Decent landfall of goldcrests and chiffchaffs

Vis mig
Slow on the coast here with sw cumbria rain and low cloud- bound
Grey wagtail - 1
Alba wagtail - 13
Meadow pipit - 18
Chaffinch - 12
Reed bunting -7
Pink-footed Goose - two flocks of c60 and 63 north

Ocean edge area
Light bellied Brent goose - one south with three shelduck
Wigeon - 5
Little egret - 7
Med gull - 3
Merlin - female

Grounded
Cetti's warbler - unringed bird caught
Goldcrest - various sites revealed 80 to 100 (16 caught in one net set)
Chiffchaff - 20-40
Treecreeper - one heysham head
Blackcap - at least one

Mute Swan surprise

Not much on offer today with the biggest surprise being 8 Mute Swans which flew low over the sands from the south, landed off Red Nab for a few minutes before heading south again!  Odd.

Ringing totals for September
I'll add anything for tomorrow if the rain alarm allows anything to happen.  The rain alarm was a key feature this month along with the realisation that southerly sector winds were manageable at Middleton West up to about 15mph.  Indeed, one of the two mornings of crystal clear flat calm was like watching paint dry and a lot of the ringing was undertaken with the rain alarm being carefully watched, helped by plenty of visual notice of trouble.  We were very lucky compared to the surrounding areas.  New-ringed only:

Goldcrest (111) Chiffchaff (91), Goldfinch (60), Grey Wagtail (59), Greenfinch (53), Blue Tit (48), Blackcap (47), Robin (31), Great Tit (22), Meadow Pipit (20), Chaffinch (19), Dunnock (16), Wren and Reed Bunting (13), Whitethroat (8), Coal Tit (7), Lesser Whitethroat (6), Pied Wagtail and Willow Warbler and Blackbird (5), Reed Warbler and Long-tailed Tit (4) Garden Warbler (3), Sedge Warbler (2), Great-spotted Woodpecker, Cetti's warbler and Treecreeper and Swallow (1) (about 660)

Obviously these totals reflect the lack of opportunities in early September, due to "Leach's Petrel weather" (other than 1st-2nd), with eg few lingering Willow Warblers, the lack of anything much which could be traced from across the north Sea (eg again lack of late Willow Warblers with the Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests).  Blackcap were way below par at the back end of the month, Robin below par throughout, but we did really well for Grey Wagtails considering the lack of opportunity during the main passage period early in the month.  Please do look out for the colour ring combinations.   

Middleton NR (Malcolm)
Gadwall - 16
Tufted Duck - 4
Chiffchaff - 6
Pheasant - 4
Trickle of Meadow Pipit

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Meadow Pipit - 14 SE
alba Wagtail - 12 in-off
Med Gull - 2 ad
Little Egret - 8 (highest count this autumn?)
Mute Swan - 2 Ad and 6 juv as above - one of the ads metal-ringed, rest unringed
Red Admiral - 5 south

Mammals
2 Roe Deer and a Fox Middleton

Sunbathing and a trickle of migrants

Vis mig recording at middleton and south of here OOA on the Sunderland peninsula plus ringing at the office nets and two nets at middleton.  Not a bad day for crystal clear westerly but no leftovers could be unearthed and the recent migrants do literally seem to have been 99 per cent chiffchaff and goldcrest.

Vis mig
Raven - two east through the ozone layer
Jackdaw - 41 plus 1
Rook - 8
Carrion crow - 16
Jay - 2plus one
Sparrowhawk - 1
Song thrush - 3
Meadow pipit - 42
Alba wagtail - 17
Reed bunting - 2
Redpoll - 1
Chaffinch - 11
Goldfinch - 5
Blue tit - irruptive flock of four - more on Sunderland peninsula
Swallow - 3
Grey wagtail - 3-4 (2 ringed)
Possibly some more stuff in JRs ringing book

Grounded
Chiffchaff - 3 ringed and at least another 8
Goldcrest - 14 ringed and at least the same again unringed
Blackcap - one - the dearth continues
Wheatear - 2

Misc
Green woodpecker recorded twice and aged as juv
Med gull - at least two outfalls

Red admiral - at least 20 south and others around
Small tortoiseshell - at least 7 south
Migrant hawker - 15 plus including two pairs in cop
Common darter - 10 plus

Wrong kind of cloud

A few problems this morning with mist netting delayed at one of the sites.  Once again, we took a chance ringing-wise on the supposed 15mph winds from the word go and, being a SE we got away with it, only for some thick low cloud to materialise which both cut off the vis and failed to drop any new migrants.  The yellow-browed-ometer was pretty much zero given a wind straight from SE England.  The forecast shows a possibility in mid-October of some easterlies but otherwise it looks like a west coast reality check for eastern scarce.  Cue one tomorrow in the light westerly!

Vis mig - very intermittent and only well-recorded when it had virtually stopped!  Middleton records.
Meadow Pipit - 105 SE
Grey Wagtail - 5-7 SE (2 ringed)
alba Wagtail - 27 SE
Swallow - 61 SE
Skylark - 8 SE
Goldfinch - 54 SE
Reed Bunting - 7-9 SE
Greenfinch - 3 SE (over Middleton so definitely vis)
Common Buzzard - 1 ESE
Mistle Thrush - 4 SW
Song Thrush - 1 E
Chaffinch - 16 S

Grounded /ringing
Very little seen away from the ringing area but Stonechat very welcome - they have become really rare in autumn recently
Stonechat - male Middleton
Chiffchaff - 20ish (10 ringed)
Goldcrest - 30ish (8 ringed but many missed on Middleton)
Blackcap - one ringed, none seen in field - scarce at the moment
Robin - 2 lightweights ringed

Middleton pools
Gadwall - the flock of 21 again
Tufted Duck - 4
Cetti's Warbler - just the usual singing male Middleton west - need a new influx to maintain the population I think

No coastal coverage

A good migration day for common birds!

Despite very good coverage of the nooks and crannies to the south of Ocean Edge, the feeling was that we missed something of interest in and around the power stations area.  Key sites were not walked over and a lot of reliance was placed on mist nets.  There was a sizeable earlyish morning fall of Chiffchaff and Goldcrests which appeared in the office nets between about 0740 and 0810, but thereafter very little was about as the original birds seemed to race inland

There was also no time to do any optics-based vis mig eg scanning for more distant Meadow Pipits (or "Meadow Pipits"!), so the figures refer to a fairly narrow corridor within audible range over Heysham NR office.  Some interesting vis mig today, including 'definite' Magpie and Great-spotted Woodpecker and a fair number of Coal Tit

Vis mig over Heysham office mainly 0800-1100
Mistle Thrush - 10+2 S
Jackdaw - 26 S
Rook - 4 S
Carrion Crow - 9 S
Magpie - 2+2 high and purposefully south way above pylon height
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1 in-off on NW to SE heading - the highest flier I've ever seen here!
Chaffinch - 34 S
Meadow Pipit - 534 SE
Grey Wagtail - 7 SE and probably a different 7 over Middleton (5 ringed)
alba Wagtail - 77 SE
Linnet - 40 SE (inc. silent flock of 27)
Siskin - 2
Skylark - 25 SE
Coal Tit - 41 S in 9 groups
Swallow - 47 SE - all from 1000 onwards - many more along the coast (see Sunderland vis data on Dan's site)
Goldfinch - not possible to document but not many seemingly on vis
Redpoll - 1 SE
Common Buzzard - 2 SE
Kestrel - 2+1 S
Sparrowhawk - 2 S
Dunnock - 2 S
Reed Bunting - 1 SE

Miscellany
Kingfisher - one flew past HNR office
Med Gull - 10 (1 1CY, 2 2CY, 7 Ad)
Little Gull - usual ad

Grounded
Wheatear - 5
Chiffchaff - minimum of 35
Goldcrest - minimum of 35
Blackcap - just ONE!

Ringing
Chiffchaff (20), Goldcrest (18), Robin (3), Grey Wagtail (5), alba Wagtail (4), Blackcap (1), Dunnock (1) and one or two tits

Heysham NR insects
Red Admiral - 7
Migrant Hawker - 3
Large White - 1 male
Speckled Wood - 1

Chiffchaff fall and other bits and bobs

A very difficult morning to compartmentalise and numerate as it was weather disrupted with a lengthy two hour mist net closure, yet pulses of vis mig were passing through at every slight break in the weather.  A Lesser Whitethroat, seemingly very healthy, had obviously decided that staying at Heysham and Middleton without putting on any real fat reserves was a better idea than dodging eastern Med lime-sticks.  It was ringed at Middleton on 2nd September at the usual 'back end' of the passage, and was retrapped about 1km north-west at Heysham NR today, a date which, had it been a new arrival, almost deserves a "possible eastern origin" cliche!  Given the intrusion of 'Leach's Petrel weather' and other unsuitable days, the Grey Wagtail colour ringing programme this autumn reached a respectable sample of 70 today.  Please do look out for these. 

Grounded migrants
Chiffchaff - minimum of 35-40 Heysham NR with 13 ringed, loads missed during the lengthy rain break (eg 15 following a single tit flock) and at least 6 around the nets as they were being reopened which then dispersed as the weather cleared.  A further 9 were recorded late afternoon at Middleton NR
Blackcap - at least three
Goldcrest - surprisingly absent after yesterdays influx with only 3-5 unringed birds Heysham NR and 2-3 at Middleton
Song Thrush - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - one off-passage see above

Vis mig
Coal Tit - at least 7 flew south
Meadow Pipit - c70 in bits and pieces HNR, 46 over Middleton late pm
Lesser Redpoll - 3
alba Wagtail - first significant movement of the autumn with at least 25 over Heysham NR, 35 in 30 mins over Ocean Edge and other ones and twos casually recorded
Grey Wagtail - 5 SE (3 ringed)
Swallow - ONE SE
Chaffinch - c20 S
Skylark - 1 SE
Reed Bunting - 1

Misc
Little Gull - ad stage 2 outfall
Med Gull - just the one 1CY located outfalls area
Cetti's Warbler - one Middleton
Bullfinch - 7 Middleton

Dragonflies
Migrant Hawker - 14 Middleton, at least two by HNR office plus low single figures of Common Darter

Mammals
Grey Seal by outfalls, Grey Squirrel by reserve entrance

Dog's dinner coverage

The problem this morning was not oversleeping as the only known observer (no ringing today), but the usual breakfast with the sliding door open revealed some pretty decent vis mig at home at High Tatham, including a definite Redwing (as opposed to the usual early "Redwing" misidentification of a migrant Song Thrush).  So I gave it 45 minutes before starting out to put a shift in at Heysham/Middleton.

Vis mig 0800-0900 Middleton
Although the grounded stuff was ok, the vis mig was terrible for the first 40 minutes, then the floodgates opened
Meadow Pipit - 91 SE (all but 5 after 0840)
alba Wagtail - 16 SE
Chaffinch - 22 S
Swallow - just 3 SE
Mistle Thrush - 4 SE
Skylark - heard twice
Reed Bunting - 2
Goldfinch - at least 57 seemed to be vis mig plus about 40 blogging - far more conspicuous on the ground than eg yesterday

Grounded Middleton
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Chiffchaff - 2+ with LTT
Goldcrest - c20
Cetti's Warbler - singing male western marsh reedbed area
ALL the grounded done in situ whilst doing the vis mig - no 'groundwork' put in so probably a gross underestimate of what was around 

Bits and bobs vis/grounded during the rest of the morning whilst in transit
Meadow Pipit - 35
alba Wagtail - 8
Grey Wagtail - 2
Reed Bunting - 1 
Wheatear - 2
Goldcrest - 10+ around HNR office
Chiffchaff - one HNR office area
Swallow - 11 SE

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Little Gull - usual Ad
Med Gull - 7 visible on Red Nab but others may have been hidden (1 x 1CY, 3 x 2CY, 3 x Ad).  Additional 1CY seaward end Heysham one

No attempt made to address the waders in bright rather glaring light and the tide not far enough in

Rather slow for a south-easterly

Disappointing this morning with nothing like the vis mig over my house (High Tatham) and grounded stuff limited to just a few Goldcrest.   So the ringing at two sites, Heysham and Middleton was a bit on the slow side, especially Middleton.  However, the inshore area was given a fair grilling on the incoming tide with 2CY Meds, as usual, coming out of the woodwork as the tide started to shift stuff hunkered down on the outer SW corner of Red Nab

Vis mig
Meadow Pipit - no more than 40 noted
Grey Wagtail - just 3 (1 ringed)
Common Buzzard - one struggling east followed by another which swung north-east
Chaffinch - 4 S
Swallow - eventually a relatively decent total of 56 S
alba Wagtail - just 5 or so SE and no influx on O Edge
Pink-footed Goose - 39 SE
Red Admiral - 4 S

Inshore south of harbour
Little Gull - two adults, one on the mudflats whilst the usual one was on Heysham one
Med Gull - 14 - 7 2CY, 3 1CY (3 following ferry in), 4 Ad
Knot - fairly accurate block count of 5950
Dunlin - very distant and not counted or possible to see identify else small with them
Bar-tailed Godwit - c450
Grey Plover - c430
Kingfisher - 1
Shelduck - 144
Wigeon - still just one Red Nab
Little Egret - 4

Ringing included: 10 Goldcrest, one Blackcap, one Chiffchaff and, as is typical in September, two unringed first winter Dunnock.  Perhaps a good time to say that Robin migration has been really below par this month with just one ringed this morning.  Two Pheasant in full flight narrowly avoided a Middleton mist net!

Grey Seal off outfalls

Bits and bobs ahead of the weather front

A clear night followed by a relatively clear early morning with an increasing SE wind, rain by 1100hrs.  Two relatively sheltered nets were used on Middleton west and caught about 50% of the Grey Wagtail passage plus a few night migrants

Middleton NR (only 50 mins vis in two sessions)
Meadow Pipit - sample vis mig of 27 in 30 mins, later 16 in 20 mins
Reed Bunting - 1 SE
Chaffinch - 3 S
Swallow - 4 SE
Grey Wagtail - absolute minimum of 14 SE with 7 ringed
Chiffchaff - 2 ringed
Blackcap - 2 ringed
Goldcrest - 3 ringed
Peregrine - 1 SE

Inshore incoming tide
A bit late again as it was racing in
Knot - absolute minimum of 5,000 possibly as many as 7,000 but really tricky as quite distant and mobile
Med Gull - slight increase in relation to BHG with 9 (1 1CY, 3 2CY, 5 Ad)
Black-tailed Godwit - flock of 12 flew north past Heysham skeer at about 0800hrs (thanks Malcolm)
Small calidrids too far away to speciate

More productive wader watching but the tide races in

About 30 minutes too late arriving at Ocean Edge ironically through dealing with issues related to the foreshore.  The nearest small wader flock held a juvenile Little Stint but these were soon flushed by the tide and a much larger flock they joined further to the south appeared to hold two very small waders but everything was very mobile as the tide raced in.  Bar-tailed Godwits were up to 520 but no time to properly count anything else which looked in the numbers they have been in the last few days.  Rather strange looking at a superb wader gathering with no other observers around!

Ocean Edge/Red Nab etc 1.5hrs before a high spring tide
Little Stint - at least one juvenile
Sanderling - at least one in winter plumage
Bar-tailed Godwit - 520
Little Gull - ad winter sat on the sea off the saltmarsh - seemed to have some staining on the back of the head
Med Gull - just two at this stage of the tide, both adults

Heliport/north wall/fishers just before HT
Redshank - 730 heliport
Turnstone - 33 heliport
Lapwing - 1 heliport
Oystercatcher - 3900 heliport
Med Gull - presumed Czech adult on Fishers
nothing over the sea in 20 mins