea at the southern end of Ocean Edge
Little Gull - usual adult seen
Med Gull - 12 Red Nab

Office area
Grounded
Chiffchaff x 3, Goldcrest x 3, Blackcap x 1, Whitethroat x 1

Vis mig
Notable was a southbound flock of 14 Coal Tit and at least 27 southbound Red Admiral
alba Wagtail - 38
Chaffinch - 28
Grey Wagtail - 8
Siskin - heard 5 times!
Pink-footed Goose - at least 1870 (c1000 in one afternoon flock0
Swallow - 8
Redpoll spp - 2
Meadow Pipit - just 36
Coal Tit - 2+14
Mistle Thrush - flock of 6
Carrion Crow - 3+2
Linnet - 1
Skylark - 4
presumed escape Falcon spp - headed off SE 0940

Ringing office area
Whitethroat (1), Blackcap (1), Chiffchaff (3), Goldcrest (3), Grey Wagtail (1), Great Tit (2)

Middleton
Blackcap (13), Goldcrest (9), Wren (5), Chiffchaff (6), Reed Bunting (3), Lesser Redpoll (3), Grey Wagtail (2), Blue Tit (2), Dunnock (2), Robin (2), Willow Warbler (1), Great Tit (1), Chaffinch (1)

Butterflies
A really good number around included a single worn Wall Brown by the slipway on Ocean Edge and at least 27 Red Admiral south - also a suggestion that Small Tortoiseshell were on the move with 2-3 flying past the outfalls along the seawall.  Worn Common Blue by the office

Moulting adult White-winged Black Tern!

Heysham Obs
A long, long overdue first for Heysham following a distant claim in the offshore channel in about 1974 which was rejected!  Kingfisher was a nice bonus on Red Nab late morning and a first of the year - perhaps also the one ringed earlier in the morning at Middleton

Thanks to Chris Batty for these afternoon pics and see below with further thanks for Colin Davies shots in the morning:

Outfalls/Red Nab
White-winged Black Tern - moulting adult Heysham 2 outfall on the incoming tide, first seen about 0830 a mile away on Heysham one outfall looking from Ocean Edge (and misidentified as a juv on the brief upperside views) but not able to stay and follow up.  Later views were still distant but closer on Heysham 2 outfall and underwing views clearly indicated a moulting ad (which is why, in retrospect, I mistook it for the regular Little Gull when initially glimpsed it banking at very long range with binoculars).  Showing well in flight and at rest (on Red Nab) late morning before returning to the region of Heysham two outfall where it alternated periods of feeding with resting on mudflats or, at one time, on seaweed covered rock until at least 1730hrs
Med Gull - up to 6 reported
Kingfisher - one appeared late morning on Red Nab

Vis mig office/offshore
Pink-footed Goose - approximately 1250 S/SE (but see below)
Grey Wagtail - 6
Chaffinch - 15
Meadow Pipit - none early on then a trickle

Grounded office area
Chiffchaff - 2
Goldcrest - 6

Ringing
Ringing curtailed by discovery of the Tern, therefore only the following trapped:
Goldcrest (3), Chiffchaff (2), Robin (1+1R), Grey Wagtail (1), Wren (1).

Thanks to Colin Davies for the pics

Middleton NR

Pink-footed Goose - parties of 90+80+40+90 seen well to the east of the reserve, flying south

Ringing

Blackcap (6), Chiffchaff (5), Robin (7), Wren (1), Goldcrest (8), Reed Bunting (5), 

Grey Wagtail (4), Goldfinch (2), Long-tailed Tit (3+4R), Coal Tit (1), Blue Tit (5+3R), Dunnock (3), Kingfisher (1), Greenfinch (1).   (ajd/jm/jb)

Below par coastal check

Heysham Obs
Saved by a Red-throated Diver.   The rest of the coastal check was very unproductive with Meds seemingly having taken a nosedive

Offshore/Red Nab/outfalls
Red-throated Diver - one out - ad with at least some summer plumage visible but distant (IOA)
Cormorant - 103 wooden jetty
Med Gull - just one 2CY Red Nab, and 2CY & ad following ferry out
Little Gull - adult
Curlew - 170 Red Nab
Oystercatcher - 2950 Red Nab and still arriving from north
Redshank - 135 Red Nab
Wigeon - 6 Red Nab - the calculator suggests this is twice as many present last week
Knot - 93 Red Nab
Bar-tailed Godwit - 6 Red Nab

Stuff down the tideline towards Potts Corner was too distant in poor light

Afternoon Pinks
Pink-footed Goose - 135+18+37 south pre-1530 hrs, more later by all accounts

Day off

Heysham Obs
Attritional seawatching, mediocre vis mig or a lie in?  The latter, gearing up for a whole series of early morning starts from Saturday for at least a week? Nothing new on the outfalls

Red Nab/outfalls
Little Gull - adult
Med Gull - at least 10 Red Nab but many of the gulls down in the dips
Wigeon - still only three (present since last Friday)

Butterflies
Painted Lady by office

Moths
Two Copper Underwing unusual for this 'occasional singletons' species

Exclusively Mediterranean

Heysham Obs
A post-tide scan of the remaining gulls on Red Nab was started at the outer end, usually favoured by Meds.   Not usually the first 14 gulls though, followed by Black-headed/Med/rest Black-headed!

A gusty wind from the WNW put paid to any Grey Wagtail ringing, with Middleton unfortunately being hopeless as the vast majority of the passage was over there via the south side of the power station.  A few odds and ends were ringed at the more sheltered Heysham NR site by the office

Outfalls/Red Nab post-neap tide
Med Gull - 12 2CY, 3 adult-type Red Nab.  Once again no 1CY which have been conspicuous by their absence this year.  Last autumn saw a decent number of unringed 1CY, this year a decent number of unringed 2CY - same birds?
Little Gull - adult dip-feeding off seaward end Heysham one outfall, on Heysham 2 late afternoon

Migration over Middleton/Heysham N Reserve
Goldcrest - at least 10 Middleton (high count for there), four ringed Heysham NR
Chiffchaff - conspicuous by their absence at both sites
Blackcap - at least three Middleton, one ringed HNR
Meadow Pipit - c35 SE over Middleton
Grey Wagtail - 2+2+1+1+1 over Middleton only one over HNR
Goldfinch - c20 SE Middleton.
alba Wagtail - 14 SE Middleton, 2 HNR
Common Buzzard - one seen to the east of Middleton - seemed to land towards Heysham Moss
Tufted Duck - 9 model boat pond

Ringing: 
Blackbird (1-wow - see yesterdays comment), Goldcrest (4), Blackcap (1), Wren (1), Great Tit (2), Bullfinch (2), Coal Tit (1), Greenfinch (1)

Moths
2 Black Rustic and rather late were two pristine Small Square Spot.  Everything is now up to date on MapMate!

One confirmation off a decent morning

Heysham Obs
Due to mist net responsibilities, wasn't able to immediately follow up two Yellow-brow-like calls from the top path at 0705hrs and that was it, no further calls or sightings in a search ten minutes later.  Nice combination of rain just before civil twilight, then the sun covered up for the next hour before the sky cleared and a decent vis mig passage by recent standards was just about low enough to sort out.  The first hour produced some Chiffchaffs, yet more Reed Warblers and an unringed off-passage Blackcap (but only one Goldcrest), then grounded migrants dried up after 0800hrs

Office area 0635-1100
Common Buzzard - one south at 1033hrs
Tree Sparrow - one south
Skylark - one SE (first of autumn)
Jay - 2 south
Coal Tit - 6+2+3+4 south
Mistle Thrush - 3 NE high
Grey Wagtail - 17 SE, 6 of these on a flightline way to the east
Meadow Pipit - 202 SE
alba Wagtail - 39 SE
Chaffinch - 53 S
Goldfinch - c20 S
Raven  1 NW

Grounded
Chiffchaff - 10+ first thing only
Goldcrest - just one
Blackcap - on female with F2
Reed Warbler - 2

Ringing
Grey Wagtail (6), Chiffchaff (8), Blackcap (1), Reed Warbler (2), Great Tit (1), Wren (1), Song Thrush (1).  Incidentally I have not taken a Blackbird out of a mist net for 1.5 months - really low numbers

Middleton NR
0640-1200hrs
Meadow Pipit - 110 SE
Swallow - 6
Skylark - 4 SE
Grey Wagtail - 3 SE
alba Wagtail - 2 SE

Ringing
Grey Wagtail (1), Chiffchaff (8 - 1 retrap, 7 new), Blackcap (9), Reed Warbler (1), Great Tit (1), Robin (2), Reed Bunting (3 - 1 retrap, 2 new), Meadow Pipit (13), Dunnock (1).

After only one previous record of an adult, three (out of a total of 65) non-breeding season plumage adults have been caught this autumn, sticking out like 'sore thumbs'.  Three features to note here are the uniform fresh e.g. greater coverts, fully 'developed' supercilium and yellow extending to and forming a clearly defined border with the white throat.  Yellow on the juvenile becomes increasingly buffish and dirty with no clear contrast with the throat, the supercilium is not fully formed and the e.g. greater coverts are worn and tipped white (more obvious in some than others)

Would have posted pics hours ago but couldn't get them to 'stay' landscaped uploading from the laptop!!

Wet minima

Heysham Obs
More effort tomorrow - honest

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - 8 x 2CY, 2 x Ad

Moths
Black Rustic new for the year

Awful

Heysham Obs
Didn't expect much today - just a routine trickle - instead nothing - not even a Carrion Crow on a list of 23 species from a 'big sit' at the vis mig spot in about an hour - usual takes 5 minutes to reach that total!  Same elsewhere by all accounts, esp Oxenhope! What a shame for maximum observer availability day - you could even sit in a hide and not miss anything today

Vis mig dawn to 0800
Chaffinch - 6 S
Grey Wagtail - 2 SE
Meadow Pipit - 7 SE
Goldfinch - 2 S

Grounded by office
Goldcrest - 1
Chiffchaff - 1

Ringing
One net dawn to 1030hrs - Goldcrest (1)

Moths
Treble Bar down to 7, Silver Y down to 3.  A few scruffy autumnal common stuff plus 2 pristine Pink-barred Sallow

Nice migration morning for British stuff plus a Black Tern

Heysham Obs
Without ever feeling that a Yellow-browed was going to pop up, cloud from the south-west at dawn dropped a few Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and Robins, yet still 'allowed' reasonable vis mig........ and kept the sun off the net.   Best was a juv Black Tern in the boat channel

Brief look at outfalls low tide
Med Gull - 2 x 2CY
Black Tern - juv in the boating channel by No 8 buoy gradually making its way along the outfalls 'slick'
Little Gull - adult Heysham one seaward end

Vis mig intermittently dawn to 1100hrs
Only the last hour was in the stratosphere, so the vis was numerically manageable in the cloud cover apart from, as usual, Siskin noises!  However visits to the mist nets obviously saw the eye off the ball for 5 minutes at a time every half hour

Coal Tit - further signs of a small irruption or beginnings of a larger one - 6+4+2+2 south
Meadow Pipit - better - 87 S
Grey Wagtail - 17 S (9 ringed - one a freshly moulted adult - the second this year but only the third ever)
Chaffinch -49 S
alba Wagtail - 23 S
Siskin - H+4+H+H
Goldfinch - 53 S
Linnet - 5 S
Reed Bunting - 1 S

Grounded (office area only)
Goldcrest - 20+
Chiffchaff - 3
Blackcap - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Robin - at least 3 migrants

Ringing (single 18m net by office with Grey Wagtail and Goldcrest tape)
A Reed Warbler was given the full works then forgot to ring it (long history of this with birds needing the full works!), Grey Wagtail (9), Goldcrest (12), Robin (3), Chiffchaff (1), Blue Tit (2), Wren (1)

 

Meadow Pipit free zone

Heysham Obs
One of our team, Jean Roberts, was working in coastal Lincolnshire this morning and had more Meadow Pipit during half a sentence of phone conversation than in total over here.  Bearing in mind the virtually complete lack of breeding success on our local moors (e.g. no post-breeding gatherings), followed by a very below-par autumn passage so far, where are all these east coast ones coming from as there certainly aren't any westerlies of any strength to send "ours" over there?

The weak front pre-dawn heading south-east did absolutely nothing in terms of producing grounded migrants and, apart from the eight Grey Wagtail caught, a Reed Warbler ringed elsewhere (Z152 sequence) and a few fat off-passage Blackcaps at Middleton, the double-site ringing effort was pretty rock-bottom.  On the subject of birds ringed elsewhere, thanks to the North Solway Ringing Group for providing information on the Appletowngarth Sand Martin which will, of course, be sent in 'as usual' via our IPMR

Middleton NR
Reed Warbler - one retrap and one ringed elsewhere
Blackcap - 4 x 20g plus new birds, one F0 new bird and three F0/2/0 recently-ringed retraps
Chiffchaff - one new bird
Robin - one unringed very low weight
Grey Wagtail - flocks of 4 & 2 caught and ringed

Heysham NR
Goldcrest - one ringed bird seen in the field, none caught
Blackcap - the only warbler species to trouble the mist nets was F1, probably from off-passga ein the tank farm
Chiffchaff - one passed rapidly through - the only warbler passage of the morning
Robin - one unringed low weight

Vis mig Heysham NR dawn to 1000
Grey Wagtail - only six and they were all individuals on a flightline almost NNE-SSW to the east of the office - only two of these were caught and ringed.  
Meadow Pipit - as above but only 10 seen -why there was no cross-bay vis mig NW/NNW-SE/SSE is puzzling as the remnants of cloud did not seem to pose a barrier
Siskin - heard distantly twice
Coal Tit - 2 south
Dunnock - two heading south and climbing
Mistle Thrush - the 'star' of the show at HNR! 9 together high from the south, landed on pylon then flew high and purposefully ESE
alba Wagtail - 6 as per Grey W and Meadow Pipit
Pink-footed Goose - a "sensation" of distant calls to the west - Alan at Middleton then picked up 11 distant geese heading SE after being alerted
Chaffinch - 44 S
Goldfinch - 60 S

Ringing (2 x 18m nets at each site) - new birds only: 
Grey Wagtail (8), Robin (2), Blackcap (6), Chiffchaff (1), Dunnock (2), Wren (1), Reed Warbler (1 ringed elsewhere), Goldfinch (2), Greenfinch (2), Great Tit (1)

Moths
Heap of Treble Bar and Silver Y again and a minor break-out of Light Brown Apple Moth - the latter summing up the whole morning's mediocrity