Arctic Skua

Coverage this am was 30 mins north wall, 30 minutes Ocean Edge and one hour from Knowlys Rd upper & lower section.  All three sites included off-shore (and inshore) channel checking.  Cold ENE F4

Knowlys road lower VP - a great site for scanning the low tide channels the easy way (in combination with Knowlys upper for the 'Brent skeers area' and the north harbour wall for the outer sections) and also seeing into wave troughs during howling gales.  Wish we'd used it in previous years.  The green post 'marker' is on the mudflats behind the brown post on left hand side of pic 

Coastal sightings
Meadow Pipit - 71 NE, a large chunk of these in one gang of 36
Knot - c6500 on skeer off play area, twice as many as yesterday
Eider - 455 but some hiding behind skeers
Great-crested Grebe - 21 - many displaying pairs
Red-throated Diver - the same one as the other day off the heliport with orange object attached to the left wing - close inshore by green post
Shag - 3CY same area as RTD
Red-breasted Merganser - 7
Arctic Skua - dm adult in 0733 - quite leisurely up the Kent channel with no height gain observed - prob same bird as seen earlier off Rossall, having sat on the sea for a bit (IOY)
Little Gull - two adult together (and possibly another one far offshore as seen from OE) heading in along with trickle of Common and Black-headed Gulls
Sandwich Tern - just two together heading in
alba Wagtail - 5 NE
Linnet - 16 NE
Swallow - 1 NE
Sand Martin - 3 NE
No Brent again
Purple Sandpiper - one roosting with Turnstone on wooden jetty.

Moth trap
Nothing last night and just one moth found by Laura the previous night......but a good one:

Short-eared Owl and early Whimbrel

Predictably quieter night migrant wise but another fairly hefty Meadow Pipit passage from first light and bits and bats over the sea whilst trying to connect with an ex-Rossall Puffin.

Vis mig 0600 - 10:30
Meadow pipit - 310
Skylark - late one North
Greylag - two doing a circuit
Swallow - 4
Sand Martin - 4
Chaffinch - 5
Linnet - 10
Redpoll - heard plus onalba Wagtail - 1
Goldfinch - 2

Grounded
Wheatear - 6
Blackcap - at least two new ones
Willow Warbler - at least 5 new ones
Short-eared Owl - one on reserve ‘plateau’
Chiffchaff - at least two new ones

Sea
Little Gull - ad in partial summer in with a small flock of BH Gull
Sandwich Tern - 5 in
Shag - 3cy by green post off HH at low tide
No sign any Brents
Eider n/c
Great crested Grebe - 15
Red- breasted Merganser - 5
Whimbrel - 2 in
Knot - 2700 on skeer then roosting heliport seawall

Harbour this evening

Guillemot enjoying the evening sunshine!

Rock Pipit - 2 feeding below the lighthouse

More about grounded migrants today

Decent cloud cover, murky offshore and a lightish easterly produced the goods this morning, although it would have been so much better if some loops in the mist net were not undone.  Most ringers will have experienced the frustration of fiddling around with loops whilst the early morning potential dose of Lesser Redpoll buzz away overhead.   So much easier to catch them at a garden feeder whilst sat in an armchair.  It was still worth the ringing effort though with eg double-figures of new female Chiffchaff in the nets.  Three office nets and two below the old tower site.

Grounded
Wheatear - minimum 25
Chiffchaff - 11 females ringed, at least 7 others
Willow Warbler - 4 males ringed and at least one other through early on
Blackcap - 3 ringed and at least one other migrant singing male
White Wagtail - one in horse paddock (IOY)
Goldcrest - 2

Vis mig
Lesser Redpoll - 5+3+2+2+1, all before about 0715 - two of the last three ringed, then one at 1300.
Meadow Pipit - only about 55 recorded
alba Wagtail - 8 NE
Sand Martin - 1 NE
Swallow - 2 NE
Whooper Swan - 4 NW
Siskin - 2+ NE
Linnet - 8 NE

Others
Great-crested Grebe - 16 in low tide channel
Eider - 460
Red-breasted Mergsnser - 6 off head, 2 red nab
Little Egret - 11 on skeers
Brent geese - flock of 5 low past Half Moon Bay heading north 16:15. Only seen from behind, the rear birds were pale-bellied.
Shag - 3cy on usual routine below Heysham Head in channel on incoming tide (later seen from SJ)

Moths
1 Common Plume

Black Redstart highlights but yet another Spoonbill passes us by!

Unfortunately made a mess of a singing Black Redstart as regards record photography this morning, but it was a welcome visitor on the fences and picnic tables for about 12 or so minutes 0740 onwards before suddenly flying low and fast up the hill towards the Old Obs tower site and not seen again.  Reports also came in of a mid-morning Spoonbill arrival at Leighton Moss - we have never seen one in our airspace, the implication being they arrive from height and drop in situ

Also arrived a bit too late on a sunny and clear morning for mist-netting - these mornings are all about a small rush of birds during pre-sunrise and not a lot thereafter - we were lucky with the Black Redstart.  This was reflected on quite a few off-passage phylloscs and a couple of new-in Blackcaps on Middleton

Very good passage of Meadow Pipit on two defined lines either side of the power station

Vis mig and associated (impression that the gulls were on the move)

Common Gull - increase to absolute minimum of 287, mainly 2CY

Black-headed Gull - 35

Med Gull - two 2CY behaving like a pair of teenagers 

Meadow Pipit - absolute minimum of 375 NE and another 56 grounded OE football pitch

Tree pipit - one prob two NE (IOY and quite early)
Sand Martin - 7 NE
Jay - very unexpected noisy flock of 7!!!

Swallow - 4 NE

alba Wagtail - 16 NE

Linnet - 9 NE

Goldfinch - 23 NE

No seabirds as such with tight flock of white birds in the murk quite possibly just BHG
Guillemot in harbour in the evening.

Grounded

Black Redstart - singing 2CY male as above
Rock pipit - 2 on south wall
Wheatear 2

Blackcap - 2

Willow Warbler - 3

WW/CC - c15

Chiffchaff - further increase of singing birds

Sparrowhawk - 2 high migrants NE (local male out of the pylon copse)

Blackbird - a long-winged male being chased by a local male (not a RO!)

Rest

Knot - 6,000 about to come into the heliport sub-roost area when targeted by Peregrine and flew south as a spectacular swirling mass

Cetti's Warbler - 3 singing males Middleton, probably just one wide-ranging singing male north end Hey NR

Mute Swan - 3 pairs sitting Middleton

Teal - 4
Little Grebe - 1
Common Snipe 1

Middleton butterflies (lots for a morning session)
Speckled wood 1

Small Tortoiseshell 2

Peacock 3

Comma 2

Brimstone 2 male 2 female

Orange Tip (IOY) 2 male (early)

More cold easterlies

Weather today: ENE F4 but gusting F7, 3-11C, very murky to the north and west until 10am, clearer and sunny to E. 

Vis 08:00-11:00

Meadow Pipit - 156 (Largest flock 17. Only 3 meadow pipits after 10am)

alba wagtail - 5

Linnet - 1

Wheatear -12 (birds definitely arriving and then moving on so have counted all Wheatears as vis).

Middleton NR

Willow Warbler in same place as yesterday.

Song Thrush - 4 together feeding on the ground.

Red Nab

Just one Wigeon.

One Little Egret.

Then the usual suspects of Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Heliport

Knot - 7000

Quite a bit of migration

Unfortunately no ringers were available today, but coverage managed to produced a fair smattering of observations

Shag - 3CY by Near Naze on incoming tide
Meadow Pipit - absolute minimum of 270 NE, including over 220 in the monitored hour
Siskin - 2 NE
Goldfinch - 11NE
alba Wagtail - 22 NE
Sandwich tern - 1 N
Red-throated Diver - 7+2 N
Kittiwake - c20 N (one distant gang)
Willow Warbler - 1OY singing Middleton NR
Chiffchaff - definite influx, many not calling
Cetti's Warbler - three singing Middleton NR
Stock Dove - pair Middleton
Barn Owl - one hunting Middleton
Wheatear - 6
No sign of any Brents during the morning

Thanks Janet

 

Sanderling surprise

Sanderling - about 36 with the Knot on the heliport - really unexpected.  Presumably a chunk of the Knot had come across from Fluke Hall to Knott End and dragged them along
Knot - 2150
Pale-bellied Brent - 13 but no colour ringed birds but one appeared metal ringed
Shag - 3cy wooden jetty
Wheatear - 5
Green Woodpecker - hey ne
No obvious vis mig but Chiffchaff everywhere

Shag resurfaces

There were 15 then later 17 Pale bellied Brent Geese today including the ringed birds

Flock of 50 Kittiwake in

3cy Shag wooden jetty

Thanks Gareth and Lesley

Please note the sidebar comment re unknown birders likely to be approached by police

Canadian ringed Brents back

Todays migration seemed to be virtually all vis mig, highlighted by six Swallows feeding on the Middleton "no swimming" pond before moving on and a sample of 160 Meadow Pipit over the sea/along the coast 1015-1115 new time accompanied by 19 alba Wagtails and (over Ocean Edge), two northbound Twite

Not sure about Middleton, but Hey NR mist-netted grounded migrants limited to two Robin

Middleton NR
Stock Dove - one possibly two birds
Gadwall - 8
Teal - still two
Little Grebe - 1
Mute Swan - failure on main pond - egg found in grass, probably picked up by dog and dropped, like retrieving a ball - nest easily accessible

Coastal area
Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 19, including both Canadian birds and probably a new orange ringed bird but we are not sure
Red-throated Diver - 3+2 in but that was all as regards sea-passage in the hour
Meadow Pipit - c160 with others probably missed 1015-1115
Sand Martin - one north
Linnet - c10 north
alba Wagtail - 19 as above
Twite - two together quite low to north

Sandwich Tern

Our thoughts go to the families of those involved in the car accident alongside the reserve in late afternoon

Two Sandwich Tern far offshore in am fishing in the area forming the outer Kent channel but less expected were 3 plus 2 House Martin through Middleton NR

Just nine Pale bellied Brent today

Wheatear - about 5

Great white egret - one seen distantly from the south end of Ocean Edge flying across towards Colloway Marsh

No Kittiwake left

Ringing totals: a couple of minor Goldcrest arrivals but the main feature was a decent Robin total for us and also far more unringed Dunnock than expected.  In contrast finch passage was below par, especially Greenfinch and we ended up with the Dunnock/Robin/Blue and Great Tit total equalling the finch total - most unusual for March with the feeder in operation.  Top species: Goldcrest (42), Goldfinch (21), Robin (17), Chiffchaff (13), Blue Tit (8), Dunnock and Chaffinch (7), lesser Redpoll (6)