First Shelduck back and more Sanderlings

Quite a fresh NW wind, overcast for most of the day with some light showers. The sun peeked through briefly in the evening.

South shore - "high" water 17:30 (MD)

I've been a bit under the weather today, probably a bit of "man flu". So didn't venture out till this evening, even then it was hard work, the mud felt stickier than usual and the sun made its only appearance of the day to be behind the waders, making viewing difficult!

There was a feeding group of 28 Ringed Plover and 2 Dunlin along the first patch of wet mud. Probably the group that the Curlew Sandpiper had been feeding with, but no sign of it today.

The tide doesn't come far up the beach on these low neap tides (just 7m today), leaving a very big beach and a very distant waterline. And when you get there, this is what you see!

Waders silhouetted by the sun, these are Dunlin

I had to paddle out a way and look back, the tide was still coming in, but only very slowly. This helped as the waterline became increasingly further away. 

It was mainly Dunlin that moved in to feed in front of me, but there was one Sanderling with them.

Sanderling, centre, with Dunlin

There were three more further along the beach 

Three Sanderling, far left, far right and centre.

Sanderling 4 

I haven't had a chance to scrutinise yesterday's inflight shots of Sanderling in a large, passing, Dunlin flock, but there were probably c15. These are some of them

Some of yesterday's Sanderling in a Dunlin flock

Estimates of other waders on the waterline 

Bar-Tailed Godwit 50

Grey Plover 20

Knot 50 

Dunlin 150

Mediterranean gull 1 adult

Mediterranean gull 

It was obviously going to rain so I started to trudge back. 

Shelduck 1 - I was going to say "distant", but then realised, that the duck was close inshore, it was me who was distant!

First Shelduck reported this autumn 

Rain it did, but not for long.

 Hopefully, the pleasure of walking will return by tomorrow (MD)

Another sad loss!

Tom Wilmer

Tom died this afternoon after being admitted to RLI.  Tom was a key figure in the early days of the observatory with notable fieldcraft skills and awareness of possibilities which, for example, produced the first Common Rosefinch and second and third Melodious Warblers for Lancs as well as lots of ‘bread and butter’ log coverage.  He was a key figure in Educational work in the old classroom until Power station executives unfortunately decided not to continue with the programme.  Tom then moved on to other things but still made occasional visits to Heysham if the Seawatching looked promising or there was a nice October easterly.  He was a valued member of the local birding scene and will be sadly missed

Once again, the wind started light from the north then freshened as it moved to NW. plenty of sunshine for most of the day.

Heysham skear - low water 10:50 (MD)

Little Egret 36 at least - there are 27in this clip

Pete advises that there were 255 little egret in the Ashton hall roost last Sunday and a few may have been missed!

Grey Heron 1

Red-breasted Merganser 12 (2, 4 & 6)

Great Crested Grebe 2

Waders, only: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone 

Peregrine 1 adult flushed them three times, but didn't see it catch anything 

South shore  - high water 16:30 (MD)

Grey Wagtail 1 in the newt pond again

Rock Pipit 1 near rocky outcrop 

These neap tides do not cover the mud, and the area where the Curlew Sandpiper has been feeding is now dry. No good for feeding just resting, which is what 34 Ringed Plover and 2 Dunlin were doing.

The other consequence of the dry mud is that the gulls tend to sit on it rather than stand, so little chance of checking for rings!

Common and Black-Headed gull resting on the dry mud

There were plenty of waders along the waterline out from the foreshore.

Bar-Tailed Godit 4

Grey Plover 100+

Knot c50

Dunlin c200

Sanderling 2 

Two Sanderling at the front - the waders segregated by leg length

But there were other flocks of waders flying past to the south, one flock of Dunlin certainly contained some more Sanderling, a closer check of my pictures is required to establish how many (not a job for tonight).

Linnet c40 on saltmarsh 

Butterflies in Nature Park

Comma 2

Red Admiral 2

Speckled Wood several 

Large White 2

Large White

Second generation female Large White, looking splendid!

Pink-footed Goose 1000+ heading south early morning over Middleton (John)

At least one skein moving north late evening (Janet)

New egret high count

A light, but cold north wind early on quickly freshened. Sunshine for most of the morning becoming cloudier by mid afternoon.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Alan:

It was cool and very clear first thing with a northerly breeze that increased to 15mph by 10 o'clock - no good for mist nets.

There were few grounded migrants and little overhead besides around 370 Pink footed Geese in five separate groups plus another couple of groups heard but not seen. Three swallows flew low over the reserve from south to north into the wind. Three more Grey Wagtails were ringed for the colour ringing project.

A very meagre total today:

Grey Wagtail 3

Robin 2 +1 retrap

Blackcap 1

Chiffchaff 1 + 1 retrap

Reed Bunting 2

I had a walk around mid morning (MD)

Mute pair still with their 7 cygnets on main pond.

"No swimming" pond:

Coot 2 together

Moorhen 2 adult 1 immature 

Gadwall 16 (8 male and 8 female)

Shoveler 4 seemed to be 2 male, 1 female and 1 female/immature)

Male Shoveler left with either a female or immature

The other male was slightly further out of eclipse and was following, what was presumably an adult, female around. Although she didn't seem overly interested.

Little grebe 1 adult in fading summer plumage. In this clip the female Gadwall is totally oblivious to the grebe till it dives.

Common Snipe 1 flushed from main pond

And that was it bird wise.

Dragonflies 

Emperor 1 male (a late record for this species)

Migrant Hawker 3 male 1 female

Common darter several male and female but all aged

Butterflies 

Red Admiral 2

Speckled Wood several

Comma 2

Very fresh looking Comma

Heysham inner skear

Yesterday Kevin Singleton counted 41 Little Egret on and around the bay formed at the edge of the inner skear as the tide rises. Birds were already moving inland so there could have been more. Pretty sure this is the highest count for the recording area. Unfortunately Kevin didn't have his camera with him at the time, and only visits Heysham about once a week, so I said I would go down today (MD)

Other duties today meant that I could only get there an hour earlier in the tide than Kevin yesterday. Even so there were at least 33 Little Egret strung along the waterline and in the small pools in the stretch between Whinnysty Lane and Grovenor Rd. Not much point taking a picture of the birds today as they were so well spread, but this shot shows the northern half of the area, the large pool on the left is what will become the "bay" later. No Egrets feeding in there in this shot, but it will be filled with fresh water from the run offs. Only when the tide reaches it will the shrimps and small fish move in.

About half of today's 33 Little Egret are "technically" in this shot
Nice picture of the bay, if nothing else!

Kevin did have his camera with him earlier yesterday 
and took this nice shot of a Turnstone 

South shore (MD)

I checked the beach out from saltmarsh first. There were no waders feeding inshore today. Along the tideline were:

Grey Plover 150

Knot 90

Dunlin 30

This clip shows a wall of spume being pushed up the shore by the wind and waves. I have covered spume before. It is perfectly natural and just made up of bubbles created by the breaking waves, proteins in the water (a sign of healthy water) sustain the bubbles. Originally white, but they pick up the silt in the shallow water and take on the colour of the mud.

On the way back to the saltmarsh a flock of c50 Ringed Plover shot past and headed towards Red Nab.

Linnet 25 on saltmarsh 

Starlings 200+ feeding on brambles around saltmarsh 

Starling laden brambles

No Wheatears today

As soon as I saw this morning's third quarter moon, I realised that I had given poor advice about timings for checking Red Nab yesterday. Either quarter moon means that we are in neap tides not approaching them as yesterday's 8.7m tide suggested. I'd forgotten how high this set has been, and how quickly they needed to drop. I had expected (always check the tide tables!) today's tide to be about 8.5m it was in fact 8.2m and tomorrow 7.6m will barely reach Red Nab! Today's tide too was a long way from the sea wall. The Ringed Plover were there, but just tiny silhouettes. No chance of spotting anything more interesting with them.

Goldcrest 1 with Long-Tailed Tits in the Nature Park (David Kaye)

Grey Wagtail 2 - 1 on Red Nab plus 1 on Nature Park newt pond this evening  (Angela Gillion)

Angela managed a record shot with her phone

Finally, on the 21st September I posted a picture of an Alder Leaf Beetle, saying that it was the first I'd seen. Rob from Wigan sent a comment saying that they were everywhere there and devastating the local, Alders. Well, Rob was right, they are everywhere here now and devastating the Alders. Perhaps I've missed them in the past. This shot is from the Alders at the entrance to the bottom car park at Middleton Nature Reserve. The Alders below the small anemometer are no better!

Damage caused by Alder Leaf beetle 

Curlew Sandpipers become more accessible

Almost calm first thing, the very light north breeze freshened slightly by the afternoon as it drifted to NW. largely overcast in the morning, but plenty of sunshine after lunch.

Pink-Footed Goose 2,630+

Jean had c1,900 over Middleton which will not overlap with

David Kaye's  check from Knowlys Road. 8.30-13.40  

730 in 14 skeins 

largest group 144 at 10.34.

I saw 9 skeins from the skear totalling 542 between 09:00 - 10:30 (MD). Many of these will be in David's total, but at least three skeins were high to the west and probably well out of David's range. What was interesting today, is that although most of the skeins were high and heading due south, three were low and were adjusting direction as if searching for a local landing. One skein of 17 headed due east overland.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report and pictures from Jean:

It seemed a quiet morning but in fact plenty of birds were moving quietly through and we caught and ringed 40 birds between 0700 and 1130 (see totals below). Moving through more noisily were flocks of Pink-footed Geese which came through from about 0730 to 1155hrs. Some were extremely high and almost all were heading due south, many were heard but not seen. There seemed to be a continuous stream between 1140 and 1155 but they weren't visible. In total, visible birds numbered 1410 but the 7 invisible flocks could well have brought the total to 1900. The geese seen over Middleton don't include flocks seen over the sea.

A typical "view" of the high Pinkfoot over Middleton 

Ringing:

Grey Wagtail 5

Meadow Pipit 12

Chiffchaff 9

Blackcap 3

Goldcrest 3

Great Tit 2

Blue Tit 1 (a retrap)

Long-tailed Tit 1

Treecreeper 1

Robin 1

Dunnock 1

Wren 1 (a retrap)

Ringing isn't just about catching and ringing birds, a lot of metrics are checked to ensure as much information as possible can be learned from the bird. Jean provides a couple of interesting examples here (MD)

Note how yellow this juvenile Grey Wagtail is suggesting it is a male. This was borne out by the wing length (87mm) - the average is 83mm and the maximum recorded is 89mm

On the continent you can find Eurasian Treecreepers and Short-toed Treecreepers. In the UK the latter is a rare vagrant, but it can occur. One diagnostic feature separating the two is the pale panel on the wing. Eurasian Treecreepers have a pronounced “step” in the pale panel (see red arrow) and square ended edges to the pale portion whereas Short-toed Treecreepers don’t have this step and the edges are pointed (see number 8 on the second photo). So the Treecreeper we caught today was definitely a Eurasian Treecreeper.

Today's Eurasian Treecreeper 

Reference picture of Short-toed Treecreeper 

Vis totals (including ringed birds):

Pink-footed Goose c1900

Swallow 47

Goldfinch 22

Liinnet 3

Meadow Pipit 15+

Grey Wagtail 12 

Pied Wagtail 1

Reed Bunting 1

Lesser Redpoll 1

Raven 2

Jackdaw 17

Carrion Crow 4

Starling 10

Heysham skear - low water 09:50

Eider 7 males

Great Crested Grebe 10

Red-breasted Merganser 15 (2, 3, 4 & 6)

This group were feeding, but one bird (mum?) looks to be on guard to keep the gulls at bay. One catches what looks like an eel, but is probably a Butterfish.

This Cormorant has caught a Flounder, but it is too large to fit down its gape so it discards it. I have seen them do this so many times, and it would seem so have the gulls! This Great Black-Backed calls for its youngster, who lands just in time to grab the fish. The Cormorant has a bit of a dig at it, but didn't really want the fish back.

The youngster took its prize ashore. A fish this size is too large for them to swallow too, but they will work on it over two or three days (they will leave it further up the beach later for the crabs and shrimps to nibble on between low waters) until eventually it is narrow enough to swallow. My observations in the past suggest that the youngster will do all the pecking and get all the bits it can, but when the time comes it will likely be the adult that swallows the remaining carcass.

Heron 1

Little Egret 5

Waders, just: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone 

Wigeon flock of 23 seen from Whinnysty Lane by Kevin Singleton 

South shore - high water 15:10

I checked the beach out from the saltmarsh as the tide was pushing the waders up and to the south (MD)

On the waterline were many hundreds of waders including Bar-Tailed Godwit, Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin most moved south, but the tide was lower today and came in more sedately so some just moved with it. These Grey Plover with a couple of Knot ended up just in front of the slipway.

It was time to leave, the tide here comes up behind you. As I headed back to the nearest crossing point towards the old Pontins, there was a feeding group of c20 Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin and.....

Curlew Sandpiper 1 juvenile - they were not there when I walked out, so timing here is hit and miss. This clip pans out to show the location.

But the tide was making quickly and they soon left and flew towards Red Nab. I managed some nice diagnostic in flight shots

Curlew Sandpiper

The delay meant that I had to walk up as far as the faux castle before I could cross the quickly filling creek. The risk here is of getting wet feet, not really dangerous. This flock of mainly Grey Plover and Knot were on the southern extent of the recording area, until a juvenile Peregrine Falcon lifted them. You can see it zip through the flock in this clip

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon - failed again!

A walk to Red Nab located

Rock Pipit 6 (3 on rocky outcrop plus 3 Red Nab)

Lapwing 32 saltmarsh 

Linnet 33 saltmarsh 

Wheatear 3 foreshore 

The tide was still rising when I reached Red Nab, this means the waders need to keep moving. I quickly relocated the juvenile Curlew Sandpipier

When they weren't moving, the Dunlin and Sandpiper alike were resting with their bill hidden, it took a while before I realised that there was more than one. There were definitely two and I though possibly three. But checking my pictures I could only definitely see two. The only view I managed to get them both in, one had its head down.

Two Curlew Sandpipers - the two lower birds

Kevin Eaves checked Red Nab a little later, unfortunately by this time the tide was ebbing and the waders were resting. He did manage to locate both birds, but in 30 minutes failed to see a bill!

These tides are a good height, not too high to flush all the waders, but high enough to bring them close to the sea wall. About an hour before high water should be worth checking for the next few days.

Pinkfoot movement gains momentum

Light north to NW breeze, freshened slightly throughout the day. An overcast start then sunshine through the middle of the day, before ending up overcast again.

Report from Pete:

Curlew Sandpiper 1 juvenile was inshore feeding with just six ringed plover and three Dunlin. These were flushed and flew towards Potts corner.  Tide miles away at this stage so not with tideline waders

nearby 14  Mediterranean gulls (13 ad one 2CY)  ocean edge mudflats and Red nab.

There were still some Meds on mud out from the saltmarsh when I checked later  (MD)

Off heysham Head

Shag 1 x 2CY 

Great Crested Grebe 14

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

There were classic conditions for Pink-footed Geese to migrate from Iceland as a cold front moved south on Tuesday night. A nice clear sky corridor formed with a north westerly airflow to bring the geese directly overnight to northern Scotland. At 5am many flocks were over Dumfries and Galloway and by 0930 several flocks had reached Heysham. By 5pm many geese had made it to Norfolk. More geese likely tomorrow.

Pink-Footed goose 597 high to the south 

7 skeins totalling 287 between 09:30 - 12:15, largest 85 at 10:00

6 skeins totalling 310 between 12:30 - 13:15, largest 120 at 12:50

Other than that the only vis was 5 Grey Wagtails, of which two were caught and colour-ringed

Ringing:

Grey Wagtail 2

Goldfinch 6 (one was a retrap)

Greenfinch 6

Chaffinch 3

Goldcrest 1

Chiffchaff 1

Willow Warbler 1

Blue Tit 4 (two were retraps)

Great Tit 1 (which may not be from Heysham - awaiting details)

Robin 1

Dunnock 3 (two were retraps)

South shore early afternoon (MD)

Red Nab 

Rock Pipits 3

Linnet 2

Grey Wagtail 1

Grey Wagtail 

Foreshore 

Wheatear 3

Robin 2

Everything seems to eat Blackberries!

Saltmarsh 

Starlings c120 on brambles

Linnet 18 on marsh

Shore out from the saltmarsh/foreshore 

70+ Ringed Plover and c40 Dunlin feeding close in but Curlew Sandpiper had not returned 

Dunlin resting in a shallow drain

The tides are dropping again now, but are still very high (9.1m). It comes in very quickly over the near flat shore. This clip shows a Bar-Tailed Godwit with Knot plus a Dunlin and Oystercatcher, running to keep ahead of the rising water.

They quickly get fed up of this and the beach was soon deserted.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Grey Plover 30

Knot 80

Dunlin 16 + the inshore birds

Pinkfoot start to return

Almost calm in the morning the very light north breeze freshened slightly as it shifted to NW. Sunshine for most of the day.

Heysham skear - low water 08:45 (MD)

Pink-Footed Goose 30 south at 08:35, I expected others to follow, but that was it!

Shag 1 x 2nd calendar year feeding

Great Crested Grebe 3

Red-breasted Merganser 8 (1, 2 & 5)

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 6

This was strange. This gull dropped from the sky as if its wing was broken and flayed in the water. The other gulls thought it was strange too as they all took to the air above it. No sign of them being spooked by a predator, they just seemed curious. The large splash is from a dropped mussel, I think the smaller splashes are just "droppings". I couldn't see if the gull recovered, but the others quickly returned to their feeding.

Half Moon Bay 

Janet saw two Small Copper

Small Copper, looking very fresh

South shore  - high water 14:10 (MD)

Rock Pipit 5 on Red Nab

Wheatear 5 along foreshore 

Skylark 1 grounded on Ocean Edge playing field

Skylark 

It seemed to be finding plenty to eat

Linnet 15 on saltmarsh 

Lapwing 45 on saltmarsh 

Redshank c100 roosting on the eastern side of the saltmarsh till flushed south by tide

Curlew Sandpiper 1 juvenile in association with the Redshank 

Curlew Sandpiper, unfortunately with the bright sunlight behind it

This was a little later, but presumably the same bird, Curlew Sandpiper showing its white rump

Curlew Sandpiper (left of centre) with Redshank 

Ringed Plover 7, this one was particularly confiding 

Ringed Plover

There were dragonflies around the saltmarsh.

Common Darter 2 female

Migrant Hawker 1 female and 1 male

Female Migrant Hawker 

Rain (and pain) almost stopped play!

Quite a fresh SW wind in the morning eased and shifted to NW by the afternoon. The morning rain was steady but quite light, although it didn't feel light in the fresh wind. More infrequent showers in the afternoon.

South shore late morning (MD)

Every time I go for a walk, my wife gives me "advice" about falling over - Don't do it!

It's good advice, and normally I remember, but yesterday I must have forgotten and ended up crashing onto my hip. Didn't feel too bad yesterday, but could barely walk this morning. Fortunately it eased as I walked, and I probably ended up walking further than I should.

Not much of note along the sea wall, just

Wheatear 1

Rock Pipit 1

On the saltmarsh 

Lapwing 19

Linnet 6

Goldfinch 8 on teasel around saltmarsh edge.

Kestrel 1 male over and continued south

There was very little on the shore either, but at least I remembered not to fall over today!

Ringed Plover 3, were the only waders close to shore

Towards the waterline were

Oystercatcher c300

Curlew c30

Grey Plover 18

Knot 2

Grey Plover moulting from summer to winter plumage 

Near Naze

Wheatear gang of 7 late morning (Pete)

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

I couldn't resist a passing check of the two main ponds in the afternoon.

Mute pair plus 7 well grown cygnets 

Coot 2 - one on each pond

Moorhen 4 - two on each pond

Gadwall 4 (2 each male and female) "no swimming" pond

Shoveler 2 (male and female) "no swimming" pond

Female (top) and male Shoveler 
They might have been on the same pond, but showed no inclination to be together

Pied Flycatcher

 Light east to SE wind with plenty of sunshine till late afternoon then overcast with light showers.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

The highlight of today was a female/imm Pied Flycatcher.

Small birds were flitting about in the bushes but the nets were too visible in the bright sunshine so only a few were caught for ringing:

Chiffchaff 4 (1 was a retrap from Middleton NR)

Goldcrest 2

Robin 1

Blue Tit 3

Long-tailed Tit 1

Greenfinch 1

Robin 1

Goldfinch 1

Vis was also low key:

Chaffinch 25

Great Spotted Woodpecker 2

Grey Wagtail 3

Sparrowhawk 1 (plus 2 others seen which may have been resident ones)

Raven 2

Swallow 4

Meadow Pipit 12 (one flock)

Tree Sparrow 2

Seven Jays were on the reserve.

Also, from Pete (M)

White Wagtail 1 adult male at Ocean Edge

Common Whitethroat by Heysham NR Office

Middleton Nature Reserve 

John's ringing today included:

Cetti's warbler 1 

Chiffchaff 7

Blackcap 2

Grey Wagtail 5

Blue Tit 1

Robin 1

All new birds

South Shore

Report by Pete Crooks:

Morning incoming tide:

Wooden Pier – 1 2nd CY Shag, 125 Cormorant

Heysham Harbour South Wall – 2 juv. Wheatear, 2 Rock Pipit

Red Nab – 7 Mediterranean Gull (4 adult, 1 2nd winter, 2 1st winter),
2 Sandwich Tern (1 adult, 1 juvenile)
Oystercatcher – 3 colour-ringed (too distant for details) and 15+ metal ringed among large flock prior to Red Nab being covered by the tide.
Also: 2 Rock Pipit, 1 juv. Wheatear

I'd checked Red Nab earlier in the tide (MD), at that time a Kingfisher was feeding.

Another Goby, it seems to catch them readily. I suspect that after it has caught "enough", it flies off to wherever it is currently calling home, to rest.

Lapwing 26 flew south from saltmarsh long before the tide reached it.

Linnet c30 feeding on saltmarsh 

I checked the mud out from the saltmarsh. Once again the main large group of waders were along the water's edge moving south. Made up of, at least:

Curlew, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin and Bar-Tailed Godwit (just 4 seen)

There were 100+ Ringed Plover with c20 Dunlin feeding close to the shore.

This juvenile Ringed Plover found itself "left behind" and had to run to catch up.

This small mixed flock of Grey Plover and Knot landed along a drain.

Grey Plover and Knot in various stages of moult from summer plumage 

This is them landing

A  Curlew Sandpiper was also with the Dunlin close in. Unfortunately, the sun was not at a great angle, and I slipped in the mud as I tried to get a better angle. I went flying, and so did the waders!

Juvenile  Curlew Sandpiper