Ring Ouzel leads another decent haul

A southerly wind didn't promise much but there were definite signs that we perhaps should have put at least one net up in the shelter before the rain hit after 0845

Ring Ouzel - female on top of bush by office late am - flew towards tank farm via mist net ride!
Arctic Tern - one outfalls

Razorbill - one in sp flew out
Med Gull - 2CY outfalls but very mobile
Rock Pipit - still hanging around south harbour

This is a favoured resting location between the lighthouse on roundhead and the steps to the east of it. Please do not go down the steps, they are perilous! (MD)

Chiffchaff - one south harbour
Wheatear - at least four

Black Redstart

New for the year today:  Black Redstart and Lesser Whitethroat

Black Redstart - a very elusive and secretive female/imm, spending large amounts of time in dark crevices between boulders at Red Nab - found by Malcolm late am

Thanks Janet

Lesser Whitethroat - one started singing next to HNR office midday, two on MNR in afternoon.
Wheatear - 4 Ocean Edge
Little Gull - two adults flew in off the sea on to the outfalls near high tide
Shag - on the large skeer with Cormorants pre-tide then flew towards harbour
Eider - 175
RB Merg - 9
Great-crested Grebe - 9, including flock of 4 - all sp (north European birds??)

Plants
Presumed fence-hopping Snake's Head Fritillary on HNR now in flower

Mammals
Grey Seal

A colourful day

New for the year: Firecrest, redstart and common sandpiper

 

Thanks for the pic holly 

Firecrest - singing Male found by holly page in willows alongside the alder copse boardwalk.   Couldn’t be found later but searches impeded by difficult terrain in the NE corner
Redstart - Male ringed 0800
Common sandpiper - one
Little gull - two adult and 3cy at various times
Shag - 2cy wooden jetty
Common scoter - one offshore
Sandwich tern - two early am
Wheatear - 5
No apparent sign of any Brent’s today

A steady trickle of chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap in the two nets set in the shelter below the old obs tower

Vis 07:30-10:00

Meadow Pipit 110

Linnet 34

alba wagtail 3

Redpoll sp 4

Siskin 4

On the sea

Eider 72

Great-crested Grebe 1

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Black headed day

An early flurry of blackcaps in the mist nets, the superb adult summer little gull and later today a colourful black headed wagtail just up the road in fields next to the em pool

Shag - Juv near naze over tide
Little gull - probably three different adults
Cetti’s warbler - two singing males middleton
Whimbrel - one North
Brent goose - five pale bellied

The shag is one of the few pics of mine I’m not too embarrassed to claim - the little gull is a very brief visitor  to the outfalls in the afternoon.  Thanks to Janice Sutton

Black and white things emerge from the mist

Very poor visibility today, but the wall to wall overnight rain had failed to drop any night migrants eg Wheatear during the morning at least.  A search of the grassy areas for the potentially 'grounded' Chough also failed to produce.  However, Red Nab and the outfalls provided some publishable material, notably a pink-flushed ad summer Little Gull:

Little Gull - three - probably the recent on/off adult winter and new adult summer and a 3CY at Red Nab/outfalls at various times during the am
Brent Goose - todays lottery number was five pale-bellied (multiple observation of just four yesterday!)
Sandwich Tern - 13  came into Red Nab
Rock Pipit - petrosus type still lingering around the south lighthouse area - record shot later
Wheatear - 1
Cetti’s warbler - singing central marsh middleton

Cumbrian feeding frenzy

A couple of things over and above the routine today, most notably two Barn Owls briefly on Middleton NR

Gannet - two adults diving distantly in Cumbria
Barn Owl - two feeding on Middleton briefly during early am

Thanks Janet

Sandwich Tern - 14 similarly with the Gannets - no others seen!
Rock Pipit - one fairly 'dark' bird near the south lighthouse
Brent Goose - 4 pale-bellied today - on Red Nab throughout
Cetti's Warbler - two singing males at the same time on Middleton
Wheatear - just one
No notable vis (two each of Swallow and Meadow Pipit!)
No serious searches for the Chough we are aware of and not visible during a casual scan of the first two fields and sheep field 

Brent reconnection

Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 5 Red Nab
Little Gull - new adult on outfalls
Sandwich tern - 6 on outfalls railings, 38 in during 30 mins seawatching on dropping tide
Meadow Pipit - 26 recorded heading north
Swallow - 3 north during seawatch
Chough - no known reports today BUT was seen 'all yesterday afternoon' around the headland
Chiffchaff - two new birds with pollen above bill
Blackcap - one new bird
Goldcrest - one new bird
Sedge Warbler - one probably two Middleton
Cetti's Warbler - at least two Middleton but only one singing

Moth trap held Chestnut as well as the usual orthosias

Nuthatch!

Observatories, by virtual of the usual locations, are not Nuthatch-fests and despite decent habitat at Heysham Head, this is isolated and only the occasional bird makes it through, sometimes staying for quite a long time.  Noisy one this morning in the churchyard trees on the Head

Chough - heard this early morning by a pre-work dog walkers who is well used to it!  No sign later
Sandwich Tern - 42 sitting on the railings at the end of Heysham two outfall with a further 10 offshore - 24 were still there two hours later.  Not seen this before here
Red-throated Diver - one seen offshore
Little Gull - flying about off the end of the outfalls - ad in partial sp - but only there early am
Nuthatch - one Heysham Head at least 0900-0910

Fogbound rubbish then a very welcome sighting

Nothing seemed to move early on during the fog this morning, epitomised by the lack of any Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler in the nets at Heysham and the nets at Middleton either definitely or probably picking up returning breeding birds.  In this respect, three Willow Warbler males ringed in previous years were caught.

Nothing overhead of note either until:

Jean (at the nets) and myself (by the office) simultaneously uttered the word 'Chough' at 1109hrs as calls were heard high in the sky to the SW.  It flew over the top of the pylon line and spiralled down towards Half Moon Bay area.  It was not followed up immediately and could not be located later but it is clearly (assuming it is not a one-off passing through) seeing Heysham Head as a familiar 'clocking in location' whilst wandering about looking for a mate.  It does beg the question that surely it can be turning up any where within a thirty or so mile radius of Heysham, including its presumed former haunt of one of the Blackpool golf courses.  It does seem highly unlikely that it has flown as far as the Sefton coast with its observer saturation, but a key potential observer is currently absent from the Rossall area and the rest of the Fylde coast south of there is tricky to cover unless it goes inland over Marton or as far as Fairhaven.  As previously mentioned, it definitely flew over Knott End mid-am on 20th March

Goldcrest - three ringed at Heysham with at least one other there
Raven - one flew over Middleton - hard to find these days and mostly high-fliers

Chough - see above (not the pic, that's the Raven!)
Sandwich tern - 6 on or around the buoys off the north wall pm
Brent Goose - none seen in several checks off Knowlys
Red-throated Diver - 2 offshore
Common Buzzard - four seen soaring high to the east of Middleton (and four fighting over Heysham Moss in pm) 
Sparrowhawk - one probably migrant north
Meadow Pipit - just 10 recorded
Swallow - just two
Cetti's Warbler singing central marsh

Butterflies
Early Orange Tip seen nearby on Heysham Moss.  Otherwise the 'big four' hibernators were at large:

Thanks for all the pics Janet

An odd day plus a predictable afternoon Osprey

Every so often a migration day throws up the unexpected epitomised by six |House Martin (its only 8th April in a 'late' year) and up to 100 Swallow sitting around in bushes at Middleton!

all six house martin are on here - thanks Malcolm

Masses of Meadow Pipit and other odds and ends of vis mig flying north past the Stone Jetty yet no vis records whatsoever over Heysham NR

Lets go back to the other day when a mass of Meadow Pipits were grounded on Heysham head and the horse paddocks but very few were moving south over the reserve of sites to the south.  I wonder if this explains 500+Meadow Pipit over the Stone Jetty this am?

Going back to the hirundines, this was unprecedented in spring and Malcolm suggested that these were a product of overnight roosting, some in the reed mace as they had "fluff" stuck to their feathers equating to the friable reed mace seed.  They were reluctant to head north in the murky weather but gradually moved on in dribs and drabs with others arriving from the south similarly

The dropping tide received very little coverage at Heysham but as usual we trawl in any seabird passage and publish it here

Kittiwake - 5 out flock 41 in off SJ
Red-throated Diver - 7 SJ, just one Heysham
Guillemot - 2
Common Scoter - one in SJ
Brent Goose - 9 pale-bellied off horse paddocks early am presumably joined by the three dark-bellied seen flying south at SJ mid-am

Cetti's Warbler - one singing by no-swimming pond surely not same as central marsh bird?
Blackcap - 3 ringed plui at least 4 in field
Willow Warbler - one ringed, at least 10 in field
Chiffchaff - 3 ringed
Goldcrest - 2 ringed

OSPREY - south over Middleton 1530hrs (thanks Mario)