A few more storm driven seabirds

The very strong overnight SW winds started to ease early morning. Overcast all day, but remarkably it remained dry.

Pete and Jean had a check first thing.

Jean checked the north side:

1000 Knot on the skear but will probably end up  on the heliport- couldn’t see any colour rings. Later another 300 flew south.

13 Red-breasted Mergansers 

3 Great Crested Grebe in the low tide channel.

Some Knot did indeed move to the Heliport, this from Howard.

I decided to visit the Heliport today to check out Knot numbers and also visibility for ring reading, the vegetation is pretty high thus obscuring lots of the wall which is going to be a problem for recording

Knot

Redshank, Knot and Oystercatcher 

South shore

Pete scanned from Ocean Edge:

Loads of birds on heysham outfalls or resting on nearby mud with long range scan from Ocean Edge: 

Black Tern 4 juvenile on seaward side of No.2 outflow

Common Tern 2 

Little gull 1 adult

Both the above were on the seaward side of No.1 outflow but were displaced by the rising tide

Mediterranean gulls 32 at least

I had a morning walk along the wall (MD). Saw the 4 Black Tern, by this time on the sea wall side of No.2 outflow.

This lonely looking Greylag goose was in the harbour. You can just about hear it honking above the sound of the wind.

Birds aren't noted for their facial expressions, but you have to say that this one looks sad!
Almost certainly never been alone before.

Shelduck 3 south.

Tom and Eric had a look in the early afternoon, at that time only 2 Black Terns were on No.2 outflow.

Little gull 1 adult on the seaward side of No.1 outflow- likely to be the same bird as earlier

Kittiwake 3 behind the IoM Ferry. 2 x 1cy and 1 adult

Several Mediterranean gulls seen both along the wall and behind the ferry

Guillemot 1

The Greylag goose was still in the harbour.

Rock Pipit 2

I checked again mid afternoon (MD). Three juvenile Black Terns on No.2 now - the important thing here is that at least two were seen at every stage of the tide today, so a visit at anytime should be productive.

Common Tern 1 juvenile

Juvenile Common Tern

This first calendar year Mediterranean gull was on No.1 outflow. It has a white darvic ring. This must be a new bird as we haven't seen any ringed  first calendar year birds this year. One to watch out for!

1cy Mediterranean gull with a white darvic ring, just beyond reading range!

Another 15 adult/2cy Mediterranean gulls turned up to feed on the beach next to the wooden jetty, including green and white ringed birds, but both previously seen this year.

Shelduck 51 feeding just beyond Red Nab

No sign of the Greylag Goose it must have flown off. But one storm affected bird won't be flying anywhere. I don't know if this is the same guillemot as seen by Tom and Eric, but I suspect not. They didn't say anything about it having a broken wing, which this bird clearly has.

It elected to remain on the rocks by No.1 outflow as the tide ebbed.
It at least managed to set its wing to the correct position and seemed to be asleep.

It won't be able to dive effectively either, but of all the places for a flightless guillemot to be at least here there will be feeding opportunities with the fish from the outflows, but almost certainly only prolonging the inevitable.

Grey Seal 1

Still four Black Terns

The SE wind freshened all day as storm Agnus approached. Some heavy showers began after lunch.

South Shore 

Black Tern 4 juvenile - they were all feeding on No.2 outflow when Janet checked mid morning. She managed some even better shots than yesterday.

Whitebait is back on the menu

The Black-Headed gulls were also feeding on the Whitebait 
It was surprising that there weren't more gulls feeding today

I reached Red Nab just about high water - 10:30 (MD). I was going to walk down to the outflow to have a look, but two of the Terns flew past me heading south. I hoped they were going to rest on the remaining Red Nab rocks, but they continued south and were lost at sea!

When Pete checked at 12:45 all four were back feeding on No.2 outflow again.

Earlier, I had started at Red Nab and checked the shore out from the saltmarsh as the tide came in.

Wood Pigeon 10 resting on Red Nab

Pink Footed goose 46 flew low to north 08:40 - presumably flying to feeding grounds

Shelduck 62

Wigeon 1

A solitary male Wigeon flew from Red Nab towards Potts Corner at high water

Little Egret 9

Grey Heron 1

Janet's shot of the Heron

Wheatear 2

Rock Pipit 2

There was a 15 minute period of overhead passage to SE, not sure if it was time related (09:30) or location - close  along the eastern shore.

Pied/white Wagtail 14 - 6 & 8

Meadow Pipit 27

Waders:

Oystercatcher c300

Curlew- again no more than 20 seen

Bar-Tailed Godwit 84 - these are some of them, plus a few Knot, finally being persuaded to move on by the rising tide.

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Grey Plover 5

Knot 2000+ grounded plus several flocks south

Dunlin 3000+

Redshank 150 feeding closer inshore 

Lapwing 53 - 40 SE plus 13 on saltmarsh 

Juvenile Lapwing amongst the saltmarsh Samphire 

Turnstone 50 close inshore - this young Turnstone seemed adept at finding food, but made a bit of a meal of eating it! Here it has a Sea Slater.

Some better Black Tern pictures

The wind started SE but freshened and shifted to SW during the day. Mainly dry but a couple of heavy showers in the afternoon.

South Shore

Black Tern 4 juvenile - when Pete checked they were mainly on No.1 outfall. When Janet looked a little later, there were initially 2 on both outfalls, but one joined the two on No.2 and the other bird on No.1 "disappeared" (as it is wont to do).

Janet took some good shots, and as ever with Janet's pictures best opened to see the detail.

This one has a decent sized shrimp and is holding it by its antennae 

Juvenile Black Tern with a Black-Headed gull behind

The three Black Terns that ended up on No.2 outflow

Low flying Pink-Footed geese flying south

Heysham skear - low water 16:25 (MD)

Great Crested Grebe 3

Red Breasted Merganser 11 - all female/immature 

Eider 5 - all males in various stages of moult to breeding plumage.

Male Eider moving to breeding plumage 

Little Egret 7

Oystercatcher c1,000

Curlew only a few seen today <20

Redshank 50

Turnstone 100

Ringed Plover 17

Knot c1,500 - these are some of them coming in to land, just ahead of a heavy shower.

Black Terns hanging on, but mobile.

A fresh SW wind. It looked like rain all day, but it managed to hold off.

South shore

My only outing today was to exercise my daughter's dog late morning, we walked along the sea wall (MD).

Black Tern 3 juvenile - I actually only saw 1 on No.2 outflow. A little later Pete saw 3, later still there were only 2 when Alan Physick checked.

Mediterranean gulls 17 minimum - there were 5 on the beach between the outflows. 8 on the beach next to the wooden jetty and 4, including one 1st calendar year behind the ferry.

Two adult Mediterranean gulls on the beach between the two outflows.
One has a white darvic ring and is in the same location as the one read by Pete Crooks yesterday.
But this is a different bird, again one that has been read before 34ET

Two Bar-Tailed Godwit were resting on the same beach

Quite a striking Cormorant in the harbour

This Guillemot was also in the harbour, seen in the same spot later by Alan. It does appear to be at peace with the world.

Rock Pipit 1 near the lighthouse 

Not a single gull on No.1 outflow today, and only a handful on No.2. 

Looks like the feeding bonanza may be over, for the gulls at least.

The rain just about held off till lunchtime then it was persistent till evening. Quite a fresh SE wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Raven causing a commotion with the resident corvids - Janet

South shore

Report from Pete Crooks:

4 juvenile Black Tern – 3 favouring Heysham Stage 2 Outfall, the other commuting between HS2 and HS1 Outfalls and sometimes seeming to disappear – presumably wandering further offshore

12 Mediterranean Gull (8 adults, 3 2nd winter, 1 1st winter) spread across the beach between Red Nab and Heysham Harbour. One of the adults was a previously seen colour-ringed bird – White 3LX9.

25 Cormorant – roosting on the Wooden Pier

70 Pink-footed Geese – groups of 61 and 9 flew south offshore

3 Swallow – south over Heysham Harbour was the only evidence of passerine ‘vis mig’

I walked down as Pete was heading back (MD)

It was noticeable that there were only a few gulls feeding on the outflows, it looks like the feeding bonanza is over. The juvenile Black Terns seemed to be finding food though. These are the three on No.2 outflow.

Juvenile Black Terns

This is the very erratic bird on No.1 outflow. I thought this young Herring gull was chasing it presuming the tern had had a decent sized fish, but there is no sign of it carrying anything when I checked the individual frames. Perhaps it just wasn't welcome! 

I'd gone down to watch the beach next to the wooden jetty become exposed, but these neap tides go out so very slowly, even the gulls were becoming impatient. There were already nine Mediterranean and three Black-Headed gulls waiting on the sea for the mud to show.

Eventually 10 arrived on the mud. At this point very little was available and space was a premium. These two 2nd calendar year were bickering 

Unfortunately none of the gulls that ended up on the beach were ringed.

The tide was 20 minutes later leaving the shore than I expected. I'm not normally good at waiting, but the time wasn't wasted. This Bar-Tailed Godwit flew in and fed a while.

Goosander 1 flew out beyond the wooden jetty. Goosander are not normally common in the recording area and one or two sightings like this a year are typical. But this year there have also been numerous sightings on Middleton Nature Reserve. Towards the end of this clip it flies past a Mediterranean Gull feeding beyond No.1 outflow.

Distant Goosander

Rock Pipit 2 on the sea wall

Meadow Pipit 3 flew to SE

Wren 3 along the foreshore and I near the waterfall 

One of the three Wrens along the foreshore 

These Great Black-Backed gulls have found a dead fish. This species used to be called a Lesser-spotted Dogfish, they have now been reclassified as a Small-spotted Catshark (Oh the ignominy!)

Whatever you call them their skin is like leather. The adult has a go first then the youngster.

Pinks through in numbers and decent ringing session

Mainly dry with just a couple of light showers. The sun didn't really break through till lunchtime. Light variable breeze.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Ringing and vis report from Jean

It was another Pink-footed Goose arrival day with many birds flying at height. A minimum of 1245 flew over Heysham Nature Reserve and others were seen over Middleton NR. No doubt others flew over the sea as they could be heard in that direction but not seen.

Other than Pinks the only other vis from 0700-1300 consisted of:

Chaffinch 7

Meadow Pipit 2

Jackdaw 4

Bullfinch 1

Jay 8

Raven - 2 appeared and were harrassed by the local Crows.

Ringing was pretty busy with 64 birds caught over 4.5 hours

Grey Wagtail 1 

Goldcrest 4

Robin 4 plus 1 retrap from October last year

Chiffchaff 3

Blackcap 1

Greenfinch 9

Goldfinch 9 plus a retrap from September last year

Coal Tit 3 plus a recent retrap

Great Tit 6  plus a retrap

Long-tailed Tit 1

Dunnock 3 plus a retrap

Long-tailed Tit 1

Blue Tit 5 new and 4 retraps (from July and August this year)

Wren 5

Report from Pete:

Black Terns 2 juvenile on the outfalls, only one left by late afternoon per Janice Sutton

Latish Lesser Whitethroat seen Heysham Nature Reserve 

Reed warbler trapped Middleton Nature Reserve - full report to follow 

Mediterranean Gull at least 9 around today including metal only ringed adult 

I just had one short walk on the shore between Red Nab and the saltmarsh mid afternoon (MD).

Even from there I could make out a Black Tern patrolling the seaward side of No.2 outflow. A slightly different angle this with the wooden jetty behind and the South Lakes behind that.

At this time there were very few gulls feeding on the outflows but there were over 1,000 resting on the mud. Mainly Black-Headed gulls. I only managed to find three Mediterranean gulls, all adult. Including one of the regular German ringed birds.

ANLT just about to take off. They were very flighty but it just seemed to be a consequence 
of so many stretching over a long distance. It just needs one to take flight and others react.

Juvenile Wood Pigeon on the saltmarsh 

Linnet 67 on the saltmarsh.

This is what the Linnet are currently feeding on, the Michaelmas-daisies have gone to seed.

The daisies cover much of the saltmarsh edges

The Pink-Footed Geese continued flying over high to the south all day, both  Mark Jones and Janet reported sightings plus several skeins have passed over my house. Three skeins while I was out totalled 176.

Pink-Footed geese high to the south

Also from Janet - Middleton Nature Reserve 

Chiffchaff 1 singing

The regular Grey Heron had been stood amongst the feeding swans.
The bread that attracts the swans, also attracts the fish.

The alternative strategy, is to wait patiently in a quiet spot

A change of menu

The wind started in the west then freshened as it moved to NW. Showers on and off all day, some heavy, but some sunshine in between.

South Shore

Morning report from Pete:

Black Tern - Three Juvenile still seaward end Heysham one outfall 

Common tern at least 1

Mediterranean Gull 11 or so flying about in the area

I checked on the rising tide in the afternoon (MD).

There were still 3 Black Terns, one on No.1 outflow and two on No.2 outflow.

This is the bird on No.1 outflow. A nice size comparison with the Black-Headed Gull
which is actually just beyond the Black Tern

Black Terns on No.2 outflow

They kept dropping down to the water but I couldn't see them pick anything up.

The only other tern was a 2nd calendar year Common. That was feeding closer in. It too dipped to the water and appeared to come up empty billed. But in fact it had quite a decent sized shrimp. Shrimps are naturally translucent.

Not easy to see, but this Common Tern has a shrimp. No Whitebait seen caught today.
Hopefully the shrimps will maintain the Black Tern's interest 

Guillemot still in the harbour 

Along the foreshore 

Goldfinch 11

Linnet 4 - plus 35 on the saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit 3

Wheatear 3

I walked out to the waterline to check the waders, just in time for a Peregrine Falcon to lift them all. Half went south the other half just in front of the saltmarsh, so I had to walk back!

Of the birds that returned to the saltmarsh:

Bar-Tailed Godwit 48

Grey Plover 58

And at least 2,000 each, Knot and Dunlin

They were still very flighty, these are just a few of them.

Mainly Knot (this would make a good jigsaw!)

Knot and Dunlin

Pink-Footed Goose 97 south in 3 skeins

Swallow 1 north into the wind

Two Kestrels hovering over Heysham Head today - ref Janet

More good seabirds and Meadow Pipit passage

A fresh SSE wind to begin with, switching to SW by lunchtime. A heavy shower at 08:00 after that mainly dry with sunny periods.

Pete and Jean checked the south side this morning:

Black terns 4 - three juveniles left outfalls and flew out down the shipping channel then another darker bird of uncertain age at that range appeared and was still present when we left

Little Gull 1 adult on the outfalls

Arctic Tern 1 juvenile 

Common Tern c8

Mediterranean gull - 3 Juvenile and at least 8 other assorted age.  

Guillemot in harbour

Swallow at least 20 south 

Meadow Pipit over 500 south over sands and red nab 0900-1020

In the afternoon myself (MD) and Alan Physick checked the sea wall. There were at least 4 juvenile Black Terns feeding on both outflows. The light was still difficult, but with more birds around, spotting them was easier, but they fly so quickly and erratically they are hard to track. I couldn't manage a clip of more than a few seconds, so put a few together to give a sense of their movement.

Juvenile Black Terns

The afternoon light is difficult, especially when the sun is out behind the birds. I was fooled into thinking this Tern was also a Black Tern

But it turned out to be a juvenile Common Tern

It tried to rest on the sea with the Black-Headed gulls, but it wasn't welcomed!

On the way back down the wall Alan saw a Skua fly low in front of him before lifting all the gulls from Red Nab. It then flew out to sea and was lost in the sun. Seemed to be a dark morph Arctic Skua, but just possibly a juvenile of another skua species.

Rock Pipit 3

Wheatear 2

Heysham skear - low water 10:00 (MD)

The heavy shower had moved on from Heysham over an hour before I started, but the west side of the bay was clearly still getting wet.

Double rainbow, framing the skear

Pink-Footed goose 198 SE in 4 skeins, 171 in three skeins all arriving at 10:15

Eider 35

Red-breasted Merganser 8

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 17

As I was walking out on the skear there was a trickle of Meadow Pipits coming in and flying east. 11 in the first 15 minutes. Then they stopped, but by that time I was towards the south side of the skear. They resumed again in earnest when I got back to the north side. The flight line seemed to be SE till they hit the skear then due east taking them ashore near Rydal Rd. 72 in total including 2 groups of 17 and 18.

Janet took these shots from Heysham Head

Kestrel 

Herring Gull with what appears to be a Common Blenny