Where did all the ducks go?

An early morning light ground frost was followed by a largely sunny day. Gentle easterlies continued.

Report from Jean:

There was a Red-throated Diver in the channel off Heysham Head floating in on the incoming tide. This species has been conspicuous by its absence of late despite lots of channel checking.

Middleton NR 

Vis 0800-1100  

Weather: Clear, sunny, NE F2

Pink-footed Goose - 158 in three flocks (40+58 N, 60 S)

Snipe - 6 E

Jackdaw - 60 S (largest flock 19)

Woodpigeon - 2 E

Chaffinch - 9 E

Siskin - 1+ E

Lesser Redpoll - 1 SE

Song Thrush - 1 NE

Meadow Pipit - 1 E

Skylark - 4 SW

Goldfinch - 2 E

Starling - 4 E

Reed Bunting - 1 grounded

Ringing 

Not much caught after a clear, moonlit night, just a few migrants and some old friends:

Chaffinch - 2 new, 1 retrapped from August

Robin - 1 new and promptly chased off by the resident Robin when released

Blue Tit - 1 new, 1 retrap from September

Goldcrest - 1 retrap

Wren - 1 not caught since 2018

Other stuff:

Middleton Nature Reserve 

After all the ducks on the "no swimming" pond over the last couple weeks, a quick check this morning found the only occupants of the pond to be:

Mute Swan 1 adult

Gadwall 2

Coot 4

Moorhen 4

Little Grebe 2 - by way of experiment I'm adding a short video. I've no idea if the link will work or what the resulting quality will be, but if it's any good, it is something I may do again (I've had a look at the published post now, I would recommend viewing on "full screen")

South Shore

Neither the Shag or Sandwich Tern was seen/reported.

This cormorant seemed to be enjoying the pleasant conditions and had several "washes"

It was a good drying day!

The east breeze and warm sun resulted in a lot of small insects being attracted to the sea wall, this in turn attracted:

Rock Pipits 3

Pied Wagtail 8

Grey Wagtail 1

Meanwhile, this Turnstone satisfied itself with tiny molluscs

This Black-headed Gull is a Polish ringed bird, that has spent the last three winters with us. This is the first record this winter.

Ringed as nestling 13/06/17 Stawy, Kiszkowo, Wielkopolskie, Poland

15/09/17 - 23/02/18 Heysham Harbour

03/10/18 - 31/01/19 Heysham Harbour

16/10/19 - 04/01/20 Heysham Harbour

As well as flies along the sea wall, three moths were seen. All could have been Silver Y. This one definitely was.

Well camouflaged, it took Kevin's keen eye to spot it

Siberian Chiffchaff

It was almost breathless early on with very low cloud cover. Later the east breeze cleared the cloud and the sun shone for most of the afternoon.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing captures included

Siberian Chiffchaff 1 - All the features were correct including particularly black legs.

It's not easy holding a bird in one hand and camera in the other!

Chiffchaff (Collybita) - A bit pale and washed out but bare parts not particularly dark and normal calls given after release

Collybita Chiffchaff 

Cetti's Warbler - I new bird ringed - they are still moving about (2 singing in the afternoon)

Redpoll 1

There were 4 Tufted duck on the "no swimming" pond

The female with the white around bill and roundish head,
is either at the extreme range for a Tufted or is a hybrid.

It was a day for birds at the extreme of their range. These pictures of a small Dunlin with a short bill below the heliport wall. Taken by Pete.

It is unusual for what appears to be a schinzii to be still 

around early winter unless it is a very small nominate alpina

The mud actually makes the bill look longer
and thicker than it actually was.

Also from the Heliport, Jean managed to read this orange flagged Knot.

SR77065	1E		Ringed	22/09/2017	2017	6	6						Altcar
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	16/04/2018	2018	4	16		Southport
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	22/09/2018	2018	9	22		Formby
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	20/03/2019	2019	3	20		Southport
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	29/11/2019	2019	11	29		Southport
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	27/01/2020	2020	1	27		Southport
SR77065	1E		Sighted	22/09/2017	2017		6	24/07/2020	2020	7	24		Ainsdale Beach

Other records from Jean:

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Tree Sparrow 5 in bushes then headed ENE, in a line towards the new feeder.

Skylark 1 east

Heysham Nature Reserve

Woodcock - one below the non-existent obs tower.

Goldcrest 1 

Plus geese included in report below

There were several reports of Pink-Footed goose movement:

47 north

332 north between 09:00 - 09:05

110 south between 11:15 - 12:10

128 south between 12:20 - 13:30

Some of the Pinkfoot from Janet 

No reports yet from anyone checking the Sandwich Tern or Shag status. Hopefully the weekend will provide sightings of both.

Insects:

Migrant Hawker 1 near dog walk pond - ref Janet

Common Darter 1 Middleton Nature Reserve 

male Common Darter

Good coverage, and a decent selection

Very light breeze, just about from the west. Largely overcast with some light drizzle.

Coverage today from PM, JR, AD, KE and MD

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Early morning ringing and visible migration report from Alan:

There were very few birds around and the total was made up partly by birds attracted to the recently installed feeder.  A flock of 22 Long tailed Tits was roaming the reserve but none was caught.

Birds trapped were:

Wren 1+1R

Robin 1

Blackbird 2+1R

Redwing 1

Blue Tit 3+6R

Great Tit 1+2R

Chaffinch 1R

Reed Bunting 1

There were a number of blackbirds around on the reserve and ones and twos of thrushes flying generally eastwards.

Two large flocks of around 700 each of Pink footed Geese flew northwards.  One at 07.30 over the reserve and the other at 08.00 was far to the east.

Ducks on "no swimming" pond

Gadwall 19

Shoveller 6

Tufted 1 partially eclipsed male - new in

male Shoveller plus the Tufted

North shore

Great Crested Grebe 8 around skeer channels plus 3 nearer the Stone Jetty

Eider 91 around skeer channels plus 52 nearer the Stone Jetty

Diving duck spp, probably a Scoter, Kent channel 

Red-Breasted Merganser 10

Shag 1 juvenile feeding on the flood tide on the south side of the skeer

This picture taken an hour after low water

Knot c1,000 on skeer, later 1,300 on heliport wall, including 1 Dutch ringed bird which avoided being read.

Rock Pipit 2/3 on Heysham Head Cliffs

Meadow Pipits 2 as above

Grey seal 2

South Shore - high water

Rock Pipit 3

Sandwich Tern 1 juvenile - this bird is very hit and miss. Possibly, as Kevin saw it take two small fish from No.2 outflow in as many minutes, it quickly finds its food, then roosts for a while. It was also seen flying along the south wall as far as the wooden jetty before returning.

These excellent pictures from Kevin

The local BHGs don't take kindly to having their fish nicked!

Shag and Sandwich Tern still hanging around.

Very light winds today mainly from NW. The sun was shining for most of the day, making it feel quite warm, though in reality it barely reached 10C.

Upcoming weather opportunities (from Pete) - Should get a Black Redstart and/or Firecrest off the weather Friday to Monday.  Not bad forecast for a decent late autumn bird like Dusky Warbler (previous record was 4/11)

Also from Pete:

Sandwich Tern - 1 juvenile visited outfalls briefly late am - suspected sitting on channel marker buoy rest of time? 

Whooper swan 6 south

Merlin 1 female around the Heliport area

Shag 1 juvenile roosting on the outer section of the wooden jetty.

Not easy to spot, it's one of the two in the gap between rails

Pictures by Jean.

Rock Pipit 2 around Red Nab

Middleton Nature Reserve(MD)

A quick check of the "no swimming" pond, just after sunrise. 

Wildfowl as yesterday, but with the low sun behind me, it allowed some better plumage shots.

Shoveller:
Male in partial eclipse, female, male in eclipse/1st winter

Female and male Gadwall

I have heard Gadwall referred to as "the dull ducks".

But, when the male displays his full colours,
he really is quite splendid.

A walk around the reserve in the pleasant afternoon sun also located:

Cetti's warblers 2 - both "no swimming" pond and central marsh males singing.

Water Rail at least 2 calling. They invariably react to a Cetti's burst of song.

Comma 1 - very active, no doubt trying to find something to feed on.

Corvids - 14:15. a flock of 48 mainly Jackdaw were flying north then turned and flew off to the east. There was at least one Rook with them. Rooks are vary scarce here. As far as I know this is the first record this year.

Some of the corvids - the central bird is a Rook.

A solitary Sandwich is the only leftover

The wind had reduced to just a stiff breeze, starting off just south of west ending up nearer NW. some heavy showers

South shore - mid morning

Sandwich Tern 1 first winter seen briefly between the outflows, late reports from yesterday show it was feeding on the outflows for most of the day, but very mobile. No other remnants of the storm were seen.

Wigeon 96 counted in channels next to outflows on rising tide

Rock Pipit 1 Red Nab

This picture from Janet is actually from Sunday - same location.
There are routinely up to three on Red Nab

Middleton Nature Reserve - mid afternoon

Mute Swan 2+1+1 adult 3+1 cygnet

Coot 7

Moorhen 7

Gadwall 19

Shoveller 2

Teal 4

Little grebe 3

Water Rail 2

Common Snipe 1

Cetti's Warbler 1 singing was the only warbler heard

Great Northern Diver

Overnight gale force SW winds with rain of biblical proportions! Daylight saw the winds eased slightly with some extensive gaps between the very heavy showers.

Great Northern Diver - located from Stone Jetty by Dan Haywood at 12:30 and picked up as it flew out from Near Naze by Pete.

These excellent pictures from Dan

It doesn't look it, but these pictures were taken in the teeth of a gale!

Unfortunately embedding pictures into a blog degrades them slightly, to view the originals and access other information, Twitter users can follow ⁦@LDBWSnews⁩ 

Other sightings from Dan:

Five Great black-backed Gulls paused while flying out, not as I first thought for a rest (strong headwinds) but to attempt to catch one of the three Great Crested Grebes feeding offshore. 

An adult Kittiwake & Gannet 'in' 

Also from Pete:

Two redhead Goosander flew high to the north over OE/red nab/wooden Jetty 

Razorbill/Guillemot 2 distant out

Kittiwake 1 adult on outflows early pm.

South shore (MD)

Sandwich Tern - 1 first winter bird battled past the wooden jetty 10:20. 

A rubbish picture, but adequate to confirm a quite late record

Shag - 1 first winter bird out from the saltmarsh before flying west

Linnet c50

Common snipe 6

I left before the saltmash was fully covered, so no Jack Snipe

Not much change

The winds were still strong from SW, but not quite as strong as yesterday. Showers in the morning, then almost constant and increasingly heavy rain from lunchtime onwards.

Pete took this shot of a solitary Black-Tailed Godwit
On the heliport roost.

Saltmarsh just before high water (11:30)

Wigeon 134

Mallard 2

Common Snipe 8

Jack Snipe 2 confirmed, 1 probable

Ringed Plover 3

Redshank c100

Linnet c50

Some of the Linnet

Middleton Nature Reserve

Just a quick check of the "no swimming" pond at lunchtime 

Gadwall 28

Shoveller 6

Little Grebe 1

This Herring Gull was waiting out the tide on Ocean Edge, its upper mandible is overgrown. It looks like it has had some trauma at the base of the lower mandible, which may be the cause. But, apart from that it looks fine (MD)

Strong winds, not really providing.....yet.

Strong wind all day, starting from south then moved SW. heavy showers throughout the day, but less frequent by the afternoon.

 Two orange flagged Knot were read on heliport wall - details awaited.

Whooper Swan - 13, including 2 juvenile were heading south before the heavy rain forced them to land on the sea out from Knowlys Rd (thanks to Mr Sharples for this record). 4 adult south 14:40.

Saltmarsh - high water 11:00.

Today's 9.08 metre high tide would not normally cover the saltmarsh, but with the southerly wind driving it in and the low atmospheric pressure, it did.

Common Snipe 2 (almost certainly more flushed earlier)

Jack Snipe 2

Linnet c40

Wigeon c50

Mallard 2

The only bird found to be sheltering in the harbour, was this Redwing!

The eye stripe breaks up the head shape quite effectively 

Middleton Nature Reserve "no swimming" pond

Gadwall 22

Shoveller 4

Little Grebe 2

Goldeneye 1 female

Two brief checks today,

This morning it was feeding

By 16:00 it was just preening and swimming around with the Gadwall

It finally stopped!

The wind was much lighter today, as was the early rain. The rain finally petered out by mid morning, after that the sunny spells became longer and the afternoon was quite pleasant.

Heliport area (PM.MD) 

As the tide covered the rocks in front of the Heliport just 39 Common Snipe flew to the heliport grass, and 20 of those came from further north. Much fewer than early in the week, presumably a reflection of the amount of waterlogged ground there currently is in the area.

This is a slightly different view view of the Oystercatchers roosting on the heliport wall. It was still raining and quite dark at this time, as can be seen by the light above them.

Later Pete somehow managed to identify a ringed bird amongst those roosting on the near naze.

JE right leg (white ring with black letters)
 red over white left leg

Identified as a bird ringed in May this year in Iceland

There was also a Dutch ringed Knot, that managed to evade complete identification.

Rock Pipit 3 below slipway near the cafe.

Red Nab

Not much, these three Red-breasted Merganser were feeding in the shallow central pool as the tide came in.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute 3 adult 3 + 1 Cygnet

Moorhen 10

Coot 6

Teal 4

Gadwall 3

Shoveller 4

Little Grebe 2

Water Rail 3

Cetti's warbler 2 singing

Chiffchaff 1 calling

Grey Wagtail 2 unringed birds grounded before setting off SE

It rained!

The overnight wind had eased slightly and shifted to SSE, but it quickly shifted back to SW and freshened. Rain all day varying from torrential to extra torrential!

I think there was only me daft enough to venture out (MD)

Middleton Nature Reserve - no swimming pond

Very little in the morning, just:

Gadwall 2

Shoveller 3

More impressive mid afternoon:

Gadwall 12

Shoveller 3

Teal 4

Little grebe 3

South shore

Kingfisher on Red Nab towards high water

Red- breasted Merganser 2 - as above

Skylark 1 on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 1 near lighthouse 

Mediterranean gull 1 adult sheltering in the lee of No.2 outflow with the Black-Headed gulls.

It had rained all day, and throughout my afternoon walk along the south wall and back, but when I got back to the saltmarsh (16:10) it eased, then stopped. Within a few minutes everything on the saltmarsh lifted, including:

Lapwing c80

Common Snipe 10+

I eventually located the cause an "owl", by this time heading towards Potts Corner. It was likely to have been a Short-eared Owl, but unconfirmed. Presumably it had been resting close by waiting for a gap in the rain.

It wasn't a day for photography, my camera was stashed well away from the rain. But I did take this shot of the gulls roosting behind No.2 outflow, the same shelter allowing me some protection.

The Mediterranean gull is amongst these, and I think the resolution should just be good enough for it to be discernible.