Green Woodpecker showing well........at last!

SE breeze. Overcast all day with the occasional light showers.

Red Nab to saltmarsh - high water 11:00 (MD)

Mediterranean gull 1 on Red Nab at high water- this looks like the same adult, with a pale mask, that I showed yesterday, but closer today. It had no qualms about clipping an Oystercatcher behind its ear!

This short clip is just to show how close to the sea wall the med was.

Little Egret 6

Grey Heron 2

Lapwing 66

Mallard 4 out from the saltmarsh, but living harmoniously with the two feeding Wigeon today.

Wigeon, originally just two out from the saltmarsh but the Red Nab birds flew to the saltmarsh as the tide rose - at least 120. No wonder the Mallard were tolerating them!

Having just realised yesterday that the older plants of Samphire are providing seeds, it seems that it isn't just the Linnet taking advantage. This is one of the original two feeding Wigeon. You can see the tops of the fresher Samphire out of the water, but the Wigeon appears to be feeding on older growth just below the surface. 

Linnet 41 - but by the time I reached the saltmarsh, their favoured feeding area was already underwater.

Meadow Pipit 2 (no Rock Pipit seen or heard)

Grey Wagtail 1 SE

Common Snipe 8, only two flushed from saltmarsh, the others possibly flushed from Red Nab.

Kestrel 1

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Alan had a quick walk around in the afternoon and was rewarded with:  a confiding Green Woodpecker making good use of the dead willows along the top path (previous sightings this year have just been fleeting, mainly on Middleton).

Heysham skear - late afternoon - low water 17:45

Not a lot

Great Crested grebe 2

Red-breasted Merganser 11 (2, 8 and 1)

Eider 1 

Knot c60 

Sea "turf" wars and samphire

Light SSE breeze all day, the rain alternating between drizzle and quite heavy.

Red Nab to saltmarsh area - high water 10:15

First an update from yesterday, a check by Pete located:

Mediterranean gull 7 - 5 adult plus a 2nd and 1st calendar year 

Today (MD)

Little Egret 7

Grey Heron 1

Pink-Footed goose 16 low to south

Wigeon 87 - most on Red Nab

Mallard 6 - this is where the "turf wars" come from, the Mallard cleared away the few Wigeon that were out from the saltmarsh. Not sure why the Lesser Blacked-Backed gulls joined in, they probably thought the affray was over food.

Lapwing 78 on the saltmarsh 

Kestrel 1

There was only one flock of mixed waders on the mud out from the saltmarsh, mixed both in species and habit, some feeding some just resting.

Knot 250

Grey Plover 12

Dunlin 40+

There were a scattering of gulls on the mud, with equally scattered Redshank.

Mediterranean gulls 3 adult or 3rd calendar year - in this short clip a Mediterranean gull is at the back with a Common and a Black-Headed gull in front. This individual has an under pronounced "mask", making its face look similar to a BHG. But the white wing tips and distinctive bill give it away (apologies to the birders out there, but many post readers ask about identifying Meds, particularly in winter plumage MD).

Linnet at least 35 - it was raining quite heavily at this time and there could easily have been more. Yesterday there were at least 50 and I will share a video of them shortly, but I was a bit confused yesterday (plus a bit embarrassed at my ignorance), here's why.....

Marsh Samphire (known as "samfer" to locals) - I have known this plant since I was a child, and I have just regarded it as a delicate tasting succulent. But yesterday this is what the Linnet were feeding on, so today I went to have a closer look. The picture below shows the three stages on Samphire out from the saltmarsh at the moment.

The plant on the left is most reminiscent of the Samphire I'm familiar with, but in summer the
stems are also succulent. I now realise that the remaining green at this stage are seed pods.
The pods have withered further on the middle plant, but it is the stage on the right where the
seeds must become available, and this is what the Linnet are feeding on.
The size difference of these specimens is just coincidental, all sizes of each stage are available.

There isn't much Samphire on the saltmarsh itself, it grows around the fringes. This clip shows some of the Linnet landing  just out from the saltmarsh and start to feed.

In this next clip, you can see all the three stages of Samphire that I have pictured above. It is clear that the Linnet are feeding on the third stage.

So, you live and learn. I'd never even thought of Samphire providing seeds, but what else do plants do! When I looked into it, Samphire seeds are listed as a favourite of Twite, perhaps the vagaries of Samphire could be part of the shift in local Twite behaviour? (MD)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I just checked the main ponds on my way home, mainly to see if the saltmarsh Mallard could have come from here. Sure enough, six Mallard were "missing".

Mute unchanged

Mallard 4

Gadwall 27

Coot 1

Kevin had a good moth in his moth trap last night:

An uncommon migrant moth - Palpita vitrealis.

I say uncommon but it's the third I've had in consecutive years! My site seems to be a magnet for them.

Not bad, despite the drizzle

SE light breeze, very low cloud occasionally turning to drizzle.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

After a night that was clear until around midnight and then clouded over I was expecting that there might be few birds present this morning.

The catch turned out to be rather poor however. It was calm with a very slight drizzle at times and very few birds were moving around the reserve. No Grey Wagtails seen and only single figure numbers of Redwing roaming about.

Wren 1

Robin 1

Song Thrush 1

Cetti's Warbler 1 retrap

Chiffchaff 2

Goldcrest 1

Blue Tit 3

Bullfinch 1

Lesser Redpoll 5 (all adult except for one)

Vis report from Jean:

Only a little bit of vis today at Middleton 07:00-09:00

Pink-footed Goose 110 NE, presumably from the roost at Pilling, 55 S 

Jackdaw 28 S, 103 N

Rook 5 S

Redwing 5 S

Mistle Thrush 3N

Song Thrush 3 NW, 4 grounded

Blackbird 6 grounded then 2 S

Chaffinch 5SW

Goldfinch 5 W

Reed Bunting 2 SE

Skylark 2 SE

Grey Heron 1 NE

Pied Wagtail 2

Linnet 2 SE

Siskin 1 heard but probably more

Chiffchaff just 1 heard on the reserve

Coal Tit 1

Bullfinch 2 heard - probably local

I just did a quick check of the two main ponds (MD)

Mute unchanged 

Moorhen 8

Coot 1 on main pond - new in

Mallard 10 on main pond

Gadwall 27 all on "no swimming" pond, unusually for this autumn when their numbers increase, no accompanying Mallard or Wigeon.

Teal 2

Red Nab to saltmarsh area high water 09:15 (MD) 

Wigeon 80+ on Red Nab

Shelduck 82

Pink-Footed goose c80 seen heading north, many more heard just above the low cloud.

Rock Pipit 2

Meadow Pipit 1 grounded on foreshore 

Stonechat 1 female or first winter on foreshore near Red Nab. It was being harassed by a Robin, but seemed determined to stick around.

Robin and a Stonechat 

Linnet 50+ feeding on saltmarsh - a marked increase, more on this tomorrow after I've had a closer look at what they are feeding on. 

Lapwing 64

Carrion Crow 24 together on beach just out from the saltmarsh.

The remaining records are waders out from the saltmarsh. There were a lot close in and many more passed by towards Potts. Unfortunately, visibility was poor with the drizzle and a number of walkers out with their dogs was a constant threat.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 53

Grey Plover 15

Knot 250

Dunlin 1,300 resting plus c200 feeding

Sanderling 2

Also present but not counted, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank 

This clip is just to show where we are, and what was going on. There are Oystercatcher, Curlew, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot, then I pan up to show the foreshore behind.

The tide was going out now and allowing easier access to the beach, but to be fair I had longer with the birds than I had expected, but an approaching dog finally spooked the feeding birds, at least allowing an in flight clip.

All that remained was a large (1300) resting flock of mainly Dunlin, this is where the winter plumage Sanderling were. Both at the back of the flock, partly obscured and head firmly tucked under their wings. I knew the walkers would soon spook these too, so I focused on one of the Sanderling, hoping for a clear head shot before they moved off. But it was the last bird to react!

Sanderling top centre 
 This is a still from the clip below and the best view provided before they all took off.
If you watch in slow motion you can see it was the last bird to take off, but no detail possible.

Enough moving through, on a clear day, to be interesting

It started cold and calm. The air temperature never really got above 10C but the sun made it feel warm. The breeze started light from the east and briefly switched to NW for a period in the afternoon. Before returning to SE.

First, this excellent shot of a Little Egret taken yesterday by Kevin Singleton 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

I’ve gone and left the ringing book in Pete’s car and I don’t know what John ended up with (apart from the 10 Redpoll). As far as I remember I only caught 2 Wrens, a Robin and a Reed Bunting.

The vis from 07:30-10:30: 

Mainly corvids.

Jackdaw 235 south, 10 NW - largest flock size was 80

Carrion Crow 10 south, 2 NE 

Pink-footed Goose 82 north, 67 south

Grey Heron 4 SE

Little Egret 1 North

Redwing 39 north

Song Thrush 1 

Blackbird 6 

Woodpigeon 18 south

Grey Wagtail 1 caught

Pied Wagtail 2 north

Chaffinch 1 south, 3 north

Finch sp 10 NW 

Redpoll 1 SE plus 10 caught

Bullfinch 3 south

Skylark 4 SE

Linnet 2 

I had a look around mid morning (MD)

Mute unchanged 

Mallard 11

Gadwall 18

Moorhen 12

Little grebe 1

There was a large mixed tit flock feeding near golf course 30+ birds. I've tried merging a few short videos, not sure if it will work, to convey the general activity. It starts with a Long-Tailed Tit watching the others go by, then a Blue Tit, not sure what it is picking off a leaf. There was at least one Chiffchaff and three Goldcrest, but not certain the crests were actually moving with the feeding flock, or just feeding in the same area.

Dragonflies 

Migrant Hawker 3

Common Darter 6

(One each of the above were seen by Pete, quite early in the morning when the air temperature was still very cool).

This is a clip of a female Common Darter, first landing then visibly "relaxing" in the warmth of the sun.

Out of recording area - Heysham Moss

It was a very nice walk around this under visited reserve. The recent rains have refilled the pools between the peat. (MD).

Teal 4

Mallard 1

Grey Heron 1

Green Sandpiper 1 (heard only)

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 at least

Mixed tit feeding flock c25 birds

Sparrowhawk 1

Raven 1

I couldn't decide if the Sparrowhawk was seeing off the Raven, or vice versa. The Raven ended up heading north.

Ravens and a Sparrowhawk 

Insects - this was my main reason for a visit, it was warm in the sun and I wondered if there were still Black Darters around. I didn't see any, but at times the number of Common Darters around the pools was more like midsummer than mid October!

Common Darter 55 - most in  100m square in the NW corner of the peat pools. Unlike Middleton Nature Reserve where many of the remaining Common Darter are mature female, the Moss darters were all, but one, male. The only female seen was already coupled with a male.

The above was c14:00. On my return to this area c15:00 the breeze had shifted to NW and it was cooler, resulting in only a handful of Common Darters seen, and only when flushed.

Surprisingly no Migrant Hawkers

Presumably third generation Small Copper in the heather

A lot of mergansers, but not a lot else!

West wind quite fresh and blustery all day, moving to WSW by evening. Mainly overcast with a few light showers. 

Only my stuff so far and I didn't manage to get out for a walk till early evening (MD).

Heysham skear.

Just a quick look at low water on this neap tide.

No sign of Great Crested Grebe or Eider.

Little Egret 18

Red-breasted Merganser 15 - 1 male the rest female or immature birds. This was the largest group of 10

South shore

Linnet 20+ on saltmarsh 

No Rock Pipits seen or heard

Shelduck 36

Wigeon 27 flew on to Red Nab.

Some of the Wigeon flying to Red Nab as the tide makes

There were a lot of gulls behind the SeaTruck, unfortunately it got to the harbour before me and all I managed was:

Mediterranean gulls 1 adult plus 2 first winter.

It was starting to get dark as I was walking back. The Starlings were heading for their wooden jetty roost, as were the Cormorants - there are 14 cormorant in this clip.

Just received these nice Rock Pipit and Curlew shots from Kevin Singleton. All from Half Moon Bay Cafe area. It's worth opening these to see plumage detail.

At the very fringe of huge Redwing movement

NW breeze quite fresh early on, overcast all day with the occasional light showers

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Alan:

It was an unexpected, and un-forecasted start to the morning with a light drizzle for a while early on and a blustery NW breeze that persisted through the morning. The catch was predictably low with a total of only 17 birds caught with nets set on both East and West sides.

Meadow Pipit 1

Pied Wagtail 3

Wren 1

Dunnock 1 retrap

Robin 3

Song thrush 1

Redwing 2 - up to 25 were seen moving, a very low number compared to areas in the south of the country and the east coast. Hopefully more will arrive in our area in the days to come.

Goldcrest 1

Long-tailed Tit 2 retraps

Chaffinch 1 retrap

Reed Bunting 1

I had a look around mid morning (MD)

No thrushes grounded

Wildfowl pretty much unchanged except, no sign of any Little grebe.

Water Rail I calling 

Jack Snipe 1 flushed by ringers on western marsh - first record this autumn.

Cetti's warbler 4 males singing, both marshes plus "no swimming" and Tim Butler pond birds.

Red Nab to saltmarsh area early evening.

Mediterranean gulls 2 - 1 adult plus 1 x 1st winter on mud out from saltmarsh.

Rock Pipit 2 on foreshore 

Linnet 10 on foreshore 

Wigeon 47

Shelduck 64 - this clip shows some of the Shelduck bathing along with some Wigeon, Redshank and a Curlew. The two "mischievous" Shelduck, appear to get a scolding!

Waders:

There were loads of very mobile waders around plus many more towards Potts Corner.

Curlew 200+

Knot 1,000+

Part of a Knot flock

Dunlin 1,000+ - this clip shows just a few Dunlin feeding while a Mediterranean gull preens. The keen eyed should also be able to spot two Ringed Plover, although the second bird only makes a late appearance.

Grey Plover 6 near the saltmarsh - this isn't a great clip, it was getting quite dark, but does show how close the Grey Plover, with some Dunlin feed to the shore. You can see the foreshore rocks behind them and the surface water drain at the bottom of the slipway.

Jackdaw movement continues, but almost certainly under recorded

NW breeze, largely overcast with a few light showers.

Heysham skear - low water 10:30

Eider 10 

Great Crested Grebe only 1 seen!

Red-Breasted Merganser 10. A group of 8 female/juvenile plus another single f/j and a male. 

Pink-Footed goose 70 south

Little Egret 9

Grey Heron 2

Peregrine 1 rested on the skear a while before heading inland.

Grey Wagtail 1 SE

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a 5 minute visit on my way home.

Mute unchanged 

Mallard 10 on main pond plus 1 male in association with....

Gadwall 15

Little grebe 2 together, 1 was markedly larger than the other, but I don't know if that relates to sex, age or both (MD). At least one of these birds is new on the pond.

This is just a still from the above clip.

Two Little grebe with an immature Moorhen behind

Just as I was leaving 11:45. A group of c50 Jackdaw headed south. It's hard to imagine that this would have been the only movement here today. Jackdaw pass over like a wave, they seem to move in all directions, but the net effect is travel in the desired direction. This is some of them.

Red Nab and Ocean Edge towards high water.

Mediterranean gull just two adult identified on Red Nab

Wigeon c20 - the Wigeon keep Red Nab gut weed cropped quite short, but they prefer feeding on it when it is floating in shallow water.

Canada goose 2 south (ref Kevin)

Shelduck just 1

Rock Pipit 2 on foreshore, again, no Robins.

Linnet c20 on saltmarsh 

Finally, this Carrion Crow was convinced that this milk bottle contained something edible.

It continued like this for several minutes, before I moved on. And it was still trying to open it when I returned 15 minutes later. I think there was little bit of rancid milk inside, presumably the crow could smell it.

Movement still ticking over....just.

The light early NW breeze freshened and moved more to WNW by mid morning. Some overcast spells, but mainly sunny.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from John:

Ringing this morning was from just after seven. Wind again was a NNW and relatively light to start with. Only becoming breezy around 10.30am, with the nets taken down shortly after. 

Only 18 birds were trapped, but giving a reasonable variety. These comprised:

Meadow Pipit 1

Grey Wagtail 1

Wren 2

Dunnock 1

Robin 1 retrap

Cetti's Warbler 1

Chiffchaff 1

Pied Wagtail 1

Blue Tit 1 + 1 retrap

Tree Sparrow 1 (not common here)

Lesser Redpoll 3

Goldcrest 2

Blackcap 1

South shore mid morning low water (MD)

Rock Pipit just one on Red Nab, despite the total lack of Robins on the foreshore.

Kestrel 1 hunting 

The only birds overhead to south were:

Skylark 1

Meadow Pipit 1

Alba Wagtail 1

Mediterranean gull 2 - none on the deserted Red Nab, but two on the seaward side of the beach near the wooden jetty.

Wigeon 14 by No1 outflow

Adult Common gull flying past the harbour mouth

Heysham Head high water 15:20 

By now the WNW breeze was quite fresh, but a pleasant walk in the sun, although no sign of any off passage birds.

Rock Pipit 2. One at the northern end of Half Moon Bay, the other on the pebble beach below the high cliffs. I took this clip, really so you could enjoy the sound of the waves breaking on the beach. Unfortunately my camera isn't as good as cancelling out the sound of the wind as my "brain" is. Still, here we go:

Looking back from the Head to the old heliport wall, allows good views of the roosting waders. Good in the respect, easy to count rather than seeing any detail.

Oystercatcher c1,500

Small waders, mainly Redshank with Turnstone and a sprinkling of Knot c600

High egret and corvid counts

Light NNW breeze moved more to NW and freshened slightly. Mainly sunny.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

Ringing this morning at Middleton was from before dawn in clear conditions. It was calm to start with but a light NNW wind soon got up.

A respectable 32 birds were trapped, including 5 Lesser Redpoll.

Meadow Pipit 1

Grey Wagtail 3

Wren 2

Dunnock 1

Robin 2

Cetti's Warbler 1

Chiffchaff 2

Long-tailed Tit 8

Blue Tit 1 + 2 retraps

Great Tit 2

Chaffinch 1

Lesser Redpoll 5

Reed Bunting 1

Vis report from Jean:

0820-0940. Corvids were the most numerous species again.

Pink-footed Goose 102N, 86S

Jackdaw 36N, 203S

Rook 10N (uncommon in the recording area)

Carrion Crow 13NW, 2S

Raven 1 SW

Woodpigeon 4S

Redwing 1N,

Song Thrush 1SE

Blackbird 1N, 1SE

Chaffinch 2SE

Redpoll 1SE

Meadow Pipit 2N, 19S

Goldfinch 3SE

Linnet 1

Pied Wagtail 1

Swallow 3 S

Greenfinch 4W

Reed Bunting 2

Pete did a thorough check of the shore between Red Nab to the Sunny Slopes, at low water:

Great Crested Grebe 18

Little Egret 32 (I think this is the highest ever count for the observation area (MD))

Mediterranean gull just 2 adult off Red Nab.

Stonechat 1 female on the mound viewed from the back of the harbour 

Grey Wagtail 1 SE

At least 160 jackdaw and 45 carrion crow south eventually! 

Heysham skear - low water 09:10 (MD)

Little Egret 20

Great Crested grebe 11

Both the above are included in Pete's count.

Red-breasted Merganser 5 - including 1 male

Grey Heron 3

Eider 19

Pink-Footed Goose 70 south

Skylark 1 south

Mediterranean gull 1 adult on the north edge of the skear. It's head pattern suggest it is the same bird seen here previously. The tide is coming in quickly by this time, which makes all the gulls more mobile.

In this next clip, the Med is doing an "Alfred Hitchcock", and just happens to be wandering in the background as I was checking out a moulting male Eider.

Along the north side of the skear at low water on these high spring tides, there are plenty of areas of sea lettuce available. Unfortunately they would only provide a short feeding opportunity, but sea lettuce seemed to be the Brent Geese's favourite last winter, so it might just tempt some, if they can find out it's there.

Sea lettuce floating in shallow pools, ideal for Brent to feed on,
but the window of opportunity at low water on spring tides is small.

Finally, it was a lovely morning, and the sun was shining all, around the bay. Unless you were in one of the south lakes valleys where the mist was laying like glaciers.

Dense mist rolling down the Lyth Valley 
It didn't clear till 10:30

Winter thrushes start to arrive, plus other interesting movement.

SSE breeze, very low cloud, indistinguishable from drizzle by late morning. Some rain showers in the afternoon.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

Ringing:

Song Thrush 4

Chiffchaff 4

Blackcap 4

Yet another Cetti’s Warbler 1

Garden Warbler 1

Pied Wagtail 1

Grey Wagtail 1

Greenfinch 1

Robin 1 plus a retrap from last month

Wren 1

Dunnock 3

Long-tailed Tit 1 plus a retrap

Vis: 

Quite a variety given the murky conditions but only small numbers of each species.

Pink-footed Goose 25 N, 70 S

Jackdaw 58

Song Thrush 30

Mistle Thrush 1

Redwing 5

Blackbird 1

Starling 1

Grey Wagtail 5

Pied Wagtail 9

Reed Bunting 3

Skylark 3

Siskin 4

Lesser Redpoll 1

Greenfinch 1

Chaffinch 2

Bullfinch 2

Linnet 1

Green Woodpecker east to west 07:35

I did a quick check of the two main ponds late morning (MD)

Mute unchanged 

Moorhen 8

Mallard 10 on main pond plus one in association with the Gadwall

Gadwall 21 on "no swimming" pond plus 2 on main pond

Wigeon 2 (male and female) also in association with the Gadwall.

Little grebe 1

Cetti's warbler 1 - not singing, but managed a glimpse of one by "no swimming" pond.

These are the two Wigeon with a few of the Gadwall

South shore - low water 08:30 (MD)

There was a bit of movement until the cloud became light rain.

Skylark 2 individuals south

Grey Wagtail 2 together east

Meadow Pipit 5 east

Wheatear 1 grounded - all the recent birds have been mature males

Also:

Rock Pipit - just one seen, but there were 4 aggressive Robin between Red Nab and the foreshore slipway.

Mediterranean gulls 2. Red Nab was deserted, but only two adult feeding near the wooden jetty.

Shaun has a look around this afternoon:

Heysham Head 

3 Chiffchaff

Blackcap 1 male

Heysham Nature Reserve 

2 Chiffchaff 

2 Blackcap (male and female)