More Sanderlings

A dry morning after early rain. More showers around lunchtime. A fresh SW wind.

Pete: 0700-0800

Seawatching dire - just 4 Common scoter in an hour 

2 ad and 2cy kittiwake plus 2cy Mediterranean gull Heysham outfalls.  

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:30 - 11:15  and 15:00 - 16:00

Pale-bellied Brent goose, just 8 seen this morning, 18 this afternoon.

Pale-bellied Brent geese

No Eider seen

Red-breasted Merganser 8 this morning 

Female Red-breasted Merganser

Sandwich Tern 2 this afternoon.

Sandwich Tern

Knot 3000 this morning and similar numbers this afternoon but more fragmented.

At 11:05 something lifted all the waders and joined by the Brent. Such a dramatic 
disturbance is normally the result of a large raptor passing over, but none seen.
Possibly a skua. I remained the only biped on the skear. Time for lunch!

These are some of this afternoon's Knot feeding along the waterline 

The Knot top centre is swallowing a small bivalve, looks like a cockle

The terrain and strong wind meant that it wasn't easy checking the Knot
for flags, some were seen, but no new ones for this "winter".

The Knot are staying later than they have in recent years and many are beginning
to moult into summer plumage. Showing why their full name is Red Knot

Bar-Tailed Godwit 12 seen in the morning 26 in the afternoon 

Bar-Tailed Godwit and Knot

Sanderling 23 this morning. 19 on the skear plus a line of 4 battling south 

Three of the four southbound Sanderling in this shot

Sanderling, still in winter plumage 

Janet:

Male Chaffinch in the Nature Park

Grey Squirrel. That can have a lot of red in their summer coat

Jackdaw taking nesting material to neighbouring house 

Some unusual movement

Dry with sunny spells. A westerly wind shifting to south by evening.

Heysham sea - Pete 0640-0810: 

bizarre record of 4 adult Mediterranean gulls out together (thought they would be on territory by now)

red throated diver - flock 5 in and four singletons

Common Scoter - c14

Guillemot - 2,2 out

Razorbill/guillemot - 1 out

Kittiwake - flock 9 in, 2 out

3ad plus 2cy outfalls

Just the 3 adult Kittiwake on No.2 outfall when Kevin Eaves checked later

Janet checked Red Nab

One Shelduck

One Wheatear

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Chiffchaff 

Small Tortoiseshell 

Peacock 

Grey-spotted Sedgesitter
(great name, shame it isn't a bird!)

Heysham skear - Malcolm 08:15 - 09:45 and 14:00 - 15:00

Pale-bellied Brent goose 21 this morning 

Some of the Brent geese

Eider 50+

Red-breasted Merganser 7

Two male and a female Merganser, Eider behind 

Knot - there were 3,000 this morning until lifted by a Peregrine. 4000 this afternoon in three main groups, very flighty. Three new flagged birds were seen this morning 

Sanderling 8 this morning, 34 this afternoon, all in winter plumage (What for this area are significant numbers of Sanderling appear to be spending the back end of the winter (too early for spring passage) in the Morecambe/Heysham area eg March webs, two separate date flyby flock(s) on SJ seawatching and today 34 on Heysham skeer joining the Knot.  Be interesting to see if repeated next winter period - Pete)

Some of this morning's Sanderling with Knot

Some of this afternoon's Sanderling

One of several Dunlin with the Knot

One of two Bar-Tailed Godwit with Knot and Oystercatcher 

Turnstones turned round!

Manx seen but evening Skuas missed

A largely overcast day with some showers. A fresh SW wind became fresher as it drifted to WNW

Pete:

male Common Redstart in buddleia near ferry terminal 

nothing on the sea in poor early am visibility 

Four adult and one 2cy kittiwake on outfalls 

four inbound swallow and a house Martin  

Returned in afternoon but wind nothing like as forecast: 

one Manx Shearwater in, 

c42 Pale-bellied Brent geese red nab.    

South sea wall - Kevin Eaves 14:00

Still 2 adult and a 2nd cy Kittiwake on No.2 outfall

Wheatear 2 near the lighthouse 

Wheatears

Heliport - Malcolm

I was heading to the south shore at 15:00, 90 minutes before high water. But a large flock of Knot circling the Heliport changed plans. At just 7m today's high water barely reached the wall, at this stage in the tide it had just reached the rocks, so a bit of a surprise to have 3000 Knot roosting on the wall. These are some of them coming in, albeit warily.

But they didn't just rest on the wall c150 elected to stand on top. 

Carrion Crows and on one occasion a Swallow passing over lifted all the Knot, when they landed again it was a bit like playing a fruit machine. Some times none of the birds on the top were flagged, usually one and on one occasion, three. But they tended to be the same flagged birds, presumably ones that prefer to be able to see in all directions.

Even sat on top it can be crowded, this orange flagged bird was ringed
at Merseyside in 2024

Swallow spooking the Knot (the other bird is a Starling)

Male Swallow

42 Pale-bellied Brent, presumably the ones seen by Pete on Red Nab, flying north

Two Arctic Skuas seen flying into the bay this evening from Rossall.

Whimbrel, plus first youngsters arrive

Another warm dry sunny day, perhaps the last for a while. A light variable breeze.

A check by Pete:

Not a lot over the sea but Sandwich terns have started their off-passage assembly on the buoys off the north wall (4 out of the 6 in total).  

Otherwise just 75 PF geese nw and 6 common scoter in truncated session

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Alan:

I set three nets at Heysham this morning just after dawn.  There was no early cloud cover as I had hoped for.  The morning was very slow with few migrants and only 18 birds were caught in five hours.
Singles of Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Lesser Redpoll and three Chiffchaffs were ringed.

A very aggressive Jay was caught , also 1 Wren, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Goldfinch plus single retrapped Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, and Goldfinch.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Kevin Eaves:

I went for a wander around Middleton nature reserve at lunch time today. 

1 Red Admiral - first of the year

2 singing Willow Warbler

and at least one of the pairs of Coot has had breeding success.

Coot pair with 4 chicks

 Janet:

2nd calendar year Cormorant 

Female Kestrel 

Male Bullfinch

Male Chaffinch 

Peacock 

Female Orange Tip

North shore - Malcolm 10:45 - 12:00

Pale-bellied Brent goose 4

Eider 45

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Little Egret 3

Knot c2000 but just resting along the western skear edge then most moved to a sandbar on the north side. No chance of checking them for flags.

This was as close as I got to the Knot

Bar-Tailed Godwit 104

Godwits arriving from the south

Bar-Tailed Godwits and Eider

Some of the Godwits 

15 of the 60+ Turnstone 

I checked the shore out from the play area as the tide was ebbing this evening 18:00 - 19:00

Pale-bellied Brent goose 33. Initially in two groups 16 and 17 out from the play area, then merged as they flew to the skear

Pale-bellied Brent geese

Sandwich Tern minimum 4 fishing

Sandwich Terns

I'd gone down hoping, but not expecting, that the Knot would arrive as they did yesterday (they showed no interest in feeding along the waterline this morning). None arrived, but a Whimbrel did - first this year.

It flew from further north

Then landed on the mud out from the play area

First Swallow Prominent of the year in my Bell Aire Park moth trap. Alison Hayward

Swallow Prominent