SEO - good record.......terrible timing!

A fresh east to SE wind, some sunshine with heavy showers.

Today's showers more or less defined the day, which was pretty much all about timing, most of which the showers won!

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Alan:

I went to Middleton this morning to set nets, but with few expectations. Rain made for a slightly late start and wind and further rain shortened the session. The mist nets caught considerably more leaves than birds although two more unringed Cetti's Warblers were ringed.

Pied Wagtail 1

Wren 1 retrap

Blackbird 3

Song Thrush 1

Redwing 2

Cetti's Warbler 2 + 1 retrap

Chiffchaff 1

Goldcrest 1

Lesser Redpoll 1

Movement overhead included: Pink footed Geese 50 + 150 N (more on these later MD)

One group of c50 Redwing seen flying SW.

Jackdaws 17 + 21 S Carrion Crows 40 N.

Janet flushed two Common Snipe 

South shore - high water 09:30 (MD)

The plan was to check Red Nab and foreshore before going onto the shore to check out the waders and gulls, it all started well as I set off in glorious sunshine.

Kingfisher 1 again it came out of the freshwater culvert on the sloping wall at Red Nab (it was also seen here Thursday evening by Angela). It settled further down the stream, so I took a few pictures. I couldn't see any sign of red on its bill (see yesterday's post).

I saw another of Angela's birds, one of "the" Carrion Crows with a white bib (see post 11th October), perched in the Power Station grounds. If not one of the original two, it must be a close relation.

Wigeon 48 on Red Nab

Mediterranean gulls 2 adult, unfortunately sat on Red Nab rocks so not possible to see if ringed (more on this later too)

Meadow Pipit 2 grounded

Rock Pipit 4, three of which with a Robin were trying to chase 13 Goldfinch off the foreshore.

Greenfinch 35 feeding around the saltmarsh fringes

Linnet c70 feeding on the saltmarsh 

Stonechat 1 male glimpsed on foreshore and saltmarsh edge. This was as good a view as I managed.

Skylark a steady trickle south, both from foreshore and from beach, minimum 9

Common Snipe 4 

Lapwing 33

Both the above on saltmarsh 

By the time I'd gotten on the shore it was just about high water, there were good numbers of waders at the water's edge plus 

Shelduck 130 feeding in/along the channel out from the foreshore. These are some coming in from the north.

I made way towards the waders, and was approaching a point where I could examine them carefully, then the heavens opened! I had to stash my optics and just stood there getting a soaking. My best estimates of numbers were:

Dunlin c2000

Knot c500

Grey Plover 25

Bar-Tailed Godwit 4

Ringed Plover 26

Plus numerous Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank 

Both me and the birds stood in the rain for about 10 minutes, the sun came out before the rain stopped, I was just getting my camera out when everything flew off! They were obviously waiting for the rain to stop before moving. I just managed a short clip of the last of them leaving with a rainbow in the background.

Rainbow framing a wet, but empty beach
The dark line is just the weed that was on the tideline 

On the way back I checked out the gulls near the saltmarsh, there were two Mediterranean Gulls with them, and one of them had a yellow darvic ring. I was still some distance from them, but could "almost" read the ring. Another 20 stealthy paces would have easily got me in range, but before I could move closer, something lifted the Lapwings, which in turn lifted the gulls. I focused on watching were the Med went, big mistake, first because it was pointless as it headed off towards Potts Corner. But mainly because the probable cause was seen shortly afterwards passing Potts..........

Short-eared Owl  1 Seen leaving the recording area and flying past his holiday caravan on Potts by Mark Jones. Presumably it had rested out the heavy shower on the saltmarsh or somewhere close by, it could have rested another minute!

Small Tortoiseshell 1 on foreshore another on saltmarsh 

Heysham skear - low water 16:10 (MD)

Didn't see much, but at least better timed with regard to the showers, I'd just got back to the car when another heavy one started.

Great Crested Grebe 3

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Red-breasted Merganser 

Lapwing 11 flying south (unusual here)

Little Egret 8

This cormorant has quite a large flounder, I thought probably too wide for its gape, but it had spent some time with its head underwater (so the gulls can't see what it has) getting the fish just where it needed to attempt to swallow. It twists it around 90 degrees to squeeze it past. Even so, only just!

Red Admiral 1 came in off

This is good! This clip is from Mark Jones (Mark is a professional sound engineer) These are Mark's comments.

This is a binaural video I made of the flock of pink footed geese that flew over us from the south (8.22) this morning. If you can, listen to this with headphones on as I recorded the sound with binaural microphones, as the flock get overhead a van comes down the track behind me (I was annoyed at the time as I thought it would ruin it) but in actual fact it enhances the 3d audio experience as you can hear it is behind me. You can see the location, the geese go right over heysham at the end. 

I don't have any earphones, but even without I know it sounds just as you hear them as they approach and then pass over. Please try it with earphones if you can.

Who switched off the light?!

In contrast to yesterday the cloud cover was very low and the winds very light, mainly from the east. Overnight rain, but reasonably dry till mid morning when light fine rain started, then became heavier. The upshot was that it felt dark all day.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

It was barely light when Shaun started at 07:40, and not a lot was happening. But, as ever, he managed to eek out some good records:

Yellow-browed Warbler one with three Goldcrest by the pond on the dog walk path. Only briefly, before the morning dog walkers moved them on.

Blackcap 1 male with mixed tit flock in the Nature park

Treecreeper 2 along the reserve boundary with Moneyclose Lane

I had a walk around the reserve(MD), but could only add

Chiffchaff 1 near pool at top of hill above the office.

Grounded thrushes along the western side.

Blackbird c30

Redwing c30

Fieldfare 2

Later Shaun reported them drifting off.

Pete checked from 10:45:

33 Blackbird, 2 song thrush and a redwing moved south through the bushes past office in 1.5hrs.  

Only overhead was two Mistle Thrush SW and 5 Chaffinch south 

South shore (MD)

Just a quick morning check from saltmarsh to Red Nab

Linnet 75 on saltmarsh 

Lapwing 60

Shelduck 15

Wigeon 5

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Just a quick check of the two main ponds in the afternoon 

Main pond - just 1 Moorhen

No Swimming pond

Mute 2 adult, just 6 cygnet seen

Gadwall 8

Teal 11 at least

Moorhen 2

Little grebe 1

Just a couple of clips to prove that it really was gloomy. First 6 of the Teal and a male Gadwall.

Winter plumage Little Grebe

Finally a splash of colour! These shots of the Red Nab Kingfisher are from last Thursday, Mark Jones sent me them a few days ago. I was going to use them the next time the Kingfisher was reported, but it hasn't been seen since! Anyway, they are of interest, and not just for their excellent quality.

The red on the lower mandible clearly shows this bird to be a female, but all my sightings and other photographs have all shown what appears to be a black lower mandible. As does Mark's third shot, he is pretty confident that it was the same bird, but this time out of the direct sun.

So, something to check for next time it's spotted. By the way, without checking any date stamps, I could tell this shot was not recent. The only fish in this pond are left by the high spring tides, they are quickly mopped up by the Egrets (and Kingfisher) and so only small fry (not worth hunting for) remain till the next spring tide. 

Twenty-one Thousand Thrushes!

A fresh east wind all day, mainly overcast.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Conditions were right for movement and Pete was in position early outside the reserve office, Jean was supporting with the vis, while also attending to the ringing. 

What happened next was a bit special. 

Report from Jean:

What a morning! It was the day of the Redwings and the sky was full of flocks of them pouring over constantly. Pete did a grand job of counting the bulk of them with contributions by Paul Murphy and me:
Vis 07:15-12:00
Redwing 20191 almost all south
Fieldfare 981
Mistle Thrush 1
Song Thrush 8
Blackbird 20
Chaffinch 74
Brambling 1
Bullfinch 2
Reed Bunting 1
Skylark 2
Meadow Pipit 1
Redpoll sp 1
Sparrowhawk 2 (1 with prey - probably Redwing)
Merlin 1 (female)
Pink-footed Goose 36
Canada Goose 3

Ringing:
Only 3 birds caught and one of those was a retrap!
Chiffchaff 1
Long-tailed Tit 1
Treecreeper 1 retrap 

Shaun located a Yellow-browed warbler in the NE corner of the reserve, it was still there with Goldcrests in the afternoon (Alan Physick)

Also from Shaun

Small tit flock next to Half Moon Bay cafe car park with:

3 (normal) Chiffchaffs

2 Goldcrest 

1 Blackcap

Also, about 80 grounded Redwing and 3O Fieldfare. 

South shore (MD)

I was checking the saltmarsh to Red Nab as the thrushes where piling over. It's an overwhelming task to count them, you look at one flock, then realise there is another above them, then another above those! I was glad that Pete was on station, as it took pressure off me to concentrate on what else was going on.

This clip of mainly Redwing is just a small part of a flock that stretched over 50m. Not really anything to see, but it just shows the magnitude of the counting task!

The thrushes all headed south. But some of the other passerines were coming in off the sea/beach then heading east. These would not be seen from the reserve.

Meadow Pipit 58 - most 1 - 5 at a time, largest flock 15

Skylark 7 (3 grounded)

Twite 15 in one flock. 

Twite - once regular here, but there were no records last year

They landed on the foreshore rocks and began preening, suggesting a reasonably long flight (4 in this clip). I left them to it, so don't know which direction they flew off to,

Jack Snipe 1 flushed from the saltmarsh edge.

Rock Pipit 3

Shelduck 61

Later at low water, 13:40, I checked the lighthouse area. It was overcast and cool and the east wind fresh, even so there were 5 Red Admirals seen coming in off the sea in less than 10 minutes.

A check on the way back located

Stonechat 1 male on the foreshore, although it moved through quickly and flew across the saltmarsh.

Male Stonechat 

All in all, a bit of a breathtaking day!

Cetti's 8 - Yellow-browed 2

Very light breezes varied from NE early on to SE then East later. Sunshine pretty much all day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from Alan:

John and I set nets this morning. It was very clear and calm as it had been most of the night after the strong winds of yesterday through to late evening. The catch was not large but did include 7 Cetti's Warblers (two of which were retraps) and a Yellow-browed Warbler.

Goldcrest 13 + 1 retrap

Cetti's Warbler 5 + 2 retraps

Wren 3 +2 retraps

Chiffchaff 5

Blackcap 1

Robin 3

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Redwing 1

Overhead were two flocks of Pink-footed Geese moving North - 125 , and one flock of c70 flying South at 11.45

Also were quite a few Corvids on the move with a total of c86 flying South (probably all Carrion Crow) and 10 Jackdaws also South.

Nine Alba wagtails plus three Meadow Pipits also passed through.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean and Pete:

There was a little bit of migration visible this morning with the main theme being corvid passage. A few thrushes and finches and other odds and ends were also visible/audible in the clear blue sky:

Carrion Crow 29 (in two main flocks)

Jackdaw 7

Rook 4

Magpie flock of 14 purposefully south

Blackbird 14 continental birds all adult or 1cy male

Redwing 2

Song Thrush 1

Mistle Thrush 1

Greenfinch 4

Bullfinch 3

Chaffinch c15 south

Siskin 1

Linnet 1

Meadow Pipit 5

Skylark minimum 15 south

Pied Wagtail 1

Great White Egret 1 - high south early on

Little Egret 2 similarly, but later

Pink-footed Goose - a flock headed north at 8am then 85 south in two flocks later on

Woodpigeon 22

Ringing comprised a total of 35 birds caught, 29 new and 6 retraps (all fairly recent birds):

Chaffinch  4 new, 2 retraps

Goldcrest 5 new, 2 retraps

Great Tit 1 new, 1 retrap

Blue Tit 3 new

Chiffchaff 2 new

Long-tailed tit 2 new

Robin 1 new

Greenfinch 3 new

Goldfinch 5 new

Wren 2 new

Dunnock 1 retrap

Grounded - Dave Bickerton

Cetti's warbler 1 singing on east side of marsh.

Yellow-browed Warbler 1 calling near dipping pond (also seen/heard later)

South shore (MD)

I checked twice today. Just a short circuit from saltmarsh to Red Nab in the morning 

Linnet 70+

Greenfinch c10

Goldfinch c10

All above feeding on/around saltmarsh 

Wheatear 1 quickly moved through

Stonechat 1 female/immature briefly by saltmarsh, before being moved on by a Robin.

Stonechat 

Reed Bunting 1 near slipway 

Reed Bunting 

Rock Pipit 5

Meadow Pipit 2 south

Skylark 8 south (2, 2, 3, 1)

Jackdaw 53 south, one flock 09:50

Lapwing 60 

Ringed Plover 40

(Both the above counts not estimates)

Grey Wagtail 1 Red Nab

The only insect seen was a single Common Darter in the Nature park.

It was a different story in the late afternoon, the light breeze had been from the east all day and the sun was warm. I went specifically to check if any insects had come in off the sea, there had.

Saltmarsh to end of foreshore 

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Small White 4

Red Nab

Small white 1

Common Darter 6 (all males)

One of six male Common Darters sunning themselves on Red Nab rocks

Sea wall to wooden jetty

Common Darter 4 (2 females)

Aged female Common Dater on sea wall near wooden jetty 

No further butterflies seen, but there were 4 moths, 3 refused to land and were beyond my identification skills. The one that settled was a Silver Y, the other three could have been.

Silver Y - half way along the sea wall

Alan had mentioned a large gathering of Ladybirds at his home this lunchtime, it would seem it wasn't an isolated event. Two were resting on the sea wall, both Harlequin, but totally different variations

Harlequin Ladybird - this is typical of the variation  I  normally see

Another variant of Harlequin Ladybird - can't say I've seen this one before (MD)

There were loads of flies, and presumably other beetles. Needless to say the birds were taking advantage. I was surprised that only one Rock Pipit was feeding on the sloping wall near the lighthouse, but along the main sloping wall the wagtails were busy.

Pied Wagtail 40+

Grey Wagtail 1

These are just a few of the Pied Wagtails 

Shag 1 on wooden jetty

Janet took this shot of one of the Heysham Head Rock Pipits

Rock Pipit

Janet also advises that the Pink-Footed Geese were feeding in the fields just beyond Meldon Road. 

First Wheatear for a while, plus some of the regulars

A strong wind pretty much due south to begin with, then moved further to SW before easing early evening. Sunny spells.

First some additional shots from Craig Bell's successful search for Yellow-browed warblers on Heysham Nature Reserve yesterday (see yesterday's post for the YBW pictures):

Chiffchaff 

Long-Tailed Tit

Male Common Darter
They were still around today, Janet saw some on Middleton Nature Reserve 

Oystercatcher from sea wall

Heysham skear (MD)

I had a short walk along the inner skear at low water, at 3.3m it didn't go out far, and not much was on the sea or passing over 

Little Egret 10

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Great Crested Grebe 2

Wader: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Turnstone, Redshank 100+ (there always seems to many more on these low tides, I don't think it's because they are more concentrated), Ringed Plover 27 and Knot 4!

South shore 

Mediterranean gull 2 seen by Pete in a very brief check as the tide turned

I had a walk on the afternoon rising tide (MD)

Linnet 70+ on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 3

Wheatear 1 (first since 23rd September)

Wheatear 

Wigeon numbers are growing there were 54 in the channel next to No.2 outflow, waiting for the tide to reach the gut weed covered Red Nab.

Wigeon

Shag 1 x 2nd calendar year in the harbour. This is the same platform that four cormorants were resting on yesterday. No cormorant today

2cy Shag

More Yellow-brows

The light SW wind continued to ease throughout the day. Plenty of sunshine, particularly in the morning

Report from Dave Hawkins 

Seawatch Heysham north wall on unfavourable tide for:

2 common scoter 

2 little egret apparently crossing the bay.  

Heysham Nature Reserve - report by Craig Bell

Had 2 Yellow-browed warblers within 5 ft of each other in the hawthorns over the fence from feeders. 1 flew up to pond at the top of the hill again, the other went away from fence(southwards?) 

5 Chiffchaff together with LTT flock near office, 1 singing. 

Nothing else except grey wags of note.

This excellent sequence of shots by Craig

Many thanks Craig

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

One of three Little Egret over

Also one Roe Deer seen

South Shore (MD)

My only outing today a quick check in the morning, towards low water.

Shelduck 175 feeding on/along channel out from the foreshore

Kingfisher 1 on Red Nab, too quick for a decent shot again!

Rock Pipits 3

Meadow Pipit 2 south past lighthouse 

Mediterranean gulls 4 at least. There were no gulls at all on the beach next to the wooden jetty, but at least 4 resting near No.2 outflow. Including this one with a very pale mask.

Mediterranean gull (rear) with hardly any trace of a mask

And this one with a White darvic ring, unfortunately the characters washed out by the strong low light.

There are four cormorants in this clip, drying themselves on one of the harbour platforms, after feeding at the waterfall 

This is a close up of one of them

Cormorant 

Just bits and bobs

 West to SSW wind freshening all day. Some heavy showers with just a few short sunny spells.

Mediterranean gull 1 late 1cy was the only bird of note seen by Pete at low water this morning 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mark Jones had a quick look at the main ponds

Gadwall 8

Mute just 1 adult with 4 mature cygnets on main pond

Janet also spotted

Common Snipe 2 near Tim Butler pond

Pheasant 1 - they are regularly flushed, but seldom photographed!

Female/immature Pheasant 

South shore towards high water (MD)

The plan was to check any waders on the beach, but a quick look saw the last flock of Knot/Dunlin heading south early in the tide.

Shelduck 143 feeding in/along the channel out from the foreshore, but again these left early.

Wigeon 12

Lapwing 70 were on saltmarsh then headed south in three groups

Redshank 75 also on saltmarsh then south

Common Snipe 2 on saltmarsh then east

Linnet 55

Little Egret 3

Grey Heron 1 - this is the heron trying to cut across the wind as it headed towards Potts Corner.

I didn't have much time today (and even less tomorrow). So sometimes you have to rely on nature coming to you. This immature Sparrowhawk caught a feral pigeon in my garden. It returned to feed on the corpse several times. I'll tidy up whatever remains tomorrow.

Immature Sparrowhawk 

Just "ordinary" stuff today......but Hobby yesterday!

 Light west wind, showers on and off all day with some sunny periods 

Hobby heading south mid afternoon yesterday Heysham Head
Thanks to Dave Hawkins

Just my stuff today so far (MD

Heysham skear - low water 09:00

Just a very quick check

Eider 5 (1 male)

Red-breasted Merganser 11

Great Crested Grebe 3

Little Egret 12

Knot c150  - one flock c100 plus a few smaller flocks.

This Curlew has a largish crab. They deal with them as the Eider do. Remove the claws before swallowing (the joints of a crab make it relatively easy to break off a limb, a fact that can often allow the crab to escape when grabbed. They can, and do, grow again). This clip starts with the Curlew having already removed the claws, but the crab must have spread its legs, preventing it being swallowed. It nearly escapes (even without their claws they can still feed, although there options are limited), but next time there is no escape. Eider and Merganser feeding in the background.

Red Nab to saltmarsh - high water 14:30

Mediterranean gull 3 at least on Red Nab

Mediterranean gull 

Wigeon 12 initially on Red Nab then saltmarsh 

Eider 3 female/immature towards outflows 

Kingfisher 1 zipped passed the Red Nab rocks and headed east

Spot the Kingfisher 

Rock Pipit 4 - this one was finding invertebrates amongst a rotting timber (originally from the wooden jetty).

Linnet 80 feeding on saltmarsh. Lifting every time something flew over allowing a count.

Lapwing 27

Common Snipe 3 - the tide wasn't high enough to more than lap against the saltmarsh edges.

Nature Park 

When the sun was out it was quite warm in this sheltered area.

Red Admiral 1

Small White 1

Speckled Wood 3

Common Darter 2

Yellow Browed warbler

A cold calm start the light east breeze eventually drifting round to the south. Sun for most of the day.

Comment from Pete - Despite the Crystal clear conditions with moon at dawn, the day delivered, highlighted by yellow browed warbler at Heysham Nature Reserve and a big Carrion crow passage.

 In the conditions, the Grey Phalarope was predictably searched for without success.

This Guillemot was second prize in the harbour today
Picture by Kevin Eaves

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean

Ringing was quite varied today with 60 birds caught of 16 species:
Cetti’s Warbler 1
Chiffchaff 1
Lesser Redpoll 2
Chaffinch 4
Goldfinch 13 (12 new, 1 retrap)
Greenfinch 5
Robin 4 (1 new, 3 retraps including one from 2017)
Dunnock 6 (4 new, 2 retraps)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 retrap (female)
Great Tit 4 (1 new, 3 retraps)
Blue Tit 2 (1 new, 1 retrap)
Long-tailed Tit 9 (8 new, 1 retrap)
Treecreeper 1
Goldcrest 6 (3 new, 3 retraps)
Wren 1

Vis:
Carrion Crow 75
Jackdaw 23
Raven 2
Mistle Thrush 10
Collared Dove 3 (high to the south, definite movement)
Chaffinch 20
Meadow Pipit 6
Linnet 1
Pied Wagtail 3
Grey Wagtail 1
Skylark 1

Chiffchaff 1 singing along Moneyclose Lane - Janet

This Terrapin was fished out of the Dipping pond

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from John:

Cold start this morning, with some ground frost making for icy poles.

Only observed overhead movement, were a few Pinkfeet heading north early on. Twenty seven birds caught in total which comprised:

Goldcrest             x10

Chiffchaff             x6

Wren                   x4

Cettis Warbler      x2  (1 new and 1 retrap)

and singles of Reed Bunting :  Bluetit : Redwing : Blackcap: Long-tailed Tit.

I had a walk around in the afternoon (MD)

Mute unchanged

No Mallard

Gadwall just 2

Moorhen 5

Grey Heron 1

Jack Snipe 2. One flushed from western edge of main pond and another near the small scrapes on the western  marsh, unlikely to be same bird.

Thrush sp (looked like Redwing) 15 south

Buzzard 2 north plus a juvenile chased south by a Carrion Crow.

Carrion Crow and juvenile Common Buzzard

Plenty of dragonflies 

Migrant Hawker 7+

Common Darter 15+

The only butterfly seen was a distant White. Looked to be a Small White.

Heysham skear - low water 08:40 (MD)

Red-breasted Merganser 9

Great Crested Grebe 6

Eider 3

Shag 1

Not a great shot, but from front to back
Herring Gull, female/immature Eider, 2cy Shag and diving Merganser

More Knot around today. 100 south plus c50 + 8 resting on skear and 18 resting on beach.

Skylark 4 together east

Grey Wagtail 4 (2, 1 and 1) east