Early Greenshank

I was hoping to find out the date of Allan's funeral today but still not sure - will post when I can find out.  Allan was a mainstay of the Heysham Observatory in the very early days in the early to mid-1980s when we were initially operating amongst the scrub and lupins on the old railway storage area.  This is now the lorry park.  When this area became unavailable at the end of 1983, we switched to what is now Heysham Nature reserve.  At that time the power station site was a mass of bright lights with a few areas of screening planting, apple trees planted by a power station worker and gorse bushes.  The theory was that the lights attracted down the migrants, especially in spring following overnight south-easterly winds and poor offshore visibility.   Because there was so little vegetation, the birds landed 'amongst the lights' and (especially perhaps spring Willow Warblers) raced inland to find somewhere to feed.  So the name of the game for the ringers was to have the nets set by civil twilight and, on many occasions, most of the birds were caught before the sun appeared over the eastern horizon.  As already mentioned, poor offshore visibility was an essential component of a decent fall and Allan was the first to mention that "If you can see the lights of Barrow on the approach road to Heysham you might as well turn round and get an extra hour or twos sleep"!   This holds true even to this day as a night migrant numbers guideline.

Allan was absolutely vital to the continuity of the observatory after personal tragedy in early 1983 and lack of transport made it very difficult for me to continue.  Allan chivvied me along, got me going again, and helped by others such as Shaun Coyle, Andrew Cadman and Tom Wilmer, we more than ticked over.  It is almost impossible to visualise this now, as it is well-established 'old hat', but the likes of extensive Robin migration from late August throughout September at that time was just not 'something which happened on an inland headland on the west coast' with any changes in distribution were just a bit of local post-breeding dispersal.  Allan was really enthusiastic about this as well as the appearance of the likes of Barred Warbler and Wryneck.  Yellow-browed Warbler was a real west coast rarity and not on our radar in those days and it was one of the broadest grins I have ever seen when Allan appeared with a bag containing the first one ever located in a mist net.  

Many of these early morning sessions were prior to Allan having to circumnavigate Lancaster and be at work at the Castle by 0800!  This says an amazing amount for his dedication and also the lack of early morning traffic problems in those days!  These were also operations undertaken from the boot of the car in the early days and Allan's battered but reliable car certainly had character, especially the contents of the rarely visited bottom of the boot!  There were no sheltered comfortable chairs to cover the vis mig in between mist net rounds! 

More than anything else though it was the friendly companionship whether at daft o'clock morning mist net rounds or equally daft o'clock overnight expeditions to see rare birds or seawatching from the north harbour wall watching our first and only Balearic Shearwater cursing because it was only a subspecies in those days and why couldn't it be a Sooty!  I last saw Allan at an Askam Twite-ringing session last year and I will really miss him.  Rest in peace.

Today:
Brent Goose - 5 pale and two dark, then 8 distant 'Brent Geese' Middleton sands late afternoon at or very near the same time there were 4 pale and one db on Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Iceland Gull - back on waterfall 1640
Greenshank - one with Redshank off OE saltmarsh (NFY)
Wheatear 1 male OE salt marsh
Chough - first field HMB at lunchtime
Meadow Pipit - trickle south - c20




   

Plastic bottle bombardment for the Oystercatcher roost

Wish I had videoed this late morning as the Oystercatcher roost was bombarded by flying objects with one being bowled over by a whack from a 2 litre milk carton.  This was the accumulation of rubbish which had dried out after being trapped under the vegetation until the heliport was recently cut and the blustery easterly gale did the rest with a lot of swirling about below the seawall.  The Oystercatchers either departed or moved on to the grass at the top.  No wonder the seas are full of plastic and other rubbish

Pale-bellied Brent Geese - all pale-bellied today
7 of them but only two remained on Ocean Edge as the tide was nearing full.  Photos in sequence as the tide came in showing the north to south movement, presumably because the original two adopting this strategy with the tide have returned bringing some mates (Knowlys, off the village, fly round to red nab, oe saltmarsh, potts corner area).  Thanks Malcolm.

Chough - Ocean Edge and over the HN reserve today - not looked for at half moon
Iceland Gull - no sign but no one has had chance to look at low tide
Quite a few birders around half moon bay area but no known postings of anything else of note

The sound of spring

Middleton NR
Chiffchaffs - 6 calling and seen feeding in the willows around the model boat pond.
None at all on Heysham NR but didn't arrive until mid am.
Chough - flew over then flew back over Heysham NR then presumably back to Half Moon Bay. It's getting desperate to find a friend now but it will have to range a lot further to find one, unfortunately. It has been visiting the "undercliff" near the old Pontin's site
Brent Goose - one dark and eight pale Red Nab pre-tide but some uncertainty over one of these from the long range shot.  Unfortunately not there when other observers arrived

Velvet Scoter phantom
For the second day running the Ad drake recorded off Heysham Head mid pm by a mystery observer.  Great - certainly saves me a lot of eye strain!

Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 1 male on the rocks
Little Egret - 1 on the salt marsh

Heliport
Great visibility now as all the bushes and brambles have been cut down. But best to use the car as a hide as the birds aren't used to people stopping at the fence and I scared off hundreds of Oystercatchers while trying to check for rings.
Plus scared off:
Snipe - 7

NNEW Iceland Gull

JR

Long-stayers hang on

I need to access the old Heysham Observatory reports to do a full tribute to Allan Mackenzie's contribution to Heysham Obs in the 1980s and I will be able to do that in the office this weekend and also probably know the funeral arrangements by then

Velvet Scoter - Ad M reported on the pager as being visible distantly from the Head at 1445 which would be about right for the tide.  A chance of a mid/late morning float-past at the Stone jetty this weekend
Iceland Gull - 3s absent, probably tidally related - until 1600 when on the waterfall
Chough - on Malcolm's "house list" at last though no other known reports
Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 6 Red Nab mid-am.  Four Brents earlier flew distantly south towards the Lune at least one of which was pale-bellied but the rest looked dark
Redwing - one by HNR office

Brents come over from Furness

Allan Mackenzie sadly died today - I'll publish a full tribute tomorrow

Dark-bellied Brent Goose - one flew over from Furness with 7 pale-bellied, turned south at Heysham Head and ended up for at least the rest of the morning on Red Nab
Pale-bellied Brent Goose - see above

Chough - visited Ocean Edge football pitch this am before flying back towards half-moon bay via Heysham NR airspace; later in the afternoon on half moon bay fields
Iceland Gull - now 3S and seen in the harbour in the morning

Meadow Pipit - 80 north
Red-throated Diver - 1 in
Siskin - 2+ north
alba Wagtail - 2 north
Pink-footed Goose - 6 south
Knot - c4K south of OE

Decent day even without any landbird migrants

The only things on the move in numbers today (by our standards) were five small flocks of Kittiwake.  Landbird passage virtually non existent.  The medium range forecasts suggest some major blocking weather through the rest of March and April - lets see what happens!

Managed to "see from" the three main birds of the area from Heysham NR today - thanks to a good 60 x zoom lens for the Velvet Scoter and a fly-by of the Iceland Gull returning from Middleton to the harbour.  The Chough flew over the reserve twice today but also spent a fair bit of time in the half moon bay fields

Coast/HNR
Iceland Gull - 3W harbour (feeding) and model boat pond (bathing)

Velvet Scoter - Ad drake seen offshore mid-morning with just three Eider
Chough - half moon bay fields on and off and over the Heysham NR twice
Meadow Pipit - 2 north
Grey Wagtail - 1 north
Pied Wagtail - 6 north
Curlew - 6 high to north
Kittiwake - 48 north east over the sea in five flocks
Red-breasted Merganser - 4 offshore
Red-throated Diver - one on sea and joined by another flying out of bay
Teal - 2 on sea
Blackbird - at least 5 presumed migrants, including a 130+mm female ringed
No reports of Shag

Middleton NR
Cetti's Warbler - first singing male of the year - western marsh
Coot - now five and some fighting!

Water Rail - 2+
Gadwall - 22
Mallard - 2
Tufted Duck - 2
Oystercatcher - passage flock of 26 landed briefly on model boat pond
Mute Swan - 7
Little Grebe - one tim butler pond

Ringing
Dribs and drabs of new birds at the feeder included a Robin, Coal Tit, Blackbird, 2 Goldfinch

Mammals
Two Roe Deer Middleton

Wet and subdued Chough

Taken today in second field - thanks Janet

Iceland Gull - 3rd W in SW corner of harbour - on roof around lunchtime
Shag - juv wandering about harbour/wooden jetty area

Velvet Scoter - awkward - took a long time to come from the inner bay cp yesterday and seen late morning looking north from Knowlys Road.  Suggest people looking tomorrow wait until lunchtime as the neap tides slow everything down
Canada Goose - the top record of the day!  Five south past the wooden jetty at 0910 (IOY?)

No obvious passerine vis or grounded landbirds and no sign of either of the wintering female Stonechats - moved on with passage birds?

Will it come back next winter?

Update:  Its back already - just (1115hrs) flown over Heysham NR (for the first known time) heading towards Heysham Head!  Wonder where its been but it cannot have been impressed with the cliff-less Fylde coast or even further south in the almost three hour absence

and away again - at 1200 circled up really high and drifted out over the Bay and was last seen as a high dot heading towards Barrow, well over the Cumbrian border...............but it was reported again 'Heysham Head, early afternoon'!

As far as can be ascertained, the Chough was last seen as a distant dot at 0835hrs heading south, having first been picked up, as viewed from Heysham Head, flying above the heliport seawall area .  What may have been a trial run at least as far as the wooden jetty was timed by another independent observer as 0815.   The last four days have been noticeable for more contact calling, aerial antics and forays to more distant parts of its visual territory like the wooden jetty.

Bittern - One flew across the road from Heysham golf course to the recycling centre wetlands at 0750hrs.  This was searched for, but the terrain is pretty dodgy with grassed over old dykes.  No Bittern located, but it could have easily have been in the reed mace area
Velvet Scoter - showing as well as it can on the dropping tide - easier when its not in the middle of the Eiders. 

Iceland Gull - 3rd W by waterfall early am at least

Vis mig from |Heysham Head 0755-0955
Chough - one south - last seen 0835
alba Wagtail - 25 N
Meadow Pipit -96 N
Skylark - 7 N
Linnet - 1N
Goldfinch 6N
Carrion Crow - 3 in-off and high to east
Siskin - at least three N
Goose spp - 5 distantly east
Greenfinch - 6 S

Recycling centre wetland just to west of road
Teal - 35+
Little Egret - 1
Jack Snipe -2-3
Common Snipe c6
Great-spotted Woodpecker - one drumming in adjoining woodland near stables

Middleton NR
Little Grebe - whinnying
NO Cetti's - this is really unfortunate and not looking good

More later hopefully

Meadow Pipits on the move

No proper first light vis this am, but 21 grounded Meadow Pipit on Middleton NR set off northwards as soon as the early morning rain cleared.  Three flew north during brief visit to office

Other sightings:
Little Grebe - whinnying individual on fence or no swimming pond (heard distantly)
Water Rail - 2+ western marsh scrape
Stonechat - passage male knowlys horse paddock
Iceland Gull - 3rd W moulting neck/throat freckling to 3rd S sw corner harbour
Chough - 2nd field above cafe - more subdued today in few minutes I was within its range
Velvet Scoter - I couldn't see it amongst the Eider but a lot of birds feeding i.e. diving and I wasn't at the best spot i.e. by chapel, but none of several birders I could see wandering about reported anything on info services
alba wagtail - 5 north

Green Sandpiper - on the pond next to industrial site just beyond recycling centre roundabout - just outside area but visible from

Small Tortoiseshell - first of year

Further Chough wanderings

Reached SD35 and 36 today - flying from south of the harbour about 1130 whence returned to the cliffs and fields are but was very mobile and vocal

Velvet Scoter - drake offshore with Eider but tricky to see
Goldeneye - drake along water edge north of Knowlys
Med Gull - ad Knowlys road roost
Iceland Gull - 3W sw corner harbour