Large Reed Bunting passage plus Black Redstart

 A cold clear start after overnight rain. The wind ENE to NE all morning. Then drifted around to NW by lunchtime. Dry with long sunny spells.

Middleton Nature Reserve (PM. JR)

Visible migration 

 450 pink feet

30 Redwing

5 song Thrush

8 Blackbird

1 grey wagtail

16 linnet

c40 Reed Bunting - this is more than the total autumn passage count in some years

10 Snipe

8 meadow pipit

2 Swallow

24 Skylark

I siskin

2 lesser redpoll

1 chaffinch

5 alba Wagtail

2 Dunnock.  

Grounded included 10 Goldcrest and two Blackcap

Ringing:

Goldcrest 9

Blue Tit 8 new, 4 retraps

Reed Bunting 7

Blackcap 2

Wren 1 new 1 retrap

Dunnock 1

Robin 1

Lesser Redpoll 1

Great Tit 1

Bullfinch 1

Pied Wagtail 1

Meadow Pipit 1

Long-tIled Tit1.

Power Station non operational land

Black Redstart 1 female/ juvenile located by Reuben 

Unlikely to be seen from public access but possibly visible from the perimeter fence along the dog walk track running from Heysham NR to near Ocean Edge

No reports received so far for the Yellow- Browed Warbler

North shore - mid morning (MD)

Rock Pipits only two were located (there were 6 on Sunday)

Meadow Pipit 4 grounded

Great Crested Grebe 2 ( still partial summer plumage)

Grey Plover - just 1 juvenile, they are not as common  on the north shore.

South shore - early afternoon (KE. MD)

Wheatear 1

Rock Pipit none seen or heard

Ringed Plover 24

Dunlin 10

The Dunlin were again feeding on tiny molluscs 

Shelduck flying into the sun.
The upper bird didn't have time to finish lunch!

YBW - day 4

Moderate west winds, mainly dry after a wet start

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Yellow-Browed Warbler calling from the dipping pond area - thanks to Pete Last

Red Nab area

Mediterranean gull 3 (1 adult, 1 x 1cy, 1 x 2cy)

Heysham skeer - low water 09:30

Knot c 2000

Pink-Footed Goose 73 south 09:45

Great Crested Grebe 1

Eider 4

Red-Breasted Merganser 7 (one group)

Oystercatchers watching the Merganser passing

Middleton Nature Reserve - mid afternoon 

Mute 3 adult 4 cygnet 

Coot 5

Moorhen 8

Little Grebe - none seen on the main ponds, but 1 partial summer plumage on Tim Butler pond.

Mallard 2

Gadwall 9

Teal 5

Teal in front of a Gadwall

The only warblers heard were the "no swimming" and fence ponds Cetti's warblers singing.

Insects:

The only butterflies seen were Speckled Wood.

Dragonflies - Common Darter c15. Migrant Hawker 5

YBW requires patience!

The rain eased by mid morning with just isolated showers after that. Strengthening WNW winds throughout the day.

Heysham Nature Reserve

Pete and Jean relocated the Yellow-Browed Warbler. Loosely centred near the dipping pond (the small pond with terraced banks just to the right as you enter the reserve). At one point it followed a mixed tit feeding flock across the road. Just to return to the pond area shortly later.

It's been present for three days now, hopefully still there tomorrow.

Also:

Goldcrest at least 2 with tit flock

Chiffchaff at least 4

Water Rail 1

Pink-Footed goose 38 and c120 south

As promised, this is Dan's picture of yesterday's YBW, with the bird circled.

You will still need to "open" the picture to make out the bird detail. 

The resolution of pictures on the post is not adequate. 

YBW with pictures, plus nice moths

 Westerly strong breeze, sunny in the morning overcast later in the afternoon.

Heysham Nature Reserve

Report from Jean 07:40 -10:40 (n.b. Current restrictions still prevent ringing on the reserve)

Grounded migrants

Yellow-browed Warbler - 1 near the marsh

Stonechat - 1 female which flew into the Tank Farm

Chiffchaff - 6

Blackcap - 1

Goldcrest - 3

Coal Tit - 3

Blackbird - 30

Song Thrush - 40

Robin - 7 'ticking' and 10 singing

Bullfinch - 6

Diurnal migrants

Chaffinch - 40 south

Bullfinch - 8 south

alba wagtail - 11 SE

Meadow Pipit - 4 SE

Skylark - 2+ south

Dunnock - 2 south

Carrion Crow - 9 south

There were several tit flocks consisting mainly of Long-tailed Tits with a few hangers-on Blue, Great and Coal Tits and the odd Chiffchaff. The largest flock of Long-tailed Tits was 12 and the remaining 14 or so were in 4 smaller flocks.

Old Heliport wall - high water roost 

Knot

SR23865/orange PJU

Ringed: Ainsdale 24/7/20

Read in field: Heysham heliport 5/10/20

Jean Roberts/Pete Marsh 

Middleton Nature Reserve

Report from Alan:

Very little overhead movement this morning and the same goes for grounded birds. It was very clear so moving passerines would have been hard to spot and nothing was heard (by my ears that don't work at high frequency any more).

Blackbird - 6 SE

Jackdaw - 13 S

Carrion Crow - 5+2+4 S

Thrush sp. - 7SE far to the east of the reserve

Ringing: very poor catch again today, not counting the Tit species trapped on both sides of the road.

Wren - 1

Chiffchaff - 1

Goldcrest - 4

Reed Bunting - 3

Long tailed Tit - 4 + 9 retraps

Blue tit - 7 +1 retrap

Great Tit - 4

Another good session and excellent pictures from Dan H

Heysham Head 0750-1030 today

Vis

Pink-footed Goose 133 S

Skylark 56 E plus others heard but not seen

Meadow Pipit 14 E

Chaffinch 9 NE

redpoll sp 3E

Reed Bunting 2 E

Rock Pipit 2 E

Pair of Raven patrolled the shoreline then went E. Flying around HNR in the evening.

Meadow Pipit 10

Coal Tit 6

Song Thrush 5

Goldcrest 4

Reed Bunting 3

Rock Pipit 3

Chiffchaff 1

Nuthatch 1 - not quite annual in the recording area

Stonechat 1 m

Smithy Wood 1030-1130

Blackbird 14

Song Thrush 8

A nice shot of a Song Thrush

Goldcrest ‎5

Coal Tit 5

Chiffchaff 1

Reed Bunting 1

Heysham Nature Reserve ‎1145-1300

Vis

Meadow Pipit 6 SE

redpoll ‎ sp 3 E

Siskin 2 S

Coal Tit 7

Chiffchaff 2

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

The YBW is on this one, you will have to open the picture to be able to find it. 

I'll post this picture again tomorrow with the bird circled.

Low water channels (PM)

SCAUP - drake Scaup and two brown ducks prob juv Scaup Kent channel v distant but clear vis

Eider - 66

GCGrebe - 17

This Herald moth was on Heysham Nature Reserve

Picture by Janet.

This beautiful autumn moth was in Kevins trap this morning

Merveille du Jour.
Not common in the Heysham area.

Yellow-Browed Warbler

 Brisk wind ENE to NE with some sunny spells.

No post yesterday as there were nothing to report. Not because no one checked, there was a thorough check before the rain started c10:30. Specifically checking for YBW, so in this instance absence of evidence does suggest evidence of absence - not so today!

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

Vis at Middleton NR 0730-1130

Grey Wagtail 3

Alba Wagtail 3

Meadow Pipit 1 (!) (Meadow pipits SE past harbour entrance @ c60 per hour)

Goldfinch 24

Chaffinch 1

Blackbird 15

Redwing 5

Song Thrush 2

Reed Bunting 5

Jay 1

There wasn’t as much small stuff in bushes as at Heysham NR. It’s a less sheltered site and the ENE wind was gusting force 5 at times. I haven’t got all the ringing data but these are the birds caught on the east side:

Pied Wagtail 2, Reed Bunting 3, Goldfinch 1, Coal Tit 1, Blue Tit 1, Great Tit 1, Long-tailed Tit 2 retraps, and a new Cetti’s Warbler (probably a migrant)

Afternoon check included

Cetti's Warbler 1 calling, not singing.

Jack Snipe 1

Water Rail 1

Teal 5

Gadwall 2

Little Grebe 1 in winter plumage

Another very thorough check from Dan H 

Heysham NR

0840-0915

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Chiffchaff 2

Coal Tit 5

Goldcrest 4

Goldcrest with Chiffchaff watching on

Heysham Head 0920-1130

Yellowhammer 1 male - not common here. One also seen late morning over MNR, probably the same bird.

Blackcap 6 (including a flock of five!)

One of the Blackcap

Tree Sparrow 2 - again not common here

Wheatear 1

Chiffchaff 3

Goldcrest 4

Coal Tit 6

Treecreeper 1

Rock Pipit 6

Wheatear and a Rock Pipit

Vis

Meadow Pipit 110 E

Siskin 36 E

Skylark 19 E

Lesser Redpoll 1 E

Grey Wagtail 1 E

'Smithy Wood' 1130-1230

Blackbird 15

Coal Tit 

Song Thrush 5

Goldcrest 4

Chiffchaff 3

Blackcap 1

Moneyclose Grove 1240

Chiffchaff 1

Blackcap 1

Heysham NR 1250-1320

Chiffchaff 5

Goldcrest 3

Blackcap 1

Insects:

Common Darter 22

Migrant Hawker 14

Red Admiral 10

Speckled Wood 7

Brimstone 1

Moneyclose Lane / Dog Track 1320-1400

Goldcrest 11

Chiffchaff 3

Southern boundary path MNR 1415-1445

Coal Tit 4

Goldcrest 2

Chiffchaff 1

Out with the old, in with the new

 Steady lightish winds mainly NNE. Occasional sunshine with showers developing by evening.

Sightings report from Jean

Most of the Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs at Heysham Nature Reserve had moved off overnight in the clear, moonlit conditions. Middleton NR was similarly quiet. However, at first light, groups of thrush night migrant, probably Redwing, dropped into the bushes and an hour after sunrise diurnal migration was in evidence.

Vis 0730-1030 NE F3. Clear to the N & W, cloud encroaching from the east.

Grey Wagtail 4 

Pink-footed Goose 35

Reed Bunting 9

Lesser Redpoll 8

Meadow Pipit 110

Alba Wagtail 8

Linnet 6

Chaffinch 20

Carrion Crow 5

Jackdaw 7

Swallow 4

Goldfinch 12

Blackbird 1

Kestrel 1

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Skylark 4

Report from Dan

Heysham Head 0800-1045

Goldcrest 6

Coal Tit 5

Blackcap 1

Stonechat 1 m

Mistle Thrush 1 

(was acting like a migrant...
got chased off by a blackbird!)

Vis, mostly tracked 'in-off':

Meadow Pipit 210 mostly E

Skylark 59 mostly E

Swallow 38 E or NE (10+8+6+9+5)

Pink-footed Goose 24 S inland

Siskin 17 mostly SE

Goldfinch 11 SE

alba wag 11 mostly SE

Chaffinch 8 mostly NE

Grey Wagtail 2 SE

Smithy Lane scrub / woodland inland of cafe 1050-1130

Blackbird 22

Goldcrest 5

Chiffchaff 2

Treecreeper 1

(Meadow Pipit passage overhead N/C but increasing to c120 p/h SE)

Ocean Edge/Red Nab 

Meadow Pipit 20

Skylark 1

Above over to SE

Mediterranean gull - just one located on Red Nab - ref Keith and David T

A lazy sort of day

 A steady west breeze all day. Mainly sunny.

Vis mig and ringing report from Jean

Middleton Nature Reserve
Vis 0730-1130 NW F2 part cloudy
Grey Wagtail 5 (2 caught and colour-ringed)
Meadow Pipit 10
Pink-footed Goose 16
Alba Wagtail 8
Reed Bunting 5
Carrion Crow 7
Linnet 2
Chaffinch 2
Skylark 3
Whooper Swan 16 - seen over the sea from Ocean Edge 

Other than that it was very quiet. Ringing comprised 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Grey Wagtail), 3 Meadow Pipit, 3 Long-tailed Tit (one of which was a retrap), a Goldcrest and a retrapped Blue Tit.

South shore (MD)

Wigeon 18 on Red Nab

Robin 4 grounded along foreshore 

Wheatear 3 on Red Nab and Ocean Edge foreshore plus 2 near lighthouse 

Nice picture from Kevin

Rock Pipit 1

Meadow Pipit 3 grounded

This Grey seal was trying to sleep between the outflows.

I must have just missed it catching and eating a fish. When this happens they are surrounded by a cloud of gulls after any scraps. But it must still have had a scrap left on its face, and these three immature gulls (1 & 2cy GBBG plus Herring) weren't for giving up.

Eventually the juvenile GBBG moved gingerly in.....

.....and got the scrap without the seal even opening an eye.

Then left it to sleep off its meal in peace.

Water off a duck's back!

It's hard to imagine two days more different than yesterday and today. Yesterday almost no wind and wall to wall sunshine, after the mist. Today, strong SE winds, almost constant rain with some very heavy showers.

Only my records so far, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to have been around (MD).

Ocean Edge/Red Nab - mid morning

Rock Pipit 3

Wheatear 2

Linnet c15

Little Egret 6

Wigeon 17

Middleton Nature Reserve - early evening

Mute 2 adult plus 3 cygnet + 1 adult with 1 cygnet

Coot 5

Moorhen 5

Little Grebe both the summer plumage and the winter plumage birds

Gadwall 2

Teal 4

This time last year the hawthorn bushes were laden with a bumper crop of berries. This year they are very sparse, some bushes have none at all. I expect that the winter thrushes will not linger as long as they did last year.

Clear skies after a misty start

Dense sea mist didn't clear till mid morning, then sunshine and very light variable breeze.

The last of the mist clinging to the warmer water of the outflows 10:00

South shore (MD)

Knot c2000 including at least two Sefton coast orange flag ringed birds - unfortunately not read

Grey Plover c50

Ringed Plover c50

Dunlin c70

Bar-Tailed Godwit c30

Some of the Bar-Tailed Godwit with a backdrop of mist

Pink-footed Goose 79 south 10:00

Skylark 3 south

Rock Pipits 2 - one seemed to be a passage bird, as it was chased off by another, presumably one of the "resident" birds

Wheatear 2

Wigeon 28

 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing and vis report from Jean

The fog deterred birds from moving over Middleton NR this morning. As an example of how thick the fog was, if you stood on the edge of the grass foreshore of Ocean Edge and looked back, you couldn’t see the caravans.

On arrival at Middleton NR the first bird heard, apart from a Robin ticking, was a Cetti’s Warbler at 06:33hrs. A second Cetti’s responded at 06:40 and a third was heard later on the west.

Overhead vis was no more than a trickle:

Meadow Pipit 8

Reed Bunting 6

Lesser Redpoll 1

Linnet 4

Alba Wagtail 3

Grey Wagtail 5

Redwing 1 dropped in

Coal Tit 4 dropped down from height into bushes

Chaffinch 2

Pink-footed Geese got going from 09:45 and a total of 518 flew over in 6 flocks.

A flock of 10 Carrion Crows moved off in twos and threes at about 10:00

Whooper Swans were heard.

Ringing

Meadow Pipit 1

Reed Bunting 4

Alba Wagtail 1

Robin 1

Chiffchaff 2 (inc 1 retrap)

Wren (retrap)

Blue Tit

Insects

Brown Hawker (late for this)

Red Admiral

3 Common Darter

3 Migrant Hawkers 

Migrant Hawker picture from Janet

Chiffchaff passing through my garden this afternoon (MD)

Heysham Skeer - evening (MD)

Great Crested Grebe 4

Red-Breasted Merganser 2

Knot c2000 again one Sefton Coast flagged bird

You can get close to the waders, with the sea and sun behind you

Snorkelling lesson

This adult Herring Gull caught a crab

It flew to shallower water

Carefully dropped, the now incapacitated, crab

Shouted the juvenile (come and get your dinner...)
Then flew off

The juvenile came over and after a bit of snorkelling
retrieved the crab.

Then flew off to join the adult.

This Hermit Crab was upside down on top of a mussel bank. There is no way that it would have been stranded there. A gull must have fished it out but failed to reap its reward. This is a full sized Hermit Crab in a Common Whelk Shell. I returned it to the water.

I have very large hands.