Middleton coverage

A breezy day saw Malcolm cover Middleton NR with the highlight being a continued presence of a Chiffchaff along the eastern gold course edge

Tufted Duck - one male
Gadwall - 12
Teal - lots calling TB pond
Redwing - 7
Common Snipe - 1

Neither the sea conditions nor the time to search for the Slavonian Grebe off Heysham Head

Thursday

A Slavonian Grebe was seen flying out of the recording area off Heysham Head towards Morecambe Stone Jetty, thence landing about 1/2 a mile to the NNW

Middleton NR
Chiffchaff - one eastern edge golf course
Tufted Duck - male
Teal - 2
Gadwall - 8
Common Snipe - 1
Pheasant - 2
Redwing - 3
Cettis Warbler singing south side no swimming pond
Treecreeper - one near Chiffchaff
Goldcrest - 2
Jackdaw - 18E
Carrion Crow - 7 west

Common Darter - one - pic later

Lots of cuddy ducks

In fact a ridiculous amount but perhaps not so unexpected given part-counts in less favourable conditions recently.   Three sweeps were undertaken as the tide was turning and the last of these enabled all birds to be seen without obscuring skeers

North wall low tide
Eider - 1221 - high proportion males
Scaup - 6 - one ad male, the rest female or imms
Teal - 2 females
Wigeon - 117
Great-crested Grebe - 3
.......but where are the RB Mergansers - fits with the lack of suitable prey??
Linnet - 19
Rock Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - c5

Heysham Head
Treecreeper - 1
Brambling - 2 grounded
Rock Pipit - 3 grounded
Not sure of any vis

Heysham NR/Middleton
Pre-dawn rush but nothing afterwards other than Pink-feet
Blackbird - 47 south past HNR office, all pre-sunrise and some may have been ex-roost
Redwing - just one HNR, two Middleton
Reed Bunting - one south HNR, two grounded Middleton
Chiffchaff - one along golf course edge Middleton
Chaffinch - 6 SW HNR
Long-tailed Tit - flock of 14 towered up HNR and headed inland
Goldcrest - one new bird ringed HNR
Pink-footed Goose - 320 north, 60 south

More to add I think but need to post now!

Tuesday

Just the ad Med Gull patrolling the north wall to offer

Early November migrant flurry

Vis by the office on and off
Blackbird - minimum of 59 passing through with many missed whilst concentrating on ringing tuition
Starling - 275 SW
Redwing - 17 SW
Chaffinch - 53 SW, prob more
Song Thrush - prominent with at least 15 SW or inland
Siskin - 3 registrations
Little Egret - 2+1 S
Pink-footed Goose - 80 NE, 40 S
Woodpigeon - 21 plus a flock of 38-40 SW
Fieldfare - 4 SW
Sparrowhawk - 2 separate birds high to SW
Meadow Pipit - 4 SE
Reed Bunting - 1 S (late for this sp)
Goldfinch - just one on vis mig!
Linnet - 2 SE
Long-tailed Tit - flocks of 12 + 13 south

Ringing: New birds comprised
Blackcap - male
Bullfinch - female
Goldcrest - 2
Blackbird - 4
Two each of Coal and Long-tailed Tit and one Blue Tit

North harbour wall
Morning visit to the feeding site top up seed plus second visit at high tide saw only 10 goldfinch alongside the approach road.  No Linnets in the area seen or heard.

South of harbour near high tide
No Snipe after the succession of flushing spring tides
Mallard - female in harbour by waterfall!
Ringed Plover - 35
Lapwing - 116
Grey Plover - 1
Little Egret - 4
Wigeon - 115

Twite, irruptive Long-tailed Tits and late Migrant Hawker

North wall
Twite - at least one was with a very brief visit by 18 finches - the rest looked like Linnet - to the north wall feeder around HT.  These joined the 'core' population of 6 Linnet.
Med Gull - ad fishers roof at the same time
Rock Pipit - one heard near naze area

Office area
Migrant Hawker - one by office early pm

Middleton (thanks Malcolm)
Redwing - 10 on hawthorn
Chiffchaff - two along eastern edge of golf course (one ringed on right leg)

Goldcrest - 4

Gadwall - 7
Moorhen - 9
Teal - 6
Mute Swan 4 + 2 1Y
Mallard - 3
Coot - one

Pink-footed Goose - 8 north
Long-tailed Tit - irruptive flock of 26 landed just once after flying in high from the west before continuing on.  6 similarly south over HNR early pm
NO diving duck

North westerlies

Photo shoots of the heliport seawall roost were the order of the day and the only things of note seen were:

Czech ringed med gull
1cy kittiwake behind iom ferry

Jack snipe tide

Ocean edge saltmarsh
Jack snipe - At least three and possibly four displaced at high tide

Office area
Blackcap - female ringed
Goldcrest - 2 ringed
Robin - 1 ringed
Coal Tit - one ringed
Low single figures of Green and Goldfinch ringed
Starling - 180 S

No proper vis mig counts today and both Middleton and the outfalls area were pronounced dead!

Red admiral - 1 seen

A Hawfinch pays a flying visit

Bird(s) of the day would have been the 5 Whooper Swans that flew south over Heysham NR but a surprise flyby of a Hawfinch at Middleton NR was rather rarer.

Weather: A calm start then becoming NE F3 for a while then calming down again with air from WNW. Cloudy first thing giving way to clear skies and bright sunshine.

Vis at Middleton NR 07:30 - 11:30 - birds heading in a variety of direction, many heading north.
Raven 4
Buzzard 1 east at 10:34
Redwing 3
Chaffinch 15
Brambling 1
Goldfinch 15
Meadow Pipit 12
Lesser Redpoll 5
Siskin 3
Skylark 5
Reed Bunting 2
HAWFINCH 1 NNW

Ringing at MNR
New birds
Redwing 2
Blue Tit 2
Robin 1
Goldcrest 4
Lesser Redpoll 4
Meadow Pipit 1

Retraps - Blackbird 1, Long-tailed Tit 2, Goldcrest 1, Robin 1
Controls (ie birds from elsewhere) - Lesser Redpoll 1

Heysham NR
Vis
Whooper Swan 5 at 08:50 heading south

Ringing
New birds
Robin 1
Goldcrest 3
Blue Tit 1

Retraps - Dunnock 1, Blackcap 1, Goldcrest 1
Controls - Goldcrest 1

Heysham Head - vis
Chaffinch 89
Brambling 5
Siskin 7
Lesser Redpoll 2
Meadow Pipit 28
Blue Tit 3
Golden Plover 1
Skylark 8
Redwing 5
Greenfinch 2
Goldfinch 4

Grounded at
a) Heysham Head and surroundings:
Meadow Pipit 14
Rock Pipit 4
Stonechat - pair
Goldcrest 8
b) the mound at the end of the North Harbour Wall:
Meadow Pipit 5
Linnet 32
Goldfinch 2
Med Gull - Czech veteran on the railings

Heysham skeer
Over 500 Eider in one raft off the skeer.
Also a Great Crested Grebe.

Thanks to the following observers: Andrew Cornall, Joanne Bradley, Malcolm Downham, Dan Haywood, Pete Marsh, John Mason, Jean Roberts.

A tale of two tails - on the left a young (this year's) Lesser Redpoll with pointed tail feathers, on the right an adult Lesser Redpoll with more rounded tail feathers. There are differences in the tertials as well with the adult having clear cut buff edges and the young bird having more diffuse paler edges.

Report by JR

Bits and bobs in the south westerly

This was not an early start and in consequence the only vis mig was the usual late Skylark or two plus a few Pinkfeet.  As usual the wind direction and cloud cover favoured a ringing session by the office and this produced a sprinkling of migrants as well as the expected finches

Grounded
Goldcrest - 4 unringed bird in the net by the office
Blackcap - male ringed by the office
Robin - lightweight bird ringed by office
Dunnock - unusually yet another two unringed birds caught by the office

Vis/inshore
Kingfisher - one OE saltmarsh
Rock Pipit - 1-2 OE saltmarsh
Little Egret - 5
Med Gull - adult
Pink-footed Goose - 60+30 S over bay
Linnet - c20 OE saltmarsh with Twite not ruled out for a separate 5 additional finches.  15 on the north wall seed were all Linnet (apart from 3 goldfinch)
Skylark - 3 SE
Meadow Pipit - at least 6 north wall